Evaluation and mechanism of immune enhancement effects of Pleurotus ferulae polysaccharides-gold nanoparticles.

We previously demonstrated that Pleurotus ferulae polysaccharide (PFPS) promoted dendritic cell (DC) maturation through the TLR4 signaling pathway. To improve PFPS activity and bioavailability, gold nanoparticles with PFPS (PFPS-Au NPs) were synthesized. Of note, although the polysaccharide content of PFPS-Au NPs was only one tenth of PFPS, PFPS-Au NPs enhanced the immunostimulatory activities of PFPS in the maturation and function of dendritic cells (DCs) by TLR4 and NLRP3 signaling pathways, evidenced by stronger activation of the down-stream MAPK and NF-κB pathways and NLRP3 inflammasome pathway. More importantly, PFPS-Au NPs enhanced DC migration and murine immunity, particularly in type 1 T-helper cell responses. Moreover, the half-life of PFPS-Au NPs (2.217 ± 0.187 h) was longer than that of PFPS (1.39 ± 0.257 h) in the blood and the distribution of PFPS-Au NPs (19.8 %) in the spleen was significantly increased compared with PFPS (13.3 %), indicating the improved bioavailability in vivo. PFPS-Au NPs as an adjuvant promoted antigen-specific cellular immune responses to an HPV DC-based vaccine, which significantly inhibited the growth of TC-1 tumors in mice. All results suggest that the prepared Au NPs could enhance PFPS-immunostimulatory activity, which will pave the way for PFPS-Au NPs to be applied in clinical trials.

An Empirical Study of the Restoration Potential of Urban Deciduous Forest Space to Youth.

Urban deciduous forests are an important ecological resource and seasonal landscape in the urban environment. However, in the abundant literature on how urban green space promotes human health and well-being, research on urban seasonal deciduous forests is limited. This study aimed to investigate the physiological and psychological recovery potential provided of urban deciduous forest space for youths and the spatial preferences of youths regarding such spaces. We recruited 120 participants to study the restorative potential of two typical urban deciduous forest landscape spaces (experimental groups) and one urban road environment (control group). The results showed that after 15 min of observation, the blood pressure (especially the diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.01)) and pulse of the deciduous forest trail setting (DFTS) group effectively decreased, and the restorative mood significantly increased. Regarding change in emotional parameters, the DFTS group scored higher on "interest" and significantly higher than the other two groups on positive emotion. The correlation results show that density and level are the key factors affecting spatial preferences regarding complex deciduous forests. An increase in density reduces the mood of re-laxation, and an increase in level decreases fatigue and interest. We suggest (1) constructing foot-paths in urban deciduous forests to reduce their spatial density as to improve the relaxation effect and (2) increasing landscape diversity according to the forest space to facilitate user participation and interest. This study provides a scientific basis for the environmental restoration of deciduous landscapes and for urban forestry management decision-makers based on space type construction.

Sitting or Walking? Analyzing the Neural Emotional Indicators of Urban Green Space Behavior with Mobile EEG.

There is a close relationship between urban green space and the physical and mental health of individuals. Most previous studies have discussed the impact of the structure of green space and its elements. This study focused on the emotional changes caused by common behaviors in urban green space (walking and sitting). We recruited 40 college students and randomly assigned them to walking and sitting groups (20 students per group). The two groups performed the same 8-min high-pressure learning task indoors and then performed 8-min recovery activities in a simulated urban green space (a bamboo-lawn space). We used the Emotiv EPOC+ EEG headset to dynamically measure six neural emotional parameters: "engagement," "valence," "meditation," "frustration," "focus," and "excitement." We conducted a pretest and posttest and used analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to analyze the posttest data (with the pretest data as covariates). The results of the comparison of the two behaviors showed that the "valence" and "meditation" values of the walking group were higher than those of the sitting group, which suggests that walking in urban green space is more favorable for stress reduction. The sitting group had a higher "focus" value than did the walking group, which suggests that sitting in urban green space is better for attention restoration. The results of this study can provide guidance for urban green space planning and design as well as health guidance for urban residents.