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ObjectiveTo carry out the theoretical risk assessment for food colorants in the National food safety standard-standards for uses of food additives (GB 2760—2014) by Budget method and deterministic assessment.MethodsBudget method was applied for calculating the theoretical maximum daily intake of food colorants which had ADI values and maximum use levels. For the additives whose intakes were higher than their ADIs, simple distribution assessment was performed with food consumption data from a Chinese total diet study in 2012.ResultsThere are totally 21 food colorants have both ADI values and maximum use levels in GB 2760—2014. These 21 food colorants were included in the assessment by Budget method . The maximum theoretical daily intake of 15 food colorants exceeded their ADIs. Then, these 15 food colorants were assessed by simple distribution assessment. The result showed that the average intakes were below ADIs but the P95 intakes of 2 food colorants exceeded the ADIs in the whole population. Among consumers, the average intakes were also below ADIs, but the P95 intakes of 8 food colorants exceeded the ADIs.ConclusionThe health risks of most food colorant intakes in the national standard were at low levels. However, a few food colorants showed a requirement for further assessment with the actual concentrations in foods to confirm their health risk level.

Lanthanum (La) is widely used in modern industry and agriculture because of its unique physicochemical properties and is broadly exposed in the population. Some studies have shown that La may have some effects on adipogenesis, but there is a lack of related in vivo evidence. In this study, the effects of La(NO3)3 on adipogenesis and its associated mechanism were studied using C57BL/6J mouse model. The results showed that La(NO3)3 exposure caused a decrease in body weight and the percentage of fat content in mice. In addition, the adipose marker molecules and specific adipogenic transcription factors decreased in both white adipose tissue (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT). Detection of signaling pathway‐related molecules revealed that canonical wnt/β‐catenin pathway‐related molecules were upregulated in both adipose tissues. In summary, in vivo exposure to La(NO3)3 might inhibited adipogenesis in mice, possibly through upregulation of the canonical Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway. Lanthanum (La) is widely used in many aspects and might have some effects on adipogenesis. In this study, the effects of La(NO3)3 on adipogenesis and its associated mechanism were studied using C57BL/6J mouse model. The results showed that in vivo exposure to La(NO3)3 might inhibited adipogenesis in mice, possibly through upregulation of the canonical Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sn-2 palmitate is widely used in infant formula. However, little is known about its effects on metabolism and body composition in middle-aged and elderly adults. In a double-blinded, randomized controlled trial, we enrolled Chinese adults aged 45–75 years with self-reported constipation. Individuals were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to a 1,3-dioleoyl-2-palmitoyl-glycerol (OPO)-enriched oil (66% palmitic acid in the sn-2 position) or a control vegetable oil (24% palmitic acid in the sn-2 position) daily for 24 weeks. Skim milk powder was used as the carrier for both fats. Interviews and body composition were performed at baseline, week 4, week 12 and week 24. A fasting blood draw was taken except at week 4. This study was a secondary analysis and considered exploratory. A total of 111 adults (83 women and 28 men, mean age 64.2 ± 7.0 years) were enrolled, of whom 53 were assigned to the OPO group and 57 to the control group. During the intervention, blood glucose, triglyceride, the triglyceride-glucose index, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and remnant cholesterol remained stable, while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol decreased in both groups (p = 0.003). No differences in change were observed between the groups (all p > 0.05). From baseline to week 24, the level of visceral fat increased slightly (p = 0.017), while body weight, total body water, protein, soft lean mass, fat-free mass, skeletal muscle and skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) decreased in two groups (p < 0.01). At weeks 4, 12 and 24, the SMI decreased less in the OPO group than in the control group, with a trend towards significance (p = 0.090). A 24-week daily intake of sn-2-palmitate-enriched oil had no adverse impact on fasting blood glucose, lipids and body composition compared with the control vegetable oil in Chinese adults (funded by Chinese Nutrition Society National Nutrition Science Research Grant, National Key Research and Development Program of China and Wilmar (Shanghai) Biotechnology Research & Development Center Co., Ltd.; ChiCTR1900026480). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yttrium is a typical heavy rare earth element with widespread use in numerous sectors. Only one previous study has indicated that yttrium has the potential to cause developmental immunotoxicity (DIT). Therefore, there remains a paucity of evidence on the DIT of yttrium. This study aimed to explore the DIT of yttrium nitrate (YN) and the self‐recovery of YN‐induced DIT. Dams were treated with 0, 0.2, 2, and 20 mg/kg bw/day YN by gavage during gestation and lactation. No significant changes were found in innate immunity between the control and YN‐treated groups in offspring. In female offspring at postnatal day 21 (PND21), YN markedly inhibited humoral and cellular immune responses, the proliferative capacity of splenic T lymphocytes, and the expression of costimulatory molecules in splenic lymphocytes. Moreover, the inhibitory effect on cellular immunity in female offspring persisted to PND42. Unlike females, YN exposure did not change the adaptive immune responses in male offspring. Overall, maternal exposure to YN showed a strong DIT to offspring, with the lowest effective dose of 0.2 mg/kg in the current study. The toxicity of cellular immunity could persist throughout development into adulthood. There were sex‐specific differences in YN‐induced DIT, with females being more vulnerable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visible-light-based transmission application plays an important role in various types of sensor services for the Internet of Things (IoTs). However, in big data scenarios, current visible-light-based systems cannot achieve concurrent high-speed communication, low-speed communication, and positioning. Therefore, in this article, we propose a smart visible-light-based fusion applications system, named Fasys, to solve the above problem for the big data traffic with heterogeneity. Specifically, for low-speed data services, we propose a novel linear block coding and bit interleaving mechanism, which enhances the LED positioning accuracy and recovers the lost data bits in the interframe gap (IFG). For high-speed data services with traffic possessing burstiness, an elegant statistical reliability analysis framework in regard to latency is proposed based on martingale theory. The backlog martingale process is constructed. Leveraging stopping time theory, a tight upper bound of unreliability is obtained. An arrival abstraction and traffic allocation scheme is designed, which contributes to decouple the reliability requirement as the maximum supportable arrival load. Finally, we implement our Fasys system, and extensive experimental results show that our system can achieve consistent high-precision positioning and low-BER data communication for low-speed data services. And the proposed martingale-based traffic allocation scheme can achieve the provisioning of reliability in regard to the latency for high-speed data services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lanthanum (La) as a rare earth element is widely used in agriculture, industry, and medicine. It has been suggested in several studies that La might influence glycolipid metabolism in vivo. In this study, we used 3T3‐L1 preadipocytes as in vitro cell model to elucidate the effects of La(NO3)3 on adipogenesis and the underlying mechanisms. The results showed that La(NO3)3 could inhibit the adipogenic differentiation of 3T3‐L1 preadipocytes, which showed a decrease in lipid accumulation and the downregulation of specific adipogenic transcription factors. La(NO3)3 exerted its inhibitory effect mainly at the early differentiation stage. Furthermore, La(NO3)3 influenced the S‐phase entry and cell cycle process during the mitotic clonal expansion and regulated the phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and expressions of the proteins in phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway at the early stage of differentiation. Besides, La(NO3)3 upregulated the expressions of wnt10b mRNA and β‐catenin protein and promoted the nucleus translocation of β‐catenin. Additionally, we found that La(NO3)3 could promote the growth of 3T3‐L1 preadipocytes both with and without MDI (3‐isobutyl‐1‐methylxanthine [IBMX], dexamethasone [Dex], and insulin) stimulation. Collectively, these results indicated that La(NO3)3 could inhibit adipogenesis in 3T3‐L1 preadipocytes and influence cell proliferation. Lanthanum (La) as a rare earth element is widely used in many aspects and might influence glycolipid metabolism in vivo. In this study, we used 3T3‐L1 preadipocytes as in vitro cell model to elucidate the effects of La(NO3)3 on adipogenesis. The results showed that La(NO3)3 could inhibit the adipogenic differentiation of 3T3‐L1 preadipocytes and influence the cell cycle process during the mitotic clonal expansion. Also, the wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway might be involved in the inhibitory effect of La(NO3)3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UNLABELLED:We evaluated whether dexamethasone augments the osteogenic capability of bone marrow-derived stromal cells (BMSCs) and muscle tissue-derived stromal cells (MuSCs), both of which are thought to contribute to ectopic bone formation induced by bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2), and determined the underlying mechanisms. Rat BMSCs and MuSCs were cultured in growth media with or without 10-7 M dexamethasone and then differentiated under osteogenic conditions with dexamethasone and BMP-2. The effects of dexamethasone on cell proliferation and osteogenic differentiation, and also on ectopic bone formation induced by BMP-2, were analyzed. Dexamethasone affected not only the proliferation rate but also the subpopulation composition of BMSCs and MuSCs, and subsequently augmented their osteogenic capacity during osteogenic differentiation. During osteogenic induction by BMP-2, dexamethasone also markedly affected cell proliferation in both BMSCs and MuSCs. In an in vivo ectopic bone formation model, bone formation in muscle-implanted scaffolds containing dexamethasone and BMP-2 was more than two fold higher than that in scaffolds containing BMP-2 alone. Our results suggest that dexamethasone potently enhances the osteogenic capability of BMP-2 and may thus decrease the quantity of BMP-2 required for clinical application, thereby reducing the complications caused by excessive doses of BMP-2. HIGHLIGHTS:1. Dexamethasone induced selective proliferation of bone marrow- and muscle-derived cells with higher differentiation potential. 2. Dexamethasone enhanced the osteogenic capability of bone marrow- and muscle-derived cells by altering the subpopulation composition. 3. Dexamethasone augmented ectopic bone formation induced by bone morphogenetic protein-2.