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Jerusalem artichoke leaf protein (JALP) has limited applications because of its dark color, even though Jerusalem artichoke is a cash crop. This study utilized high-intensity ultrasound (HIUS) (≤ 600 W) to modify the physicochemical characteristics and functional properties of JALP. Compared with the JALP, all the HIUS-treated JALP (UJALP) samples had a lighter brown color, higher absolute ζ-potential value, lower Z-average size, higher surface hydrophobicity, higher water solubility, lower turbidity, more -SH group, and higher water-holding, oil-holding, emulsifying and foaming capacities. The HIUS treatment disrupted certain non-covalent and SS bonds, promoted protein depolymerization, change protein secondary structures, causing partial unfolding of protein and exposure of some charged groups, hydrophobic groups and chromophores (like tryptophan and tyrosine). The UJALP-stabilized corn oil-in-water emulsions (UJALPEs) were more stable than the JALP-stabilized emulsion (JALPE). The bioaccessibility of curcumin in the JALPE (56.38 %) was significantly lower than in the UJALPE-600 W (64.59 %).

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Objective To explore the relationship between the expression levels of microRNA-155 (miR-155) and suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1) in the colonic mucosal tissue of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and the severity of the disease.Methods A total of 130 UC patients admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University from September 2021 to June 2023 were selected.According to the modified Mayo score system,the patients were assigned into an active stage group (n=85) and a remission stage group (n=45).According to the modified Truelove and Witts classification criteria,the UC patients at the active stage were assigned into a mild group (n=35),a moderate group (n=30),and a severe group (n=20).A total of 90 healthy individuals who underwent colonoscopy for physical examination or those who had normal colonoscopy results after single polypectomy and excluded other diseases were selected as the control group.The colonic mucosal tissues of UC patients with obvious lesions and the colonic mucosal tissue 20 cm away from the anus of the control group were collected.The levels of miR-155 and SOCS1 mRNA in tissues were determined by fluorescence quantitative PCR,and the expression of SOCS1 protein in tissues was determined by immunohistochemistry.The correlations of the levels of miR-155 and SOCS1 mRNA in the colonic mucosal tissue with the modified Mayo score of UC patients were analyzed.The values of the levels of miR-155 and SOCS1 mRNA in predicting the occurrence of severe illness in the UC patients at the active stage were evaluated.Results Compared with the control group and the remission stage group,the active stage group showed up-regulated expression level of miR-155,down-regulated level of SOCS1 mRNA,and decreased positive rate of SOCS1 protein in the colonic mucosal tissue (all P<0.001).The expression level of miR-155 and modified Mayo score in colonic mucosal tissues of UC patients at the active stage increased,while the mRNA level of SOCS1 was down-regulated as the disease evolved from being mild to severe (all P<0.001).The modified Mayo score was positively correlated with the miR-155 level and negative correlated with the mRNA level of SOCS1 in colonic mucosal tissues of UC patients (all P<0.001).The high miR-155 level (OR=2.762,95%CI=1.284-5.944,P=0.009),low mRNA level of SOCS1 (OR=2.617,95%CI=1.302-5.258,P=0.007),and modified Mayo score≥12 points (OR=3.232,95%CI=1.450-7.204,P=0.004) were all risk factors for severe disease in the UC patients at the active stage.The area under curve of miR-155 combined with SOCS1 mRNA in predicting severe illness in the UC patients at the active stage was 0.920.Conclusions The expression levels of miR-155 and SOCS1 mRNA were correlated with the disease severity in the UC patients at the active stage.The combination of the two indicators demonstrates good performance in predicting the occurrence of severe illness in UC patients at the active stage.

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Co-existence of mycotoxins may pose a greater risk. It remains less known about the toxic effect of co-exposure of zearalenone (ZEA) and deoxynivalenol (DON) on aquatic life. In the present study, the toxic effects of the combine treatment of ZEA and DON on zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos were investigated. The results showed that the combined treatment of ZEA (200, 400, 800 µg/L) and DON (4000 µg/L) did not cause apparent deaths, but induced a developmental toxicity as indicated by decreased movement times and heartbeat. At 96 h post-fertilization (hpf), co-exposure of ZEA and DON (Z400 + D4000 and Z800 + D4000 group) led to significant oxidative stress as evidenced by the increased ROS level and MDA content, as well as the changes of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT and GPX) and their genes. Besides, the combined treatment of ZEA and DON triggered hepatotoxicity as shown by the changes of Fabp10a, Gclc, Gsr, Nqo1 genes, apoptosis through upregulating apoptosis-related genes (p53, Caspase-9, Caspase-3) and downregulating Bcl-2 gene, as well as inflammation by promoting the expression of IL-1ß, IL-6, TNF-α, TLR4, MyD88, NF-κBp65 genes. These results indicated the co-exposure of ZEA and DON caused oxidative stress, leading to stronger potential toxic effects to zebrafish embryos than their respective single treatment. Therefore, more attention should be paid to risk management of the co-contamination of mycotoxins.

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Proanthocyanidins (Pas) are widely used in the preparation of functional foods due to their diverse biological activities. Taking advantage of the effect of Pas on the stability of Pickering emulsions, this study constructed the zein-proanthocyanidins-pectin ternary composites (ZPAAPs) as stabilizer to establish Pickering emulsions with potential delivery capacity. The appearance of the emulsion was pink which could be found in visual observation. The emulsion was stable during long-term storage in the range of 0.1 âˆ¼ 0.7 oil phase. CLSM showed that the oil droplets were coated with covering layer formed by ZPAAPs, which effectively prevented droplets congregating. The rheological results indicated that ZPAAPEs had elastic gel-like structure. In addition, ZPAAPEs still contained 54.4 % curcumin after storage for 15 d. And the bioavailability of curcumin was increased to 39.7 % ± 0.3. These studies may contribute to the controllable fabrication of Pickering emulsions for nutrient delivery in the food and pharmaceutical fields.

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Water eutrophication caused by agricultural production has become one of the most important factors that impede sustainable rural environmental governance in China. As a result, the Chinese central and local governments want to reduce the use of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer and gain socioeconomical profit simultaneously by promoting crayfish and rice integrated system (CRIS) in the rural areas with abundant water resources. In this article, we investigated whether CRIS in Qianjiang, Hubei, the origin place of the system in China, contributes to fulfilling the governments' expectations. We found that CRIS efficaciously cuts the fertilizer rate in rice production and boosts farmers' incomes because crayfish has a demand for water quality and holds a large internal market requirement. However, higher profit encourages farmers to expand crayfish production and thus discourages the initiatives in rice production. The area of the ditch for crayfish production expands ceaselessly and exceeds the limit of regulation of CRIS. As a result, the CRIS in the areas has emerged as a practice of aquaculture but in farmland. This is a regulatory gap. The input-output analysis of CRIS by material balance method can also reveal that excessive feed for crayfish has become a new source of agricultural pollution. Beyond that, due to the changed irrigation system and increased water exchange frequency of CRIS, the pollution has transformed from passive distribution to active, which will increase the risk of water eutrophication on a large area.

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