A Review on Selenium-enriched Green Tea: Fortification Methods, Biological Activities and Application Prospect

Selenium (Se) has been recognized as an essential nutrient for humans. Plant foods are the predominant source of selenium and majority of dietary selenium is absorbed depending on the type of food consumed. Nowadays, green tea is becoming increasingly popular for its prominent health benefits, including the ability to supplement selenium in organically bound, natural food form. The selenium content of Se-enriched green tea is influenced by the selenium level of local soils in which it is grown. However, selenium content of plants can also be improved by artificial fortification methods. In this review, the chemical speciation and biological functions of selenium, fortification methods, biological activities and nutraceutical applications of Se-enriched green tea are discussed. This review provides insights into the current research and the importance of Se-enriched green tea in the enrichment of human nutrition and health

Simple Security Proof of Mode-Pairing Quantum Key Distribution

Mode-pairing (MP) quantum key distribution (QKD) eliminates the requirements of phase locking and phase tracking compared with twin-field (TF) QKD while still surpassing the fundamental rate-distance limit of QKD. The complexity of the experimental implementation is reduced while the efficiency is also guaranteed. The security of MP-QKD is proved rigorously by examining the consistency of the states detailly between MP-QKD and the fixed-pairing scheme under all of Eve's possible interference, where the latter is equivalent to measurement-device-independent (MDI) QKD. Here we propose a simple and straightforward method to prove the information-theoretic security of MP-QKD. Specifically, an entanglement scheme for MP-QKD is proposed and its security is proved using entanglement purification. Then the security of MP-QKD can be guaranteed with the equivalence of the entanglement scheme and prepare-and-measure scheme for MP-QKD. With this approach, it is beneficial to analyze and understand the performance and security of MP-QKD. We explain why the pairing rounds in MP-QKD can be decoupled and determined by the measurement results announced by a third party, which is the key difference between MP-QKD and MDI-QKD. Moreover, we analyze the security of MP-QKD with the allowed optimal pairing strategy, which is significant for the secret key rate, under collective and coherent attacks

The cross-reactivity of the enterovirus 71 to human brain tissue and identification of the cross-reactivity related fragments

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>EV71 occasionally cause a series of severe neurological symptoms, including aseptic meningitis, encephalitis, and poliomyelitis-like paralysis. However, the neurological destruction mechanism was remained to be clarified. This study described the cross reaction between EV71 induced IgG and human brain tissue.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Cross reaction of the IgG from 30 EV71 infected patients' sera to human tissues of cerebra was observed, which suggested that some EV71 antigens could induce IgG cross-reactivity to human cerebra. To identify the regions of EV71 virus that containing above antigens, the polypeptide of virus was divided into 19 peptides by expression in prokaryotes cell. Mouse anti-sera of these peptides was prepared and applied in immunohistochemical staining with human adult and fetus brain tissue, respectively. The result indicated the 19 peptides can be classified into three groups: strong cross-reactivity, weak cross-reactivity and no cross-reactivity with human brain tissue according the cross reaction activity. Then, the increased Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) permeability and permits IgG entry in neonatal mice after EV71 infection was determined.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>EV71 induced IgG could enter BBB and cross-reacted with brain tissue in EV71 infected neonatal mice, and then the peptides of EV71 that could induce cross-reactivity with brain tissue were identified, which should be avoided in future vaccine designing.</p

Simultaneous compression of the passively mode-locked pulsewidth and pulse train

Simultaneous compression of the passively mode-locked pulse width and pulse train have been achieved by using a plano-convex unstable resonator hybrided by a nonlinear Sagnac ring interferometer. The greater than 30 mJ single pulse energy of a lone oscillator and less than or equal to 10 ps pulsewidth have been obtained. Using this system, the LAGEOS and ETALON satellites' laser ranging have been performed successfully

Cyclin D2 plays a regulatory role in HBV replication

AbstractHepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the leading cause of liver diseases. However, the molecular mechanisms of HBV infection and carcinogenesis have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we found that cyclin D2 was upregualted in HBV-expressing cells and liver tissues of HBV-transgenic mice. Gene silencing of cyclin D2 inhibited HBV DNA replicative intermediates, 3.5kb mRNA, core protein level, as well as the secretions of HBsAg and HBeAg. On the contrary, overexpression of cyclin D2 promoted HBV replication. Furthermore, cyclin D2 regulated HBV replication by enhancing the activity of HBV core and Sp1 promoters by targeting transcription factor CREB2. Silencing of CREB2 abolished enhancement of HBV replication induced by cyclin D2. Together, our study has uncovered a positive role of cyclin D2 in HBV replication. It is conceivable that therapeutic application of cyclin D2 inhibitor in HBV infection therapy

Antigout Effects of Plantago asiatica

The XOD inhibitory effects of Plantaginis Semen, that is, the seeds of P. asiatisca, and its representative four single compounds, acteoside, 1H-indolo-3-carbaldehyde, isoacteoside, and myristic acid, were evaluated by electron transfer signal blocking activities (ETSBA), which is based on the electron transfer signal of XOD enzymatic reaction. The blocking activities were detected using an electrochemical biosensing method. Compared with control, significant effects were observed after the addition of P. asiatica extract, acteoside, and 1H-indolo-3-carbaldehyde (all p<0.05). The IC50 values of the extract and acteoside are 89.14 and 7.55 μg·mL−1, respectively. The IC20 values of the extract, acteoside, and 1H-indolo-3-carbaldehyde are 24.28, 3.88, and 16.16 μg·mL−1, respectively. Due to the relatively lower inhibitory potential of 1H-indolo-3-carbaldehyde, its IC50 was not obtained. In addition, isoacteoside and myristic acid did not show any XOD inhibitory effects. Our data demonstrated that the XOD inhibitory effects of the extract, acteoside, and 1H-indolo-3-carbaldehyde can be accurately evaluated by the ETSBA method. The results from this study indicated that Plantaginis Semen significantly inhibited XOD activities to reduce hyperuricemia and treat gout. The study also proves that measuring the electron transfer signal blocking activities is a simple, sensitive, and accurate method to evaluate the XOD inhibitory effects

Application of telemedicine system for older adults postoperative patients in community: a feasibility study

PurposeIn response to the growing challenges posed by an aging society, a telemedicine system was developed specifically for older adults postoperative patients, and its effectiveness was thoroughly investigated.MethodsBetween May 2020 and May 2022, a total of 88 older adults postoperative patients were enrolled and randomly allocated into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received telemedicine services after discharge, while the control group received conventional medical services following the traditional protocol. One month after discharge, various indicators were evaluated for both groups, including number of visits, medical expenditures, postoperative recovery, anxiety, depression and satisfaction.ResultsThe number of visits and medical expenditures of the experimental group were less than those of the control group [1 (0, 1) vs. 1 (1, 2), Z = −3.977, p &lt; 0.001; 25.25 (0.00, 277.40) yuan vs. 174.65 (49.63, 446.10) yuan, Z = −2.150, p = 0.032]. In both groups, there were 2 cases of incision infection, respectively. No significant difference was observed between the two groups (Fisher χ2, p = 0.259). In both groups, there was no instance of incision bleeding, incision dehiscence, readmission, or reoperation. Additionally, there was no significant difference in physical status between the two groups at discharge and after discharge (66.06 ± 8.92 vs. 65.45 ± 7.39 t = 0.287, p = 0.775; 73.33 ± 9.97 vs. 70.91 ± 7.50, t = 1.202, p = 0.235). And there was no significant difference in the change of physical status between the two groups after discharge [10.00 (0.00, 10.00) vs. 5.00 (0.00, 10.00), Z = −1.077, p = 0.281]. There was no significant difference in body weight change between the two groups after discharge [1.05 (0.38, 1.60) Kg vs. 0.80 (0.50, 1.43) Kg, Z = −0.265, p = 0.791]. There was no significant difference in the levels of anxiety and depression between the two groups at discharge (45.64 ± 8.10 vs. 44.60 ± 8.24, t = 0.520, p = 0.604, 48.33 ± 8.46 vs. 47.50 ± 6.85, t = 0.418, p = 0.677). But the levels of anxiety and depression in the experimental group were lower than those in the control group after discharge (34.92 ± 7.38 vs. 39.03 ± 8.42, t = −2.183, p = 0.032, 37.86 ± 7.29 vs. 41.93 ± 7.13, t = −2.281, p = 0.025); The change of anxiety level and depression level of the experimental group were more than those of the control group [−10.00 (−11.25, −8.75) vs. −5.00 (−7.81, −3.75), Z = −5.277, p &lt; 0.001; −10.00 (−12.50, −7.50) vs. −5.00 (−7.75, −3.44), Z = −4.596, p &lt; 0.001]. The level of satisfaction regarding medical services, daily care, and psychological comfort was higher in the experimental group compared to the control group [3 (3, 3.25) vs. 2 (1, 2), Z = −5.931, p &lt; 0.001; 3 (3, 4) vs. 3 (2, 3), Z = −2.286, p = 0.022; 2 (1, 3) vs. 1 (0.75, 2), Z = −2.081, p = 0.037].ConclusionIn the context of an aging society, telemedicine system can offer improved healthcare to older adults postoperative patients. This includes benefits such as reducing number of visits, saving medical expenditures, enhancing psychological comfort and daily care