Search

The chemical instability of gardenia yellow pigment (GYP) limits its utilization in the food industry. In this study, the effects of different antioxidants (0.2% of tea polyphenols, sodium phytate, potassium citrate, and ascorbic acid) and microencapsulating agents (gum Arabic, maltodextrin, inulin, and gum Arabic/maltodextrin) on the degradation of GYP under different conditions (heat, light, and ferric iron) were evaluated. Then, the characteristic properties of microcapsules coated with gum Arabic/maltodextrin, gum Arabic/maltodextrin/tea polyphenols, maltodextrin, and maltodextrin/tea polyphenols were investigated. Furthermore, food models were simulated to evaluate the GYP stability of the microcapsules. The results showed that tea polyphenols, maltodextrin, and gum Arabic/maltodextrin significantly improved the GYP stability. Moreover, the presence of GYP in microcapsules was confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. In addition, GYP-MD/TP possessed high thermal stability under different cooking methods. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Gardenia yellow pigment (GYP) is easily degraded under light and high-temperature conditions, which limits its applications in the food industry. This study will provide effective clues for expanding the practical applications of GYP in the natural pigment industry.

Insect-associated fungi are a potentially rich source of novel natural products with antibacterial activity. Here, we investigated the community composition and phylogenetic diversity of gut-associated fungi of the dragonfly (Crocothemis Servilia) using a combination of culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. A total of 42 fungal isolates were obtained from the guts of the dragonfly, which belonged to four classes and thirteen different genera. Amplicon sequencing analyses revealed that the fungal communities were more diverse, and a total of 136 genera were identified and dominated by the genera Wojnowiciella and Phoma. The antibacterial bioassay showed that five fungal crude extracts of representative isolates have shown antibacterial activities. Among them, the extract of Phoma sp. QTH17 showed the best antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli, Micrococcus tetragenus, and Staphylococcus aureus with the disc diameter of inhibition zone diameter (IZD) of 6.50, 10.80, and 8.70 mm, respectively. Chemical analysis of Phoma sp. QTH17 led to the discovery of five known compounds, including ergosterol (1), 3-Chlorogentisyl alcohol (2), epoxydon (3), epoxydon 6-methylsalicylate ester (4) and mannitol (5). Among them, the compound 3 exhibited potent antibacterial activities against E. coli, M. tetragenus, and S. aureus with the IZD of 7.00, 14.00, and 12.50 mm, respectively, which were slightly weaker than those of the positive gentamicin sulfate with the IZD of 11.13, 18.30, and 12.13 mm, respectively. In conclusion, our results confirmed that the diversity of gut-associated fungi of C. Servilia could be expected to explore the resource of new species and antibacterial substances.

Our objectives were to measure the relationships between conventional ultrasound features, strain elastography in breast cancer and Ki-67 index and to identify parameters that predict Ki-67 index. We included 181 lesions of 178 patients who underwent surgery for breast cancer at Xianyang Central Hospital. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, strain elastography and axillary-node metastasis showed significant Ki-67 index values; the overall theoretical prediction percentage correct was 75.7%. Strain elastography showed that the median Ki-67 index in the hard group was higher than that in the soft group, and the Ki-67 index increased with increasing elasticity score. This finding may guide ultrasound-guided breast tumor biopsy for selection of puncture regions. The combined use of the Ki-67 index for strain-elastography prediction and puncture-biopsy pathology reports may increase the accuracy of clinical treatment.

Cashmere fiber is pretreated with oxygen low temperature plasma to increase the content of polar groups (-OH, -COOH) on the surface. Then by using aziridine crosslinker and polycarbodiimide crossli...

In this study, magnetic biosorbent was fabricated by chemical co-precipitation of Fe(II) and Fe(III) on the surface Paeclomyces catenlannulatus (P. catenlannulatus) by adding NaOH solution under N2 conditions. The influence of water chemistries (i. e. pH, reaction time, temperature, concentration and ionic strength) on Eu(III) biosorption towards magnetic biosorbent was elucidated by batch technique. The batch experiment showed that Eu(III) biosorption on magnetic biosorbent was independent of ionic strength, suggesting that inner-sphere-surface-complexation predominated Eu(III) biosorption. The biosorption kinetics showed the sorption equilibrium was achieved at reaction time of 24 h, and the maximum biosorption capacity of Eu(III) on magnetic biosorbent calculated by Langmuir model was 69.45 mg/g at pH 3.5 and 298 K. The regeneration experiments showed the slight decrease of biosorption capacity after the fifth recycles. These results suggested that this magnetic biosorbent presented the fast biosorption rate and high biosorption capacity for Eu(III). The results of XPS analysis revealed that various oxygenated function groups (e.g. carboxyl, hydroxyl groups) were responsible for the high effective biosorption of Eu(III). These findings manifested that this magnetic biosorbent could be as a high-effective material for the immobilization and pre-concentration of radionuclides from aqueous solution in environment remediation.

Development of engineering materials is critical to the improvement of adsorption performance. In this study, the new adsorbent of magnetic iron oxide/biochar (MIO/B) composites was synthesized by one-pot pyrolysis of FeCl2-preloaded Paecilomyces catenlannulatus under N2 conditions. The as-prepared composites were characterized by TEM, XPS, XRD and FT-IR techniques. The characteristic results showed that MIO/B composites presented a variety of nitrogen- and oxygen-containing functional groups. The effect of water chemistry on U(VI) adsorption towards MIO/B composites was investigated by batch techniques. The batch adsorption showed that U(VI) adsorption on MIO/B composites was independent of ionic strength at pH from 2.0 to 11.0, approximate 90% of U(VI) was removed by MIO/B composites at reaction time of 12 h. The maximum adsorption capacity of U(VI) on MIO/B composites calculated from Langmuir mode at pH 4.0 and 293 K was 74.63 mg/g. These findings are crucial for the practical application of biochar-based composites for the high effective enrichment of radionuclides from aqueous solutions in environmental remediation.

The selective sequestration mechanism of U(VI) by metal–organic framework supported amidoxime (AO/MOF) composites has been demonstrated by batch, XPS and EXAFS analyses. The results of this characterization showed that the as-prepared AO/MOF composites displayed an abundance of nitrogen- and oxygen-bearing functional groups. The batch experiments showed that the maximum U(VI) adsorption capacity of the AO/MOF composites at pH 7.0 (454.55 mg g−1 by fitting isotherm data with the Langmuir model) was remarkably higher than that of other heavy metals (e.g., 54, 62, 25 and 68 mg g−1 for Ca(II), Mg(II), Sr(II) and Na(I), respectively). In addition, the AO/MOF composites could extract 2.74 mg g−1 U(VI) from Huanghai seawater within 90 min, revealing that the AO/MOF composites presented highly selective adsorption and a rapid enrichment rate for U(VI) from seawater. XPS analysis indicated that the highly effective adsorption of AO/MOF composites was attributed to the surface functional groups. According to the fitting of the EXAFS data, the occurrence of a U–C shell for the U-loaded AO/MOF at pH 3.0 revealed inner-sphere surface complexation at low pH. These findings elucidated that AO/MOF composites can be regarded an excellent adsorbents for highly effective removal of U(VI) from aqueous solution and selective sequestration of U(VI) from seawater, which are crucial for realizing the development of sustainable nuclear energy.

In order to realize the immobilization of collagen, chitosan and sericin on the surface of polypropylene fabric, the fabric is treated by ammonia and nitrogen low temperature plasma to produce reactive groups, and then the epoxy compounds (ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether, trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether) are used as crosslinkers for a bridging process. Single factor experiment is carried out to investigate the influence of crosslinking parameters (temperature, time and the dosage of crosslinker) on immobilization yield. Chemical composition changes on the surface of the treated samples is analyzed by infrared spectroscopy, which indicated that the ammonia plasma treatment can produce more active groups. The results showed that immobilization rate of samples crosslinked by ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether is superior to that of trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether. It also can be found that the fabric had a better wettability and antimicrobial properties. The whiteness and comfort property of chitosan-polypropylene fabric decreased slightly.

Paecilomyces catenlannulatus (P. catenlannulatus) as a genus of entomogenous fungus presented a variety of surface reactive groups by batch characterizations. The detoxification of U(VI) by P. catenlannulatus was investigated under different water chemistry (pH, incubation time, foreign anions and U(VI) concentration) by batch techniques. Approximately 75% of U(VI) was reduced to U(IV) (i.e., U(IV)O2(s)) by P. catenlannulatus at pH 5.5 and 7 days under glovebox conditions, therefore the formation of precipitates decreased the toxicity of U(VI) for P. catenlannulatus. In addition, phosphate facilitate the U(VI) reduction, whereas carbonate and sulfate inhibited the U(VI) reduction. The activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione (GSH) level were stimulated exposure to 1-30 mg/L U(VI), indicating that CAT, SOD and GSH were antagonized for the oxidant stress derived from U(VI) at low concentrations. According to XPS and XANES analysis, the occurrence of U(IV) revealed the reduction of adsorbed U(VI) to U(IV) by P. catenlannulatus. The results of EXAFS analysis indicated that the fitting of U-O and U-U shell for U-loaded P. catenlannulatus was similar to that of U(IV)O2(s)). The formation of U-bearing precipitates decreased the toxicity of U(VI) for P. catenlannulatus. These findings indicated that P. catenlannulatus is capable to detoxify U(VI) by extracellar/intracellar defense systems. Therefore, P. catenlannulatus can be utilized as a promising bioadsorbents for remediation of uranium-contaminated wastewater in environmental cleanup.