β‐Ionone: Its Occurrence and Biological Function and Metabolic Engineering

β‐Ionone is a natural plant volatile compound, and it is the 9,10 and 9’,10’ cleavage prod-uct of β‐carotene by the carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase. β‐Ionone is widely distributed in flowers, fruits, and vegetables. β‐Ionone and other apocarotenoids comprise flavors, aromas, pigments, growth regulators, and defense compounds; serve as ecological cues; have roles as insect attractants or repellants, and have antibacterial and fungicidal properties. In recent years, β‐ionone has also received increased attention from the biomedical community for its potential as an anticancer treatment and for other human health benefits. However, β‐ionone is typically produced at relatively low levels in plants. Thus, expressing plant biosynthetic pathway genes in microbial hosts and engineering the metabolic pathway/host to increase metabolite production is an appealing alternative. In the present review, we discuss β‐ionone occurrence, the biological activities of β‐ionone, empha-sizing insect attractant/repellant activities, and the current strategies and achievements used to re-construct enzyme pathways in microorganisms in an effort to to attain higher amounts of the de-sired β‐ionone

Measuring consumer effort in circular economy initiatives in the food domain: An exploratory analysis

: The transition towards a Circular Economy (CE) system requires a change in consumers' behavioural pattern that implies a certain level of effort which, in turn, could affect initiatives' success. Although consumers' role in CE is increasingly drawing the attention of scholars, limited knowledge is available on the evaluation of consumer's effort in CE initiatives. The current research provides an identification and measurement of the core parameters affecting consumer effort, offering a comprehensive Effort Index applied to 20 CE companies operating in food domain. Companies were classified in 5 categories (Quantity of food, Appearance of food, Edibility of food, Living with food and Local and sustainable food); the analysis of the companies revealed 14 parameters building the Effort Index. Results showed that initiatives ascribable to the category "Local and sustainable food" require higher levels of consumer effort; in contrast, case studies belonging to "Edibility of food" group are less effort-requiring

Autoimmune polyendocrine syndromes in the pediatric age

Autoimmune polyendocrine syndromes (APSs) encompass a heterogeneous group of rare diseases characterized by autoimmune activity against two or more endocrine or non-endocrine organs. Three types of APSs are reported, including both monogenic and multifactorial, heterogeneous disorders. The aim of this manuscript is to present the main clinical and epidemiological characteristics of APS-1, APS-2, and IPEX syndrome in the pediatric age, describing the mechanisms of autoimmunity and the currently available treatments for these rare conditions