Bio-Based Epoxy Resin from Epoxidized Soybean Oil

Epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) is the oxidation product of soybean oil with hydrogen peroxide and either acetic or formic acid obtained by converting the double bonds into epoxy groups, which is non-toxic and of higher chemical reactivity. ESO is mainly used as a green plasticizer for polyvinyl chloride, while the reactive epoxy groups imply its great potential in both the monomer synthesis and the polymer preparation fields. Functional polymers are obtained by different kinds of reactions of the ESO with co-monomers and/or initiators shown in this chapter. The emphasis is on ESO based epoxy cross-linked polymers which recently gained strong interest and allowed new developments especially from both an academic point of view and an industrial point of view. It is believed that new ring-opening reagents may facilitate the synthesis of good structural ESO based materials

Analysis of Astringent Components and Differential Gene Expression of Related Key Enzymes in Different Tissues of Fresh Lotus Seeds

This study was performed to explore the differences in the composition of astringent substances in different tissues of fresh lotus seeds and the expression of key enzyme genes involved in the synthesis of astringent compounds. The contents of soluble tannins, insoluble tannins and proanthocyanidins in lotus seed coat, lotus seed pulp without coat and lotus seed plumule were determined. Meanwhile, the activity and gene expression of key enzymes in the tannin synthesis pathway were detected. Sensory evaluation and electronic tongue analysis were performed on lotus seed samples. The data obtained was analyzed by orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) and correlation analysis. Results showed that the major substance contributing to the astringency of lotus seeds was soluble tannins. Tannins had a positive effect on its excellent flavor at the waxy ripeness stage. Anthocyanin reductase was a key enzyme affecting the astringency intensity of lotus seeds. SnANR9 played a role in regulating the astringency of different tissues of lotus seeds

Antifungal Activity and Mechanism of Perillaldehyde against Penicillium citrinum, a Major Fungal Pathogen of Myrica rubra

Perillaldehyde is a green and safe natural antibacterial substance extracted from perilla leaves, which is also used as a food additive in food production. In this study, the inhibitory effect of perillaldehyde on Penicillium citrinum, a major pathogen of Chinese bayberry (Myrica rubra), was investigated by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), spore germination rate and mycelial growth inhibition assays, and the underlying mechanism was elucidated by studying the mycelial morphology and ultrastructure, cell membrane damage, membrane lipid peroxidation and changes in functional groups. The results showed that the MIC of perillaldehyde on P. citrinum was 120 μL/L. Mycelial growth was completely inhibited by treatment with 120 μL/L perillaldehyde, and the relative conductivity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content increased. Compared with the untreated group, ergosterol, total lipid and chitin contents and mitochondrial adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity decreased by 80.00%, 81.25%, 64.97% and 87.40% in P. citrinum treated with 90 μL/L perillaldehyde. The treatment with perillaldehyde damaged cell membrane permeability and affected the normal physiological function of the cell membrane. By scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), it was found showed that the broom-like conidial head of P. citrinum disappeared after perillaldehyde treatment, and the mycelia appeared to be broken and ablated. Moreover, the cell membrane was broken, intracellular contents leaked out, and the cells became shriveled. In addition, the amounts of leakage of soluble protein, soluble sugar and nucleic acid from P. citrinum treated with 120 μL/L perillaldehyde for 5 h increased by 71.20%, 210.93% and 117.31% compared with those before the treatment, which verified cell membrane damage. By using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, it was found that the contents of functional groups such as hydroxyl, methyl, aromatic carbon skeleton and benzene ring carbon skeleton in perillaldehyde treated P. citrinum decreased, and internal substances were gradually consumed. In summary, perillaldehyde showed a good antifungal activity on P. citrinum by destroying cell membrane structure, changing membrane permeability, interfering with energy metabolism and destroying protein and genetic material. Perillaldehyde has good research and development prospects as a natural preservative

Optimization of Preparation Process of Bayberry Soft Candy and Analysis of Its Hypoglycemic Function

In order to develop soft fruit candy products with hypoglycemic function, the preparation method was optimized by single-factor and response surface studies. The texture profile analysis and sensory score was regarded as the evaluation indices, while bayberry juice was used as the main raw material, carrageenan and gelatin as the gelling agent, and xylitol as the sweetener. Additionally, the hypoglycemic effect of bayberry soft candy extract was evaluated by in vitro study, and the components of bayberry juice was detected by using UPLC-MS/MS assay. Finally, the hypoglycemic components and related pathways of action were predicted by network pharmacology. The results showed that in the 100 mL bayberry soft candy gel solution system, the optimal formulation of bayberry soft candy obtained by response surface methodology was as follows: 89.37% bayberry juice for swelling and constant volume, with 9.90% gelatin, 1.41% carrageenan, and 30.86% xylitol addition. The sensory score of bayberry soft candy produced under this process was 87.30, which was close to the theoretical value. The in vitro hypoglycemic study showed that the inhibition of α-glucosidase and α-amylase by 4 mg/mL of bayberry soft candy extract reached 98.58% and 86.89%, respectively. The network pharmacological analysis postulated that 3,5-diacetyltambrin (YM16), azaleatin (YM17) and raspberry ketone glucoside (YM1) were the key hypoglycemic components in bayberry juice, in addition, the human cancer pathway and PI3K-Akt pathway were important pathways of their action. The soft candy prepared under the optimal process condition showed good elasticity, fantastic taste and certain hypoglycemic effects. These results provide a certain theoretical basis for the development of fruit-flavored functional soft candy

Presence of Porphyromonas gingivalis in esophagus and its association with the clinicopathological characteristics and survival in patients with esophageal cancer

BACKGROUND: Mounting evidence suggests a causal relationship between specific bacterial infections and the development of certain malignancies. However, the possible role of the keystone periodontal pathogen, Porphyromonas gingivalis, in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unknown. Therefore, we examined the presence of P. gingivalis in esophageal mucosa, and the relationship between P. gingivalis infection and the diagnosis and prognosis of ESCC. METHODS: The presence of P. gingivalis in the esophageal tissues from ESCC patients and normal controls was examined by immunohistochemistry using antibodies targeting whole bacteria and its unique secreted protease, the gingipain Kgp. qRT-PCR was used as a confirmatory approach to detect P. gingivalis 16S rDNA. Clinicopathologic characteristics were collected to analyze the relationship between P. gingivalis infection and development of ESCC. RESULTS: P. gingivalis was detected immunohistochemically in 61 % of cancerous tissues, 12 % of adjacent tissues and was undetected in normal esophageal mucosa. A similar distribution of lysine-specific gingipain, a catalytic endoprotease uniquely secreted by P. gingivalis, and P. gingivalis 16S rDNA was also observed. Moreover, statistic correlations showed P. gingivalis infection was positively associated with multiple clinicopathologic characteristics, including differentiation status, metastasis, and overall survival rate. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate for the first time that P. gingivalis infects the epithelium of the esophagus of ESCC patients, establish an association between infection with P. gingivalis and the progression of ESCC, and suggest P. gingivalis infection could be a biomarker for this disease. More importantly, these data, if confirmed, indicate that eradication of a common oral pathogen could potentially contribute to a reduction in the overall ESCC burden. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13027-016-0049-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Pandemic fatigue impedes mitigation of COVID-19 in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has implemented stringent public health and social measures (PHSMs) to curb each of the four COVID-19 epidemic waves since January 2020. The third wave between July and September 2020 was brought under control within 2 m, while the fourth wave starting from the end of October 2020 has taken longer to bring under control and lasted at least 5 mo. Here, we report the pandemic fatigue as one of the potential reasons for the reduced impact of PHSMs on transmission in the fourth wave. We contacted either 500 or 1,000 local residents through weekly random-digit dialing of landlines and mobile telephones from May 2020 to February 2021. We analyze the epidemiological impact of pandemic fatigue by using the large and detailed cross-sectional telephone surveys to quantify risk perception and self-reported protective behaviors and mathematical models to incorporate population protective behaviors. Our retrospective prediction suggests that an increase of 100 daily new reported cases would lead to 6.60% (95% CI: 4.03, 9.17) more people worrying about being infected, increase 3.77% (95% CI: 2.46, 5.09) more people to avoid social gatherings, and reduce the weekly mean reproduction number by 0.32 (95% CI: 0.20, 0.44). Accordingly, the fourth wave would have been 14% (95% CI%: −53%, 81%) smaller if not for pandemic fatigue. This indicates the important role of mitigating pandemic fatigue in maintaining population protective behaviors for controlling COVID-19

The dual role of glioma exosomal microRNAs: glioma eliminates tumor suppressor miR-1298-5p via exosomes to promote immunosuppressive effects of MDSCs

Clear evidence shows that tumors could secrete microRNAs (miRNAs) via exosomes to modulate the tumor microenvironment (TME). However, the mechanisms sorting specific miRNAs into exosomes are still unclear. In order to study the biological function and characterization of exosomal miRNAs, we performed whole-transcriptome sequencing in 59 patients’ whole-course cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) small extracellular vesicles (sEV) and matched glioma tissue samples. The results demonstrate that miRNAs could be divided into exosome-enriched miRNAs (ExomiRNAs) and intracellular-retained miRNAs (CLmiRNAs), and exosome-enriched miRNAs generally play a dual role. Among them, miR-1298-5p was enriched in CSF exosomes and suppressed glioma progression in vitro and vivo experiments. Interestingly, exosomal miR-1298-5p could promote the immunosuppressive effects of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) to facilitate glioma. Therefore, we found miR-1298-5p had different effects on glioma cells and MDSCs. Mechanically, downstream signaling pathway analyses showed that miR-1298-5p plays distinct roles in glioma cells and MDSCs via targeting SETD7 and MSH2, respectively. Moreover, reverse verification was performed on the intracellular-retained miRNA miR-9-5p. Thus, we confirmed that tumor-suppressive miRNAs in glioma cells could be eliminated through exosomes and target tumor-associated immune cells to induce tumor-promoting phenotypes. Glioma could get double benefit from it. These findings uncover the mechanisms that glioma selectively sorts miRNAs into exosomes and modulates tumor immunity.publishedVersio

SPI1-induced downregulation of FTO promotes GBM progression by regulating pri-miR-10a processing in an m6A-dependent manner

As one of the most common post-transcriptional modifications of mRNAs and noncoding RNAs, N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification regulates almost every aspect of RNA metabolism. Evidence indicates that dysregulation of m6A modification and associated proteins contributes to glioblastoma (GBM) progression. However, the function of fat mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO), an m6A demethylase, has not been systematically and comprehensively explored in GBM. Here, we found that decreased FTO expression in clinical specimens correlated with higher glioma grades and poorer clinical outcomes. Functionally, FTO inhibited growth and invasion in GBM cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, FTO regulated the m6A modification of primary microRNA-10a (pri-miR-10a), which could be recognized by reader HNRNPA2B1, recruiting the microRNA microprocessor complex protein DGCR8 and mediating pri-miR-10a processing. Furthermore, the transcriptional activity of FTO was inhibited by the transcription factor SPI1, which could be specifically disrupted by the SPI1 inhibitor DB2313. Treatment with this inhibitor restored endogenous FTO expression and decreased GBM tumor burden, suggesting that FTO may serve as a novel prognostic indicator and therapeutic molecular target of GBM.publishedVersio

Early insights from statistical and mathematical modeling of key epidemiologic parameters of COVID-19

We report key epidemiologic parameter estimates for coronavirus disease identified in peer-reviewed publications, preprint articles, and online reports. Range estimates for incubation period were 1.8–6.9 days, serial interval 4.0–7.5 days, and doubling time 2.3–7.4 days. The effective reproductive number varied widely, with reductions attributable to interventions. Case burden and infection fatality ratios increased with patient age. Implementation of combined interventions could reduce cases and delay epidemic peak up to 1 month. These parameters for transmission, disease severity, and intervention effectiveness are critical for guiding policy decisions. Estimates will likely change as new information becomes available