Effect of jujube pulp on acid- and rennet-induced coagulation properties of milk.

Milk coagulation is an important step in the production of fermented dairy products such as yogurt and cheese. Jujube is gaining popularity and acceptance as a food ingredient. In China, jujube yogurt is popular among consumers. However, there is limited information on the effect of jujube on acid- and rennet-induced coagulation properties of milk. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of jujube pulp at different concentrations on acid- and rennet-induced coagulation kinetics of milk, and the microstructure of acid- and rennet-induced gels. During acid-induced coagulation, with increasing jujube pulp concentration, the initial pH value decreased; however, the final pH value increased. The initial elasticity index (EI) value increased, and the time point at which the mean square displacement curves lost the linear trend advanced. The sample with 10% jujube pulp had the densest structure and highest EI value. During rennet-induced coagulation, with increasing jujube pulp concentration, the production rate and amount of caseinomacropeptide decreased, and the final EI value increased. Protein aggregates in rennet-induced gels became rough, and the sample with 20% jujube pulp had the highest EI value. This study provides a new perspective and understanding of the application of jujube in fermented dairy products.

Predictive analysis and correlational exploration of public and academic attention in secondary vocational education.

Secondary vocational education (SVE) is responsible for cultivating talents with moral and technical skills, receiving widespread attention from scholars and the public. Studying the two attentions can broaden the research perspectives and promote the development of SVE. However, there are the following problems: 1) the public attention and academic attention of SVE cannot be accurately characterized; 2) the relationship between the public attention and academic attention of SVE cannot be clear; 3) the impact of public attention and academic attention on SVE cannot be predicted. To address the above issues, this paper puts forward the PLSH (Pearson correlation-Linear regression, Seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA), and Holt-winters model) framework. It involves four research steps: 1) public attention and academic attention are obtained for SVE; 2) the correlation between them is analyzed and a linear model is developed; 3) the performance of the SARIMA model and Holt-winters model are conducted, and the best model is adopted to predict the public attention; 4) academic attention is predicted using the results from the previous step. The study shows that the PLSH framework can characterize academic and public attention to SVE, effectively reflecting their correlation and predicting their growth trends.

Characterization of key aroma compounds in Chinese smoked duck by SAFE-GC-O-MS and aroma-recombination experiments.

Smoked duck is a popular meat product in China. The aroma profile and key aroma compounds in smoked ducks were elucidated using solvent-assisted flavor evaporation-gas chromatography-olfactometry-mass spectrometry (SAFE-GC-O-MS), odor activity values (OAVs), aroma recombination and omission experiments, and sensory evaluation. The results indicated that the predominant aroma profiles of rice-, tea oil- and sugarcane-smoked ducks all contained strong smoky, roasty, fatty, meaty, and grassy aromas. A total of 31 aroma compounds were identified as important odorants by OAVs, including 8 aldehydes, 6 pyrazines, 5 phenols, and 2 sulfur compounds. The aroma recombination and omission experiments confirmed that 13 odorants were key aroma compounds in smoked ducks. Of these odorants, 2-methoxyphenol, 4-methylphenol, 5-ethyl-2,3-dimethylpyrazine, methional, 2-methyl-3-furanthiol, (E, E)-2,4-decadienal, 1-octen-3-ol, and anethole significantly contributed to the aroma profile of smoked duck flavor (p < 0.01).

Comprehensive binding analysis of glycated myosin with furan derivatives via glucose by means of multi-spectroscopy techniques and molecular docking simulation.

Myosin is an ideal binding receptor for aroma compounds and its functional properties are easily affected by glucose. The study comprehensively clarified the effects of glucose glycation-induced structural modifications of myosin on its binding ability with furan derivatives, including 2-methylfuran, 2-furfural, and 2-furfurylthiol. The results demonstrated that the binding levels of furan derivatives were obviously affected by the glycation levels of myosin due to the changes of myosin structure and surface. The increased glycation levels caused the unfolding of myosin structure and accelerated the aggregation, as were exhibited by the data of zeta potential, particle size, microstructure, and secondary structure. The glycated myosin with wrinkled surfaces favored the significant increase of hydrophobic interactions (31.59-69.50 µg), the more exposure of amino acid residues (3459-6048), the formation of free sulfhydryl groups (16.37-20.58 mmol/104g) and hydrogen bonds. These key (non)covalent linkages accounted for the generation of glycated myosin-odorants complex, including 2-furfurylthiol (29.17-47.87 %), thus enhancing the resultant binding ability as evidenced by the free furan derivatives concentrations, fluorescence quenching and molecular docking simulation analysis. The glycated myosin for 8 h bound highest concentrations of furan derivatives. The results will provide comprehensive data on the retention of aroma compounds in meat products.

The sustainable development of mathematics subject: An empirical analysis based on the academic attention and literature research.

The exploration of the correlation between subject network attention and literature research in China can aid in comprehending the development trend of Chinese scientific and technological journals. Currently, many scholars have done a lot of research based on the network media index, but the relationship between the discipline attention represented by it and literature research has not been fully verified. This paper used CNKI and Baidu Index as data sources to establish a RAPF experimental framework based on relationship analysis and prediction, and selected high school mathematics subjects in China for effective demonstration. First, RAPF extracted core keywords using text tools and word frequency statistics. Second, it constructed a relationship model between subject attention and literature research based on Spearman and LOOCV. Finally, it made predictions through time series and regression analysis. The results showed a correlation between subject attention and literature research, and the model fit R2 was 0.774, with a relative error of less than 2%. Short-term predictions found that some keywords received less online attention, and 2022-2024 may be the crucial development period for mathematical education research, with an annual literature research volume of approximately 380 articles. This paper summarized the mathematical subject themes centered on content, culture, literacy, and integration, and also provided a reference for the development of the subject through experimental prediction. In the next two years, China's mathematics literature research still needs to delve deeper, broaden its breadth, enhance its height, and ensure a steady improvement in the quality and quantity of literature research.

2D Conjugated Metal-Organic Frameworks Embedded with Iodine for High-Performance Ammonium-Ion Hybrid Supercapacitors.

Ammonium ions (NH4 + ) are emerging non-metallic charge carriers for advanced electrochemical energy storage devices, due to their low cost, elemental abundance, and environmental benignity. However, finding suitable electrode materials to achieve rapid diffusion kinetics for NH4 + storage remains a great challenge. Herein, a 2D conjugated metal-organic framework (2D c-MOF) for immobilizing iodine, as a high-performance cathode material for NH4 + hybrid supercapacitors, is reported. Cu-HHB (HHB = hexahydroxybenzene) MOF embedded with iodine (Cu-HHB/I2 ) features excellent electrical conductivity, highly porous structure, and rich accessible active sites of copper-bis(dihydroxy) (Cu─O4 ) and iodide species, resulting in a remarkable areal capacitance of 111.7 mF cm-2 at 0.4 mA cm-2 . Experimental results and theoretical calculations indicate that the Cu─O4 species in Cu-HHB play a critical role in binding polyiodide and suppressing its dissolution, as well as contributing to a large pseudocapacitance with adsorbed iodide. In combination with a porous MXene anode, the full NH4 + hybrid supercapacitors deliver an excellent energy density of 31.5 mWh cm-2 and long-term cycling stability with 89.5% capacitance retention after 10 000 cycles, superior to those of the state-of-the-art NH4 + hybrid supercapacitors. This study sheds light on the material design for NH4 + storage, enabling the development of novel high-performance energy storage devices.

Clinical observation and histopathological evaluation of pulp after pulpotomy of primary teeth with formocresol and biodentine.

Pulpotomy is the typical treatment for keeping deciduous teeth until exfoliation. Formocresol is one of the most common materials used in dental pulpotomy. Due to the side effects of this drug, its replacement with other substances seems necessary. Therefore, this study compared clinical and histopathological evaluations of primary pulpotomy molars with formocresol and biodentine. In this clinical trial, 66 second-mandibular deciduous molars of children aged 6 to 9 years who met the criteria for pulpotomy were selected. Pulpotomy of the teeth was performed using formocresol and biodentine. For each patient, one tooth was randomly placed in the pulpotomy group with formocresol. The other tooth was placed in the pulpotomy group with biodentine. Then the crowns of the teeth were restored with stainless steel veneer. We recorded clinical and radiographic results of these teeth over six months and one year. The teeth were then extracted after 12 months, and hematoxylin-eosin staining was performed for histopathological evaluations. The obtained data were analyzed by Fisher test and SPSS software version 22. The results showed that clinical success of 6 and 12 months of pulpotomy in both groups was 100%. The 6-month radiographic evaluation of the formocresol group was 84.8%, and the biodentine group was 93.9% (p = 0.21). The success of 12-month radiographs of the formocresol group and the biodentine group were 81.8 and 93.9, respectively (p = 0.13). Also, the histopathological evaluation showed that in the biodentine group, there was mild inflammation in two teeth, two teeth showed moderate inflammation, and two teeth showed severe inflammation. In the formocresol group, severe inflammation was seen in two cases. Mild inflammation was not seen in any of the teeth. Moderate inflammation was seen in one tooth. It was found that there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of inflammation (P >0.05). No necrosis was seen in any of the biodentine group teeth, and there was necrosis in four teeth of the formocresol group. There was a significant difference between the two groups regarding necrosis (P = 0.032). There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding abscess (P> 0.05). According to the obtained results, biodentine could be a suitable alternative for mandibular second molar pulpotomy.

Low Power Scheduling Approach for Heterogeneous System Based on Heuristic and Greedy Method.

Big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence technologies supported by heterogeneous systems are constantly changing our life and cognition of the world. At the same time, its energy consumption affects the operation cost and system reliability, and this attracts the attention of architecture designers and researchers. In order to solve the problem of energy in heterogeneous system environment, inspired by the results of 0-1 programming, a scheduling method of heuristic and greedy energy saving (HGES) approach is proposed to allocate tasks reasonably to achieve the purpose of energy saving. Firstly, all tasks are assigned to each GPU in the system, and then the tasks are divided into high-value tasks and low-value tasks by the calculated average time value and variance value of all tasks. By using the greedy method, the high-value tasks are assigned first, and then the low-value tasks are allocated. In order to verify the effectiveness and rationality of HGES, different tasks with different inputs and different comparison methods are designed and tested. The experimental results on different platforms show that the HGES has better energy saving than that of existing method and can get result faster than that of the 0-1 programming.

Comparison of pulpal vitalization and root canal therapy in symptomatic immature permanent molars.

Endodontic treatment of immature permanent teeth has various problems. Today, the primary goal in the treatment of such teeth is to preserve the life of the pulp so that roots can develop entirely and naturally. If vital pulp therapy can treat these teeth, the treatment will be simpler and less expensive. Therefore, this study compared vital pulp therapy (including calcium-enriched mixture (CEM) cement and MTA methods) and root canal therapy (RCT) in symptomatic immature permanent molars. Also, the expression of TLR-2 and TLR-4 was evaluated in the gingival tissue of patients for further evaluation. In this clinical trial study, 615 patients randomly received three treatments: pulpotomy with CEM (205 cases), pulpotomy with MTA (207 cases), and root canal therapy (203 cases). The presence of periapical lesion was evaluated radiographically at three-time points: start, six months, and 12 months after treatment. The expression of TLR-2 and TLR-4 was also evaluated in the gingival tissue of patients by the Real-time PCR technique. The one-year follow-up of the periapical index shows that the presence of periapical lesion at six-month follow-up in the three groups of MTA, CEM, and RCT equals 14 cases (8%), 7 cases (4%), and 40 cases (22%). The one-year follow-up equals 12 cases (7%), 9 cases (5%), and 33 cases (18%), respectively. The TLR-2 and TLR-4 gene expression results showed no statistical difference between the three groups (CEM, MTA, and RCT). Still, one year after treatment, there was a statistically different between vital pulp therapy (CEM and MTA) and root canal therapy (P<0.05). Also, the results showed no statistical difference between CEM and MTA treatment in terms of TLR-2 and TLR-4 gene expression before and one year after treatment. In general, the results showed that pulpotomy treatment using two biomaterials, CEM and MTA, is more successful than RCT treatment.

A Novel Gene Signature Based on CDC20 and FCN3 for Prediction of Prognosis and Immune Features in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Long-term survivals of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unfavorable, which is largely attributed to active carcinogenesis. Growing studies have suggested that the reliable gene signature could act as an independent prognosis factor for HCC patients. We tried to screen the survival-related genes and develop a prognostic prediction model for HCC patients based on the expression profiles of the critical survival-related genes. In this study, we analyzed TCGA datasets and identified 280 genes with differential expressions (125 increased genes and 155 reduced genes). We analyzed the prognosis value of the top 10 dysregulated genes in HCC patients and identified three critical genes, including FCN3, CDC20, and E2F1, which were confirmed to be associated with long-term survival in both TCGA and ICGC datasets. The results of the LASSO model screened CDC20 and FCN3 for the development of the prognostic model. The CDC20 expression was distinctly increased in HCC specimens, while the FCN3 expression was distinctly decreased in HCC. At a suitable cutoff, patients were divided into low-risk and high-risk groups. Survival assays revealed that patients in high-risk groups exhibited a shorter overall survival than those in low-risk groups. Finally, we examine the relationships between risk score and immune infiltration abundance in HCC and observed that risk score was positively correlated with infiltration degree of B cells, T cell CD4+ cells, neutrophil, macrophage, and myeloid dendritic cells. Overall, we identified three critical survival-related genes and used CDC20 and FCN3 to develop a novel model for predicting outcomes and immune landscapes for patients with HCC. The above three genes also have a high potential for targeted cancer therapy of patients with HCC.

Rational design of a cobalt sulfide/bismuth sulfide S-scheme heterojunction for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

Following a simple one-pot hydrothermal method, a Co9S8/Bi2S3 composite was successfully synthesized using peanut-like BiVO4 as a precursor. After hydrothermal sulfuration, BiVO4 was transformed into Bi2S3 while maintaining its original peanut-like structure. Meanwhile, Co9S8 nanoparticles were successfully coated onto the peanut-shaped surface of Bi2S3, forming an S-scheme heterojunction by in situ hydrothermal method. For the growth system of Co9S8, the special three-dimensional (3D) structure of Bi2S3 provides a good growth site for zero-dimensional (0D) Co9S8 nanoparticles, avoiding their aggregation and exposing, more reaction area of Co9S8. Moreover, the S-scheme heterojunction retains a more effective redox potential for this system and promotes the recombination of nonessential electron-hole pairs. The 0D/3D spatial structure and the construction of the S-scheme heterojunction provide a more efficient and convenient path for the transfer of photogenic charge, which greatly promotes the effective separation and diversion of the electrons. Besides, the cladding structure of the composite and the S-scheme heterojunction formed between Bi2S3 and Co9S8 complement each other for jointly improving the hydrogen production performance of Co9S8/Bi2S3.

0D/2D spatial structure of CdxZn1-xS/Ni-MOF-74 for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

A novel zero-dimensional/two-dimensional CdxZn1-xS/Ni-MOF-74 (CZS/NMF) heterojunction was rationally constructed via a simple hydrothermal and physical mixing method. The results show that the CZS/NMF-4 composite has the best photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance, generating 1712.3 µmol of hydrogen within 5 h, approximately 10 times higher than the amount generated by pure CZS. This extraordinary enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen activity can be ascribed to the constitution of the direct Z-scheme heterojunction and the small size effect, as well as the intimate contact between the 0D CdxZn1-xS nanoparticles and the 2D Ni-MOF-74 sheets. The formation of the direct Z-scheme heterojunction can effectively reduce the migration resistance of light-generated carriers and dramatically promote the separation of photo-induced electrons and holes. Meanwhile, the size effect shortens the electron transfer distance which effectively decreases the recombination possibility of photo-induced electron-hole pairs. Furthermore, the 0D/2D spatial structure of CZS/NMF-4 dramatically reduces the agglomeration of CZS nanoparticles, which provides more active sites for the process of hydrogen evolution. In general, this work provides new inspiration for the application of combinations between progressively developing new MOF materials and the traditional CdxZn1-xS photocatalyst according to the construction of a special spatial structure.

Effect of red pepper (Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim.) leaf extract on volatile flavor compounds of salted silver carp.

Chinese red pepper (Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim.) leaf (ZML) extract was added to salted silver carp. The effect of ZML extract on volatile compounds formation of both dorsal and ventral muscle of salted fish was investigated. Lipid oxidation of salted fish with ZML extract was alleviated with lower peroxide value (PV) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) values than that of the control. Therefore, the contents of some volatile compounds formed mainly by oxidation such as benzene, methylbenzene, 1-octene-3-ol, hexanal, and methyl ketone, which attributed off-odor of salted fish, were reduced. Principal component analysis results showed that the first principal component (PC1) and the second principal component (PC2) explained 62% and 31% of total variance, respectively, and volatile compounds of the dorsal and ventral of control group differentiated from treatment group. These results showed that ZML extract can be a source of natural antioxidants and food additives for improving flavor of salted fish.

Laparoscopic extralevator abdominoperineal excision for the treatment of perianal Paget's disease: A case report.

RATIONAL: Perianal Paget's disease (PPD) is a very rare intraepithelial adenocarcinoma. Very few cases of PPD have been reported till date, so the treatment remains controversial and more experience is needed. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 73-year-old female was admitted to several hospitals with diagnosed as "perianal eczema" in perianal lesion. After a variety of treatments, the patient's condition did not improve. DIAGNOSES: Abdominopelvic computed tomography and rectal magnetic resonance imaging showed thickening of the soft tissue around the anus, with significant enhancement. Histologic examination revealed the state of Paget's cells. INTERVENTIONS: Laparoscopic Extralevator Abdominoperineal Excision (ELAPE) surgery was performed at our department. OUTCOMES: The patient recovered well. After 10 months, a check-up revealed that her perianal area was disease-free. LESSONS: The aim of this report was to present the characteristics of PPD in order to improve its diagnosis and treatment. Laparoscopic ELAPE is a successful therapy.

Curcumin Attenuates on Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Acute Liver Injury in Mice via Modulation of the Nrf2/HO-1 and TGF-ß1/Smad3 Pathway.

This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of curcumin against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced acute liver injury in a mouse model, and to explain the underlying mechanism. Curcumin at doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg/day were administered orally once daily for seven days prior to CCl4 exposure. At 24 h, curcumin-attenuated CCl4 induced elevated serum transaminase activities and histopathological damage in the mouse's liver. Curcumin pre-treatment at 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg significantly ameliorated CCl4-induced oxidative stress, characterized by decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) formations, and increased superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) activities and glutathione (GSH) content, followed by a decrease in caspase-9 and -3 activities. Curcumin pre-treatment significantly decreased CCl4-induced inflammation. Furthermore, curcumin pre-treatment significantly down-regulated the expression of TGF-ß1 and Smad3 mRNAs (both p < 0.01), and up-regulated the expression of nuclear-factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and HO-1 mRNA (both p < 0.01) in the liver. Inhibition of HO-1 attenuated the protective effect of curcumin on CCl4-induced acute liver injury. Given these outcomes, curcumin could protect against CCl4-induced acute liver injury by inhibiting oxidative stress and inflammation, which may partly involve the activation of Nrf2/HO-1 and inhibition of TGF-ß1/Smad3 pathways.

MiR-199a targeting ROCK1 to affect kidney cell proliferation, invasion and apoptosis.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is one of the three most common cancers of urinary tract cancer, accounting for 2-3% of all systemic cancers. Recent studies have found that miR-199a is lowly expressed in RCC, may act as a tumour suppressor gene to induce the occurrence of kidney cancer. In the present study, we investigated the role of miR-199a in the progression and metastasis of RCC. The results showed that miR-199a significantly downregulated in RCC and cell lines. Overexpression of miR-199a in RCC cell lines significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Furthermore, the qRT-PCR and western blot results showed that miR-199a overexpression significantly downregulated ROCK-1 mRNA and protein levels. ROCK1 was identified as a target of miR-199a, and ectopic expression of miR-199a downregulated ROCK1 by direct binding to its 3' untranslated region. Together, these findings indicate that miR-199a acts as a tumour suppressor and its downregulation in tumour tissues may contribute to the progression and metastasis of RCC through a mechanism involving ROCK1, suggesting miR-199a as a potential new diagnostic and therapeutic target for the treatment of RCC.

Upregulated KAT7 in synovial fibroblasts promotes Th17 cell differentiation and infiltration in rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease involving multiple cellular participants, of which synovial fibroblasts (SFs) are tightly connected with the development and progression of RA. Here, we provide evidence confirming that KAT7, an H4-specific histone acetylase, is upregulated in SFs of RA patients, which is at least attributed to the stimulation by RA-associated proinflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α, IL-1ß or IFN-γ. In addition, KAT7 overexpression in cultured human fibroblast-like synoviocytes (HFLSs) induces IL-6 and TGF-ß expression through an epigenetic mechanism, and in vitro T helper 17 (Th17) cell polarization cultured in these supernatants shows promoted cell differentiation. Moreover, KAT7 overexpression in HFLSs induces CCL20 expression via p44/42 MAPK pathway, whereby promoting Th17 cell migration. These two activities of KAT7 in RA SFs indicate its potential roles in accelerating RA pathology. Overall, these results demonstrate some connections between KAT7 upregulated in RA SFs and RA progression and present the inhibition of KAT7 activity as a novel therapeutic target for interfering RA disease.

Advances in catalytic production of bio-based polyester monomer 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid derived from lignocellulosic biomass.

Recently, the production and utilization of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) have become a hot research topic in catalyst field and polyester industry for its special chemical structure and a wide range of raw material source. FDCA is a potential replacement for the terephthalic acid monomer used in the production of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT), which opens up a new pathway for obtaining biomass-based polyester to replace or partially replace petroleum based polyester. Here, we mainly reviewed the catalytic pathway for the synthesis of FDCA derived from lignocellulosic biomass or from the related downstream products, such as glucose, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). Moreover, the utilization of oxidation catalysts, the reaction mechanism, the existing limitations and unsolved challenges were also elaborated in detail. Therefore, we hope this mini review provides a helpful overview and insight to readers in this exciting research area.