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Low-temperature cooking causes flavor weakness while improving the texture and digestive properties of meat. To enhance the flavor of low-temperature cooked Tibetan pork, samples were cooked at low-temperature with or without ultrasound-assisted (UBTP, BTP) for different times (30 min, 90 min) and then analyzed using GC-MS and LC-MS. The results showed that ultrasound-assisted cooking caused a significant increase in lipid oxidation by 9.10% in the early stage of the treatment. Additionally, at the later stage of ultrasound-assisted processing, proteins were oxidized and degraded, which resulted in a remarkable rise in the protein carbonyl content by 6.84%. With prolonged effects of ultrasound and low-temperature cooking, the formation of phenylacetaldehyde in UBTP-90 sample originated from the degradation of phenylalanine through multivariate statistics and correlation analysis. Meanwhile, trans, cis-2,6-nonadienal and 1-octen-3-one originated from the degradation of linolenic acid and arachidonic acid. This study clarified the mechanism of ultrasound-assisted treatment improving the flavor of low-temperature-cooked Tibetan pork based on the perspective of lipids and proteins oxidation, providing theoretical supports for flavor enhancement in Tibetan pork-related products., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The challenge of meat quality degradation due to transportation difficulties in high-altitude plateaus underscores the importance of an efficient thawing process for Tibetan pork to ensure its quality. This study compared four thawing methods ultrasound thawing (UT), refrigerator thawing (RT), hydrostatic thawing (HT), and microwave thawing (MT) to assess their impact on the quality of Tibetan pork, focusing on thawing loss, tenderness, color variation, and alterations in protein secondary structure and moisture content. Additionally, the study examined the impact of thawing on the metabolites of Tibetan pork using metabolomics techniques. The results indicated that UT yielded the highest quality samples. UT significantly accelerated the thawing rate and had minimal impact on tenderness compared to traditional thawing methods. Moreover, protein and lipid oxidation levels were reduced by UT treatment. Furthermore, it enhanced the binding capacity of protein and water molecules, reduced drip loss, and maintained meat color stability. What's more, amino acid metabolites such as l-glutamic acid, l-proline, oxidized glutathione, and 1-methylhistidine played a significant role in thawing oxidation in Tibetan pork, exhibiting a positive correlation with protein oxidation. UT resulted in a notable decrease in the levels of hypoxanthine and 2-aminomethylpyrimidine, contributing to the reduction of bitterness in the thawed meat and consequently enhancing the freshness of Tibetan pork. This study offers novel insights into understanding the biological changes occurring during the thawing process, while also furnishing a theoretical framework and technical assistance to improve the quality of Tibetan pork and propel advancements in food processing technology., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Yes-associated protein (YAP) is a mechanosensitive protein crucial for bone remodeling. Although research has identified pathways and components involved in YAP regulation, the precise mechanisms of its localization during Piezo1 activation or vibration remain unclear. Piezo1, a mechanosensitive ion channel, allows calcium ions to flow into cells upon activation. Recent studies suggest that combining Yoda1, a Piezo1 activator, with low-magnitude high-frequency (LMHF) vibration (>30 Hz, <1 g acceleration) enhances YAP nuclear translocation. This combination potentially improves the mechanoresponse and therapeutic efficacy of LMHF vibration in bone cells. This study aims to elucidate how Yoda1 and LMHF vibration regulate mechanosensitive structures and pathways, leading to YAP nuclear translocation in MLO-Y4 osteocyte like cells. We investigated the roles of the cytoskeleton and nuclear envelope (NE) in YAP activation under combined LMHF vibration and Yoda1 treatments. Additionally, we analyzed differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in MLO-Y4 cells subjected to these treatments and in Piezo1 knockdown MLO-Y4 cells exposed to vibration. Our findings indicated that increased YAP nuclear translocation with combined treatment may result from the distinct effects of Yoda1 and vibration. Specifically, Yoda1 influenced YAP through mechanisms involving actin and NE dynamics, while LMHF vibration may modulate YAP via the interleukin 6 (IL6)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) axis. This study provides new insights and potential therapeutic targets for osteocyte-related pathologies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

As a natural emulsifier, egg white protein (EWP) has great interfacial characteristics and high security, and has broad development prospects. This study explored the impact of ultrasound synergized citral (CI) treatment on the microstructure, molecular flexibility and emulsifying property of EWP, and predicted the interaction between CI and ovalbumin (the main protein in EWP) through molecular docking. The decrease in free amino content and the growth in molecular weight of EWP suggested that CI and proteins were successfully grafted. The results of physicochemical properties revealed that UCEWP (ultrasound synergized citral-treated EWP) had smaller particle size and larger ζ-potential absolute value, which meant that the stability of UCEWP system was enhanced. From the perspective of interfacial characteristics, UCEWP had lower interfacial tension, which remarkably improved its emulsifying property. The emulsifying activity index (EAI) and emulsifying stability index (ESI) of UCEWP were 1.99 times and 3.19 times higher than that of natural EWP (NEWP). Analysis of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and fluorescence spectroscopy illustrated that the secondary and tertiary structures of UCEWP were more disordered and stretched than those of EWPs. Protein microstructure demonstrated that UCEWP presented loose small particle distribution, and correlation analysis reflected that the improvement of molecular flexibility was positively correlated with the enhancement of emulsifying property. These results elucidated that ultrasound synergized CI treatment is an effective mean to improve the molecular flexibility and emulsifying property of EWP, which provides a valuable reference for further application of EWP., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Crocus sativus L. (C. sativus) has its stigma as the main valuable part used. With extremely low production and high prices, stigma is considered a scarce resource. As a result, its petals, considered as by-products, are often discarded, leading to significant waste. We developed a UPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS method for qualitative analysis of stigmas and petals and a UHPLC-QQQ-MS/MS method for simultaneous quantification of 9 characteristic active compounds for the first time, and compared their biological activity in vitro. The results indicated that a total of 63 compounds were identified in the petals and stigmas. The content of flavonoids in the petals was significantly superior to that in the stigma, and the content of quercetin in the petals was 50 times higher than that in the stigma. The results of the in vitro evaluation of biological activity indicated that both the petals （•OH: IC 50 =39.70 mg/mL; DPPH: IC 50 =28.37 mg/mL; ABTS: IC 50 =0.9868 mg/mL）and stigma （•OH: IC 50 =34.41 mg/mL; DPPH: IC 50 =38.99 mg/mL; ABTS: IC 50 =3.194 mg/mL）demonstrated comparable antioxidant activities. However, the tyrosinase inhibitory activity in petals （IC 50 =21.17 mg/mL） was weaker than that in stigma（IC 50 =1.488 mg/mL）. This study provides a fast, reliable, and efficient analytical method that can be used for the quality assessment of petals as a natural resource and its related products in the food and pharmaceutical industries., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is characterized by a sudden decline in renal function. Traditional Chinese medicine has employed Fuzi for kidney diseases; however, concerns about neurotoxicity and cardiotoxicity have constrained its clinical use. This study explored mesaconine, derived from processed Fuzi, as a promising low-toxicity alternative for AKI treatment. In this study, we assessed the protective effects of mesaconine in gentamicin (GM)-induced NRK-52E cells and AKI rat models in vitro and in vivo, respectively. Mesaconine promotes the proliferation of damaged NRK-52E cells and down-regulates intracellular transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) and kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1) to promote renal cell repair. Concurrently, mesaconine restored mitochondrial morphology and permeability transition pores, reversed the decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential, mitigated mitochondrial dysfunction, decreased ATP production, inhibited inflammatory factor release, and reduced early apoptosis rates. In vivo, GM-induced AKI rat models exhibited elevated AKI biomarkers, in which mesaconine was effectively reduced, indicating improved renal function. Mesaconine enhanced superoxide dismutase activity, reduced malondialdehyde content, alleviated inflammatory infiltrate, mitigated tubular and glomerular lesions, and downregulated NF-κB (nuclear factor-κb) p65 expression, leading to decreased tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and IL-1β (interleukin-1β) levels in GM-induced AKI animals. Furthermore, mesaconine inhibited the expression of renal pro-apoptotic proteins (Bax, cytochrome c, cleaved-caspase 9, and cleaved-caspase 3) and induced the release of the anti-apoptotic protein bcl-2, further suppressing apoptosis. This study highlighted the therapeutic potential of mesaconine in GM-induced AKI. Its multifaceted mechanisms, including the restoration of mitochondrial dysfunction, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, and apoptosis mitigation, make mesaconine a promising candidate for further exploration in AKI management., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Periodontitis, which is related to various systemic diseases, is a chronic inflammatory disease caused by periodontal dysbiosis of the microbiota. Multiple factors can influence the interaction of periodontitis and associated inflammatory disorders, among which host immunity is an important contributor to this interaction. Innate immunity can be activated aberrantly because of the systemic inflammation induced by periodontitis. This aberrant activation not only exacerbates periodontal tissue damage but also impairs systemic health, triggering or aggravating inflammatory comorbidities. Therefore, innate immunity is a potential therapeutic target for periodontitis and associated inflammatory comorbidities. This review delineates analogous aberrations of innate immune cells in periodontitis and comorbid conditions such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, obesity, and rheumatoid arthritis. The mechanisms behind these changes in innate immune cells are discussed, including trained immunity and clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), which can mediate the abnormal activation and myeloid-biased differentiation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Besides, the expansion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), which have immunosuppressive and osteolytic effects on peripheral tissues, also contributes to the interaction between periodontitis and its inflammatory comorbidities. The potential treatment targets for relieving the risk of both periodontitis and systemic conditions are also elucidated, such as the modulation of innate immunity cells and mediators, the regulation of trained immunity and CHIP, as well as the inhibition of MDSCs' expansion., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Aim: To investigate the association between mental health symptoms, alcohol use, and alcohol misuse among psychiatrists in China during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: We conducted an online survey to collect data regarding mental health symptoms and alcohol use among psychiatrists in early 2020. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-Chinese Version (DASS-21) was used to assess depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) was used to assess alcohol use., Results: In total, 3774 psychiatrists completed the survey. AUDIT-C scores were positively correlated with DASS total and depression, anxiety, and stress subscales (total: r = 0.015, depression: r = 0.121, anxiety: r = 0.103, and stress: r = 0.096, all p < 0.05). Alcohol misuse was associated with male sex (OR = 4.754), cigarette smoking (OR = 2.441), administrative position (OR = 1.811), depression (OR = 1.489), and stress (OR = 1.504). Those who reported increased alcohol use during the pandemic were more likely to be male (OR = 2.174), endorse anxiety symptoms (OR = 2.386), or increased stress (OR = 2.402)., Conclusions: Mental health symptoms were common among psychiatrists during the COVID-19 pandemic. Depression and stress symptoms were significantly associated with alcohol misuse. Anxiety and stress symptoms were associated with reported increases in alcohol use. Though a causal relationship cannot be inferred, our findings suggest that strategies promoting healthcare professionals' mental well-being should include alcohol use., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The dry separate curing of duck egg yolks was carried out by ultrasonic synergize NaCl (sodium chloride) and NaCl alone. The mechanism of the amelioration of salted egg yolk quality by ultrasonic synergistic NaCl dry-curing was studied. The quality variations of the salted egg yolks were analyzed for the same curing time and NaCl content achieved by ultrasonic synergistic NaCl curing and NaCl curing alone. The results showed that under the same salting time, the NaCl content, oil exudation and chewiness of U48-SEY (ultrasonic for 48 h-salted egg yolk) were higher than those in SEY (salted egg yolk). At the same NaCl content, the oil exudation and chewiness of U44-SEY (ultrasonic for 44 h-salted egg yolk) were still significantly increased. Compared to SEY, the soluble protein content and H 0 of U44-SEY and U48-SEY were augmented. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated that the polyhedral particles in the salted egg yolks prepared by ultrasonic synergistic NaCl dry-curing were closely aligned and evenly distributed, and the salted egg yolks were sandier. Structural analysis revealed that the secondary and tertiary structures of egg yolk protein were changed although the ultrasonic synergistic NaCl dry-curing did not cause the fragmentation or aggregation of the peptide chain structure. The above results suggested that ultrasonic not only perfected the quality of salted egg yolk by promoting NaCl penetration, but also modified the structures of egg yolk protein by the action of ultrasonic itself, which prominently improved the quality of salted egg yolks., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this study, a stable aqueous solution of paprika oleoresin (PO, the natural colorant extracted from the fruit peel of Capsicum annuum L) was constructed. The solubility of PO in an alkline aqueous solution (pH 10.95-11.10) increased rapidly. However, the aqueous solution of PO (pH 12.00) was unstable, obvious stratification was observed, and the color retention rate was only 52.99% after 28 days of storage. Chicken egg yolk low-density lipoprotein (LDL) was added combined with ultrasonic treatment to improve the stability of LDL-PO solution. The method could decrease the turbidity by 17.5 %, reduce the average particle size of the LDL-PO solution (13.9%), and enhance the interaction and combination of LDL and PO. The prepared PO aqueous solution was used in yogurt, egg white gel, fish balls and soymilk, and it could significantly improve the color of products and provided potential health benefits., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Social anxiety is characterized by an intense fear of evaluation from others and/or withdrawal from social situations. Extreme social anxiety can lead to social anxiety disorder. There remains an urgent need to investigate the neural substrates of subclinical social anxiety for early diagnosis and intervention to reduce the risk to develop social anxiety disorder. Twenty-nine young adults were recruited (10 males/19 females; mean age (SD) = 20.34 (2.29)). Trait-like social anxiety was assessed by Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used with an emotional face-matching paradigm to probe brain activation in response to emotional stimuli including angry, fearful, and happy faces, with shape-matching as a control condition. Behavioral results showed positive correlations between Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale scores and the reaction time in both angry and fearful conditions. The activation of superficial amygdala and the deactivation of basal forebrain in response to angry condition showed positive correlations with the level of social anxiety. In addition, the resting-state functional connectivity between these two regions was negatively correlated with the level of social anxiety. These results may help to understand the individual difference and corresponding neural underpinnings of social anxiety in the subclinical population, and might provide some insight to develop strategies for early diagnosis and interventions of social anxiety to reduce the risk of deterioration from subclinical to clinical level of social anxiety., (Copyright © 2022 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) training has a positive effect on number-related cognitive abilities. While visuospatial strategy may distinguish AMC from conventional calculation method, the underlying neural mechanism is still elusive. The current study aimed to address this question by examining the plasticity of fusiform induced by AMC training and whether this training affects the association between the volume of fusiform and behavioral performance in numerical cognitive tasks using voxel-based morphometry analysis. The results showed that gray matter volumes of bilateral fusiform were significantly smaller in the AMC group relative to the control group. In addition, the volume of right fusiform was positively correlated with digit memory span and negatively correlated with reaction time of an arithmetic operation task only within the AMC group. These results indicate that bilateral fusiform may be the essential neural substrate for AMC experts to recognize and reconstruct abacus-based representations for numbers. These results may advance our understanding of the neural mechanisms of AMC and shield some lights to potential interactions between brain development and cognitive training in children., (Copyright © 2022 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Fyn, a non-receptor tyrosine kinase, plays an important role in microglial-mediated neuroinflammation and may serve as a candidate therapeutic target for neuropsychiatric diseases. In this study, we discovered that chrysin, a natural flavonoid compound, suppressed the activation of Fyn kinase and further alleviated neuroinflammation-induced neuron damage and behavior deficits. Functionally, chrysin improved lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced memory impairment and depressive behaviors in mice, it also protected against LPS-induced neuronal degeneration and loss and synaptic defects in mice. Our study demonstrated that chrysin inhibited the activation of microglia and reduced the expression of NLRP3 and IL-1β. Furthermore, our data indicated that chrysin blocked phosphorylation of Fyn and activation of NF-κB. Transfection with siRNA-Fyn validated that knockdown of Fyn partly abolished the inhibitory effect of chrysin on the expression of the NLRP3 inflammasome and NF-κB activation. Taken together, our findings revealed that chrysin alleviated LPS-induced neuron damage and behavioral deficits by inhibiting the expression of the NLRP3 inflammasome and NF-κB pathway, which might be mediated by inhibition of Fyn., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In order to expand the applications of plant protein in food formulations, enhancement of its functionalities is meaningful. Herein, the effects of ultrasonic (20 KHz, 400 W, 20 min)-assisted pH shift (pH 10 and 12) treatment on the structure, interfacial behaviors, as well as the emulsifying and foaming properties of perilla protein isolate (PPI) were investigated. Results showed that the solubility of PPI treated by ultrasonic-assisted pH shift (named UPPI-10/12) exceeded 90 %, which was at least 2 and 1.4 times that of untreated PPI and ultrasound-based PPI. Meanwhile, UPPI-10/12 possessed higher foamability (increasing by at least 1.2 times) and good emulsifying stability. Ultrasonic-assisted pH shift treatment decomposed large PPI aggregates into tiny particles, evident from the dynamic light scattering (DLS) and atomic force microscopy results. Besides, this approach induced a decrease in α-helix of PPI and an increase in β-sheet, which might result in the exposure of the hydrophobic group on the structural surface of PPI, thus leading to the increase of surface hydrophobicity. The smaller size and higher hydrophobicity endowed UPPI-10/12 faster adsorption rate, tighter interfacial structure, and higher elastic modulus at the air- and oil-water interfaces, evident from the cryo-SEM and interfacial dilatational rheological results. Thus, the emulsifying and foaming properties could evidently enhance. This study demonstrated that ultrasonic-assisted pH shift technique was a simple approach to effectively improve the functional performance of PPI., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The bacteriostatic effects of high-intensity ultrasonic treatment (HIU) on Bacillus subtilis vegetative cells were evaluated, and the related mechanisms were explored using quantitative proteomics. The bacteriostatic effect of HIU on B. subtilis was proportional to the ultrasound treatment time and power, and the number of cultivable B. subtilis cells was decreased by approximately one log (at 270 W for 15 min) or half log (at 90 W for 25 min or 360 W for 5 min). Scanning electron microscopy images and gel electrophoresis results showed that HIU caused the destruction of the cell structure and intracellular protein leakage. In addition, HIU treatment at 270 W for 15 min resulted in the greatest decrease (84.22%) in intracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content. The quantitative proteomic analysis showed that B. subtilis resisted the stress of HIU treatment by regulating the key proteins in physiological activities related to membrane transport (ATP-binding cassette [ABC] transporter), signal transduction (the two-component system), and energy metabolism (the tricarboxylic acid [TCA] cycle). HIU-induced physical damage, stress, and metabolic disorders were the main causes of the bacteriostatic effects on B. subtilis. These findings provide a foundation for the subsequent optimization and potential applications of HIU inactivation of B. subtilis., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

As a high-order cognitive ability, creativity is viewed as the result of complex interplay between a set of mental processes. However, previous studies have mainly tested one-to-one mutual relations between creativity and other cognitive abilities. It lacks studies to examine whether creativity is related to the interaction between cognitive systems. The current study aimed to fill this gap by testing the relations of creativity to the interactions between cognitive control and episodic memory systems using both behavioral and neuroimaging methods. The Alternative Uses Task was used to measure the divergent component of creativity. A computer-based behavioral task was used to measure cognitive control, episodic memory, and their interactions. Additionally, the interactions between cognitive systems were characterized by computing the resting-state functional connectivity between hippocampus and prefrontal regions, which are the neural substrates for episodic memory and cognitive control, respectively. By analyzing these behavioral and neuroimaging data, the behavioral results indicated that creativity was significantly related to the effect of cognitive control induced by switching tasks or proactive cues on subsequent memories of items or sources. Additionally, neuroimaging results showed that creativity was significantly related to the connectivity from hippocampus to both left superior frontal gyrus and middle frontal gyrus. Such relations were also differentiated between anterior and posterior hippocampus. Altogether, these findings suggest that creativity is related to interactions between cognitive control and episodic memory, supporting the claim that creativity is the result of complex interplay between high-order cognitive functions., (Copyright © 2021 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Epidermal wax plays a critical role in plant resistance and fruit storage properties. As such, the regulation of wax production is of great importance in fruit, but there is limited information about this process in citrus plants. In this study, we investigated the role of the Citrus sinensis transcription factor CsMYB30 in the regulation of wax synthesis by cloning and ectopically expressing the gene in Arabidopsis and examining the effects on wax formation and stress tolerance. CsMYB30 transgenic Arabidopsis plants showed improved tolerance to salt and drought stresses compared to their wild-type counterparts. Ectopic expression of CsMYB30 also caused changes to the microstructure of wax crystals and wax composition, a significant increase in wax load, and a decrease in the permeability of leaf epidermis. Additionally, most genes related to the wax synthesis pathway were upregulated at the transcription level. These findings suggest that CsMYB30 is a transcriptional regulator of wax production in citrus and can serve as a potential target gene in genetic engineering or breeding efforts to improve citrus fruit resistance and storage performance., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Study Objectives: Research has documented that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with increased adult sleep disturbances, little is known about whether positive childhood experiences (PCEs) influence sleep health in adulthood. This study aimed to examine the associations of ACEs and PCEs with adulthood insomnia, as well as the extent to which PTSD and depressive symptoms mediated these associations., Methods: A sample of 7245 adults in China (male 32.7%; mean age 38.09 years, SD = 7.84, range from 18 to 81) completed self-report questionnaires to assess ACEs, PCEs, PTSD and depressive symptoms. Multiple linear regressions were used to examine the independent and interaction effects of ACEs and PCEs on insomnia. Path analyses were performed to examine the direct and indirect effects of ACEs and PCEs on insomnia., Results: After adjustment of demographics, ACEs (β = 0.11, p < 0.001) and PCEs (β = -0.09, p < 0.001) were both independently associated with adulthood insomnia, while the relationship between PCEs and insomnia was weakened but still significant among participants with high levels of ACEs. After controlling for demographics, PTSD and depressive symptoms partially mediated the overall effect of PCEs on insomnia, and fully mediated the relationship between ACEs and insomnia., Conclusions: These data demonstrate that both positive and adverse childhood experiences influence adulthood insomnia. The findings highlight the importance of joint assessment of PCEs and ACEs to prevent and intervene insomnia. Optimizing the early childhood environment may help to foster healthy sleep throughout the life course., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Solvent and physical treatment are widely used in egg yolk processing, but the detailed changes in the molecular structure of egg yolk proteins during processing are unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ethanol and ultrasonic treatments on chicken egg yolk low-density lipoprotein (LDL). The solubility, emulsifying activity and emulsifying stability decreased by 74.75%, 46.91%, and 81.58% after ethanol treatment, respectively. The average particle size of ethanol-treated LDL increased 13.3-fold to 937.85 nm. These results suggested that ethanol treatment induced wide-ranging aggregation of LDL. In contrast to ethanol treatment, ultrasonic treatment promoted the solubility and emulsifying stability of LDL and enhanced its zeta-potential (119.56%) and surface hydrophobicity (10.81%). Based on particle size analysis and transmission electron microscopy, approximately 34.65% of LDL had undergone aggregation and the molecular interface became more flexible after ultrasonic treatment. These results revealed the detailed changes in egg yolk LDL structure and properties during solvent (ethanol) and physical (ultrasound) processing., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper, (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Accumulating evidence indicates a positive effect of abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) training on various cognitive functions including short-term memory (STM). Our previous work has shown AMC training-induced activation changes in the frontal-parietal network (FPN) using task fMRI. However, whether AMC training-induced functional plasticity in the same brain network can be detected at resting state remains unknown. The current study aimed to address this question using resting state functional connectivity in a longitudinal AMC training experiment engaging a training group (18 subjects, age = 21.439 ± 0.565) and a control group (18 subjects, age = 21.113 ± 1.140). Our results revealed that the average functional connectivity strength within the FPN showing task activation changes was significantly enhanced after training in the AMC group, whereas it remained stable in the control group. Further analysis indicated that such connectivity increase in the AMC group was primarily driven by the enhanced coupling of bilateral superior parietal lobules (SPL). In addition, a significant and positive correlation between letter forward memory span and SPL connectivity was found at post-training session in the AMC group. While the weakest quartile of SPL connections ranking by pre-training connectivity strength showed the largest effect of enhancement after training, it was the strongest quartile of SPL connectivity that correlated the most with memory span at post-training session. These findings suggest that AMC training may enhance bilateral SPL functional connectivity, through which AMC training might exert a transfer effect to improve short-term memory capacity., (Copyright © 2020 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aim: Individual vulnerability to shift work disorder (SWD) varies. The aim of the present study was to verify the individual characteristics that predicted SWD onset by following Chinese intern nurses who at baseline had not worked rotating or night shifts., Methods: A total of 706 Chinese first-year intern female nurses aged 16-24 years were recruited. At baseline (T 0 ), they reported demographic characteristics, insomnia symptoms and excessive sleepiness, trait neuroticism, sleep reactivity, morningness, and circadian flexibility and languidity. At the three-month (T 1 ) and six-month (T 2 ) follow-up, the SWD status was determined based on significant sleep disturbance and/or excessive sleepiness in the context of working a rotating shift schedule., Results and Conclusions: The prevalence rates of SWD were 35.2% at T 1 and 37.7% at T 2 . Two bivariate logistics regressions revealed that morningness (odds ratio [OR] = 1.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.09-1.58, T 1 ; OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.12-1.65, T 2 ), languidity (OR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.28-1.90, T 1 ), and sleep reactivity (OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.07-1.57, T 1 ; OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.07-1.61, T 2 ) predicted the onset of SWD, while flexibility (OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.62-0.90, T 1 ) decreased the odds of SWD onset. By comparing nurses with SWD and nurses without SWD across all six months, morningness (OR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.20-2.07), sleep reactivity (OR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.16-2.04), languidity (OR = 1.70, 95% CI = 1.30-2.22), and flexibility (OR = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.54-0.90) showed significant effects on persistent SWD., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The effects of high-intensity ultrasonic (HIU) treatment on the functional properties of egg yolk were studied in the present work. After HIU treatment, the emulsifying, foaming and gel properties of the egg yolk solution significantly increased, but the foam stability decreased. SDS-PAGE results showed that there was no obvious change in the protein bands of egg yolk, indicating that the yolk proteins did not undergo covalent crosslinking or degradation. HIU treatment enhanced the zeta potential of egg yolk components in solution and increased the free sulfhydryl content of egg yolk proteins. Moreover, the particle size distribution of egg yolk components in solution changed markedly, and these changes demonstrated that HIU treatment caused the aggregation of yolk low-density lipoprotein and the partial dissociation of yolk granules. These results revealed that HIU treatment could change the aggregation of yolk components, which in turn could influence the solution characteristics of egg yolk, finally resulting in changes to the functional properties of egg yolk., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), major components of the tumor microenvironment (TME), promote tumor growth and metastasis and inhibit the anti-tumor immune response. We previously constructed a DNA vaccine expressing human FAPα, which is highly expressed by CAFs, to target these cells in the TME, and observed limited anti-tumor effects in the 4T1 breast cancer model. When the treatment time was delayed until tumor nodes formed, the anti-tumor effect of the vaccine completely disappeared. In this study, to improve the safety and efficacy, we constructed a new FAPα-targeted vaccine containing only the extracellular domain of human FAPα with a tissue plasminogen activator signal sequence for enhanced antigen secretion and immunogenicity. The number of CAFs was more effectively reduced by CD8 + T cells induced by the new vaccine. This resulted in decreases in CCL2 and CXCL12 expression, leading to a significant decrease in the ratio of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in the TME. Moreover, when mice were treated after the establishment of tumors, the vaccine could still delay tumor growth. To facilitate the future application of the vaccine in clinical trials, we further optimized the gene codons and reduced the homology between the vaccine and the original sequence, which may be convenient for evaluating the vaccine distribution in the human body. These results indicated that the new FAPα-targeted vaccine expressing an optimized secreted human FAPα induced enhanced anti-tumor activity by reducing the number of FAPα + CAFs and enhancing the recruitment of effector T cells in the 4T1 tumor model mice., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Understanding the neural mechanisms of training-induced brain plasticity has significant implications for improving academic achievement. Previous studies suggest abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) training significantly improves individual's arithmetic capability, and the frontal-parietal network is suggested to be the key neural circuit underlying AMC. Yet, it remains unclear how AMC training shifts brain activation in this network and whether the training effect is transferable or not. The current study aimed to address these questions using a longitudinal design engaging an experimental group (20 days of AMC training) and a control group. The fMRI results indicated that AMC training increased sustained but reduced transient activation in the frontal-parietal network when the AMC group performed the training-related arithmetic task. More interestingly, similar pre- to post-training changes in activation were observed in two training-unrelated tasks. The control group, on the other hand, did not exhibit any pre- to post-training differences in brain activation on any of the three tasks. These findings extend the previous cross-sectional studies of AMC and suggest that AMC training induces functional changes in brain activation and such plasticity may be transferable beyond the AMC. The training effects on sustained and transient neural activity may also provide a new perspective to understand training-induced neural plasticity and related transfer effect., (Copyright © 2019 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study aimed to investigate longitudinal relationships between sleep problems and subtypes of anxiety symptoms among adolescent earthquake survivors., Methods: Participants were 1573 adolescents (male, 45.8%; mean age at baseline 15.01 years, standard deviation (SD) = 1.26) in the Wenchuan Earthquake Adolescent Health Cohort. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders were used to assess participants' sleep problems and anxiety symptoms four times during 2.5 years after the earthquake. Anxiety symptoms included subtypes of panic disorder (PD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), separation anxiety disorder (SeAD), social phobia (SP), school phobia (ScP). Longitudinal lagged generalized estimating equations (GEE) models were used to determine the prospective associations., Results: Overall, there was a bidirectional relationship between sleep problems and anxiety symptoms. For the specific sleep problems and anxiety subtypes, short sleep duration predicted symptoms of PD, GAD, and ScP, and was predicted by GAD; difficulty falling asleep predicted GAD symptoms, whereas PD symptoms increased difficulty falling asleep; poor sleep quality predicted ScP symptoms and was predicted by symptoms of GAD and ScP; difficulty maintaining sleep was not associated with any subtype of anxiety symptoms in any direction; SeAD and SP were not associated with any specific sleep problems in any direction., Conclusion: While sleep problems and anxiety symptoms are bidirectional, the associations vary by subtypes of sleep problems and anxiety symptoms. The potential biological mechanisms for the specific associations between dimensional sleep and anxiety symptoms and their clinical implications should be further investigated., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Fibroblast activation protein α (FAPα) is expressed in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) of more than 90% of malignant epithelia carcinomas. CAFs are the main type of cells in the tumor microenvironment which offer nutrition and protection to the tumor and regulate immunosuppression. To eliminate CAFs, a vaccine targeting FAPα may be used with a heterologous prime-boost strategy to enhance the FAPα-specific cellular immunity. Here, a FAP vaccine using a recombinant adenovirus (rAd) vector was constructed as well as a DNA vaccine reported in our previous work. Although the DNA prime-rAd boost strategy enhanced FAPα-specific immune responses, improvement of anti-tumor immunity effects was not observed. Examination of immunosuppressive factors revealed that high expression of the IL-10 cytokine was considered the main cause of the failure of the prime-boost strategy. However, heterologous vaccination in combination with a low-dose of cyclophosphamide (CY), which was reported to reduce IL-10 production and promote a shift from immunosuppression to immunopotentiation, resulted in enhanced effects in terms of numbers of effector T cells and tumor growth inhibition rates, compared to the CY alone or DNA alone group. Tumor growth was inhibited markedly when the prime-boost strategy was combined with CY in both the prophylactic and therapeutic settings and the survival time of 4T1 tumor bearing mice was also prolonged significantly. With the reduction of IL-10, enhancement of the anti-tumor effect by the prime-boost strategy was observed. These results suggest that FAPα-targeted rAd boosting in combination with CY is an attractive approach to overcoming immunosuppression in cancer vaccines., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a nucleus defined as part of the extended amygdala, is involved in the expression of anxiety disorders. However, the regulatory mechanisms of BNST inhibitory activity that is involved in anxiety are unknown. Here, we showed that blocking neuregulin 1 (NRG1)-ErbB4 signaling in the BNST of mice, by either neutralizing endogenous NRG1 with ecto-Erbb4 or antagonizing the ErbB4 receptor with its specific inhibitor, produced anxiogenic responses. Interestingly, application of exogenous NRG1 into the BNST induced no anxiolytic effects, suggesting saturating activity of endogenous NRG1. While infusion of the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline into the BNST also led to anxiety-related behaviors, it did not worsen the anxiogenic effects produced by blocking NRG1-ErbB4 signaling, suggesting possible involvement of GABAergic neurotransmission. Further, in vitro electrophysiological recordings showed that BNST NRG1-ErbB4 signaling regulated the presynaptic GABA release. Together, these results suggest that NRG1-ErbB4 signaling in the BNST may play an important role in regulating anxiety-like behaviors., (Copyright © 2016 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

MUC1 and survivin are ideal tumor antigens. Although many cancer vaccines targeting survivin or MUC1 have entered clinical trials, no vaccine combining MUC1 and survivin have been reported. Due to tumor heterogeneity, vaccines containing a combination of antigens may have improved efficacy and coverage of a broader spectrum of cancer targets. Here, cellular responses and anti-tumor activities induced by a combination of DNA vaccine targeting MUC1 and survivin (MS) were evaluated. Results showed that CTL activity and inhibition of tumor growth were obviously enhanced in mice immunized with the combined vaccine in a protection assay. However, in order to enhance the therapeutic effect in the treatment assay, a recombinant adenovirus (rAd) vaccine expressing MUC1 and survivin (Ad-MS) was used as a booster following the DNA vaccine prime. Meanwhile, IL-2 promoting T cell proliferation was used as an immunoadjuvant for the DNA vaccine. Results showed that the CTL activity response to the DNA vaccine was enhanced nearly 200% when boosted by the rAd vaccine and was further enhanced by nearly 60% when combined with the IL-2 adjuvant. Therefore, DNA prime combined with rAd boost and IL-2 (MS/IL2/Ad-MS) adjuvant was considered as the best strategy and further evaluated. Multiple cytokines promoting cellular immune responses were shown to be greatly enhanced in mice immunized with MS/IL2/Ad-MS. Moreover, in the treatment assay, the tumor inhibition rate of MS/IL2/Ad-MS reached up to 50.1%, which may be attributed to the enhancement of immune responses and reduction of immunosuppressive factors in tumor-bearing mice. These results suggested that immunization with the combination vaccine targeting MUC1 and survivin using a DNA prime-rAd boost strategy along with IL-2 adjuvant may be an effective method for breaking through immune tolerance to tumors expressing these antigens with potential therapeutic benefits in melanoma cancer., (Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)