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In recent years, with the significant rise in global obesity rate, the demand for sugar substitutes such as artificial sweeteners (AS) has soared, but the safety of AS remains controversial. New research from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the journal Nature suggests that long-term consumption of AS may have negative health effects. Currently, the standards on the use of AS in different countries are different, and the mechanism of the health impact of long-term AS consumption is not clear. Therefore, based on recent research results related to AS, this review paper focuses on the human health effect of AS and the current domestic and foreign standards on AS. It elaborates on the relationship between AS and gut microbes, obesity and diabetes, lipid metabolism, cardiovascular disease and cancer, and summarizes the current Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), US, EU, Japanese and Chinese standards on AS. In addition, this paper also discusses the key issue of how to determine standards on AS addition in the food industry in order to provide a reference for future research in this field.

ObjectiveTo obtain the occurrence time and regional distribution characteristics， place of occurrence， high-risk food and risk factors， the epidemiological characteristics of foodborne disease outbreaks caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus from 2010 to 2020 in China’s Mainland was analyzed.MethodsThe data of foodborne disease outbreaks caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus were collected from China disease outbreak surveillance system from 2010 to 2020 were analyzed statistically.ResultsFrom 2010 to 2020， a total of 1 772 outbreaks of foodborne diseases caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus were reported， with a total of 27 212 cases， 5 944 hospitalized cases and 2 deaths. The peak time was from July to September. The incidence in developed areas （28.8 cases/million people） was higher than that in underdeveloped areas （8.2 cases/million people）， and the incidence in coastal areas （31.7 cases/million people） was higher than that in inland areas （9.2 cases/million people）. The main causes were aquatic food （61.2%） and meat （25.3%）. Hotels and restaurants accounted for 49.6% of the total. The main contamination links were incomplete cooking of aquatic food and raw and cooked cross-contamination of ready-to-eat meat and vegetable food.ConclusionIn order to reduce the risk of foodborne diseases caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus， it is important to strengthen the supervision of processing and storage of aquatic food and meat in catering service places.

An analytical method based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-TQ-MS/MS) was established for the simultaneous determination of 10 flavor precursors and 21 free amino acids in black garlic. The method was applied for exploring the changing pattern of characteristic components in black garlic during processing. The results showed that the characteristic components in black garlic changed significantly during processing at 75 ℃ and 85% relative humidity. Among them, γ-aminobutyric acid, S-allyl-L-cysteine, isoalliin, glutamine, methiin, alliin, tryptophan, and γ-L-glutamyl-S-allyl-L-cysteine changed most obviously, and were identified as the chemical markers of changes in small molecular metabolites during the processing of black garlic. The established method has high sensitivity and accuracy, and can meet the detection requirements.

ABSTRACT: The demand for plant protein is increasing significantly due to the shortage of protein resources. Walnut protein, the main by-product of preparing walnut oil, has limited application in the food industry due to its poor solubility. It was found that the soy protein isolate (SPI) concentration had significant effects on the gel properties of the walnut protein isolate (WNPI)-κ-Carrageenan (KC) composite system treated with 15 mmol/L NaCl. The results showed that the gel strength of the composite system increased first and then decreased with the increased concentration of SPI from 0 to 2.5%. The best rheological properties, texture properties, water holding capacity ((92.03 ± 1.05)%), swelling ratio ((2.04 ± 0.19)%), freeze-thaw stability and thermal stability (85.53 °C) of the composite gel were found at an SPI concentration of 1%. In the meantime, the secondary structure of protein had the least α-helix content of 10.17% and the highest β-sheet content of 39.64%, the fluorescence intensity and free sulfhydryl content reached the highest value. 1% SPI could also act as a filler for WNPI to enhance the intermolecular forces such as hydrophobic interaction between the two substances, thus forming a stable gel network structure. This study can provide technical support for improving the gel properties of walnut protein and producing new plant protein gel products.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) as the substances with strong reactive activity, mainly include hydroxyl radicals (·OH), superoxide anion radicals (·O2-) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Abnormal concentration of reactive oxygen species in mammals can cause serious diseases such as diabetes, cancer, tumors and some neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, an increasing interest in the detection of ROS and issues was focused on and the consideration of the development of ROS detection sensors (e.g., biocompatibility, stability of the detection method, variability of different types of ROS, etc.) were raised. In the past, electrochemical sensors based on natural enzymes have been developed, but the drawbacks of natural enzymes such as complicated preparation, difficult purification, poor catalytic activity and stability, which limit their research and application. In recent years, numerous studies have found that nano-mimetic enzymes have unique enzyme-like properties such as catalytic activity, selectivity and stability, which can be widely used to construct electrochemical biosensors for the detection of reactive oxygen species. Recent nano-mimetic enzyme sensors for the detection of ·O2-, H2O2 and ·OH were focused in this paper, which are used in the field of life sciences to prevent related diseases in advance through the detection of reactive oxygen species, and can be used in the field of environmental pollution prevention and control for the quantitative detection of reactive oxygen species content.

Three humic acids(AHA, YHA, and EHA) from different origin were characterized by elementary analysis, UV-Vis and FTIR spectra, and the functional groups were determined by chemical titration. The effects of pH, time, temperature, and ionic strength on the complexation of three HAs with U(Ⅵ) were investigated systematically. Meanwhile, the interaction of U(Ⅵ) with three HA models in aqueous phase was studied by means of molecular dynamics(MD) simulations, and the dynamics, coordination structures, and interaction mechanism were further explored. The experimental results show that the elemental composition and functional group types of three HAs from different origin are basically similar, with strong aromaticity and conjugated double bonds, but slight differences can be also observed between them. The low H/C atom ratio, high acidity, and high content of functional groups indicate that YHA has high humification degree, high conjugation or aromatic composition, and strong metal complexation ability. The complexation behavior of three HAs with U(Ⅵ) are significantly different, which is substantially affected by pH, time, temperature, and ionic strength. MD simulations demonstrate that the complexation of single HA with U(Ⅵ) can be completed in a short time, and the main binding sites are carboxyl groups. The coordination structures formed by HAs with U(Ⅵ) in aqueous solution have quite differences, and the main driving force is electrostatic interaction. The results reported here are beneficial to further understanding the chemical behavior of uranium in the presence of HA, and provide data and reference for the geological disposal and safety evaluation of radioactive wastes.

Optimizing insulation technique plays a vital role in developing high performance magnetic powder core. Uniform dense titanium dioxide insulation layer was successfully coated on atomized Fe-Si-Al powder through hydrolysis of tetrabutyl titanate and the effect of water content on insulation quality was systematically investigated. The influences of titanium oxide insulation layer on electromagnetic properties of corresponding powder cores were also discussed. The results show that when the mass of water is increased from 10% to 40% of Fe-Si-Al powder, the insulation layer on particle surface first grows thicker and then becomes loose. High water content favors quick hydrolysis and condensation, while too large volumes of water leads to excessively high hydrolysis rate, which is adverse to the uniform growth and crystallization of titanium dioxide insulation layer. It is proven that uniform and dense insulation layer would contribute to the increase of resistivity under the premise of high density of powder core, which is conducive to the suppression of eddy current and frequency stability of permeability. When the mass of water is 20% of Fe-Si-Al powder, the prepared corresponding powder core has the optimal overall performance, the permeability is as high as 82, the resistivity is up to 1022.35 kΩ·cm and the core loss is as low as 77.63 mW/cm3 (at 100 kHz and 50 mT).

Nowadays, public opinions during public emergencies involve not only textual contents but also contain images. However, the existing works mainly focus on textual contents and they do not provide a satisfactory accuracy of sentiment analysis, lacking the combination of multimodal contents. In this paper, we propose to combine texts and images generated in the social media to perform sentiment analysis.

How to improve the thermal performance of exhaust airflow heat recovery system of mine fan diffuser is a frontier problem in green mine technology. In order to solve this problem, based on finite-time thermodynamics, the air heat pump used to improve the heat and humidity energy grade of exhaust air was used to obtain the cycle equations of ininvertible temperature and heat source, and the analytical expression of exergy profit rate about ambient temperature was derived and the expression of dimensionless exergy profit rate was defined. Used this expression and combined with the actual working conditions in period of the most difficult supply, the exergy profit rates of 6 cities are compared by every day and every hour. The results show that the suitable region of exhaust airflow heat recovery system is characterized by climate division. Especially, this system is suitable for temperate continental climate areas. In the subtropical monsoon climate areas, the change curve of exergic profit margin function in a single day is similar to the shape of “M”, and it is implacable that the revenue generated in the operation of exhaust airflow heat recovery system should be unstable. To avoid losses caused by continuous operation, it is necessary to formulate the start-stop strategy of heat recovery system, and a start-stop control method is proposed, and the benefits of the system throughout the application are calculated numerically. By comparison, the economic return is significantly improved after adopting this control method, and the maximum dimensionless exergy profit rate can be increased from -0.33 to 0.02, by an increment of 0.35.

In the process of building materials production, the use of cement raw meal grinding aid technology, infrared high-radiation energy-saving coating for glass melting furnaces, and new ceramic integrated powder making technology can effectively reduce energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions. At present, China's carbon trading only includes power generation industry, but high-intensive industries such as building materials have been considered to be included in the carbon market. By the use of energy-saving technology to reduce carbon emissions, building materials enterprises participate in the carbon trading market, can realize the value of carbon assets. Based on the advanced energy saving technology in the building materials industry, this paper studies the influence of technology diffusion on the participation of building materials enterprises in carbon trading. The results show that the stock building materials mills choose the technical transformation under the loose quota allocation, and the new technology application of the incremental building materials mills under the tightened quota allocation. In the early stage of the operation of the carbon market, loose quotas should be implemented to realize the technical transformation and energy efficiency improvement of the stock building materials plants, and the quota can be gradually tightened with the maturity of the market operation

In the process of steel production, the use of high temperature and high pressure smelting technology, continuous casting and rolling technology, waste heat recovery technology, can effectively reduce energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions. At present, China's carbon trading only includes power generation industry, but high-intensive industries such as steel have been considered to be included in the carbon market. By the use of energy-saving technology to reduce carbon emissions, steel enterprises participate in the carbon trading market, can realize the value of carbon assets. Based on the advanced energy saving technology in the steel industry, this paper studies the influence of technology diffusion on the participation of steel enterprises in carbon trading. The results show that the stock steel mills choose the technical transformation under the loose quota allocation, and the new technology application of the incremental steel mills under the tightened quota allocation. In the early stage of the operation of the carbon market, loose quotas should be implemented to realize the technical transformation and energy efficiency improvement of the stock steel plants, and the quota can be gradually tightened with the maturity of the market operation.

Objectives: How to choose proper lipoarabinomannan-testing assays for diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) in different populations baffles clinicians. This work assessed all reported lipoarabinomannan assays’ performance and aimed to identify the eligibility of each assay and offer guidance for clinicians. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science until August 23, 2020. The risk of bias was evaluated by QADAS-2. Heterogeneity was evaluated by the Cochran Q test and I2. Sensitivity and specificity were pooled by a bivariate mixed model (register number: CRD42021270506). Results: A total of 97 articles, covering 144 trials, 16 assays, 45,679 participants, and eight sample types, were divided into five groups. Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) had a sensitivity of 65%, specificity of 92%, and an area under curve (AUC) of 0.85 in diagnosing pulmonary TB in adults. ECL showed a promising diagnostic ability (sensitivity: 78%; specificity: 88%; AUC: 0.88) in patients with HIV, especially for urine detection (sensitivity: 90%; specificity: 89%; AUC: 0.95). The enzyme-linked immune assay showed a preference for diagnosing TB in Asians and Africans, especially in Africans who were smear-positive (sensitivity: 80%; specificity: 88%; AUC: 0.91). Conclusion: ECL was recommended for diagnosing pulmonary TB in adults, especially for TB/HIV co-infection. Taking urine as a sample further enhanced ECL's diagnostic performance. Enzyme-linked immune assay was recommended as an additional TB-related detection for smear-positive Africans.

The rapid development of technology allows people to obtain a large amount of data, which contains important information and various noises. How to obtain useful knowledge from data is the most important thing at this stage of machine learning (ML). The problem of unbalanced classification is currently an important topic in the field of data mining and ML. At present, this problem has attracted more and more attention and is a relatively new challenge for academia and industry. The problem of unbalanced classification involves classifying data when there is insufficient data or severe category distribution deviations. Due to the inherent complexity of unbalanced data sets, more new algorithms and tools are needed to effectively convert a large amount of raw data into useful information and knowledge. Unbalanced data set is a special case of classification problem, in which the distribution between classes is uneven, and it is difficult to classify data accurately. This article mainly introduces the research on the processing method of computer algorithms based on the processing method of unbalanced data sets based on ML, aiming to provide some ideas and directions for the processing of computer algorithms based on unbalanced data sets based on ML. This article proposes a research strategy for processing unbalanced data sets based on ML, including data preprocessing, decision tree data classification algorithm, and C4.5 algorithm, which are used to conduct research experiments on processing methods for unbalanced data sets based on ML. The experimental results in this article show that the accuracy rate of the decision tree C4.5 algorithm based on ML is 94.80%, which can be better used for processing unbalanced data sets based on ML.

Abstract Tuberculosis (TB) remains a serious global public health threat. Accumulated evidence has demonstrated that human susceptibility to TB has a strong genetic basis. And different susceptibility single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) have been reported in different studies. To gain greater insight into the host susceptibility to TB, we perform a two‐stage genome‐wide association study to identify the susceptible loci of TB. In the discovery stage, 3116 (1532 TB patients and 1584 healthy controls) and 439 (211 TB patients and 228 healthy controls) individuals were genome‐wide genotyped from a western Chinese Han and Tibetan population, respectively. Based on the additive genetic model, we discovered 14 and three independent loci that had potential associations with TB susceptibility in the Chinese Han and Tibetan populations, respectively (p

Natural enzymes are trace proteins produced by living cells in human body. It is precisely because of the existence of enzyme that the daily operation of organisms can be carried out orderly. At present, enzymes are used in many fields such as biomedicine, catalysis and detection. However, natural enzymes have many disadvantages, such as easy inactivation, poor stability, difficult synthesis, complex purification and high price, which hinder the large-scale application. In the past decades, as a new generation of artificial enzymes, nanomaterials mimic enzymes has gradually become a substitute for natural enzyme due to their high stability and good repeatability. Nanomaterial mimetic enzymes play an important role in many fields. The application of nanomaterial mimetic enzymes in the detection of O2·- and salvianolic acid in the field of electrochemical sensing was focused on in this paper, as well as in the detection of small biological molecules such as glutathione, glucose, cholesterol and H2O2, which can effectively detect the content of heavy metal salts and pesticides in the field of environmental pollution prevention and control, nanomaterials mimic enzymes can also prevent cancer, virus infection and other diseases by detecting specific sequences of DNA. Finally, it was expected that the future research of nanomaterials mimic enzymes will focus on the coupling between nanomaterials mimic enzymes, reaction mechanism, optimization of enzyme reaction environment and substrate selectivity, which will be the key research direction in the future.

Most coalbed methane reservoirs in China are of low porosity, low permeability and with extensive structural coals, which is difficult to be reformed, resulting in low single well gas production and recovery rates.It is the the key target for the development of coalbed methane industry to choose high efficiency reservoir and well reconstruction technology to effectively improve low efficiency wells.This paper systematically dissects the reasons for low production under the influence of "geological reservoir conditions, engineering construction reforms and drainage management control", summarizes the related technologies and application effects of the secondary reconstruction of coalbed methane wells, and provides suggestions for targeted reforms of different types of low-efficiency wells.The secodary reconstructable low-yield factors in coalbed methane wells include insufficient fractures propagation, fractures/pipe coal fines blockage, and limited pressure drop area.During secondary reconstruction, the distribution of coal structure, primary fracture morphology, reservoir permeability, variations of gas and water production, and applicability of drainage equipment need to be considered.The secondary reconstruction technology covers physical, chemical, microbial, and other methods.Secondary hydraulic fracturing, indirect fracturing, and anhydrous fracturing in physical methods, as well as acidification and permeability increasing technology and foam acidification in chemical methods are widely used.In secondary reconstruction, the reservoir adaptability of the reconstruction technology should be analyzed based on the geological conditions, primary reconstruction results, engineering and drainage status, and the purpose of secondary reconstruction should be determined based on the engineering drainage situation.In the secondary reconstruction, re-damage of the reservoir should be avoided to achieve effective transformation and improve the coalbed methane production from single well and well patterns.

This article proposed an innovative composite sandwich structure reinforced with trapezoidal latticed webs with angles of 45°, 60° and 75°. Four specimens were conducted according to quasi-static compression methods to investigate the compressive behavior of the novel composite structures. The experimental results indicated that the specimen with 45° trapezoidal latticed webs showed the most excellent energy absorption ability, which was about 2.5 times of the structures with vertical latticed webs. Compared to the traditional composite sandwich structure, the elastic displacement and ultimate load-bearing capacity of the specimen with 45° trapezoidal latticed webs were increased by 624.1 and 439.8%, respectively. Numerical analysis of the composite sandwich structures was carried out by using a nonlinear explicit finite element (FE) software ANSYS/LS-DYNA. The influence of the thickness of face sheets, lattice webs and foam density on the elastic ultimate load-bearing capacity, the elastic displacement and initial stiffness was analyzed. This innovative composite bumper device for bridge pier protection against ship collision was simulated to verify its performance. The results showed that the peak impact force of the composite anti-collision device with 45° trapezoidal latticed webs would be reduced by 17.3%, and the time duration will be prolonged by about 31.1%.

As an innovation-led, cross-disciplinary frontier field, the new network industry is crucial for promoting the innovation and application of the new-generation information technology as well as the integrated development of industrialization and informatization in China. It is also a powerful means for seizing dominance in emerging industries and economic growth. This study examines the development demand for new network technologies and elaborates on solutions for various application scenarios, highlighting its industrialization value. We made a detailed review of the macro development trend and the current technology application in the new network industry in China and abroad. We conclude the development ideas of China’s new network industry and study the key development directions of related industries. Then, we propose specific development goals for each subdivision in the short-, medium-, and long-term phases. The study shows that a new network industry strategic planning system and cutting-edge basic theory innovation research are urgently needed for China’s new network industry. The key technology directions for this industry includes new network architecture and basic theory, ultra-low latency/deterministic latency network, network operating system, cloud–network convergence, and programmable network.

Adaptive immune response to the gut microbiota is one of the main drivers of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Under inflammatory conditions, immunoglobulin (Ig)-targeted bacteria are altered. However, changes in Ig-targeted bacteria in Asian patients with IBD with ulcerative colitis (UC) remain unclear. Furthermore, changes in IgA-targeted bacteria in patients with UC treated with fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) are unclear. Here, we analyzed fecal samples of patients with IBD and patients with UC before and after FMT by flow cytometry. We found that the percentage of IgA/G-coated bacteria can be used to assess the severity of IBD. Besides oral pharyngeal bacteria such as Streptococcus, we hypothesized that Megamonas, Acinetobacter, and, especially, Staphylococcus might play an important role in IBD pathogenesis. Moreover, we evaluated the influence of FMT on IgA-coated bacteria in patients with UC. We found that IgA-bacterial interactions were re-established in human FMT recipients and resembled those in the healthy fecal donors. Additionally, the IgA targeting was not influenced by delivery methods: gastroscopy spraying and colonic transendoscopic enteral tubing (TET). Then, we established an acute dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced mouse model to explore whether FMT intervention would impact IgA/G memory B cell in the intestine. We found that after FMT, both IgA/G memory B cell and the percentage of IgA/G-targeted bacteria were restored to normal levels in DSS mice.

Due to its functional、nutritional and ornamental characteristics,the special colored grains are increasingly favored and become an important direction of high-end crop industry.These natural pigments can not only increase the color of food,but also have special functions such as antioxidant,anti-cancer,and improving vision etc.This paper focuses on the biosynthesis,main functions and related products of anthocyanins,tricin and carotenoids in special color crops,and then focuses on wheat,an important food crop,and introduced two newly cultivated pigments functional wheat including “Shannong lanmai 1” and“Shannong 101”.This paper provides a reference for the research and variety creation of special color crops.

To help the transportation sector achieve the goal of the energy saving and low-carbon transformation, including highway, waterborne, urban transportation and ports. This paper sets four development scenarios to predict the carbon emission of the transportation sector in Guizhou province. Results indicate that in business-as-usual scenario, the carbon emissions show an overall upward trend; in high speed development scenario, the transportation in Guizhou province will reach a carbon peak in 2030, with a peak value of 8.76 million tons. China should actively take measures for energy saving and carbon reduction. By 2060, optimization of the energy structure contributes more carbon reduction than the optimization of transportation structure. We will promote the energy-saving and green development of China’s transportation carbon emissions.

During the epidemic of COVID-19, the routine clinical treatment for gynecological cancer patients has been disturbed due to the redistribution of medical resource. Due to the systemic immunosuppression caused by the malignancy and anticancer treatments, gynecological cancer patients are more susceptible to COVID-19. With the improvement of the epidemic, the treatment needs of gynecological cancer patients are extremely strong. During this special period, it should carefully identify fever and respiratory symptoms of gynecological cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, immunotherapy and operations. Therefore, it is quite necessary to carry out comprehensive clinical management. We introduce a clinical management of gynecological cancer patients in three aspects of outpatient, in-hospital and out-of-hospital management during this period, in order to maximize the treatment of tumors and effectively prevent COVID-19.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD), is characterized by relapse and remission alternately. It remains a great challenge to diagnose and assess disease activity during IBD due to the lack of specific markers. While traditional biomarkers from plasma and stool, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), fecal calprotectin (FC), and S100A12, can be used to measure inflammation, they are not specific to IBD and difficult to determine an effective cut-off value. There is consensus that gut microbiota is crucial for intestinal dysbiosis is closely associated with IBD etiopathology and pathogenesis. Multiple studies have documented differences in the composition of gut microbiota between patients with IBD and healthy individuals, particularly regarding microbial diversity and relative abundance of specific bacteria. Patients with IBD have higher levels of Proteobacteria and lower amounts of Bacteroides, Eubacterium, and Faecalibacterium than healthy individuals. This review summarizes the pros and cons of using traditional and microbiota biomarkers to assess disease severity and treatment outcomes and addresses the possibility of using microbiota-focused interventions during IBD treatment. Understanding the role of microbial biomarkers in the assessment of disease activity and treatment outcomes has the potential to change clinical practice and lead to the development of more personalized therapies.

In order to achieve dynamic sealing in pressurized vessel considering non-leakage of harmful working medium,this study presents an optimal structure design of permanent magnetic coupling（ PMC）. For the optimization objective of increasing the torque transmission with limited magnetic material cost and decreasing the eddy-current loss of the magnetic coupling caused by the metal isolation cover,an improved partial swarm optimization method is designed to perform a multiobjective design optimization of the structure of PMC. After accurate computation,the optimal structure parameters of PMC are obtained. Then,a 3-D finite element model of PMC with the optimal structure is constructed to analyze the transmitted torque and eddy current loss,and an actual PMC device is manufactured for the non-leakage vessel application and the tested performance satisfies the technical demands,which provides theoretical reference for the PMC structural design in similar applications.

BACKGROUND: Hong Kong enforced stringent travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding the characteristics of imported COVID-19 cases is important for establishing evidence-based control measures. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study summarising the characteristics of imported cases detected in Hong Kong between 13 November 2020 and 31 January 2022, when compulsory quarantine was implemented. FINDINGS: A total of 2269 imported COVID-19 cases aged 0-85 years were identified, of which 48.6 % detected on arrival. A shorter median delay from arrival to isolation was observed in Delta and Omicron cases (3 days) than in ancestral strain and other variants cases (12 days; p

Studies increasingly show that ulcerative colitis (UC) is a consequence of an imbalance between oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity. Bilirubin exerts an anti-inflammatory effect by scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS), although the exact mechanism is not completely understood. The aim of this study was to determine the role of serum bilirubin in UC using patient data and a mouse model of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis. We found that low levels of serum bilirubin correlated to a higher risk of UC in a retrospective case-control population. Pre-treatment with exogenous unconjugated bilirubin (UCB) significantly enhanced colonic bilirubin absorption in mice, and attenuated the DSS-induced body weight loss, colon shortening and histopathological damage. Mechanistically, bilirubin prevented the infiltration of inflammatory cells, and decreased the levels of myeloperoxidase and pro-inflammatory cytokines in the serum and colon. Moreover, bilirubin inhibited ROS and malondialdehyde production, scavenged superoxide anions (O2·−) from the colon and enhanced the total antioxidant capacity. In conclusion, exogenous UCB attenuated DSS-induced colitis by directly scavenging O2·− and enhancing bilirubin reabsorption in the colon via enterohepatic cycling.

In this study, we discovered that a certain concentration of Na+ (15 mM) significantly improved the bond strength (12.94 ± 0.93 MPa), thermal stability (72.68 °C), rheological properties, and textural attributes of walnut protein isolate (WNPI)-κ-carrageenan (KC) composite gel. Electrostatic force, hydrophobic interaction, hydrogen bond, and disulfide bond were also significantly strengthened; the α-helix decreased, and the β-sheet increased in the secondary structure, indicating that the protein molecules in the gel system aggregated in an orderly manner, which led to a much denser and more uniform gel network as well as improved water-holding capacity. In this experimental research, we developed a new type of walnut protein gel that could provide technical support for the high-value utilization and quality control of walnut protein.