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[Display omitted] • Volatile compounds of flesh and peel tissues of citrus fruit were detected. • PCA and PLS-DA were applied to classify the volatile compounds. • Eight volatile compounds as biomarkers were identified in stem-end rot fruit. • The alpha-guajene as biomarker was screened in green mold rot fruit. Citrus fruit produced some characteristic volatile compounds when infected by fungi compared with the healthy fruit. In the present study, volatile metabolites of postharvest citrus fruit with three different diseases including stem-end rot, blue mold and green mold were detected. Multivariate analysis such as principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were employed to classify the volatile compounds between the infected and non-infected citrus fruit. The results indicated that volatile compounds of unrotten, unrotten-rotten junction, and rotten tissues were successfully classified. Importantly, eight volatile compounds as biomarkers for stem-end rot and one biomarker for green mold of citrus were screened to discriminate the infected citrus fruit. This study offers the application potential of odor profiling of volatile compounds for detecting the fungi infection in postharvest citrus fruit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lead-acid battery has been widely used in stationary energy storages, such as photovoltaic application, grid service and uninterrupted power system due to the advantages of high safety, recyclability, and low cost. However, the low cyclic performance limits its further applications in emerging functions. One of the main failure modes is caused by the high polarization on the PbO 2 positive plate. Herein, the rice husk silica with hierarchical porous structure was used as the positive additive for preventing from the high polarization of the PbO 2 positive plate. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isothermal and X-ray diffraction confirmed that the hierarchical porous rice husk silica enlarged the electrochemical surface area of the PbO 2 positive plate, endowing a high rate of active material utilization and low polarization during the charging process. Compared with the blank plate, the PbO 2 plate with rice husk silica showed improved Coulombic efficiency and a prolonged cycle life. These notable features verify that the porous rice husk silica is a cost-effective positive additive for sustained lead-acid batteries. • Solution-thermal method prepared rice husk silica has hierarchical porous structure and hydroxyl functional groups. • The specific surface area of lead-acid battery positive electrode can be increased by adding rice husk silica. • During the formation process, rice husk silica plays a catalytic role in the conversion to α-PbO2 and β-PbO2. • Compared with other silica, rice husk silica enlarged the electrochemical performance and cycle life of the cells. • At low discharge rates, rice husk silica cell performs better, due to its ion channels and reaction sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Object segmentation is a well-known difficult problem in pattern recognition. Until now, most of the existing object segmentation methods need to go through a time-consuming training phase prior to segmentation. Both robustness and efficiency of the existing methods have room for improvement. In this work, we propose a new methodology, called POSIT, for object segmentation without intensive training process. We construct a part-based shape model to substitute the training process. In the part-based framework, we sequentially register object parts in the prior model to an image so that the searching space is largely reduced. Another advantage of the sequential matching is that, instead of predefining the weighting parameters for the terms in the matching evaluation function, we can estimate the parameters in our model on the fly. Finally, we fine-tune the previous coarse segmentation by localized graph cuts. In the experiments, POSIT has been tested on numerous natural horse and cow images and the obtained results show the accuracy, robustness and efficiency of the proposed object segmentation method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The aim of the study is to improve the physicochemical and Cd(II) adsorption properties of rice bran insoluble dietary fiber (RBIDF). Dynamic high pressure microfluidization (DHPM) (0–150 MPa for 2 times) was investigated as a modification process for RBIDF, determining its effects on physicochemical, structural and Cd(II) adsorption properties. After a 30 MPa treatment, the flake-like surface of RBIDF changed into a fluffy and slightly expanded morphology. However, DHPM-treated RBIDFs at 60, 90 MPa were fragmented and separated into smaller chips. DHPM increased the RBIDF specific surface area and total negative charge. Among all samples, DHPM-treated RBIDF at 150 MPa exhibited the highest Cd(II) adsorption capacity (60.5 μmol/g at pH 2.0), which was 1.46 times that of the untreated sample. Cd(II) adsorption was well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherms models, and Cd(II) removal rate was as high as 56.9% in the simulated small intestine. In conclusion, DHPM shows great potential for enhancing the Cd(II) adsorption capacity by RBIDF. This research deals with the modification of RBIDF by DHPM treatments. The treatments at 120 or 150 MPa obviously increased Cd(II) adsorption capacity by unfolding the stiff structure to expose more oxygen-containing functional groups. DHPM is thus a safe and eco-friendly method to improve the physicochemical and adsorbent properties of RBIDF, which is a promising ingredient for use in food applications. • Dynamic high pressure microfluidization modified insoluble dietary fiber. • Modification increased the specific surface area and total negative charge. • Cd(II) adsorption capacity increased by 46% (pH 2) at 150 MPa. • Adsorption was well fitted by pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models. • Cd(II) removal rate was 56.9% in a simulated intestinal environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) may play an essential role in Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT), which is an important step in tumor metastasis; however, little is known about the global change of lncRNA transcriptome during EMT. To investigate how lncRNA transcriptome alterations contribute to EMT progression regulation, we deep-sequenced the whole-transcriptome of MCF10A as the cells underwent TGF-β-induced EMT. Results Deep-sequencing results showed that the long RNA transcriptome of MCF10A had undergone global changes as early as 8 h after treatment with TGF-β. The expression of 3403 known and novel lncRNAs, and 570 known and novel circRNAs were altered during EMT. To identify the key lncRNA-regulator, we constructed the co-expression network and found all junction nodes in the network are lncRNAs. One junction node, RP6-65G23.5, was further verified as a key regulator of EMT. Intriguingly, we identified 216 clusters containing lncRNAs which were located in “gene desert” regions. The expressions of all lncRNAs in these clusters changed concurrently during EMT, strongly suggesting that these clusters might play important roles in EMT. Our study reveals a global reprogramming of lncRNAs transcriptome during EMT and provides clues for the future study of the molecular mechanism of EMT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Hierarchical nanostructure Co 9 S 8 @CoWO 4 /nitrogen-doped carbon was obtained based on Ostwald ripening mechanism. • Ingenious yolk-shell configuration boosts Li-ion transport and buffers volume expansion during lithiation/delithiation. • Co 9 S 8 @CoWO 4 /nitrogen-doped carbon anode delivers an ultrahigh specific capacity (1053 mAh·g−1 at 500 mA·g−1). • In-situ EIS and Ex-situ SEM were conducted to confirm the successful incubating of stable interfaces. Hierarchical nanostructures that comprise multiple tiers of structural subunits and diverse chemical components can provide more active storage sites and relieve the micro-strain due to volumetric change than solid structures in LIBs. In this work, we designed the facile preparation of a yolk-shell structure based on Ostwald ripening for steady lithium-ion storage with Co 9 S 8 @CoWO 4 /nitrogen-doped carbon nanohybrids (YS-Co 9 S 8 @CoWO 4 -NC) as anodes. This yolk-shell configuration design not only accelerated the diffusion of lithium-ion during the lithiation process but also constructed stable interfaces for achieving more steady cycling. It consequently delivered long cycle stability (780 mAh·g−1 after 250 cycles at 1000 mA·g−1) and excellent rate capacities (1023, 767 mAh·g−1 at 100, 2000 mA·g−1, respectively). Furthermore, in-situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was successfully implemented to monitor interface properties by simultaneously recording the impedance during discharging and charging processes. The incubating of stable interfacial layers was further confirmed by ex-situ SEM. These results fully affirmed the contribution of hierarchical nanostructures to the construction of stable interfaces, achieving long cycle Li-ion storage. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse prenatal factors such as overtake of salt or fat food are potential risks for cardiovascular diseases in offspring. This study tested the hypothesis that prenatal high-salt (HS) diets may influence renal vascular tone and attenuates signaling pathways related to soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) or/and large-conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) (BKCa) channels in the offspring. Pregnant rats were fed either normal salt (NS) (1% NaCl) or HS (8% NaCl) diet for the whole gestation. Offspring were maintained on NS diets. Renal interlobar arteries in offspring were tested for vascular responses to phenylephrine (Phe), K(+) channels and signal pathways related to sGC. Phe induced higher vessel tension in interlobar arteries of the HS offspring. Following pretreatment with BKCa channel inhibitor iberiotoxin, Phe-mediated vasoconstrictions were decreased in HS offspring compared to NS. Phe-mediated constrictions following pretreatment with NO synthase inhibitor N(G)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester or sGC inhibitor 1H-1,2,4-oxadiazolo-4,3-quinoxalin-1-one in the HS offspring were less sensitive than NS. The whole-cell K(+) currents and the component of BKCa channels were not changed in smooth muscle cells from interlobar arteries, whereas the K(+) currents stimulated by sGC activator BAY41-2272 were reduced in the HS offspring. The protein expressions of sGC β1 and β2 in the interlobar arteries of HS offspring were reduced. The results showed that chronic overintake of salt during pregnancy could increase renal vascular tone in the offspring. The affected signal pathways included down-regulation of sGC function and expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the pectin-based edible coatings encapsulating carvacrol/2-hydroxypropyl- β -cyclodextrin inclusion complex (CAR/HP β CD-IC) were fabricated and their antifungal activities were investigated. The inclusion complex of CAR/HP β CD was demonstrated to be successfully synthesized by the characterization of UV–vis spectroscopy, fluorescence emission spectroscopy, FT-IR, 1H NMR, TGA and DSC. The fluorescence emission spectra analysis suggested that stoichiometric ratio of carvacrol and HP β CD for forming the inclusion complex was 1:1. The aqueous solubility and thermal stability of carvacrol were significantly enhanced after inserting into HP β CD cavity. Furthermore, the inclusion complex exhibited strong antifungal activities against pathogens of Botrytis cinerea and Alternaria alternata. On the other hand, an edible active coating was prepared by the addition of CAR/HP β CD-IC into pectin matrix. The steady rheology results of film-coatings indicated that the apparent viscosity of edible coatings was decreased with the addition of CAR/HP β CD-IC. In contrast, CAR/HP β CD-IC increased the thermal stability of pectin. In addition, the pectin/CAR/HP β CD-IC coating as an active packaging material suppressed the colony growth of B. cinerea and A. alternata in vitro. Results from the present study demonstrated that the pectin-based edible coating encapsulating CAR/HP β CD-IC was a promising coating material for food preservation. [Display omitted] ● Carvacrol/2-hydroxypropyl- β -cyclodextrin inclusion complex was synthesized. ● The water solubility of carvacrol was enhanced by forming the inclusion complex. ● The inclusion complex exhibited strong antifungal activities for pathogens. ● The edible coating of pectin/CAR/HP β CD-IC was successfully prepared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Thymol/HP β CD-IC was prepared rapidly by ultrasonication methodology. • Thymol/HP β CD-IC was characterized by X-ray diffraction, FT-IR, 1H-NMR, TGA and DSC. • The aqueous solubility of thymol was enhanced by forming the inclusion complex. • Thymol/HP β CD-IC effectively suppressed the growth of fungi. In this study, the inclusion complex (IC) of thymol with 2-hydroxypropyl- β -cyclodextrin (HP β CD) was fast synthetized by ultrasonic technology and its antifungal activities were evaluated. The thymol/HP β CD-IC was characterized by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence emission spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, FT-IR, 1H-NMR, TGA and DSC. The phase solubility studies proved that the aqueous solubility of thymol was significantly improved by forming the inclusion complex with HP β CD, and the thermal stability analysis showed that thymol/HP β CD-IC had a better thermal stability than pure thymol. The in vitro antifungal activities of thymol/HP β CD-IC against Botrytis cinerea , Penicillium digitatum and Alternaria alternata were significantly improved compared with pure thymol. Furthermore, the gray mold rot of tomatoes was evidently inhibited by thymol/HP β CD-IC treatment in vivo study. Therefore, the complexation with HP β CD assisted by ultrasound is a promising approach to solubilize and stabilize thymol for application as an antifungal agent in fruit preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]