An exploratory study on material deprivation and loneliness among older adults in Hong Kong.

BACKGROUND: Poverty, as a risk factor for loneliness, has been understudied, and there is a need to gain a better understanding of the relationship between poverty examined by material deprivation and loneliness among older adults in Hong Kong. It also aimed to explore the possible mediation and moderation effects of social support, social networks, neighborhood collective efficacy, and social engagement in the link between material deprivation and loneliness. METHODS: 1696 Chinese older adults aged 60 years and above (Mage = 74.61; SD = 8.71) participated in a two-wave study. Older adults reported their loneliness level, material deprivation, perceived level of social support, social network, neighborhood collective efficacy, social engagement, and sociodemographic information. Logistic regression was conducted to examine the effect of material deprivation on loneliness, as well as the mediation and moderation models. RESULTS: The results indicated that material deprived older adults reported a significantly higher level of loneliness 2 years later when controlling for demographic variables, health-related factors, and loneliness at baseline. We also found that engagement in cultural activities partially mediated the effect of material deprivation and loneliness. Furthermore, neighborhood collective efficacy and engagement in cultural activities were significant moderators that buffer the relationship between material deprivation and loneliness. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested the need to alleviate the negative impact of material deprivation on loneliness by developing interventions focused on promoting neighborhood collective efficacy and social engagement, which could be aimed at building meaningful bonds among Chinese older adults in Hong Kong.

Biovalorization of spent Konacha tea leaves via single-culture fermentation involving wine yeasts and lactic acid bacteria.

AIMS: The objective of this study was to explore the potential of fermentation as a biovalorization strategy for spent tea leaves (STL), a major agrifood waste generated from the tea extraction industry. Fermentation by wine yeasts or lactic acid bacteria (LAB) has shown promising results in previous studies across various substrates. METHODS AND RESULTS: Konacha (green tea) STL slurries were inoculated with single strains of wine yeasts or LAB respectively. After a 48-h fermentation, changes in selected nonvolatile and volatile compositions were evaluated. Fermentation by LAB increased organic acid content by 5- to 7-fold (except Lactobacillus fermentum) and modulated the composition of major tea catechins, whereas wine yeast fermentation resulted in a 30% increase in amino acid content. Strain-specific production of specific volatile compounds was also observed such as butanoic acid (L. fermentum), isoamyl acetate (Pichia kluyveri) and 4-ethylphenol (L. plantarum). CONCLUSIONS: Both volatile and nonvolatile compound compositions of Konacha STL were successfully modified via wine yeast and LAB fermentation. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF STUDY: Our findings indicate that Konacha STL is a suitable medium for biovalorization by wine yeasts or LAB via the generation of commercially useful volatile and nonvolatile compounds. Future optimizations could further render fermentation an economically viable strategy for the upcycling of STL.

Recent advances in analytical strategies for coffee volatile studies: Opportunities and challenges.

Coffee has attracted significant research interest owing to its complex volatile composition and aroma, which imparts a pleasant sensorial experience that remains challenging to analyse and interpret. This review summarises analytical challenges associated with coffee's volatile and matrix complexity, and recent developments in instrumental techniques to resolve them. The benefits of state-of-the-art analytical techniques applied to coffee volatile analysis from experimental design to sample preparation, separation, detection, and data analysis are evaluated. Complementary method selection coupled with progressive experimental design and data analysis are vital to unravel the increasing comprehensiveness of coffee volatile datasets. Considering this, analytical workflows for conventional, targeted, and untargeted coffee volatile analyses are thus proposed considering the trends towards sorptive extraction, multidimensional gas chromatography, and high-resolution mass spectrometry. In conclusion, no single analytical method addresses coffee's complexity in its entirely, and volatile analysis must be tailored to the key objectives and concerns of the analyst.

Ingredients, Processing, and Fermentation: Addressing the Organoleptic Boundaries of Plant-Based Dairy Analogues.

Consumer interest and research in plant-based dairy analogues has been growing in recent years because of increasingly negative implications of animal-derived products on human health, animal wellbeing, and the environment. However, plant-based dairy analogues face many challenges in mimicking the organoleptic properties of dairy products due to their undesirable off-flavours and textures. This article thus reviews fermentation as a viable pathway to developing clean-label plant-based dairy analogues with satisfactory consumer acceptability. Discussions on complementary strategies such as raw material selection and extraction technologies are also included. An overview of plant raw materials with the potential to be applied in dairy analogues is first discussed, followed by a review of the processing steps and innovative techniques required to transform these plant raw materials into functional ingredients such as plant-based aqueous extracts or flours for subsequent fermentation. Finally, the various fermentation (bacterial, yeast, and fungal) methodologies applied for the improvement of texture and other sensory qualities of plant-based dairy analogues are covered. Concerted research efforts would be required in the future to tailor and optimise the presented wide diversity of options to produce plant-based fermented dairy analogues that are both delicious and nutritionally adequate.

Integration of health services for the elderly in Asia: A scoping review of Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia.

Against the backdrop of rapid ageing populations, there is an increasing recognition of the need to integrate various health services for the elderly, not only to provide more coordinated care, but also to contain the rapid cost inflation driven primarily by the curative sector. Funded by the Asia-Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, this scoping review seeks to synthesize the received knowledge on care integration for the elderly in four Asian societies representing varying socioeconomic and health-system characteristics: Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The search for English-language literature published between 2009 and 2019 yielded 67 publications in the final sample. The review finds that both research and practice regarding health service integration are at a preliminary stage of development. It notes a marked trend in seeking to integrate long-term elderly care with curative and preventive care, especially in community settings. Many distinctive models proliferated. Integration is demonstrated not only horizontally but also vertically, transcending public-private boundaries. The central role of primary care is highly prominent in almost all the integration models. However, these models are associated with a variety of drawbacks in relation to capacity, perception, and operation that necessitate further scholarly and policy scrutiny, indicating the robustness and persistence of siloed healthcare practices.

Effect of solid-state fungal fermentation on the non-volatiles content and volatiles composition of Coffea canephora (Robusta) coffee beans.

In this study, the effects of fungal fermentation on green canephora coffee beans were evaluated by observing the changes to selected non-volatile parameters before roasting, and subsequently the volatile profile after roasting. Solid-state fermentation (SSF) by Aspergillus spp. and Mucor spp. on green canephora coffee beans was shown to modulate the contents of free sugars, free amino acids and polyphenolic compounds such as caffeoylquinic acids (CQAs). Significant strain-specific differences were observed in the contents of aroma compounds after roasting. A significant increase in pyrazines was observed in the Aspergillus oryzae-fermented samples, while higher levels of furans were detected in the Mucor plumbeus-fermented samples. The present work shows that fungal fermentation of green canephora coffee beans is a potentially promising method for the modulation and improvement of coffee flavour and aroma.

Estrone Sulfate Transport and Steroid Sulfatase Activity in Colorectal Cancer: Implications for Hormone Replacement Therapy.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) affects the incidence and potential progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). As HRT primarily consists of estrone sulfate (E1S), understanding whether this conjugated estrogen is transported and metabolized in CRC will define its potential effect in this malignancy. Here, we show that a panel of CRC cell lines (Colo205, Caco2, HCT116, HT-29) have steroid sulfatase (STS) activity, and thus can hydrolyze E1S. STS activity is significantly higher in CRC cell lysate, suggesting the importance of E1S transport in intracellular STS substrate availability. As E1S transport is regulated by the expression pattern of certain solute carrier organic anion transporter polypeptides, we show that in CRC OATP4A1 is the most abundantly expressed transporter. All four CRC cell lines rapidly transported E1S into cells, with this effect significantly inhibited by the competitive OATP inhibitor BSP. Transient knockdown of OATP4A1 significantly disrupted E1S uptake. Examination of estrogen receptor status showed ERα was present in Colo205 and Caco2 cells. None of the cells expressed ERß. Intriguingly, HCT116 and HT29 cells strongly expressed the G protein coupled estrogen receptor (GPER), and that stimulation of this receptor with estradiol (E2) and G1, a GPER agonist, significantly (p < 0.01) increased STS activity. Furthermore, tamoxifen and fulvestrant, known GPER agonist, also increased CRC STS activity, with this effect inhibited by the GPER antagonist G15. These results suggest that CRC can take up and hydrolyze E1S, and that subsequent GPER stimulation increases STS activity in a potentially novel positive feedback loop. As elevated STS expression is associated with poor prognosis in CRC, these results suggest HRT, tamoxifen and fulvestrant may negatively impact CRC patient outcomes.

Gal11p dosage-compensates transcriptional activator deletions via Taf14p.

Transcriptional activators work by recruiting transcription factors that are required for the process of transcription to their target genes. We have used the Split-Ubiquitin system to identify eight transcription factors that interacted with both the transcriptional activators Gal4p and Gcn4p in living cells. The over-expression of one of the activator-interacting proteins, Gal11p, partially suppressed GAL4 and GCN4 deletions. We have isolated two point mutants in Gal11p, F848L and F869S that were defective for the dosage compensation. We have identified 35 transcription factors that interacted with Gal11p in living cells, and the only protein-protein interaction affected by the Gal11p mutations was the one between Gal11p and Taf14p. We have further shown that the suppression of a GAL4 deletion by high levels of Gal11p required Taf14p, and that over-expression of Gal11p recruited Taf14p to the GAL1 promoter together with Tbp1p, Swi2p and Srb7p. Gal11p interacted with Mig1p, indicating that Mig1/2p could have recruited Gal11p to the GAL1 promoter in the absence of Gal4p. Our results suggest that transcriptional activators work by raising the local concentration of the limiting factor Gal11p, and that Gal11p works by recruiting Mediator and Taf14p-containing transcription factors like TFIID and SWI/SNF and by competing general repressors like Ssn6p-Tup1p off the target promoters.