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Aims Copper ion is widespread in wastewater and threatens the condition and human health. Micro-organisms have unique advantages to remove heavy-metal ions from water, but are rarely reported in the removal of copper ion. This aims to develop micro-organisms that can remove copper ion in water, characterize their properties and analyse their potential application in practice. Methods and Results Sewage sludge was used as the source to isolate wild bacteria that can remove copper ion in water. The most efficient strain was screened out from 23 obtained isolates, identified as Bacillus pseudomycoides and coded as C6. The properties of C6 in the removal of copper ion in water were investigated in the aspects of reaction conditions, reaction groups, reaction dynamic and the application in oat planting. The reaction at pH 7 within 10 min yielded the highest removal rate of copper ion, 83%. The presence of lead ion in the reaction system could promote the removal rate of copper ion. Carboxyl groups and amidogen of C6 biomass were mainly involved in the removal of copper ion. The removal of copper ion was in accord with single-layer adsorption and Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. In application, C6 biomass reduced the copper content in the oat seedlings grown in copper ion containing water by more than seven times. Conclusions B. pseudomycoides C6 can efficiently remove copper ion in water and inhibit it from entering plants. Significance and Impact of Study This is the first time to report the capability of B. pseudomycoides to remove copper ion in water, which is also more efficient than the currently reported chemical and biological methods.

Background Non-infectious gastric ulcer is one of the most common diseases resulting from improper eating habits, alcoholism, and excessive mental stress. It is more common than infected gastric ulcer, which is caused by Helicobacter pylori. Probiotics have been widely used as functional foods to protect human health and treat diseases of the digestive system. Many studies have examined the therapeutic effects of probiotics on the gastric ulcers caused by H. pylori infection. In contrast, few studies and clinical cases are available on the application of probiotics in the therapeutic treatment of non-infectious gastric ulcer. Scope and approach The current causes and mechanisms of non-infectious gastric ulcers were analyzed, and current drugs and potential therapeutic substances for the treatment of non-infectious gastric ulcer were evaluated. Compared with chemical medicines and other therapies, probiotics feature many advantages and have great potential to be used for the treatment of non-infectious gastric ulcer. To comprehensively assess the potential of probiotics to be used for the treatment of non-infectious gastric ulcer, we analyzed current studies relating to the pathogenesis, theoretical basis, examples, and mechanism of probiotics for treating non-infectious gastric ulcer, as well as effective delivery systems for probiotics. The goal of this review was to provide insight into the potential of probiotics to treat non-infectious gastric ulcers and the mechanisms underlying their efficacy. Key findings and conclusions In addition to smoking, alcohol abuse and excessive mental stress, the lack of essential elements in the body, and microfloral imbalances have been shown to be major causes of non-infectious gastric ulcer. In light of the side effects and limitations of currently used drugs, probiotic therapy has proven to be the most effective treatment. A theoretical analysis and recent findings suggest that probiotics provide numerous advantages and have great potential for treating non-infectious gastric ulcer for their ability to inhibit pathogenic intestinal bacteria, promote anti-inflammatory activity, heal gastric mucosal injury, and stimulate the immune system. The molecular mechanism of probiotics in the treatment of non-infectious gastric ulcers was analyzed. TRPV1 (transient receptor potential vanilloid 1) was proposed as a possible candidate target for the therapeutic effects of probiotics on non-infectious gastric ulcer.

Probiotics are primarily made into microecologic products for use in the food and feed industries. The freeze-drying technique is widely used in their preparation to maintain their high level of bioactivity. This causes high costs in terms of the energy and time needed. In this study, we developed a method to produce a highly active microecologic product from Lactobacillus rhamnosus using heating and silica.A microecologic product was made successfully from L. rhamnosus using the whole bacterial culture broth, without waste, and using food-grade silica (4.5 mL gThe study developed an economic, eco-friendly, and efficient method for preparing highly active microecologic agents using heating and without waste. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Chlorpyrifos (CPF) is an extensively used organophosphorus pesticide. Recently, it has attracted increasing attention due to environmental health problems caused by it. Although numerous studies have discovered the dechlorinated photoproduct of CPF, its structure and toxicity remain largely unknown. In this study, we systematically investigated the structure and toxicity of dechlorinated photoproduct of CPF. The CPF degradation experiment was performed, and its products were identified by ultra high performance liquid chromatography-orbitrap fusion tribid mass spectrometer (UHPLC-Orbitrap Fusion TMS). Additionally, bond dissociation energy (BDE) calculations and photoproduct chemical synthesis were employed to determine the structure of dechlorinated photoproduct of CPF. The toxicity of CPF photoproduct was evaluated through the Ecological Structure Activity Relationships (ECOSAR) Class Program, the Toxicity Estimation Software Tool (T.E.S.T.) software, and acute toxicity testing. The results indicated that the dechlorinated photoproduct of CPF was identified as O,O-Diethyl-O-(3,5-dichloro-2-pyridyl) phosphorothioate (Dechloro-CPF), which was produced in large quantity within the first 30 min of photodegradation experiment. The acute and chronic toxicity values of Dechloro-CPF were obviously higher than those for the other two photoproducts. The median lethal dose (LD

An analytical method based on high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-Q-TOF/MS) was established for the rapid screening and identification of 62 kinds of illegally added traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in food. According to the notice of the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China on further regulating the management of raw materials of health food (Weifa Jianfa (2002) No. 51), the characteristic components of the 62 kinds of TCM were screened, and the corresponding characteristic component lists of different TCM were obtained. Methanolic extracts of the 62 kinds of standard medicinal materials were subjected to HPLC-Q-TOF-MS analysis. The filtrate was separated on a Thermo Accucore aQ column (150 mm×2.1 mm, 2.6 μm) using 0.1%(v/v) formic acid aqueous solution or water and acetonitrile as the mobile phases for gradient elution in the electrospray positive and negative ion scanning mode. All the data were determined on the full scan of primary mass spectrometry and secondary mass spectrometry, with mass acquisition ranges of 100-1000 Da and 50-1000 Da, respectively. A 10 mmol/L sodium formate solution was used as the mass correction solution in both the positive and negative ion modes. Library View software was used to establish the precursor ion accurate quality database and the product ion fragment mass spectrometry database of the corresponding characteristic components of the different kinds of TCM. In the Library View database software, the name of each characteristic component of the 62 kinds of TCM was input (serial number) in order to classify the screened characteristic components. The samples were processed using the same method and analyzed. Peak View software was used to rapidly analyze and screen the target components of the TCM. The high-resolution data collected from the samples to be tested were imported into the Peak View software, followed by the compound list of the established MS database of standard medicinal materials. After setting the identification method parameters and library retrieval parameters, a matching analysis was performed, and the candidate substances for each peak were automatically identified by comparing the mass spectrum, accurate molecular ion mass number, fragment ion mass number, retention time, and other related parameters. The determination conditions of compound detection were as follows: the comprehensive score was more than 70 points. The molecular formula, retention time, mass spectrum as well as the primary isotope mass spectrometry, primary mass spectrometry, and secondary mass spectrometry data were matched with the library compounds. The corresponding list of "TCM-characteristic components" was established, and a high-resolution MS library of 388 characteristic components from the 62 types of TCM was constructed. Each TCM contains 5-10 characteristic components. According to the screening analysis of the actual food samples of the prepared wine, substitute tea, and beverage, one batch of the prepared wine sample matched with seven characteristic components of epimedium, and it was inferred that epimedium was added to the prepared wine samples. This method can allow for the qualitative screening of TCM without standards and has the characteristics of high throughput, accuracy, simplicity, and rapidity. It solves the difficulty in identifying and confirming illegally added TCM in food; provides technical methods and a basis for cracking down on the illegal addition of TCM in food; and facilitates the rapid screening and identification of illegally added TCM in food.

Polyketides are a large group of natural biomolecules that are normally produced by bacteria, fungi and plants. These molecules have clinical importance due to their anti-cancer, anti-microbial, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Polyketides are biosynthesized from units of acyl-CoA by different polyketide synthases (PKSs), which display wide diversity of functional domains and mechanisms of action between fungi and bacteria. Co-culture of different micro-organisms can produce novel products distinctive from those produced during single cultures. This study compared the new polyketides produced in such co-culture systems and discusses aspects of the cultivation systems, product structures and identification techniques. Current results indicate that the formation of new polyketides may be the result of activation of previously silent PKSs genes induced during co-culture. This review indicated a potential way to produce pure therapeutic polyketides by microbial fermentation and a potential way to develop functional foods and agricultural products using co-co-culture of different micro-organisms. It also pointed out a new perspective for studies on the process of functional foods, especially those involving multiple micro-organisms.

This paper is concerned with the periodic solutions for a class of stochastic Cohen–Grossberg neural networks with time-varying delays. Since there is a non-linearity in the leakage terms of stochastic Cohen–Grossberg neural networks, some techniques are needed to overcome the difficulty in dealing with the nonlinearity. By applying fixed points principle and Gronwall–Bellman inequality, some sufficient conditions on the existence and exponential stability of periodic solution for the stochastic neural networks are established. Moreover, a numerical example is presented to validate the theoretical results. Our results are also applicable to the existence and exponential stability of periodic solution for the corresponding deterministic systems.

Surfactin produced by Bacillus subtilis is a powerful biosurfactant in food, cosmetics, and pesticide industries. However, its suitability in wound healing applications is uncertain. In this article, we determined the effects of surfactin A from B. subtilis on wound healing, angiogenesis, cell migration, inflammatory response, and scar formation. The results indicated that 80.65 ± 2.03% of surfactin A-treated wounds were closed, whereas 44.30 ± 4.26% of the vehicle-treated wound areas remained open on day 7 (P < 0.05). In mechanisms, it upregulated the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), accelerated keratinocyte migration through mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathways, and regulated the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines and macrophage phenotypic switch. More attractive, surfactin A showed a seductive capability to inhibit scar tissue formation by affecting the expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and transforming growth factor (TGF-β). Overall, the study revealed a new function and potential of surfactin A as an affordable and efficient wound healing drug.

Since the definition of $p$ -mean almost periodic functions on time scales occupies a fundamental position in studying $p$ -mean almost periodicity for stochastic neural networks, a concept of $p$ -mean almost periodic functions on an invariant under a translation time scale is introduced for the first time in this paper. As an application, the existence and exponential stability of piecewise mean-square almost periodic solutions for a class of high-order BAM neural networks on time scales is studied by using the contraction mapping principal and differential inequality techniques. Finally, a numerical example is presented to illustrate the feasibility of our main results.

Staphylococcus aureus, especially multi-drug-resistant (MDR) pathogenic S. aureus, poses a severe threat to food safety and human health. Probiotics offer promising potential for the control of MDR pathogens because of their safe and biofunctional properties. This study shows that Lactobacillus rhamnosus SHA113, a strain isolated from the milk of healthy women, could efficiently inhibit MDR S. aureus both in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, L. rhamnosus efficiently inhibited and even killed drug resistant and drug sensitive S. aureus strains. In vivo experiments showed that SHA113 could efficiently decrease the number of S. aureus cells, inhibit the expression of inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-6, and restore the level of white cells and neutrophils in the blood. SHA113 could also efficiently repair damage of the intestinal barrier and other functions impaired by S. aureus infection. This was indicated by a change of intestinal villi length and structure, and an up-regulated expression of tight junction proteins ZO-1 and occludin. SHA113 also restored the structural damage of immune organs, such as the enlargement of the spleen and the increased level of inflammatory cytokines caused by S. aureus infection. More importantly, L. rhamnosus SHA113 showed more effective inhibitory and therapeutic effects on MDR S. aureus strain ZBQ006 than on drug sensitive S. aureus strain 29213. These results illustrated that L. rhamnosus SHA113 has great potential for the treatment of MDR S. aureus contamination as food control and for therapeutic treatment.

QuEChERS pretreatment combined with gas chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-Q-TOF/MS) has been investigated for application in screening 244 pesticide residues in chilli. Fresh chilli samples were extracted with acetonitrile, and dried chilli samples were extracted using an acetonitrile/acetic acid (99∶1, v/v) mixture. The two extraction solvents were stored at -20 ℃. After salting out and cleaning by dispersive solid phase extraction (dSPE), heptachlor epoxide B was added as an internal standard, and the resulting residues were dissolved in 1.00 mL acetone. The dissolved sample solution was loaded onto an HP-5MS UI column (30 m×0.25 mm, 0.25 μm) and eluted by GC-Q-TOF/MS with a programmable temperature vaporizer and splitless injection in the full-scan mode. The compensation effects of the analytical protectant (AP) and matrix-matched calibration method on the matrix effect were established. AP could be used in the fresh chilli matrix to compensate for matrix effects, but it was not effective in the dried chilli matrix. The matrix-matched calibration method was effective in both matrices, which was selected for the quantification of pesticide residues in the samples. Because of the existence of the isomers of one compound and the same characteristic ions of different compounds, analyte detection was based on a flexible retention time deviation of ±0.25 min and accurate mass deviation of ±20×10 -6. Screening was performed by the software in the automatic matching mode. Compound identification and quantitation were based on a database and calibration curve established with reference materials. Suspicious samples were subjected to manual analysis. Quantitative analysis of 244 pesticide residues in fresh chilli and 222 pesticide residues in dried chilli was performed. The results showed that the developed database and method can provide a reference for the high-throughput screening and quantitation of fresh and dried chilli. Different levels of pesticides were added to the blank chilli samples, and the addition level corresponding to a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of 10 was used as the limit of quantification (LOQ). The LOQs of 44 pesticides with a maximum residue limit (MRL) ≤0.05 mg/kg in fresh chilli did not exceed 0.010 mg/kg. The linear ranges of these 44 pesticides were 0.01-1.00 mg/L. At spiked levels of the LOQ and 2.5 times the LOQ, the ratios of the 44 pesticides with recoveries of 60% to 120% were 88.64% and 100%, respectively. The LOQs of 200 pesticides with MRLs ≥0.05 mg/kg or without MRLs in fresh chilli did not exceed 0.025 mg/kg. The linear ranges of these 200 pesticides were 0.05-1.00. At spiked levels of the LOQ, twice the LOQ, and 10 times the LOQ, the ratios of the 200 pesticides with recoveries of 60% to 120% were 49.50%, 87.00%, and 89.50%, respectively. The linear correlation coefficients (r 2) of the 244 pesticides in fresh chilli were greater than 0.99. The LOQs of 222 pesticides in dried chilli were less than 0.15 mg/kg, and the linear ranges were 0.04-1.00 mg/L. The ratios of these 222 pesticides with r 2 greater than 0.99 was 95.46%. At spiked levels of the LOQ, twice the LOQ and 10 times the LOQ in dried chilli, the ratio of the 222 pesticides with recoveries of 60% to 120% were 72.52%, 73.42%, and 81.53%, respectively. The established screening and confirmation method was used to analyze 12 fresh chilli samples and 14 dried chilli samples. Eight pesticides were found in nine fresh chilli samples and three dried chilli samples, all of which were confirmed to be positive after manual identification. The concentrations of these pesticides were lower than the MRLs required by GB 2763-2019: National Food Safety Standard Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides in Food. The results demonstrate that the established method is rapid, easy to execute, efficient, and reliable. It can be used for the high-throughput screening and quantitation of pesticide residues in fresh and dried chilli.

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The difficulty of early diagnosis and the development of drug resistance are two major barriers to the successful treatment of cancer. Autophagy plays a crucial role in several cellular functions, and its dysregulation is associated with both tumorigenesis and drug resistance. Unc-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1) is a serine/threonine kinase that participates in the initiation of autophagy. Many studies have indicated that compounds that directly or indirectly target ULK1 could be used for tumor therapy. However, reports of the therapeutic effects of these compounds have come to conflicting conclusions. In this work, we reviewed recent studies related to the effects of ULK1 on the regulation of autophagy and the development of drug resistance in cancers, with the aim of clarifying the mechanistic underpinnings of this therapeutic target.

The neuroprotective effects and potential mechanisms of (-)-Syringaresinol-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (SRG), a natural lignan glycoside extracted from Cortex Albizziae, were investigated using corticosterone (CORT)-induced PC12 cells as an in vitro anxiety model. PC12 cells were treated with 100 μM CORT and 5, 10, or 20 μM SRG for 48 h. Cell viability and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage were measured. Apoptosis were detected using FITC-coupled Annexin V (AV) and propidium iodide (PI) staining flow cytometric analyses and TUNEL assays. Rhodamine 123 and Fluo-3-AM staining flow cytometric analyses were used to detect mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) and intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i), respectively. Western blot was used to detect brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), Bax, Bcl-2, cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB), cytosolic cytochrome c (Cyt c), caspase-3, and cleaved caspase-3. Experimental data showed that SRG promoted cell proliferation, reduced LDH release, inhibited apoptosis, improved ΔΨm values, decreased [Ca2+]i, up-regulated CREB, BDNF, and Bcl-2, down-regulated Bax and Cyt c protein expression levels, and reduced caspase-3 activity. This suggests that SRG has neuroprotective and antiapoptotic effects in the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders, and its mechanisms are partly connecte to inhibition of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway and activation of pathways involving CREB and BDNF.

In this paper, the comparison theorem and Gronwall’s inequality with $$\nabla $$ -derivative on time scales are constructed. Based on $$\nabla $$ -stochastic integration, the $$\nabla $$ -stochastic high-order Hopfield neural networks with time delays on time scales is introduced and studied. By using contraction mapping principal and differential inequality technique on time scales, some sufficient conditions for the existence and exponential stability of periodic solutions for a class of $$\nabla $$ -stochastic high-order Hopfield neural networks with time delays on time scales are established. Our results show that the continuous-time neural network and its discrete-time analogue have the same dynamical behaviors for periodicity. Finally, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the feasibility of our results. The results of this paper are completely new even if the time scale $$\mathbb {T}=\mathbb {R}$$ or $$\mathbb {Z}$$ .

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a mycotoxin that contaminates grains and feed. Degradation and toxicity reduction of DON by probiotics benefit human and animal health. Lactobacillus rhamnosus is an FDA-approved probiotic that can be used in children. After screening seven L. rhamnosus strains isolated from human milk, SHA113 showed the highest DON degradation rate of 60% under the optimal conditions of 37 °C, pH 6.0, OD600 = 1.5, 5 mg L-1 DON, and 48 h. When dead and live SHA113 cells were used separately, only the live cells reduced the DON concentration and transformed it into 3-epi-DON. Mice feeding experiments showed that pretreatment with SHA113 for 48 h reduced the toxicity of DON to the immunological system and organs. Directly feeding SHA113 cells could also slightly reduce the DON toxicity. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments indicated that L. rhamnosus has potential to reduce DON toxicity.

Cultivation of Lactobacillus rhamnosus using corn steep liquor provides an attractive method for comprehensive use of the major byproduct of the corn starch industry and low cost to produce probiotics. However, most L. rhamnosus strains can not grow well at high concentration of corn steep liquor. In this study, a strain that can grow well in 500 mg⋅L−1 corn steep liquor was obtained after a continuous domestication of L. rhamnosus SHA113 in the medium containing gradually increased corn steep liquor concentration. Besides of keeping similar high antioxidant activity, antibacterial activity, and resistance to antibiotics to the original strain, the domesticated strain showed relatively better probiotic potential, such as faster growth profile and stronger resistance to acids, bile salts, lysozyme, and 0.4% phenol, and higher production of biofilms and extracellular polysaccharides. After response surface analysis, the highest yield of the domesticated strain cells (9.78 × 1010 cfu⋅mL−1) was obtained at the optimal medium compositions of glucose 10.96 g⋅L−1, peptone 0.86 g⋅L−1, yeast extract 12.17 g⋅L−1, and corn steep liquor 435.4 mL⋅L−1 in a newly developed multilayer reactor. Overall, the study developed an efficient way to enhance the probiotic potential and the yield of L. rhamnosus cells using corn steep liquor.

In this paper, by using a continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory and a differential inequality, we establish some sufficient conditions ensuring the existence and global exponential stability of anti-periodic solutions for a class of fuzzy Cohen–Grossberg neural networks with time-varying and distributed delays. In addition, we present an illustrative example to show the feasibility of obtained results.

In this paper, we first propose a concept of square-mean almost periodic function on timescales. Then, by means of the fixed point theory and differential inequality techniques on timescales, we establish some sufficient conditions on the existence and global exponential stability of square-mean almost periodic solutions for a class of stochastic Hopfield neural networks with time-varying delays on timescales. Our results are new even if the timescale $${\mathbb {T}}={\mathbb {R}}$$T=R or $${\mathbb {Z}}$$Z. Finally, we present an example to illustrate our theoretical results.

In this paper, using Mawhin’s continuation theorem of the coincidence degree theory, we obtain some sufficient conditions for the existence of positive almost periodic solutions for a class of delay discrete models with Allee-effect.

We first give the definition and some properties ofCn-almost periodic functions on time scales. Then, as an application, we are concerned with a class of Lasota-Wazewska models on time scales. By means of the fixed point theory and differential inequality techniques on time scales, we obtain some sufficient conditions ensuring the existence and global exponential stability ofC1-almost periodic solutions for the considered model. Our results are essentially new whenT=RorT=Z. Finally, we present a numerical example to show the feasibility of obtained results.

In this article, a class of Cohen-Grossberg neutral networks (CGNNs) with time-varying delays on time scales is considered. We establish some sufficient conditions on the existence and exponential stability of anti-periodic solutions for CGNNs [image omitted] where t ∈ ,  is a periodic time scale, i = 1, 2,..., n.

In this paper, we consider a class of fuzzy BAM neural networks with distributed delays and variable coefficients. By using Brouwer fixed point theorem and differential inequality, we obtain some sufficient conditions for the existence and global exponential stability of periodic solutions for a class of fuzzy BAM neural networks with distributed delays and variable coefficients. In addition, we also present an illustrative example to show the effectiveness of obtained results.

In this paper, a class of nonautonomous Lotka–Volterra type multispecies competitive systems with weak Allee effect and delays are considered. By using Mawhin’s continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory, we obtain some sufficient conditions for the existence of almost periodic solutions for the Lotka–Volterra system. On the case of no delays of Allee effects, by constructing a suitable Lyapunov function, we get a sufficient condition for the globally attractivity of the almost periodic solution for the Lotka–Volterra system. Moreover, we also present an illustrative example to show the effectiveness of our results.