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A 40-day experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of two filamentous microalgae as feed ingredients on growth performance, tissue fatty acid profiles, pigmentation and immunity of gibel carp (204.83 +/- 2.17 g, mean +/- SD). Three diets (control, Oedocladium sp. and Tribonema sp.) were formulated. In the control diet, no microalgal meal was added and into the Oedocladium and Tribonema diets were added 40 g/kg Oedocladium sp. meal and 50 g/kg Tribonema sp. meal, respectively. Compared to the control, the addition of Oedocladium sp. and Tribonema sp. had significant effects on tissue fatty acid profiles, antioxidant capacity and immunity without compromising growth, body composition and pigmentation. The addition of Tribonema sp. and Oedocladium sp. significantly increased the EPA, DHA profiles and the ratio of n-3/n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and simultaneously decreased the n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids profile in fish muscles. Moreover, addition of Tribonema sp. to the diet significantly increased muscle palmitoleic profile and EPA + DHA contents. Furthermore, the addition of either microalga significantly increased the total superoxide dismutase activity level and the complement 3 and immunoglobulin M contents in the plasma. These results demonstrate that Oedocladium sp. and Tribonema sp. can be used as feed ingredients to improve flesh quality and increase the immunity of fish.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antibacterial effect of black pepper petroleum ether extract (BPPE) against Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19115 and Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 14028. The results showed that the BPPE had a strong antimicrobial activity against L. monocytogenes and S. typhimurium, and 2-methylene-4,8,8-trimethyl-4-vinyl-bicyclo[5.2.0]nonane (9.36%) and caryophyllene oxide (4.85%) were identified as the two primary components of BPPE. The ability of cells to break down hyperoxide was decreased, and the activities of POD and CAT were inhibited. The activities of key metabolic enzymes shed some light on the biochemical mechanism of aglycon cell growth inhibition, indicating that the energetic metabolism of L. monocytogenes and S. typhimurium was markedly influenced by the BPPE. The contents of key organic acids varied significantly, resulting in remarkable abnormalities in the energetic metabolism of L. monocytogenes and S. typhimurium. Thus, the consecution of energetic metabolism was destroyed by the BPPE, which contributed to metabolic dysfunction, the suppression of gene transcription, and cell death.

Prostate cancer is currently associated with higher morbidity and mortality in men in the United States and Western Europe, so it is important to identify genes that regulate prostate cancer. The high-dimension gene expression profile impedes the discovery of biclusters which are of great significance to the identification of the basic cellular processes controlled by multiple genes and the identification of large-scale unknown effects hidden in the data. We applied the biclustering method MCbiclust to explore large biclusters in the TCGA cohort through a large number of iterations. Two biclusters were found with the highest silhouette coefficient value. The expression patterns of one bicluster are highly similar to those found by the gene expression profile of the known androgen-regulated genes. Further gene set enrichment revealed that mitochondrial function-related genes were negatively correlated with AR regulation-related genes. Then, we performed differential analysis, AR binding site analysis, and survival analysis on the core genes with high phenotypic contribution. Among the core genes, NDUFA10 showed a low expression value in cancer patients across different expression profiles, while NDUFV2 showed a high expression value in cancer patients. Survival analysis of NDUFA10 and NDUFV2 demonstrated that both genes were unfavorable prognostic markers.

Fermentation of foods by lactic acid bacteria is a useful way to improve the nutritional value of foods. In this study, the health-promoting effects of fermented papaya juices by two species, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus plantarum, were determined. Changes in pH, reducing sugar, organic acids, and volatile compounds were determined, and the vitamin C, total phenolic content, and flavonoid and antioxidant capacities during the fermentation process were investigated. Juices fermented by Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus plantarum had similar changes in pH and reducing sugar content during the 48 h fermentation period. Large amounts of aroma-associated compounds and organic acids were produced, especially lactic acid, which increased significantly (p<0.05) (543.18 mg/100 mL and 571.29 mg/100 mL, resp.), improving the quality of the beverage. In contrast, the production of four antioxidant capacities in the fermented papaya juices showed different trends after 48 hours’ fermentation by two bacteria. Lactobacillus plantarum generated better antioxidant activities compared to Lactobacillus acidophilus after 48 h of fermentation. These results indicate that fermentation of papaya juice can improve its utilization and nutritional effect.

This study evaluated the inactivation effect of the ultrasonic treatment combined with acidic electrolyzed water (AEW) on Bacillus cereus. Ultrasound treatment for 10 min induced 0.69 log CFU/ml reduction of B. cereus in sterile saline, while AEW treatment resulted in 1.05 log CFU/ml for the same time. Simultaneous ultrasound and AEW treatment reduced 1.98 log CFU/mL which had synergistic effect for 10 min at 20°C. Flow cytometry combined PI/cFDA and electron microscope were applied to investigate the inactivation mechanisms. Ultrasound inactivated B. cereus by thinning cell wall, forming pores, damaging structure and so on. However, there was no sublethal injured cells after ultrasound treatment, indicating it was an all‐or‐nothing process. AEW mainly affected the esterase activity with relatively intact cell structure. More strikingly, simultaneous ultrasound and AEW did remarkable impact on the structure. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Ultrasound is a green non‐thermal technique and has widely use in food industry. Also, electrolyzed water is an effective and broad‐spectrum sanitizer which is environmentally friendly and cost‐effective. The results of the study indicated that simultaneous ultrasound and acidic electrolyzed water treatment had significant inactivation effect on Bacillus cereus, it would be a promising method which was effective, short time‐consuming, and green.

In this paper, a method incorporating ultrasound technology has been developed to extract the phenolic compounds from areca husk. The experiments were carried out according to a three-variable, five-level central composite rotatable design, and the parameters of ethanol, extraction temperature and extraction time under optimum ultrasound-mediated condition were optimized by response surface methodology. The optimum extraction conditions were as follows: ethanol concentration, 41%; extraction temperature, 53C; and extraction time, 38 min. The ethanol concentration was the most significant parameter. Under the above-mentioned conditions, the experimental total phenolic content extracted from areca husk was 15.37 mg gallic acid equivalents in each gram. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS In this manuscript, a method incorporating ultrasound technology has been developed, which can help to extract the phenolic compounds from areca husk.

Coconut sap is consumed as a juice or used as raw material for fermentation to produce beverages with various health benefits. To understand the underlying mechanisms of the health benefits of coconut sap, we investigated the in vitro reactive oxygen species scavenging activities and DNA protecting effects of fresh and naturally fermented coconut sap using a flow-injection chemiluminescence method. The results show that the fresh sap scavenges superoxide anion, hydroxyl radical and hydrogen peroxide better than the naturally fermented sap; in contrast, the fermented sap shows a more powerful ability to prevent damage to DNA than the fresh sap. The naturally fermented sap had a higher polyphenol level but a lower ascorbic acid content than fresh sap, suggesting that fermentation is beneficial for improving the polyphenol content of coconut sap. PRACTICAL APPLICATION Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are reported to be related to many diseases, such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Antioxidants are vital substances that possess the ability to protect the body from damage caused by ROS. There is an increasing interest in natural antioxidants, e.g., polyphenols, present in medicinal and dietary plants, which might help prevent oxidative damage. Coconut sap is obtained by tapping the unopened spadix of the coconut palm, and also used as the resource of sugar and alcoholic beverages by local people. Our experimental results testify that the coconut sap has powerful ROS scavenging activity and can be potentially used as the ingredients of functional food.

The prevalence of psychological problems is frequent in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and appears to be increasing. The current study investigated the relationship among disease parameters, quality of life, and the psychological status in Chinese patients with SLE. A self-report survey design was administered to 170 SLE patients and 210 healthy individuals using the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, the Self-Rating Depression Scale, and the Short Form 36 health survey (SF-36). Our results showed that 20.3% SLE patients had anxiety, and 32.9% had depression, which were significantly higher than the control group (7.1%, 14.3%, resp.). And there were significant correlations among socioeconomic status (SES), disease activity, and anxiety/depression in SLE patients. Meanwhile, SF-36 analysis results revealed that VT, PF, and RP scales were the most powerful predictors of anxiety of SLE patients, and SLEDAI, VT, PF, SF, and RE domains were significantly accounted for anxiety. In summary, there were significant relationships among disease parameters, quality of life, and anxiety/depression in Chinese SLE patients. Therefore, it is necessary to have psychiatric and psychological evaluations and formulate an integrated approach for managing mental health in Chinese lupus patients, especially those who have high disease activity, low SES, and poor quality of life.

Mango is produced in tropical zone and consumed around the world. However, mango fruit has a short postharvest life resulting in severe loss during storage. In this study, the effects of heat treatment applied to ivory mangoes on physical, physiological and biochemical quality was studied. The results showed that mangoes subjected to all hot water treatment at 50C – 10 min, 60C – 1 min, 70C – 5 s could improve the quality, while the 60C – 1 min treatment was the optimal method. We found that 60C – 1 min treatment could inhibit the respiration rate, the relative electric conductivity and the malondialdehyde content, and increase the total phenols and flavonoids not reported earlier. Moreover, the activity of polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase and polygalacturonase was reduced, and the activity of catalase was increased, thus maintaining a better quality of ivory mangoes. The 60C – 1 min treatment is the alternative method for improving the quality of ivory mangoes during the storage.