Dual regulations on texture and water mobility of shrimp surimi gel with sustained-release epigallocatechin-3-gallate in γ-cyclodextrin metal organic frameworks: Insights into functionality and mechanisms.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) could demonstrate crosslinking effects on myofibrillar proteins, yet its proneness to self-aggregation could bring excessive crosslinking and water loss within gels, hindering its application as an additive during thermal gelation process. Here, encapsulation with the γ-cyclodextrin metal organic framework (γ-CD-MOF) before the use of EGCG was found to play a dual role: alleviating over-crosslinking of proteins and elevating water retention within gels. Results showed that EGCG got a sustainable release throughout the thermal process due to the gradual fracture of O-K coordinate bounds and structural collapse of γ-CD-MOF. Mechanism insights revealed that the use of EGCG loaded γ-CD-MOF (EGCG@γ-CD-MOF) could regulate formation efficiency on disulfide bounds and promote protonation transition of the amino groups in proteins. Moreover, EGCG@γ-CD-MOF brought a higher retention of phenols within gels through preventing oxidative transformation of phenols towards quinones, which were verified to display a higher affinity towards myosin via molecular calculations.

Antibacterial activity and mechanisms of α-terpineol against foodborne pathogenic bacteria.

This study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial activities of α-terpineol against common foodborne pathogenic bacteria by agar well diffusion, broth microdilution, and colony counting assay. Propulsive research was conducted to reveal the antibacterial mechanisms, including morphology, infrared spectroscopy, membrane fluidity, membrane permeability, proton motive force, and oxidative phosphorylation. Results indicated that the antibacterial activity of α-terpineol decreased in the following order: Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus. With an initial cell count of 8 log CFU/mL, α-terpineol at 0.8% (v/v) reduced E. coli O157:H7 and S. aureus by approximately 5.6 and 3.9 log CFU/mL within 1 h, respectively. Remarkable destruction in cell envelopes and intracellular organizations was observed. The hydroxyl of α-terpineol might form glycosidic bonds with carbohydrates and hydrogen bonds with PO2- and COO- via infrared spectroscopy analysis. Generalized polarization of Laurdan revealed that the polar head groups of phospholipids transformed into close packed. The anisotropy variations of trimethyl amino-diphenylhexatriene (TMA-DPH) and DPH suggested membrane fluidity decreased. The N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine intake assay indicated that α-terpineol impaired the cell wall. Propidium iodide staining was indicative of damaged plasma membranes. Electron transport in the cytoplasmic membrane was impaired, inducing reactive oxygen species accumulation. Both membrane electrical potential and membrane pH gradient collapsed. The disruption of proton motive force and the leakage of ATP resulted in a deficit of intracellular ATP. Our research revealed the interaction between the hydroxyl group of α-terpineol and bacteria affects membrane function contributing to the bacteria's death. KEY POINTS: • α-Terpineol hydroxy formed glycosidic bonds and hydrogen bonds with bacteria • α-Terpineol increased the membrane gelation and reduced the membrane fluidity • Proton motive force and oxidative phosphorylation were impaired.

Encapsulation Alleviates the Auto-browning of Epigallocatechin-3-gallate in Aqueous Solutions through Regulating Molecular Self-Aggregation Behavior.

Catechins are widely recognized for superb antioxidant capability, but their application as food antioxidants is hindered by susceptibility to auto-browning under high-moisture conditions. Here, we proposed a strategy of ordered encapsulation with cyclodextrin-based metal-organic frameworks (CD-MOFs) to alleviate the auto-browning phenomenon of catechins while preserving their antioxidant capability and demonstrated the feasibility of this strategy via selecting epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) as a model. Even in aqueous solutions, EGCG@CD-MOFs still possessed delayed browning, in contrast with pristine EGCG, characterized by suppressed efficiencies on the generation of oxidative dimers (theasinensin A) and semiquinone radicals. Mechanism insights revealed that ordered encapsulation brought dual regulations on the self-aggregation behavior of EGCG: EGCG@CD-MOFs exhibited a gradual structural collapse from the framework toward irregular aggregates as O-K bonds broke progressively, which restricted molecular mobility of EGCG, and EGCG molecular conformations became constrained by the structure of EGCG@CD-MOFs as well as rich intermolecular forces, even after structural collapse.

PPAR-δ as a prognostic biomarker and its association with immune infiltrates in breast cancer PPAR-δ as a prognostic biomarker and its association with immune infiltrates in breast cancer.

While peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor δ (PPAR-δ) and its associated signaling pathways have been shown to play an important regulatory role in various malignant tumors, in breast cancer, its potential influence on immune infiltration and its ability to serve as a prognostic marker remains unclear. BRCA patient samples with matched paracancerous samples were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). PPAR-δ expression, its potential effect on immune cell infiltration and its association to clinicopathological features were examined. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and Single-Sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (ssGSEA) were utilized for functional and pathway enrichment and to quantify the extent of immune cell infiltration. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression analysis (nomogram) were performed to assess the association between PPAR- δ and predicted survival. To confirm these findings, an allograft tumor mouse model was generated and treated with a PPAR-δ inhibitor to examine the role of PPAR-δ expression in vivo; while immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed to examine PPAR-δ expression in paired BRCA patient samples in vitro. Overall, the findings presented herein suggest that PPAR-δ plays a crucial role in breast cancer progression and prognosis and may serve as a survival predictive biomarker.

Effects of Non-Enzymatic Browning and Lipid Oxidation on Color of Ready-to-Eat Abalone during Accelerated Storage and Its Control.

The deepening of color of ready-to-eat (RTE) abalone during storage leads to sensory quality degradation, which seriously affects the shelf life of products and consumers' purchasing desire. The goal of this study is to look into the causes of non-enzymatic browning and lipid oxidation, as well as how to control them, and their effect on the color of RTE abalone during storage. The control, bloodletting and antioxidants groups (lactic acid, citric acid and 4-hexylresorcinol) of RTE abalone were stored for 0, 20 and 40 days at 40 °C, respectively, to explore the rule and mechanism of the color change in RTE abalone. This research shows that RTE abalone undergoes browning during storage. Meanwhile, the content of reducing sugar, phenols and unsaturated fatty acids decreases, while the formation of lipid hydroperoxides and aldehydes increases during storage. In addition, the color change in RTE abalone during storage is mainly related to the Maillard reaction, while the lipid oxidation mainly forms pyrrole and participates in the Strecker degradation process as part of the Maillard reaction. The quality of RTE abalone can be maintained by controlling browning effectively as well as lipid oxidation through bloodletting and the addition of antioxidants to ensure that RTE abalone has high storage stability. According to our research, bloodletting and the addition of antioxidants to RTE abalone have a good application prospect and popularizing value in the storage of RTE abalone.

Achieving dual functions of texture modification and water retention of shrimp surimi products with the combination of epigallocatechin-3-gallate and γ-cyclodextrin.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) exhibits excellent cross-linking effects of myofibrillar proteins, it is prone to self-aggregation, causing excessive cross-linking and moisture loss of gels, which limits its application as a food additive in surimi products. Here, through combination γ-cyclodextrin and EGCG into one inclusion complex, we achieved proper usage of EGCG in shrimp surimi products: elevating both water holding capability and texture properties (hardness, chewiness and resilience). Moreover, the mechanism behind excellent performance was elucidated: as texture modifiers, the complexes improved gel network integrity through intermolecular interactions and moderated disulfide bonds; and as water retainer agents, the complexes promoted transformation of nitrogen in proteins towards the form of protonated amino, facilitating the occurrence of hydration. Furthermore, the inclusion complexes brought a higher phenolic retention within products in contrast with direct addition of EGCG. This work may propose novel insights for the usage of polyphenols as additives in surimi-based products.

Ethanol-mediated synthesis of γ-cyclodextrin-based metal-organic framework as edible microcarrier: performance and mechanism.

Here, an ethanol-mediated method was introduced to fabricate γ-cyclodextrin-based metal-organic frameworks (γ-CD-MOFs) as microcarriers for epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). Through adjusting ethanol gas diffusion temperature and ethanol liquid feed speed, we achieved control of crystallization efficiency and crystals size without extra surfactants. Under the sequential regulatory by ethanol in two phases, the obtained γ-CD-MOFs with cubic shape exhibited excellent crystallinity, high surface area, and uniform size distribution. Through the interplay of hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions and π stacking, EGCG molecules could be stored efficiently within cavities and tunnels of the γ-CD-MOFs with high load capability of 334 mg g-1. More importantly, the incorporation of EGCG within frameworks wouldn't disintegrate the unique body-centered cubic structure of γ-CD-MOFs, in turn, would improve the thermostability and antioxidative activity of EGCG. Significantly, all food-grade materials ensured the γ-CD-MOFs high acceptance and applicability for food and biomedical applications.

Nanoprecipitates of γ-cyclodextrin/epigallocatechin-3-gallate inclusion complexes as efficient antioxidants for preservation of shrimp surimi products: synthesis, performance and mechanism.

BACKGROUND: Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is well known for excellent chain-breaking antioxidant capability. However, browning by oxidation and aggregation of EGCG is a non-negligible defect that hinders its applications as an antioxidant in various foodstuffs. Therefore, how to eliminate or mitigate browning efficiently, while retaining functionalities as food additive is a challenge in the food industry. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that EGCG could be anchored within the internal cavity of γ-cyclodextrin (γ-CD) to form an inclusion structure, where hydrophobic interaction, hydrogen bonding, and π-stacking were identified to be the primary drivers. The interplay between two molecules and the steric hindrance from γ-CD could restrict the motion and aggregation of EGCG efficiently, thus alleviating the browning effect. In addition, the conformational adaption of EGCG within the inclusions would result in general decreases in hydrogen-bond dissociation enthalpies for the pyrogallol-type structure on the b ring, thus enhancing the antioxidant capability. In practical application, the nanoscale γ-CD/EGCG inclusion complexes were validated preliminarily as efficient additives in the preservation of shrimp surimi, presenting significant effects on prolonging the shelf-life of products. CONCLUSION: Here, nanoscale γ-CD/EGCG inclusion complexes as alternatives to EGCG were tailored as food antioxidants for the preservation of shrimp surimi products, exerting antioxidant effects while mitigating the browning effects of EGCG on products. Through self-assembly, EGCG would be anchored with the cavity of γ-CD, which could regulate the release modes and restrict the aggregation of EGCG. This facile strategy has great potential in food preservation. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Food-grade encapsulated polyphenols: recent advances as novel additives in foodstuffs.

A growing inclination among consumers toward the consumption of natural products has propelled the usage of natural compounds as novel additives. Polyphenols are among the most popular candidates of natural food additives with multiple functionalities and bioactivities but are limited by instability. In this regard, a series of food-grade encapsulated polyphenols has been tailored for incorporating into food formulations as novel additives, which could better satisfy the complicated industry processing. This review seeks to present the most recent discussions regarding their application status in diverse foodstuffs as novel additives, involving functionalities, action mechanisms, and relevant encapsulation technologies. The scientific findings confirm that such novel additives show positive effects on physicochemical, sensory, and nutritional properties as well as the shelf life of diverse food matrices. However, poor heat resistance is still the major defect that restricts their application in thermal processes. Future research should focus on the evaluation of the compatibility and applicability of encapsulated polyphenols in real food processes as well as track and deepen their molecular action mechanisms in the context of complex foodstuffs. Innovation of existing encapsulation technologies should also be concerned in the future to bridge the gap between lab and scale-up production.

Current state of NK cell-mediated immunotherapy in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has become one of the most common hematological diseases in western countries, with an annual incidence of 42/100,000. Conventional chemotherapy and targeted therapeutic drugs showed limitations in prognosis or in efficiency in high-risk patients. Immunotherapy represented is one of the most effective therapeutic approaches with the potential of better effect and prognosis. Natural killer (NK) cells are good options for immunotherapy as they can effectively mediate anti-tumor activity of immune system by expressing activating and inhibiting receptors and recognizing specific ligands on various tumor cells. NK cells are critical in the immunotherapy of CLL by enhancing self-mediated antibody-dependent cytotoxicity (ADCC), allogeneic NK cell therapy and chimeric antigen receptor-natural killer (CAR-NK) cell therapy. In this article, we reviewed the features, working mechanisms, and receptors of NK cells, and the available evidence of the advantages and disadvantages of NK cell-based immunotherapies, and put forward future study directions in this field.

Three-dimensional gait characteristics of patients after unilateral total knee arthroplasty.

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the gait characteristics of bilateral limbs after unilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA) using three-dimensional (3D) dynamic capture technology.Forty-two patients who underwent TKA were selected from the Orthopedic Medical Center of The Second Hospital of Jilin University from November 2018 to May 2019. We used a 3D dynamic capture system to measure the gait characteristics of patients at 3 months after TKA. The data, including relative position and direction of different body parts, the force between feet and ground, spatial and temporal relationship of the lower limb muscles, were measured. Besides, the surface electromyogram signal and the force plate analog signal were also collected. The walking ability, knee 3D kinematic, and kinetic characteristics were analyzed by the Cortex software.Spatial and temporal parameters, including stride frequency, double support phase, single support phase, step length, step time, step width, stride length, gait cycle, velocity, were no significant difference in bilateral lower extremities (P > .05). The reaction force of hip, knee, and ankle joint in the operation side were less than that of the healthy side, but the difference was not statistically significant (P > .05). However, when compared with the healthy side, the hip joint in operation side had a larger maximum extension angle (P < .001), the knee joint in operation side had a larger maximum valgus angle and valgus activity (P < .05), and had a smaller tibial maximum internal rotation angle (P < .05). Besides, the surface electromyogram signals of tibialis anterior muscles were reduced (P < .05).3D gait analysis, as an objective and quantitative evaluation method, is a safe, effective, and reliable method for evaluating postoperative knee function. The data of gait analysis prove that TKA is a vital treatment to improve the function of patients with knee arthritis. Besides, gait analysis also showed that there were various kinematic and biomechanical abnormalities in the knee after TKA, which may be the reason why the surgical knee could not immediately return to normal level.

The primary site of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma predicts survival benefits of EGFR inhibitors: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To assess the survival benefits associated with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) according to the primary site. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted for randomized phase III trials comparing treatment with or without EGFR inhibitors in locoregionally advanced, recurrent, or metastatic HNSCC. The primary and secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), respectively. Data were pooled using a random-effects model. RESULTS: Seven trials with a total of 3391 patients were included. The addition of EGFR inhibitors improved OS in patients with oral cavity-oropharyngeal carcinoma (hazard ratio [HR] 0.77, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.67-0.87, P < 0.001) but not in patients with hypopharyngeal-laryngeal carcinoma (HR 0.94, 95% CI 0.82-1.08, P = 0.398). A significant interaction was found in favor of oral cavity-oropharyngeal carcinoma (P = 0.029). The addition of EGFR inhibitors increased PFS in both patients with oral cavity-oropharyngeal carcinoma (HR 0.67, 95% CI 0.52-0.85, P = 0.001) and patients with hypopharyngeal-laryngeal carcinoma (HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.69-0.94, P = 0.005). A trend towards significant interaction was found in favor of oral cavity-oropharyngeal carcinoma (P = 0.161). Comparable results were observed in the pre-specified subgroup analyses. Meta-regression analyses suggested that the primary site appeared to be a predictor of survival benefits in HNSCC patients who received treatment with EGFR inhibitors over those who did not. CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis suggests that the survival benefits of EGFR inhibitors might depend on primary sites in HNSCC. Further studies are needed to confirm this finding.

Graphite-like carbon nitride-laden gold nanoparticles as signal amplification label for highly sensitive lateral flow immunoassay of 17ß-estradiol.

Conventional gold nanoparticles-based lateral flow immunoassays (AuNPs-LFIA) lack sensitivity. In this work, we developed a graphite-like carbon nitride-laden AuNPs (g-C3N4@Au) assisted LFIA to improve sensitivity for 17ß-estradiol (E2) in foods. g-C3N4 nanosheets were applied as carriers, because of their excellent chemical stability, large surface areas and low-cost, loading large numbers of AuNPs to amplify signals and improve the overall response of g-C3N4@Au-based LFIA (g-C3N4@Au-LFIA). The lowest visual limit of detection (vLOD) of E2 is 0.5 ng mL-1 for g-C3N4@Au-LFIA, which exhibit a significantly three-fold improved analytical performance compared with that of AuNPs-LFIA. Additionally, this method was successfully used to the detection of E2 in four spiked food samples, offering a great potential of the g-C3N4@Au based LFIA for its application in food products.

Competitive Lateral Flow Immunoassay Relying on Au-SiO2 Janus Nanoparticles with an Asymmetric Structure and Function for Furazolidone Residue Monitoring.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are the most commonly used signal materials in lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA). However, the assay sensitivity of traditional AuNP-based LFIA is usually limited by the incomplete competition between free target analytes and immobilized antigens for the binding of AuNP-labeled antibodies. To unfreeze this limitation, here, asymmetric Au-SiO2 Janus NPs (about 66 nm) were designed and synthesized. Au-SiO2 Janus NPs can assemble into snowman-like anisotropic structures and combine two different physicochemical properties at their opposite sides, where the AuNP side mainly possesses the antibody conjugating and signal providing functions and the SiO2 side primarily offers the stable function. In virtue of the unique asymmetric nanostructure, only the AuNP side can interact with target analytes by specific antigen-antibody interactions, which could significantly improve the efficiency of competition. Selecting furazolidone as a model analyte, the immunoassay biosensor showed a limit of detection as low as 0.08 ng/mL, 10-fold decreased than that of the AuNPs-LFIA. Moreover, the Au-SiO2 Janus NP lateral flow immunoassay was well applied in chicken, pork, honey, and beef food samples with visual detection limits of 0.8 ng/g, 0.16 ng/g, 0.4 ng/mL, and 0.16 ng/g, respectively. The Au-SiO2 Janus NPs possess the advantages of both materials, which will broaden their applications as a potential alternative in the rapid and sensitive detection of antibiotic residues.

Developing a Simple Immunochromatography Assay for Clenbuterol with Sensitivity by One-Step Staining.

An innovative lateral flow competition immunoassay (LFCIA) for detecting clenbuterol (CL) was developed by employing the advantages of the coomassie brilliant blue (CBB) staining method. An antibody stained by CBB was used both as a recognition reagent and as a chromogenic probe, enabling the simple but sensitive LFCIA of CL. The CBB-based LFCIA exhibited sensitivity for CL with a detection limit of 2 ng mL-1. Furthermore, this strategy was preliminarily verified by screening for CL in milk, pork tenderloin, and swine liver with recoveries ranging from 81 to 102%. Compared with conventional LFCIAs, the use of CBB as a signal label not only avoided the complicated material synthesis and surface modification process but also simplified the cross-linking with antibodies, meanwhile reducing the steric hindrance and increasing the possibility of immune recognition reactions, which was propitious for the effective utilization of antibodies. Taking advantages of the simplicity, rapidity, and cost-effectiveness, the CBB-based LFCIA may have potential for on-demand monitoring of general harmful small molecules by changing the kind of the staining antibody.

Functional nanozyme mediated multi-readout and label-free lateral flow immunoassay for rapid detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7.

To overcome the drawbacks of antibody labeling dependence and single-readout system in the conventional lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs) as well as the non-targeted combination of new capture agents reported recently for pathogen detection, in this work, a multi-readout and label-free LFIA was proposed for rapid detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7) based on a nanozyme-bacteria-antibody sandwich pattern. A type of functional nanozyme-mannose modified Prussian blue (man-PB), was introduced as the recognition agent as well as signal indicator. Apart from original signal intensity on the T-line, the peroxidase-like catalytic activity-driven generation of colorimetric signal could be used as another format of quantitation. Importantly, such LFIA could exhibit excellent performance for target pathogens detection separately with a quantitative range of 102-108 cfu·mL-1 and a low detection limit of 102 cfu·mL-1 based on different readout formats, indicating the application potential of the proposed LFIA in real samples.

Small size nanoparticles-Co3O4 based lateral flow immunoassay biosensor for highly sensitive and rapid detection of furazolidone.

Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) biosensor is a paper-based tool and widely utilized in various fields. Here, we developed a novel LFIA biosensor by introducing Co3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) as signal labels for highly sensitive detection of 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone (AOZ), a metabolite of furazolidone. The characteristic brown color of Co3O4 NPs enabled AOZ to be visually detected by the LFIA. Significantly, the size of Co3O4 NPs is relatively small compared with most of other signal labels, which could remarkably reduce steric hindrance, increase immunoreaction probability and shorten the analysis time. Under optimal conditions, the novel Co3O4 NPs-LFIA could possess high sensitivity for the detection of AOZ with a detection limit of 0.4 ng mL-1 by naked eyes, which was at least 3-fold improved than that of the conventional gold nanoparticles (GNPs) based LFIA. Moreover, the detection could be achieved within 6 min and without cross-reactions with other analogue small molecules. Taking merits of convenience, rapid and sensitivity, the proposed Co3O4 NPs-LFIA may be readily adapted for the detection of other small molecules.

Polydopamine nanospheres as high-affinity signal tag towards lateral flow immunoassay for sensitive furazolidone detection.

Currently, the low sensitivity and poor binding stability of detection probe prepared via electrostatic adsorption have become the dilemmas of colloidal gold-based lateral flow immunoassays (Au-LFIAs). In this connection, polydopamine nanospheres (PDA NPs) with an eminent covalent connectivity property were introduced as a promising substitute to improve the stability of probe and sensitivity of LFIA. Whereafter, the PDA NPs-based LFIA was applied for the monitoring of furazolidone (FZD) in food samples because of the potential carcinogenic/mutagenic effects to human of its metabolite (3-amino-2-oxazolidinone, AOZ). Compared with electrostatic adsorption, the binding stability of PDA NPs-based probes was superior. And, as expected, the PDA NPs-based LFIA biosensor exhibited higher sensitivity than that of the Au-LFIA with a detection limit of 3.5 ng mL-1 for AOZ by naked-eye readout. Based on the significant enhanced binding stability and sensitivity, the PDA NPs-based LFIA is of certain spreading value for detecting other analytes.

Label-free strip sensor based on surface positively charged nitrogen-rich carbon nanoparticles for rapid detection of Salmonella enteritidis.

Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) is a class and widespread applied point-of-care biosensor in the rapid monitoring field. To address the matched antibodies and antibody labeling dependence in the conventional LFIAs, in this work, an innovative label-free LFIA was proposed for the sensitive detection of Salmonella enteritidis (S. enteritidis) by introducing a new nanoparticles-bacteria-antibody sandwich strategy in the sensor. Surface positively charged nitrogen-rich carbon (pNC) nanoparticles, synthesized via calcination and etching reactions, were used as adsorbent to capture bacteria as well as for generating signals. In the presence of target pathogens, bacterial cells could combine with pNC through electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonding, then the complex would be captured specifically by the anti-bacteria monoclonal antibody (McAb) coated on the test line (T-line). With the accumulation of nanoparticles-bacteria, the color on T-line would be gradually deepened from nearly colorless to deep black. Importantly, the pNC-based immunoassay could exhibit high sensitivity for target pathogens detection with a linear range of 102-108 cfu mL-1 and a low detection limit of 102 cfu mL-1. Furthermore, this system was validated preliminarily to screen S. enteritidis in different food samples with recoveries ranging from 85% to 110%. Taking advantages of simplicity, label-free, convenience, and sensitivity, the pNC-based LFIA has the application potential for pathogenic microorganisms monitoring in food safety and early clinical diagnosis fields.

Prompt admission to intensive care is associated with improved survival in patients with severe sepsis and/or septic shock.

Objective To investigate the association between time from hospital admission to intensive care unit (ICU) admission (door to ICU time) and hospital mortality in patients with sepsis. Methods This retrospective observational study included routinely collected healthcare data from patients with sepsis. The primary endpoint was hospital mortality, defined as the survival status at hospital discharge. Door to ICU time was calculated and included in a multivariable model to investigate its association with mortality. Results Data from 13 115 patients were included for analyses, comprising 10 309 survivors and 2 806 non-survivors. Door to ICU time was significantly longer for non-survivors than survivors (median, 43.0 h [interquartile range, 12.4, 91.3] versus 26.7 h [7.0, 74.2]). In the multivariable regression model, door to ICU time remained significantly associated with mortality (odds ratio [OR] 1.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.006, 1.017) and there was a significant interaction between age and door to ICU time (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.99, 1.00). Conclusion A shorter time from hospital door to ICU admission was shown to be independently associated with reduced hospital mortality in patients with severe sepsis and/or septic shock.