Individual differences in oral tactile sensitivity and gustatory fatty acid sensitivity and their relationship with fungiform papillae density, mouth behaviour and texture perception of a food model varying in fat

Fat provides multimodal stimulation, particularly through mouthfeel and as a taste stimulant via free fatty acids. Individuals vary in perception of both mouthfeel and taste sensations from fat. Papillae number on the tongue can influence oral tactile and taste sensitivity. In addition, mouth behaviour (how foods are manipulated in the mouth during eating before swallowing) varies between individuals, and may influence mouthfeel perception. Limited research has explored the relationships between these factors. Fatty acid (FA) taste sensitivity was measured at two levels of oleic acid. Oral tactile sensitivity was measured using von Frey filaments. Fungiform papillae density (FPD) was measured on the tongue anterior. Mouth behaviour (MB) was measured by Graphic Jeltema/Beckley Mouth Behaviour (JBMB) classification tool. Mouthfeel perception (hardness, crunchiness, and greasiness) in a biscuit model was measured to examine the influence of FPD, tactile sensitivity and MB on mouthfeel perception. Higher FPD was significantly related to higher taste sensitivity to fatty acid and to higher oral tactile sensitivity. FPD and oral tactile sensitivity both significantly influenced mouthfeel perception of biscuits. The results demonstrate the need to characterise individual differences in oral sensory perception by more than one method, and suggest oral tactile sensitivity can be used as a marker of FPD. Further studies are required to understand the impact of MB on sensory perception. The BMI of participants in this study was negatively related to oral tactile sensitivity and the perception of greasiness

Consumer liking of turnip cooked by different methods: the influence of sensory profile and consumer bitter taste genotype

Abstract: Brassica vegetables are bitter, predominantly because they contain bitter-tasting glucos-inolates. Individuals with high bitter taste sensitivity are reported to have lower consumption of bitter vegetables. Studies reported that cooking methods can alter the sensory characteristics of vegetables, increasing acceptability. This study investigated consumer liking of turnip cooked by four methods (boiled-pureed, roasted, steamed-pureed and stir-fried) and related this to sensory characteristics. Additionally, this study examined the effect of the bitter taste genotype on taste perception and liking of the cooked turnip samples. Participants (n = 74) were recruited and the TAS2R38 genotype was measured. Liking, consumption intent, perception of bitterness and sweetness of turnip were evaluated. A sensory profile of the cooked turnip variants was also de-termined by a trained sensory panel. There were significant differences in the overall (p = 0.001) and taste (p = 0.002) liking between cooking methods. Turnip liking was increased when preparation led to sweeter taste profiles. The TAS2R38 genotype had a significant effect on bitter perception (p = 0.02) but did not significantly affect taste liking. In conclusion, the cooking method affected turnip liking, and the bitter perception in turnip was influenced by the TAS2R38 genotype. However, taste sensitivity did not predict turnip liking in this UK adult cohort

Intramolecular Energy and Electron Transfer Within a Diazaperopyrenium-Based Cyclophane

Molecules capable of performing highly efficient energy transfer and ultrafast photo-induced electron transfer in well-defined multichromophoric structures are indispensable to the development of artificial photosynthetic systems. Herein, we report on the synthesis, characterization and photophysical properties of a rationally designed multichromophoric tetracationic cyclophane, DAPPBox^(4+), containing a diazaperopyrenium (DAPP^(2+)) unit and an extended viologen (ExBIPY^(2+)) unit, which are linked together by two p-xylylene bridges. Both ^1H NMR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis confirm the formation of an asymmetric, rigid, box-like cyclophane, DAPPBox^(4+). The solid-state superstructure of this cyclophane reveals a herringbone-type packing motif, leading to two types of π···π interactions: (i) between the ExBIPY^(2+) unit and the DAPP^(2+) unit (π···π distance of 3.7 Å) in the adjacent parallel cyclophane, as well as (ii) between the ExBIPY^(2+) unit (π···π distance of 3.2 Å) and phenylene ring in the closest orthogonal cyclophane. Moreover, the solution-phase photophysical properties of this cyclophane have been investigated by both steady-state and time-resolved absorption and emission spectroscopies. Upon photoexcitation of DAPPBox^(4+) at 330 nm, rapid and quantitative intramolecular energy transfer occurs from the ^1*ExBIPY^(2+) unit to the DAPP^(2+) unit in 0.5 ps to yield ^1*DAPP^(2+). The same excitation wavelength simultaneously populates a higher excited state of ^1*DAPP^(2+) which then undergoes ultrafast intramolecular electron transfer from ^1*DAPP^(2+) to ExBIPY^(2+) to yield the DAPP^(3+•) – ExBIPY^(+•) radical ion pair in τ = 1.5 ps. Selective excitation of DAPP^(2+) at 505 nm populates a lower excited state where electron transfer is kinetically unfavorable

The prebiotic effects of oats on blood lipids, gut microbiota, and short-chain fatty acids in mildly hypercholesterolemic subjects compared with rice: a randomized, controlled trial

20openInternationalInternational coauthor/editorPhytochemicals derived from oats are reported to possess a beneficial effect on modulating dyslipidemia, specifically on lowering total and LDL cholesterol. However, deeper insights into its mechanism remain unclear. In this randomized controlled study, we assigned 210 mildly hypercholesterolemic subjects from three study centers across China (Beijing, Nanjing, and Shanghai) to consume 80 g of oats or rice daily for 45 days. Plasma lipid profiles, short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and fecal microbiota were measured. The results showed that total cholesterol (TC) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) decreased significantly with both oats and rice intake after 30 and 45 days. The reduction in TC and non-HDL-C was greater in the participants consuming oats compared with rice at day 45 (p = 0.011 and 0.049, respectively). Oat consumption significantly increased the abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila and Roseburia, and the relative abundance of Dialister, Butyrivibrio, and Paraprevotella, and decreased unclassified f-Sutterellaceae. In the oat group, Bifidobacterium abundance was negatively correlated with LDL-C (p = 0.01, r = −0.31) and, TC and LDL-C were negatively correlated to Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (p = 0.02, r = −0.29; p = 0.03, r = −0.27, respectively). Enterobacteriaceae, Roseburia, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii were positively correlated with plasma butyric acid and valeric acid concentrations and negatively correlated to isobutyric acid. HDL-C was negatively correlated with valeric acid (p = 0.02, r = −0.25) and total triglyceride (TG) was positively correlated to isovaleric acid (p = 0.03, r = 0.23). Taken together, oats consumption significantly reduced TC and LDL-C, and also mediated a prebiotic effect on gut microbiome. Akkermansia muciniphila, Roseburia, Bifidobacterium, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, and plasma SCFA correlated with oat-induced changes in plasma lipids, suggesting prebiotic activity of oats to modulate gut microbiome could contribute towards its cholesterol-lowering effect.openXu, Dengfeng; Feng, Meiyuan; Chu, YiFang; Wang, Shaokang; Shete, Varsha; Tuohy, Kieran M; Liu, Feng; Zhou, Xirui; Kamil, Alison; Pan, Da; Liu, Hechun; Yang, Xian; Yang, Chao; Zhu, Baoli; Lv, Na; Xiong, Qian; Wang, Xin; Sun, Jianqin; Sun, Guiju; Yang, YuexinXu, D.; Feng, M.; Chu, Y.; Wang, S.; Shete, V.; Tuohy, K.M.; Liu, F.; Zhou, X.; Kamil, A.; Pan, D.; Liu, H.; Yang, X.; Yang, C.; Zhu, B.; Lv, N.; Xiong, Q.; Wang, X.; Sun, J.; Sun, G.; Yang, Y

Type A personality, sleep quality, and cerebral small vessel disease: investigating the mediating role of sleep in a community-based study

PurposeType A behavior pattern (TABP) is a personality type characterized by rapid speech, impatience, competition, and hostility. Asymptomatic cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is often endemic in older adults. Individuals with TABP commonly experience suboptimal sleep quality, and a correlation exists between sleep disturbances and CSVD. We investigated the relationship between TABP and CSVD markers and further explored the mediating role of sleep quality in the relationship between TABP and CSVD.MethodsA cross-sectional survey included 764 community-dwelling adults aged 55–85 years. The TABP Scale and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used to assess personality and sleep quality, respectively. Linear and logistic regression analyses were used to examine relationships between variables of interest. In addition, mediation analyses with bootstrapping were used to test whether sleep quality mediated the relationship between TABP and CSVD.ResultsOf the 764 participants [median age 65 (61–69) years, 59.9% female], the population with type A personality accounted for 44.8%. After adjusting for covariates, TABP scores (p = 0.03) and PSQI scores (p < 0.001) were significantly correlated with CSVD. In addition, sleep quality partially mediated the association between type A behavior and CSVD, and the mediating effect was 10.67%.ConclusionThis study showed that type A behavior was a risk factor for CSVD among older community-dwelling adults and that sleep quality mediated the relationship between type A behavior and CSVD. Changing type A behavior may help improve sleep quality, which may in turn reduce the prevalence of CSVD

Deep-Learning-Enabled Fast Optical Identification and Characterization of Two-Dimensional Materials

Advanced microscopy and/or spectroscopy tools play indispensable role in nanoscience and nanotechnology research, as it provides rich information about the growth mechanism, chemical compositions, crystallography, and other important physical and chemical properties. However, the interpretation of imaging data heavily relies on the "intuition" of experienced researchers. As a result, many of the deep graphical features obtained through these tools are often unused because of difficulties in processing the data and finding the correlations. Such challenges can be well addressed by deep learning. In this work, we use the optical characterization of two-dimensional (2D) materials as a case study, and demonstrate a neural-network-based algorithm for the material and thickness identification of exfoliated 2D materials with high prediction accuracy and real-time processing capability. Further analysis shows that the trained network can extract deep graphical features such as contrast, color, edges, shapes, segment sizes and their distributions, based on which we develop an ensemble approach topredict the most relevant physical properties of 2D materials. Finally, a transfer learning technique is applied to adapt the pretrained network to other applications such as identifying layer numbers of a new 2D material, or materials produced by a different synthetic approach. Our artificial-intelligence-based material characterization approach is a powerful tool that would speed up the preparation, initial characterization of 2D materials and other nanomaterials and potentially accelerate new material discoveries

Relative effects of sensory modalities and importance of fatty acid sensitivity on fat perception in a real food model

Fat can be perceived through mouthfeel, odour and taste, but the influence of these modalities on fat perception remains undefined. Fatty acids are stimuli. Individual’s sensitivity to fatty acids varies. Studies show association between fatty acid sensitivity, dietary intake and BMI, but results are conflicting. Therefore, this study examined this association, and the effects of modalities on fat perception. Two sub-studies conducted. In Study 1 (n=46), fat intensity was assessed by milk/cream mixtures varying by five fat levels. Fat intensity was rated under four conditions: mouthfeel-odour masked, mouthfeel masked, odour masking and no masking. Mouthfeel masking was achieved using thickener and paraffin, odour masking using nose-clips. Fatty acid sensitivity was measured by 3-AFC-staircase method using milk containing oleic acid (0.31-31.4mM). In Study 2 (n=51), more fat levels were added in fat intensity rating. A 2-AFC discrimination test was used to confirm whether fat levels could be distinguished. In the sensitivity test, a wider range of oleic acid was included. Fat intensity was rated higher without nose-clips (p<0.0001), implying that odour increased fat perception. Samples with mouthfeel-masked were rated higher, showing that increased viscosity and lubricity enhanced fat perception (p<0.0001). Participants could distinguish fat levels based on “taste” in rating tests and 2-AFC-tests. Participants were divided into high/medium/low-sensitivity groups. No significant difference found in fat intensity between groups, however, high-sensitivity group discriminated more fat levels. No association between sensitivity groups, nutrient intake or BMI found

The Overseeing Mother: Revisiting the Frontal-Pose Lady in the Wu Family Shrines in Second Century China

Located in present-day Jiaxiang in Shandong province, the Wu family shrines built during the second century in the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220) were among the best-known works in Chinese art history. Although for centuries scholars have exhaustively studied the pictorial programs, the frontal-pose female image situated on the second floor of the central pavilion carved at the rear wall of the shrines has remained a question. Beginning with the woman’s eyes, this article demonstrates that the image is more than a generic portrait (“hard motif ”), but rather represents “feminine overseeing from above” (“soft motif ”). This synthetic motif combines three different earlier motifs – the frontal-pose hostess enjoying entertainment, the elevated spectator, and the Queen Mother of the West. By creatively fusing the three motifs into one unity, the Jiaxiang artists lent to the frontal-pose lady a unique power: she not only dominated the center of the composition, but also, like a divine being, commanded a unified view of the surroundings on the lofty building, hence echoing the political reality of the empress mother’s “overseeing the court” in the second century during Eastern Han dynasty

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data