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Porphyromonas gingivalisis a notorious keystone periodontal pathogen. However, it is difficult to selectively inhibit its growth in the oral cavity. Thereby, liposome-based antibacterial agents were investigated to suppress the growth of P. gingivalis. The antibacterial activities of enzymatically prepared lysolecithin-fatty acid liposomes (Lyso-FAL) were comparable to those of free-form linoleic acid in a simple aqueous system with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 4.8 μg/mL. However, this value was 2.8-fold lower than those of the lecithin liposomes including the same amount of free fatty acids (e.g., linoleic acid). This indicated that the lysolecithin liposomes are very efficient in the delivery of free fatty acids from the aqueous medium to P. gingivalis. Remarkably, the antibacterial activities in the presence of milk and milk alternatives were significantly stronger (MIC, 35 μg/mL) than free-form linoleic acid (MIC, ≥100 μg/mL). The higher antibacterial activities of the liposomal fatty acids might be due to the efficient delivery of the antibacterial fatty acids from the liposomes to P. gingivaliseven in the presence of emulsified fat globules and protein micelles in milk and milk substitutes. Besides, the lysolecithin-free fatty acid liposomes hardly inhibited the growth of Gram (+) bacteria including the oral probiotics (e.g., Limosilactobacillusreuteri). Overall, we envisage that the lysolecithin liposomes may serve as an excellent nano-scale delivery system of multi-functional free fatty acids to targets in complex food systems.

Near-infrared photothermal therapy has been investigated extensively with regard to selective tumor eradication, yet its clinical translation has been limited because of the absence of FDA-approvable agents with effective phototherapeutic function and minimal systemic toxicity. In this work, we developed photothermally amplified therapeutic liposomes in an attempt to synergize chemotherapy and hyperthermia for effective cancer phototherapy. The anticancer drug cisplatin and the photothermal agent indocyanine green (ICG) were encapsulated in a thermosensitive liposomal formulation at the lipid/ICG ratio maximizing the ICG loading efficiency. These liposomes released cytotoxic cisplatin molecules selectively via ICG-mediated photothermal stimulation. In phototherapeutic studies, these liposomes amplified therapeutic effects both in vitro in cancer cells and in vivo in mouse tumor models significantly over chemotherapy or photothermal therapy alone. We believe that these photothermally amplified therapeutic liposomes composed solely of already FDA-approved components (cisplatin, ICG, and phospholipids) have enormous potential for clinical translation in treating various tumors compatible with laser irradiation.

•Cross-cultural studies deal with different aspects of culture depending on research goals.•Roots and dimensions of culture are missing in most of recent cross-cultural studies.•Eastern vs. Western dimension is limited to elucidate cultural effects in sensory research.•Culture-as-situated cognition provides a new perspective on research methodology.•Paradigm shifts in cross-cultural research accounting for the rise of internet were also discussed.

In this study, we engineered liposomal indocyanine green (ICG) to maximize its photothermal effects while maintaining the fluorescence intensity. Various liposomal formulations of ICG were prepared by varying the lipid composition and the molar ratio between total lipid and ICG, and their photothermal characteristics were evaluated under near-infrared irradiation. We showed that the ICG dispersity in the liposomal membrane and its physical interaction with phospholipids were the main factors determining the photothermal conversion efficiency. In phototherapeutic studies, the optimized formulation of liposomal ICG showed greater anticancer effects in a mouse tumor model compared with other liposomal formulations and the free form of ICG. Furthermore, we utilized liposomal ICG to visualize the metastatic lymph node around the primary tumor under fluorescence imaging guidance and ablate the lymph node with the enhanced photothermal effect, indicating the potential for selective treatment of metastatic lymph node.

A huge amount of phospholipids or lecithin is produced as a byproduct in the vegetable oil industry. However, most are just used as a feed additive. This study has focused on enzymatic valorization of lecithin. This was exploited by enzymatic transformation of soy lecithin into lysolecithin liposomes, including functional free fatty acids, hydroxy fatty acids, hydrocarbons, or secondary fatty alcohols. One of the representative examples was the preparation of lysolecithin liposomes containing secondary fatty alcohols [e.g., 9-Hydroxyheptadec-11-ene (9) and 9-heptadecanol (10)] by using a phospholipase A2 from Streptomyces violaceoruber, a fatty acid double-bond hydratase from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and a photoactivated decarboxylase from Chlorella variabilisNC64A. The engineered liposomes turned out to range ca. 144 nm in diameter by dynamic light scattering analysis. Thereby, this study will contribute to application of functional fatty acids and their derivatives as well as valorization of lecithin for the food and cosmetic industries.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of steeping conditions of waxy rice, temperatures (15, 25, and 35°C) and time periods (1, 11, and 21 days) on the expansion ratio of gangjung(a traditional Korean oil-puffed rice snack). Physicochemical properties of waxy rice flour steeped under various conditions and expansion properties of gangjungmade of the steeped waxy rice flour were investigated, and multiple regression analyses were applied between those properties to identify major physicochemical factors that optimally predict the expansion ratio of gangjung. As steeping temperature and time periods of waxy rice changed from the lowest to the highest, the expansion ratio of gangjungmarkedly increased (from 1,022 to 2,533%). Yet, the expansion ratio of the waxy rice sample steeped for 11–21 days at 35°C was not significantly different from the sample steeped for 21 days at 25°C, indicating that the lengthy steeping process for gangjungmaking can be shortened by increasing the steeping temperature. Physicochemical properties include moisture (? = 0.85), protein (? = –0.91), ash (? = –0.84), potassium (? = –0.89), magnesium (? = –0.88), phosphorous (? = –0.91), peak viscosity (? = 0.77), and breakdown (? = 0.94) of steeped waxy rice flour. These properties were highly correlated with expansion ratio (P< 0.01). Multiple regression analysis showed that the expansion ratio of gangjungwas predicted successfully by the phosphorous content and breakdown value of steeped waxy rice flour.

Coffee served at temperatures recommended by the hospitality and food literatures for brewing and holding are above thermal pain and damage thresholds. Yet, consumers do not report pain or damage on drinking coffee at such temperatures. To investigate this discrepancy, the temperature of hot coffee before and during sipping was investigated for 18 subjects. Coffee temperature was continuously monitored by thermocouples in the cup, in the coffee bolus in the oral cavity and on the surface of the tongue. There was minimal cooling as the coffee entered the mouth from the cup, yet the coffee temperature was still above threshold for inducing burn damage. It is hypothesized that during drinking, the bolus of hot coffee is not held in the mouth long enough to heat the epithelial surfaces sufficiently to cause pain or tissue damage.

Stimulus frequency context effects were noted for stimuli with positive, negative and no skew, using aqueous NaCl stimuli of different concentrations as a model system and orange juice stimuli with added amounts of sucrose as a beverage system. The hypothesis that analysis by signal detection Δm values, rather than individually rated intensity values, would result in the absence of the context effect, was not confirmed.