Differential gene expression of the healthy conjunctiva during the day

PurposeTo determine if there is diurnal variation in gene expression in normal healthy conjunctival cells.MethodsBulbar conjunctival swab samples were collected from four healthy subjects in the morning and evening of the same day. The two swab samples were taken from one eye of each participant, with a minimum of five hours gap between the two samples. RNA was extracted and analysed using RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq).ResultsA total of 121 genes were differentially expressed between the morning and the evening conjunctival samples, of which 94 genes were upregulated in the morning, and 27 genes were upregulated in the evening. Many of the genes that were upregulated in the morning were involved in defence, cell turnover and regulation of gene expression, while the genes upregulated in the evening were involved in signalling and mucin production.ConclusionsThis study has identified several genes whose expression changes over the course of the day. Knowledge of diurnal variations of conjunctival gene expression provides an insight into the regulatory status of the healthy eye and provides a baseline for examining changes during ocular surface disease.     

Numerical modelling of conjugate heat and mass transfer during hydrofluidisation food freezing in different water solutions

A novel method of hydrofluidisation food freezing is numerically investigated in this paper. This technique is based on freezing small food products in a liquid medium under highly turbulent flow conditions when the heat transfer coefficient is higher than 1 000 W⋅m⁻²⋅K⁻¹, which depends on the operating and flow conditions. A numerical model was developed to characterise the freezing process in terms of the heat transfer and diffusion of liquid solution components into the food product. The study investigates the freezing process of spherical samples in binary solutions of ethanol (30%) and glycerol (40%) and ternary solution of ethanol and glucose (15%/25%). The developed model was employed to determine the concentration of the liquid solution in food samples and to quantify the effect of sample size, heat transfer coefficient, solution temperature and concentration on the process. The food sample size varied from 5 to 30 mm, and the heat transfer coefficients varied from 1 000 to 4 000 W⋅ m⁻²⋅ K⁻¹. The results confirm that a freezing time of 15 min for 30 mm diameter samples or less than 1 min for 5 mm diameter samples can be achieved with the hydrofluidisation method. The solution uptake was influenced by the solution type, sample size and process parameters and varied from 8.9 to 35 g of solute per kg of product for ethanol-glucose and glycerol solutions, respectively. This paper quantifies the advantages and possible limitations of hydrofluidisation, which has not yet been entirely studied, especially in terms of the mass absorption of different solutes.     

Scallops as a new source of food protein: high-intensity ultrasonication improved stability of oil-in-water emulsion stabilised by myofibrillar protein

In this study, the effect of high-intensity ultrasound (HIUS) (200 and 400 W for 0, 5, 10 and 15 min respectively) on conformational changes, physicochemical, rheological and emulsifying properties of scallop (Patinopecten yessoensis) myofibrillar protein (SMP) was investigated. HIUS-treated SMP had lower α-helix content and higher β-sheet content compared with the native SMP. HIUS treatment induced the unfolding of SMP and increased the surface hydrophobicity. The particle size of SMP decreased and the absolute zeta-potential increased after ultrasonication, which in turn increased the solubility of SMP. The conformational changes and the improvement of physicochemical properties of SMP increased the ability for SMP to lower the interfacial tension at the oil–water interface and increased the percentage of adsorbed protein. As a result, the emulsifying properties, rheological properties of SMP and storage stability of emulsions were also improved. In conclusion, HIUS treatment has future potential for improving the emulsifying properties of SMP.     

Improving gelling properties of myofibrillar proteins incorporating with cellulose micro/nanofibres

The effects of cellulose microfibres (CMFs, Average size: 100 ± 5 μm) and cellulose nanofibres (CNFs, Average size: 60 ± 3 nm) on the properties of myofibrillar protein (MP) gels from duck breast meat were studied. The results demonstrated that CMFs and CNFs were mostly connected to MP by non-covalent bonds, the diffusion and cross-linking of MP molecules was promoted, and a denser and more complete gel network was formed. With the increases of CMFs and CNFs concentration (0–10%), the hardness was increased by 13.15% and 19.78% for CMFs10% and CNFs10% gels, respectively, and the elasticity was increased by 40% and 80%, respectively. At the same concentration (0–10%), the increase in gel hardness, viscoelasticity and immobilised water content was greater in the CNFs-MP group than in the CMFs-MP group. The CNFs-MP group had a tighter gel network, and CNFs had a better potential to improve the gelation performance of MP.     

采用QuEChERS结合UHPLC-MS/MS定量分析热加工肉制品中的三种胺类物质

本文采用QuEChERS技术结合超高效液相色谱-串联质谱（UHPLC-MS/MS）技术建立同时检测丙烯酰胺（AA）、亚硝胺（NAs）和杂环胺（HAAs）含量的方法，用于分析热加工肉制品中产生的胺类物质。结果表明:该方法检测出的三类成分20种胺类物质在相应浓度范围内显示出良好的线性关系（R2>0.991），检测限和定量限分别为0.01~1.6 ng/g和0.03~4.8 ng/g，日内回收率介于66.3%~116.5%之间，日内精密度介于0.78%~9.0%之间。每个胺类物的5×LOQ加标水平计算的日间精度范围为3.4%~9.4%。该方法应用于煎烤的四种肉制品中AA、NAs和HAAs的分析，共检测出9种胺类物质，浓度范围为0.03~31.26 ng/g。     

具有保护肠上皮细胞HT-29免受大肠杆菌和H2O2损伤潜力的植物乳杆菌的筛选

益生菌可在肠道定植从而发挥抗炎或抗氧化活性，有利于宿主肠道健康。本实验研究了从新疆传统发酵乳制品中分离得到的8?株植物乳杆菌对大肠杆菌侵袭和过氧化氢刺激肠上皮细胞HT-29的保护作用。结果表明：在8?株植物乳杆菌中，植物乳杆菌35具有最高的黏附能力。植物乳杆菌35可通过取代、竞争、排阻的方式抑制大肠杆菌对HT-29细胞的黏附，抑制率分别为42.60%、59.17%、60.19%。植物乳杆菌35及其多糖可抑制大肠杆菌刺激HT-29细胞产生白细胞介素-8；同时保护HT-29细胞免受过氧化氢的损伤，增加超氧化物歧化酶、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶活力水平并降低丙二醛含量。结论：植物乳杆菌35及其粗胞外多糖具有抑制大肠杆菌O157诱导的炎症性肠病的潜力。     

Isolation and identification of Lactobacillus and yeast species and their effect on the quality of fermented rice cakes

In this study, microbes were isolated from the rice slurry of a fermented rice cake to obtain lactic acid bacteria and yeast species. These species were identified using microbial physiology and gene sequence analyses. As the growth of the lactic acid bacterial strain R-2b and the yeast J-3a strains were found to be the best, a composite starter comprising these microbes was used for the preparation of fermented rice cakes. Based on single factor and orthogonal experiments, when the proportion of Lactobacillus plantarum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Candida humilis was 1:3:6, the optimal fermentation conditions were addition of sugar and starter amounts of 20% and 6%, respectively, a fermentation temperature of 32 °C, and fermentation time of 8 h. The fermented rice cake with this optimum ratio had the most abundant volatile components and qualified physicochemical and microbial indexes. Additionally, the overall quality was better than that of commercially available products.