Abstract Ginkgo biloba leaf is a kind of food raw material with high concentration of total flavonoid content (TFC). Since conventional measurements of TFC are time-consuming and destructive, the approach of hyperspectral imaging-based prediction was investigated in this study. Hyperspectral images were collected in visual near-infrared (VIS-NIR) and short-wave near-infrared (SW-NIR). Initial comparative analysis on the full spans of the two wavelengths using partial least squares regression (PLSR) and support vector regression (SVR) showed that the TFC of the leaves could be barely captured only when PLSR working on short-wave infrared, with R p 2 and RMSE p on testing set being respectively 0.5496 and 0.6384 mg/g. To further improve prediction performance meeting industrial requirements, another comparative study on feature selection was conducted to fine-tune the PLSR on SW-NIR using a genetic algorithm (GA) and successive projections algorithm (SPA). Results showed that GA-PLSR with 50 characteristic wavelengths mostly from the ranges of 1100-1200 nm and 1400-1500 nm had a significant improvement in performance, giving 0.8482 and 0.2967 mg/g for R p 2 and RMSE p, respectively. Therefore, an approach, GA-PLSR modeling on SW-NIR hyperspectral images, was established for the ginkgo leaves industry to rapidly and non-invasively predict the leaf concentration from the total flavonoid of ginkgo biloba seedling leaf. TFC. . (TFC) timeconsuming time consuming destructive imagingbased imaging based nearinfrared near infrared VISNIR VIS NIR (VIS-NIR shortwave short wave SWNIR. SWNIR SW (SW-NIR) (PLSR SVR (SVR 05496 0 5496 0.549 06384 6384 0.638 mgg mg g requirements finetune fine tune GA (GA SPA. SPA (SPA) GAPLSR 5 11001200 1100 1200 1100-120 14001500 1400 1500 1400-150 08482 8482 0.848 02967 2967 0.296 Therefore noninvasively non invasively (TFC (SW-NIR 0549 549 0.54 0638 638 0.63 (SPA 1100120 110 120 1100-12 1400150 140 150 1400-15 0848 848 0.84 0296 296 0.29 054 54 0.5 063 63 0.6 110012 11 12 1100-1 140015 14 15 1400-1 084 84 0.8 029 29 0.2 05 0. 06 6 11001 1 1100- 14001 1400- 08 8 02

RESUMO Porcos tibetanos são caracterizados por diferenças fenotípicas significativas em relação aos porcos de planície. Nosso estudo anterior demonstrou que os genes CRYAB e CTGF eram expressos diferentemente nos tecidos do coração entre os porcos tibetanos (raça das terras altas) e Yorkshire (raça das terras baixas), indicando que eles poderiam participar da adaptação à hipoxia. CRYAB (ɑB-crystallin) e CTGF (fator de crescimento do tecido conjuntivo) também foram relatados como estando associados ao desenvolvimento pulmonar. Entretanto, os padrões de expressão do CRYAB e CTGF nos tecidos pulmonares em diferentes altitudes e sua caracterização genética não são bem compreendidos. Neste estudo, o qRT-PCR e a mancha ocidental de tecido pulmonar revelou níveis de expressão de CRYAB mais elevados em porcos tibetanos e Yorkshire de altitude e média altitude do que em seus pares de planície. Com um aumento na altitude, o nível de expressão do CTGF aumentou nos porcos tibetanos, enquanto diminuiu nos porcos Yorkshire. Além disso, foram identificados dois novos polimorfismos de um único nucleotídeo na região flanqueadora de CRYAB (g.39644482C>T e g.39644132T>C) e CTGF (g.31671748A>G e g.31671773T>G). O polimorfismo pode contribuir parcialmente com as diferenças nos níveis de expressão entre grupos a uma mesma altitude. Estas descobertas proporcionam novos conhecimentos sobre as adaptações de hipoxia a alta altitude dos porcos tibetanos.

ABSTRACT Tibetan pigs are characterized by significant phenotypic differences relative to lowland pigs. Our previous study demonstrated that the genes CRYAB and CTGF were differentially expressed in heart tissues between Tibetan (highland breed) and Yorkshire (lowland breed) pigs, indicating that they might participate in hypoxia adaptation. CRYAB (ɑB-crystallin) and CTGF (connective tissue growth factor) have also been reported to be associated with lung development. However, the expression patterns of CRYAB and CTGF in lung tissues at different altitudes and their genetic characterization are not well understood. In this study, qRT-PCR and western blot of lung tissue revealed higher CRYAB expression levels in highland and middle-highland Tibetan and Yorkshire pigs than in their lowland counterparts. With an increase in altitude, the expression level of CTGF increased in Tibetan pigs, whereas it decreased in Yorkshire pigs. Furthermore, two novel single-nucleotide polymorphism were identified in the 5′ flanking region of CRYAB (g.39644482C>T and g.39644132T>C) and CTGF (g.31671748A>G and g.31671773T>G). The polymorphism may partially contribute to the differences in expression levels between groups at the same altitude. These findings provide novel insights into the high-altitude hypoxia adaptations of Tibetan pigs.

ABSTRACT The quick adjustments of leaf traits are critical for keeping the survival of plants under dehydration. In this study, we examined the hypotheses that plants would adapt to dehydration by shrinking its mesophyll cells to offset the water loss, or triggering water regulation mechanism caused by enzymes. Leaf structure, elastic modulus (Em), leaf tensity (LT) and leaf density (LD) were determined with detached leaves of Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) Vent. and Morus alba L. at each water loss moment (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 h). The coupling model between gripping force and LT was established using the Gibbs free energy equation, and the initial LT was determined. The intracellular water availability of M. alba decreased at 4 h, which was earlier than that of B. papyrifera. The intracellular water availability of M. alba was more sensitive than B. papyrifera. Broussonetia papyrifera adapted to dehydration by shrinking its mesophyll cells to offset the water loss, or triggering water regulation mechanism caused by enzymes, i.e., carbonic anhydrase. The sponge parenchyma of B. papyrifera at 3 h decreased by 25.73% of that at control. Morus alba maintained intracellular water availability just by changing the leaf structure. The offset effects through shrinking cells differed between B. papyrifera and M. alba, because the elastic-plastic behavior of their leaves and cells were different. The Em of M. alba was over five-fold higher than that of B. papyrifera. The investigations of water status were more accurate in terms of leaf physical traits instead of water content.

ABSTRACT We propose a segmentation algorithm for raisin extraction. The proposed approach consists of the following aspects. Deep learning is used to predict the number of raisins in each connected region, and the shape features such as the roundness, area, X-axis value for the centroid, Y-axis value for the centroid, axis length and perimeter of each region will be used to establish the prediction model. Morphological analysis, based on edge parameters including the polar axis, polar angle and angular velocity, is applied to search for the suitable break points that are useful for identifying the dividing lines between two adjacent raisins. To make our segmentation more accurate, some machine-learning algorithms such as the random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM) and deep learning (deep neural network, DNN) are applied to predict the number of raisins and to decide whether the raisins need more segmentation. The performance of the three models is compared, and the DNN is the most accurate.

ABSTRACT Salinity is one of major environmental problem which is limiting the agricultural production. This research was conducted to evaluate the effect of re-watering on Brassica napus L., and determination of an appropriate regime for dilution of salted water by studying photosynthetic and growth response of B. napus to salt stress and subsequent re-watering. Plants were treated with NaCl (Nc1: 2.5, Nc2: 5, Nc3: 10; g L-1); Na2SO4 (Ns1: 2.5, Ns2: 5, Ns3: 10; g L-1) and mixed salts treatments (M1: Nc1+ Ns3; M2: Nc3+ Ns1; M3: Nc2+ Ns2; g L-1) and 0 as control, followed by re-watering. In salt stress phase, maximum reduction in net photosynthetic rate (PN) was noted 79.54%, 80.72%, 84.54%, and 74.84% for Nc3, Ns3, M1 and M2, respectively, under high concentration levels. To maintain PN, carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity was stimulated and kept water status stable under low (Nc1 and Ns1) to medium concentration levels (Nc2, Ns2 and M3), and the decreases in PN under Nc2, Ns2 and M3 were 48.28%, 55.58% and 58.69%, respectively. However, during re-watering phase, growth and physiological parameters were recovered well due to regulation of CA activity under low to medium concentration levels. Relatively as compare to other stress levels more recovery in PN was found after re-watering under medium concentration levels, which were 44.94%, 53.45% and 63.04%, respectively. Though aimed at consideration of high production in B. napus, the best re-watering time was found to be when plants undergo medium concentration levels. Therefore, this study provides a new method for dilution of saline irrigation based on plant physiology.

This meta-analysis compared the efficacy and safety of the contact force (CF)-sensing catheter and second-generation cryoballoon (CB) ablation for treating atrial fibrillation (AF). Six controlled clinical trials comparing ablation for AF using a CF-sensing catheter or second-generation CB were identified from PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Wanfang Data, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure. The procedure duration was significantly lower in the CB group compared with that in the CF group [mean difference (MD)=29.4; 95%CI=17.84–40.96; P=0.01], whereas there was no difference between the groups for fluoroscopy duration (MD=0.59; 95%CI=–4.48–5.66; P=0.82). Moreover, there was no difference in the incidence of non-lethal complications (embolic event, tamponade, femoral/subclavian hematoma, arteriovenous fistula, pulmonary vein stenosis, phrenic nerve palsy, and esophageal injury) between the CB and the CF groups (8.38 vs 5.35%; RR=0.66; 95%CI=0.37–1.17; P=0.15). Transient phrenic nerve palsy occurred in 17 of 326 patients (5.2%) of the CB group vs none in the CF group (RR=0.12; 95%CI=0.03–0.43; P=0.001). A comparable proportion of patients in CF and CB groups suffered from AF recurrence during the 12-month follow-up after a single ablation procedure [risk ratio (RR)=1.03; 95%CI=0.78–1.35; P=0.84]. AF ablation using CF-sensing catheters and second-generation CB showed comparable fluoroscopy duration and efficacy (during a 12-month follow-up), with shorter procedure duration and different complications in the CB group.

Particular climate conditions in a low-latitude and high-altitude region endow grape berries with distinctive quality characteristics. So far, few reports have been concerned with the formation of berry flavour in such a region. This study aimed to investigate the accumulation pattern of flavonoids in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon grape berries growing at different altitudes of the highland in southwest China in two consecutive vintages. In addition to the 3-0-monoglucosides and 3-0-acyl monoglucosides of the five main anthocyanidins (delphinidin, cyanidin, peonidin, petunidin and malvidin), some uncommon anthocyanins, such as three diglucosides of anthocyanidins and pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside, were detected in the grape berries. Higher altitude cultivation greatly promoted the production of anthocyanins and flavonols, particularly cyanidin-type anthocyanins and quercetin-type flavonols from the F3'H branch of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. Flavan-3-ols from both branches were comparatively less influenced by vineyard altitude. Vintage in this high-altitude region also had a dramatic influence on the accumulation of flavonoids. Most of the anthocyanin and flavonol components were affected more by vineyard altitude than by vintage, whereas the accumulation of flavan-3-ols differed mainly between vintages. The present data will not only improve the understanding of flavonoid accumulation in grapes from a high-altitude region with different climates, but also provide practical guidance for the production of high-quality grapes and wine.

In this work, alginate-whey protein was used as wall materials for encapsulating Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus (L. bulgaricus). The characteristics of encapsulated and free L. bulgaricus showed that the free L. bulgaricus lost viability after 1 min exposure to simulated gastric fluid (SGF) at pH 2.0 and 2.5. However, the viability of encapsulated L. bulgaricus did not decrease in SGF at pH 2.5 for 2 h incubation. The viable numbers of encapsulated L. bulgaricus decreased less than 1.0 log unit for 2 h incubation in SGF at pH 2.0. For bile stability, only 1.2 log units and 2.0 log units viability of the encapsulated L. bulgaricus was lost in 1 and 2% bile for 1 h exposure, respectively, compared with no survival of free L. bulgaricus under the same conditions. Encapsulated L. bulgaricus was completely released from the microspheres in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF, pH 6.8) in 3 h. The viability of the encapsulated L. bulgaricus retained more 8.0 log CFU/g after stored at 4°C for four weeks. However, for free L. bulgaricus, only around 3.0 log CFU/mL was found at the same storage conditions. Results showed that the encapsulation could improve the stability of L. bulgaricus.

The effect of calcination conditions on the size and killing activity of CaO nanoparticles towards L. plantarum was studied in this paper. The results showed that CaO nanoparticles with a diameter of 20 nm could be obtained under the investigated conditions. The lethal effect of CaO nanoparticles after incubation of 6 or 24 h increased with increasing calcination time. Using CaO-SA, CaO-SB, and CaO-SC after a 24-h exposure, 2.25, 3.37, and 5.97 log L. plantarum were killed, respectively, at a concentration of 100 ppm. The current results show that the use of CaO nanoparticles as antibacterial agents has significant potential in food-relevant industries.

The antibacterial activity of MgO nanoparticles prepared by a sonication method was evaluated in this paper. The effect of calcination conditions on the size and antibacterial activity of MgO nanoparticles was investigated. MgO nanoparticles were characterized for purity (TGA), crystallinity and crystal size (XRD), particle size and morphology (TEM) and surface area (BET). Results showed that the smallest size of 6 nm could be obtained. The lethal effects of nanocrystalline MgO were evaluated on Lactobacillus plantarum. At a concentration of 100 ppm, the killing effect of MgO was close to 1 log reduction for L. plantarum after 24 h exposure. At 1000 ppm and 24 h exposure, the killing effect of MgO was more than a 2.8 log reduction. With the increase of calcination time, the lethal effect of MgO nanoparticles increased after 6 h or 24 h exposure at 100 ppm or 1000 ppm. 2.86 log and 2.89 log were killed at 1000 ppm after 24 h exposure using the sample MgO, sonication, A, and the sample MgO, sonication, B, respectively. When the sample MgO, sonication, C, was used, the lethal quantity of L. plantarum was increased to a 3.36 log reduction.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo o isolamento de inibidores da enzima ácido graxo sintase (FAS) a partir de acetato de etila proveniente de extratos de cascas de frutas da Punica granatum L. A investigação química guiada por bioensaios das cascas das frutas resultou no isolamento de dezessete compostos incluindo principalmente triternóides e compostos fenólicos, dos quais um novo triterpeno do tipo oleanano (punicaone) juntamente com quatorze compostos conhecidos foram isolados pela primeira vez a partir desta planta. Sete dos componentes isolados foram avaliados para atividades inibitórias de FAS e dois deles apresentaram-se ativos. Em particular, o ácido flavogalônico que exibiu forte atividade inibitória de FAS com valor de IC50 de 10,3 µmol L-1.

The aim of this work is the isolation of fatty acid synthase (FAS) inhibitors from the ethyl acetate extracts of fruit peels of Punica granatum L. Bioassay-guided chemical investigation of the fruit peels resulted in the isolation of seventeen compounds mainly including triterpenoids and phenolic compounds, from which one new oleanane-type triterpene (punicaone) along with fourteen known compounds were isolated for the first time from this plant. Seven isolates were evaluated for inhibitory activities of FAS and two compounds showed to be active. Particularly, flavogallonic acid exhibited strong FAS inhibitory activity with IC50 value of 10.3 µmol L-1.

The testicular feminized (Tfm) mouse carries a nonfunctional androgen receptor (AR) and reduced circulating testosterone levels. We used Tfm and castrated mice to determine whether testosterone modulates markers of aging in cardiomyocytes via its classic AR-dependent pathway or conversion to estradiol. Male littermates and Tfm mice were divided into 6 experimental groups. Castrated littermates (group 1) and sham-operated Tfm mice (group 2, N = 8 each) received testosterone. Sham-operated Tfm mice received testosterone in combination with the aromatase inhibitor anastrazole (group 3, N = 7). Castrated littermates (group 4) and sham-operated untreated Tfm mice (group 5) were used as controls (N = 8 and 7, respectively). An additional control group (group 6) consisted of age-matched non-castrated littermates (N = 8). Cardiomyocytes were isolated from the left ventricle, telomere length was measured by quantitative PCR and expression of p16INK4α, retinoblastoma (Rb) and p53 proteins was detected by Western blot 3 months after treatment. Compared with group 6, telomere length was short (P < 0.01) and expression of p16INK4α, Rb and p53 proteins was significantly (P < 0.05) up-regulated in groups 4 and 5. These changes were improved to nearly normal levels in groups 1 and 2 (telomere length = 0.78 ± 0.05 and 0.80 ± 0.08; p16INK4α = 0.13 ± 0.03 and 0.15 ± 0.04; Rb = 0.45 ± 0.05 and 0.39 ± 0.06; p53 = 0.16 ± 0.04 and 0.13 ± 0.03), but did not differ between these two groups. These improvements were partly inhibited in group 3 compared with group 2 (telomere length = 0.65 ± 0.08 vs 0.80 ± 0.08, P = 0.021; p16INK4α = 0.28 ± 0.05 vs 0.15 ± 0.04, P = 0.047; Rb = 0.60 ± 0.06 vs 0.39 ± 0.06, P < 0.01; p53 = 0.34 ± 0.06 vs 0.13 ± 0.03, P = 0.004). In conclusion, testosterone deficiency contributes to cardiomyocyte aging. Physiological testosterone can delay cardiomyocyte aging via an AR-independent pathway and in part by conversion to estradiol.

Making use of the gene resources of wild type peanuts is a way to increase the genetic diversity of the cultivars. Marker assisted selection (MAS) could shorten the process of inter-specific hybridization and provide a possible way to remove the undesirable traits. However, the limited number of molecular markers available in peanut retarded its MAS process. We started a peanut ESTs (Expressed Sequence Tags) project aiming at cloning genes with agronomic importance and developing molecular markers. In this study we found 610 ESTs that contained one or more SSRs from 12,000 peanut ESTs. The most abundant SSRs in peanut are trinucleotides (66.3%) SSRs and followed by dinucleotide (28.8%) SSRs. AG/TC (10.7%) repeat was the most abundant and followed by CT/GA (9.0%), CTT/GAA (7.4%), and AAG/TTC (7.3%) repeats. Ninety-four SSR containing ESTs were randomly selected for primer design and synthesis, of which 33 pairs could generate good amplification and were used for polymorphism assessment. Results showed that polymorphism was very low in cultivars, while high level of polymorphism was revealed in wild type peanuts.