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Objective: This study aimed to optimize the preparation process of polysaccharides from lemon peel and screen out the components with high hypoglycemic activity. Methods: Ultrasonic assisted enzymatic extraction of lemon peel polysaccharide, combined with response surface test to explore the best extraction process, through DEAE-52 anion chromatography and Sephadex G-100 gel column chromatography separation and purification to obtain a homogeneous polysaccharide fraction (named as LPs-1a). The effective hypoglycemic components of lemon peel polysaccharides were screened by α-glucosidase and their relative molecular weight, monosaccharide composition and characteristic groups were analyzed. Results: The optimal extraction process of lemon peel polysaccharide was ultrasonic treatment for at 55 ℃ for 44 min with solid-liquid ratio 1∶20 (g/mL) and cellulase addition rate 1.1%. Under the control of these conditions, the yield of lemon peel polysaccharide was 6.83%, which was close to the predicted value. The LPs-1a fraction significantly inhibited the activity of α-glucosidase with （1.22±0.04） mg/mL of IC50(P＜0.05). The relative molecular weight of this component was 195 260, and it was connected by α-glycosidic bonds and β-glycosidic bonds with a pyranose ring. The morphology of the polysaccharide was fibrous, and it was composed of mannose, rhamnose, glucuronic acid, galacturonic acid, glucose, galactose and arabinose Conclusion: Ultrasound-assisted enzymatic method is helpful in screening the highly hypoglycemic active components of lemon peel polysaccharides.

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) causes severe respiratory illness and is involved in ischemic stroke. Aimed to investigate the inflammatory markers and possible prognosis of COVID‐19‐related ischemic stroke in a special outbreak period after lifting of COVID‐19 control measures in China, we conducted a multicenter retrospective analysis in southern China at three centers in Shenzhen. We included patients diagnosed with acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack after infection with COVID‐19 as the COVID‐19‐related ischemic stroke group and those only diagnosed with acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack as the control group. In this study, the proportion of female patients, admission heart rate, and comorbid coronary heart disease and the proportion of cryptogenic stroke were higher, while the history of prior stroke was lower in the COVID‐19‐related ischemic stroke group. The COVID‐19‐related ischemic stroke group also exhibited elevated levels of monocytes, fibrinogen, alanine aminotransferase, direct bilirubin, monocyte‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and fibrinogen‐to‐albumin ratio (FAR) but decreased levels of lymphocytes, albumin, and high‐density lipoprotein. However, there were no statistically significant differences in the modified Rankin scale (mRS), National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), and mortality rate between the two groups at discharge. Our study is the first to show the alteration in inflammatory markers but no difference in discharge prognosis between the non‐COVID‐19 and the COVID‐19‐related ischemic stroke patients, during China's COVID‐19 relaxation period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This scoping review aims to investigate longitudinal changes in minerals and vitamins concentrations in human milk among the Chinese population. Following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a comprehensive and systematic literature search was conducted using both English and Chinese databases. Data were extracted and categorized into six defined lactation stages. We found that the concentration of most minerals decreased throughout the lactation period, although calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) fluctuated slightly across lactation periods. Fat-soluble vitamins also showed a decline throughout the lactation period, while water-soluble vitamins exhibited an increasing trend. However, folic acid, biotin, and pantothenic acid demonstrated a downward trend. Overall, this review has identified the longitudinal changes in minerals and vitamins concentrations in human milk among the Chinese population. In order to conduct a more in-depth examination of maternal characteristics and nutritional factors of the composition of human milk, it is recommended to utilize standardized protocols for the collection and analysis of human milk samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low sintering temperature (LST) is a great significance for the fabrication of sensors and electronic components. To exploit a system of LST negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistors, Mn/La co-doped WO3 ceramics (MnxLa0.03WO3+δ, x ≤ 0.1, denoted as xMLW) were prepared in this work by a traditional solid-state reaction technology. The phase component, microstructure, and electrical property of the prepared xMLW ceramics were investigated. The xMLW ceramics have the main phase with lattice structure as that of monoclinic WO3 with a space group of P21/n, and show typical NTC characteristics. By varying the concentration of Mn cations, the xMLW ceramics have adjustable room temperature resistivity (ρ25) ranging from 770 Ω·cm to 7.017 kΩ·cm and high thermal-sensitivity constants (B value) ranging from 2695 to 4219 K. The electrical conduction and NTC feature of the ceramics are discussed by analyzing impedance spectrum and lattice defect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermosensitive ceramics with low sintering temperature are of great significance in the research and application of low-temperature co-firing sensitive components. In this work, bismuth-modified samarium cuprate (BixSm2-xCuO4, denoted as xBSCO, x ≤ 0.1) thermistors were prepared by a solid-state reaction method. All ceramics were sintered below 950 °C and show typical NTC effect. The phase component, microstructure, electrical properties of prepared ceramics were investigated. The substitution of Bi-ions reduces the room temperature resistivity (ρ25) of the ceramics. For various contents of Bi-ions, ρ25 of xBSCO ranges from 76 Ω cm to 1297 Ω cm, and all the ceramics have high temperature sensitivity with NTC material constants (B values) between 2237 and 5150 K. The temperature coefficient of resistance at 25 °C (TCR25) of xBSCO is in the range − 5.48% K−1 to − 2.30% K−1. The effect of Bi doping on the structure and property of Sm2CuO4 ceramics is discussed basing on the perspective of band structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Human milk is widely acknowledged as the optimal food for infant aged 0 ~ 6 months. While there has been extensive documentation on the mineral and trace element composition of human milk, results on the relationship between mineral content and infant growth remain mixed. This cross-sectional study aims to explore human milk mineral patterns and to investigate associations between human milk mineral patterns, human milk metabolomic profile and infant growth., Methods: A total of 200 breast milk samples from seven cities in China was included. Human milk mineral and trace elements was detected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). K-means cluster analysis was utilized to derived human milk mineral patterns. Untargeted human milk metabolomic profiles was determined using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Differences of infant growth rate and metabolomic profiles were then compared across patterns identified., Results: Three human milk mineral patterns were identified. Cluster I was characterized as the highest levels of potassium, magnesium and calcium, while the lowest levels of copper, zinc, manganese and selenium. Cluster II showed the most abundant sodium, iron, zinc, manganese and selenium. Cluster III had the lowest levels of sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron and calcium. Infants of cluster I showed significantly higher length-for-age z score (0.60 ± 2.03, p  = 0.03). Compared with other clusters, samples of cluster I showed lower expression of metabolites of arachidonic acid (ARA) and nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism pathway., Discussion: A human milk mineral pattern was identified which is related to increased infant growth rate and altered metabolic signature. Future work is needed to understand these human milk patterns in terms of biologic mechanisms and generalization to other populations., Competing Interests: HS, QX, YL, JP, SJ and KL are employees of Heilongjiang Feihe Dairy Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Sun, Xie, Zhou, Liu, Pan, Xu, Jiang and Li.)

Phospholipids (PLs) and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) are naturally present in breast milk and play important roles in promoting the growth of the infant. Several studies have investigated the effects of the combination of PLs and LCPUFAs on neurodevelopment. However, data on the effectiveness of infant formula containing both PLs and LCPUFAs on the neurodevelopment of infants is still scarce. This randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical study was designed to evaluate the effect of an infant formula enriched with PLs and LCPUFAs on growth parameters and neurodevelopmental outcomes in term infants up to 365 days of age. Infants were enrolled within 30 days of birth who were then randomly assigned to either a control group ( n  = 150) or an investigational group ( n  = 150). Both groups consist of cow's milk-based formula which were generally identical in terms of composition, except that the investigational formula was additionally supplemented with PLs and LCPUFAs. The infants were followed for the first year of life. Breastfed infants were the reference ( n  = 150). Bayley Scales of Infant Development [3rd edition (Bayley-III)], Carey Toddler Temperament Scales (TTS), MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDI), Single Object Attention and Free Play Tasks were used to evaluate neurodevelopmental outcomes of infant at 365 days of age. In addition, Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) were also conducted at 120, 180, and 275 days of age. Compared to breastfeeding, both infant formulas were well-tolerated and provided adequate growth, with no adverse events being reported throughout the study. Infants of the investigational group showed higher mean scores in Bayley-III cognitive performance (104.3 vs. 99.0, p  < 0.05), language (106.9 vs. 104.5, p  < 0.05), and motor skills (109.2 vs. 103.9, p  < 0.05) compared the control group. Similar results were being reported for other developmental scales including TTS and ASQ. Notably, the test scores of infants fed the investigational formula were similar to those who were breastfed. Our results indicate that PL and LCPUFA supplementation may be beneficial for neurodevelopment of infants throughout the first year of life. Further studies are needed to investigation long-term effects PL and LCPUFA on neurodevelopment in early life., Competing Interests: QR, JP, KL, and QX are employed by Feihe Dairy Co., Ltd., Tsitsihar, China. Feihe Dairy Co., Ltd., Tsitsihar, China supported the processing and production of clinical trial formula. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Ren, Zhu, Pan, Li, Zhou, Lyu, Xie and Xu.)

In order to broaden the sensing bandwidth of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors, we propose and demonstrate a dual-channel SPR fiber optic sensor with wide bandwidth. The sensor is fabricated using no-core fiber (NCF), in which the film consists of a silver film and a ZnO film. The sensing characteristics are investigated by simulation and experiment. The resonance wavelength range of the SPR sensor can be significantly tuned by varying the thickness of the ZnO film. In the experiments, a dual-channel SPR sensor that can be used for simultaneous detection of temperature and refractive index was realized by cascading ZnO/Ag film with Ag film. The experimental results show that the two sensing channels are independent without crosstalk. The sensitivity of this sensor is 3512 nm/RIU in the range of 1.333 ∼ 1.385 and 4.6 nm/°C in the range of 0 ∼ 60 °C, which is better than most of the current dual-channel SPR sensors. In addition, the experimental results show that this sensor has good stability in use. The sensor proposed in this work has the advantages of a wide operating wavelength range, simple and compact structure, and high sensitivity. It has a broad application prospect in the simultaneous measurement of refractive index and temperature of liquids.