Early warning of systemic risk in stock market based on EEMD-LSTM.

With the increasing importance of the stock market, it is of great practical significance to accurately describe the systemic risk of the stock market and conduct more accurate early warning research on it. However, the existing research on the systemic risk of the stock market lacks multi-dimensional factors, and there is still room for improvement in the forecasting model. Therefore, to further measure the systemic risk profile of the Chinese stock market, establish a risk early warning system suitable for the Chinese stock market, and improve the risk management awareness of investors and regulators. This paper proposes a combination model of EEMD-LSTM, which can describe the complex nonlinear interaction. Firstly, 35 stock market systemic risk indicators are selected from the perspectives of macroeconomic operation, market cross-contagion and the stock market itself to build a comprehensive indicator system that conforms to the reality of China. Furthermore, based on TEI@I complex system methodology, an EEMD-LSTM model is proposed. The EEMD method is adopted to decompose the composite index sequence into intrinsic mode function components (IMF) of different scales and one trend term. Then the LSTM algorithm is used to predicted and model the decomposed sub-sequences. Finally, the forecast result of the composite index is obtained through integration. The empirical results show that the stock market systemic risk index constructed in this paper can effectively identify important risk events within the sample period. In addition, compared with the benchmark model, the EEMD-LSTM model constructed in this paper shows a stronger early warning ability for systemic financial risks in the stock market.

The role of oxidative stress in intervertebral disc degeneration: Mechanisms and therapeutic implications.

Oxidative stress is one of the main driving mechanisms of intervertebral disc degeneration(IDD). Oxidative stress has been associated with inflammation in the intervertebral disc, cellular senescence, autophagy, and epigenetics of intervertebral disc cells. It and the above pathological mechanisms are closely linked through the common hub reactive oxygen species(ROS), and promote each other in the process of disc degeneration and promote the development of the disease. This reveals the important role of oxidative stress in the process of IDD, and the importance and great potential of IDD therapy targeting oxidative stress. The efficacy of traditional therapy is unstable or cannot be maintained. In recent years, due to the rise of materials science, many bioactive functional materials have been applied in the treatment of IDD, and through the combination with traditional drugs, satisfactory efficacy has been achieved. At present, the research review of antioxidant bioactive materials in the treatment of IDD is not complete. Based on the existing studies, the mechanism of oxidative stress in IDD and the common antioxidant therapy were summarized in this paper, and the strategies based on emerging bioactive materials were reviewed.

Systematic characterization of gene families and functional analysis of PvRAS3 and PvRAS4 involved in rosmarinic acid biosynthesis in Prunella vulgaris.

Prunella vulgaris is an important material for Chinese medicines with rosmarinic acid (RA) as its index component. Based on the chromosome-level genome assembly we obtained recently, 51 RA biosynthesis-related genes were identified. Sequence feature, gene expression pattern and phylogenetic relationship analyses showed that 17 of them could be involved in RA biosynthesis. In vitro enzymatic assay showed that PvRAS3 catalyzed the condensation of p-coumaroyl-CoA and caffeoyl-CoA with pHPL and DHPL. Its affinity toward p-coumaroyl-CoA was higher than caffeoyl-CoA. PvRAS4 catalyzed the condensation of p-coumaroyl-CoA with pHPL and DHPL. Its affinity toward p-coumaroyl-CoA was lower than PvRAS3. UPLC and LC-MS/MS analyses showed the existence of RA, 4-coumaroyl-3',4'-dihydroxyphenyllactic acid, 4-coumaroyl-4'-hydroxyphenyllactic acid and caffeoyl-4'-hydroxyphenyllactic acid in P. vulgaris. Generation and analysis of pvras3 homozygous mutants showed significant decrease of RA, 4-coumaroyl-3',4'-dihydroxyphenyllactic acid, 4-coumaroyl-4'-hydroxyphenyllactic acid and caffeoyl-4'-hydroxyphenyllactic acid and significant increase of DHPL and pHPL. It suggests that PvRAS3 is the main enzyme catalyzing the condensation of acyl donors and acceptors during RA biosynthesis. The role of PvRAS4 appears minor. The results provide significant information for quality control of P. vulgaris medicinal materials.

The Role of Citrullination Modification in CD4+ T Cells in the Pathogenesis of Immune-Related Diseases.

The post-translational modifications (PTMs) of proteins play a crucial role in increasing the functional diversity of proteins and are associated with the pathogenesis of various diseases. This review focuses on a less explored PTM called citrullination, which involves the conversion of arginine to citrulline. This process is catalyzed by peptidyl arginine deiminases (PADs). Different members of the PAD family have distinct tissue distribution patterns and functions. Citrullination is a post-translational modification of native proteins that can alter their structure and convert them into autoantigens; thus, it mediates the occurrence of autoimmune diseases. CD4+ T cells, including Th1, Th2, and Th17 cells, are important immune cells involved in mediating autoimmune diseases, allergic reactions, and tumor immunity. PADs can induce citrullination in CD4+ T cells, suggesting a role for citrullination in CD4+ T cell subset differentiation and function. Understanding the role of citrullination in CD4+ T cells may provide insights into immune-related diseases and inflammatory processes.

ZnMo-MOF as anti-CO hydrogen electrocatalyst enhance microbial electrosynthesis for CO/CO2 conversion.

Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) is an electrically driven technology that can be used for converting CO/CO2 into chemicals. The unique electronic and substrate properties of CO make it an important research target for MES. However, CO can poison the cathode and increase the overpotential of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), thus reducing the electron transfer rate via H2. This work evaluated the effect of an anti-CO HER catalyst on the performance of MES for CO/CO2 conversion. ZnMo-metal-organic framework (MOF) materials with different calcination temperatures were synthesized. ZnMo-MOF-800 with Mo2C nanoparticles as active centers exhibited excellent resistance to CO toxicity. It also obtained the highest hydrogen evolution and enhanced electron transfer rate in CO atmosphere. MES with ZnMo-MOF-800 cathode and Clostridium ljungdahlii as biocatalyst obtained 0.31 g L-1 d-1 acetate yield, 0.1 g L-1 d-1 butyrate yield, and 0.09 g L-1 d-1 2,3-butanediol yield in CO/CO2, while Pt/C only get 0.076 g L-1 d-1 acetate yield, 0.05 g L-1 d-1 butyrate yield and 0.02 g L-1 d-1 2,3-butanediol yield. ZnMo-MOF-800 was conducive to biofilm formation, enabling it to better resist CO toxicity. This work provides new opportunities for constructing a highly efficient cathode with an anti-CO hydrogen evolution catalyst to enhance CO/CO2 conversion in MES.

Multi-Dimensional Medical Image Fusion With Complex Sparse Representation.

In the field of medical imaging, the fusion of data from diverse modalities plays a pivotal role in advancing our understanding of pathological conditions. Sparse representation (SR), a robust signal modeling technique, has demonstrated noteworthy success in multi-dimensional (MD) medical image fusion. However, a fundamental limitation appearing in existing SR models is their lack of directionality, restricting their efficacy in extracting anatomical details from different imaging modalities. To tackle this issue, we propose a novel directional SR model, termed complex sparse representation (ComSR), specifically designed for medical image fusion. ComSR independently represents MD signals over directional dictionaries along specific directions, allowing precise analysis of intricate details of MD signals. Besides, current studies in medical image fusion mostly concentrate on addressing either 2D or 3D fusion problems. This work bridges this gap by proposing a MD medical image fusion method based on ComSR, presenting a unified framework for both 2D and 3D fusion tasks. Experimental results across six multi-modal medical image fusion tasks, involving 93 pairs of 2D source images and 20 pairs of 3D source images, substantiate the superiority of our proposed method over 11 state-of-the-art 2D fusion methods and 4 representative 3D fusion methods, in terms of both visual quality and objective evaluation. The source code of our fusion method is available at https://github.com/Imagefusions/imagefusions/tree/main.

Validation of Enhancer Regions in Primary Human Neural Progenitor Cells using Capture STARR-seq.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and expression analyses implicate noncoding regulatory regions as harboring risk factors for psychiatric disease, but functional characterization of these regions remains limited. We performed capture STARR-sequencing of over 78,000 candidate regions to identify active enhancers in primary human neural progenitor cells (phNPCs). We selected candidate regions by integrating data from NPCs, prefrontal cortex, developmental timepoints, and GWAS. Over 8,000 regions demonstrated enhancer activity in the phNPCs, and we linked these regions to over 2,200 predicted target genes. These genes are involved in neuronal and psychiatric disease-associated pathways, including dopaminergic synapse, axon guidance, and schizophrenia. We functionally validated a subset of these enhancers using mutation STARR-sequencing and CRISPR deletions, demonstrating the effects of genetic variation on enhancer activity and enhancer deletion on gene expression. Overall, we identified thousands of highly active enhancers and functionally validated a subset of these enhancers, improving our understanding of regulatory networks underlying brain function and disease.

Mechanical Mapping of Nanoblisters Confined by Two-Dimensional Materials Reveals Complex Ridge Patterns.

Understanding the mechanics of blisters confined by two-dimensional (2D) materials is of great importance for either fundamental studies or for their practical applications. In this work, we investigate the mechanical properties of nanoscale 2D material blisters using contact-resonance atomic force microscopy (CR-AFM). From the measurement results at the blister centers, the blisters' internal pressures are characterized, which are shown to be inversely proportional to the blisters' sizes. Our measurements agree considerably well with values predicted by theoretical mechanic analyses of the blisters. In addition, high-resolution mechanical mapping with CR-AFM reveals fine, complex ridge patterns of the blisters' confining membranes, which can hardly be distinguished from their topographies. The pattern complexity of a blister system is shown to increase with an increase in its bendability.

Single-cell genomics and regulatory networks for 388 human brains.

Single-cell genomics is a powerful tool for studying heterogeneous tissues such as the brain. Yet, little is understood about how genetic variants influence cell-level gene expression. Addressing this, we uniformly processed single-nuclei, multi-omics datasets into a resource comprising >2.8M nuclei from the prefrontal cortex across 388 individuals. For 28 cell types, we assessed population-level variation in expression and chromatin across gene families and drug targets. We identified >550K cell-type-specific regulatory elements and >1.4M single-cell expression-quantitative-trait loci, which we used to build cell-type regulatory and cell-to-cell communication networks. These networks manifest cellular changes in aging and neuropsychiatric disorders. We further constructed an integrative model accurately imputing single-cell expression and simulating perturbations; the model prioritized ~250 disease-risk genes and drug targets with associated cell types.

Simultaneous determination of twelve neonicotinoids and six metabolites in human urine with isotope-dilution UPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS.

The extensive global use of neonicotinoid insecticides (NNIs) has led to widespread human exposure, necessitating the development of effective methods for large-scale biomonitoring. However, current methods are inadequate in simultaneously and accurately detecting various NNIs or their metabolites (m-NNIs). In this study, we aimed to establish a robust method using solid-phase extraction (SPE)-ultra high performance liquid chromatography tandem Q-Orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS) for the simultaneous determination of 12 NNIs and 6 m-NNIs in human urine. Samples were prepared using Oasis HLB 96 well plate with Isopropanol: methanol (7:3, v/v) as the elution solvent. The target compounds were separated using the Accucore RP-MS column and subsequently analyzed under parallel reaction monitoring mode. NTN32692 (m/z = 255.06433) was confirmed to be the specific metabolite of cycloxaprid for the further detection. Satisfactory recoveries (81.6-122.4 %) of the NNIs and m-NNIs were observed, with intra- (n = 3) and inter-day (n = 9) relative standard deviation (RSD) ranging from 0.8 % to 13.7 % and from 1.1 % to 18.6 %, respectively. Good linearity (R2 > 0.99) was achieved for all analytes. The limits of detection (LODs) for all target analytes ranged from 0.01 ng/mL to 0.65 ng/mL. This method was applied to urine samples collected from 10 children recruited from an agricultural area in China. Our study provides an effective method to identify and assess human exposure to NNIs and their metabolites.

Novel silicene-mesoporous silica nanoparticles conjugated gemcitabine induced cellular apoptosis via upregulating NF-κB p65 nuclear translocation suppresses pancreatic cancer growthin vitroandin vivo.

Pancreatic cancer's high fatality rates stem from its resistance to systemic drug delivery and aggressive metastasis, limiting the efficacy of conventional treatments. In this study, two-dimensional ultrathin silicene nanosheets were initially synthesized and near-infrared-responsive two-dimensional silicene-mesoporous silica nanoparticles (SMSNs) were successfully constructed to load the clinically-approved conventional pancreatic cancer chemotherapeutic drug gemcitabine. Experiments on nanoparticle characterization show that they have excellent photothermal conversion ability and stability. Then silicene-mesoporous silica nanoparticles loaded with gemcitabine nanoparticles (SMSN@G NPs) were employed in localized photothermal therapy to control pancreatic tumor growth and achieve therapeutic effects. Our research confirmed the functionality of SMSN@G NPs through immunoblotting and apoptotic assays, demonstrating its capacity to enhance the nuclear translocation of the NF-κB p65, further affect the protein levels of apoptosis-related genes, induce the apoptosis of tumor cells, and ultimately inhibit the growth of the tumor. Additionally, the study assessed the inhibitory role of SMSN@G NPs on pancreatic neoplasm growthin vivo, revealing its excellent biocompatibility. SMSN@G NPs have a nice application prospect for anti-pancreatic tumors.

LRP1 induces anti-PD-1 resistance by modulating the DLL4-NOTCH2-CCL2 axis and redirecting M2-like macrophage polarisation in bladder cancer.

The tumour microenvironment (TME) drives bladder cancer (BLCA) progression. Targeting the TME has emerged as a promising strategy for BLCA treatment in recent years. Furthermore, checkpoint blockade therapies are only beneficial for a minority of patients with BLCA, and drug resistance is a barrier to achieving significant clinical effects of anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1)/programmed death protein ligand-1 (PD-L1) therapy. In this study, higher low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) levels were related to a poorer prognosis for patients with various cancers, including those with higher grades and later stages of BLCA. Enrichment analysis demonstrated that LRP1 plays a role in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), NOTCH signalling pathway, and ubiquitination. LRP1 knockdown in BLCA cells delayed BLCA progression both in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, LRP1 knockdown suppressed EMT, reduced DLL4-NOTCH2 signalling activity, and downregulated M2-like macrophage polarisation. Patients with BLCA and higher LRP1 levels responded weakly to anti-PD-1 therapy in the IMvigor210 cohort. Moreover, LRP1 knockdown enhanced the therapeutic effects of anti-PD-1 in mice. Taken together, our findings suggest that LRP1 is a potential target for improving the efficacy of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy by preventing EMT and M2-like macrophage polarisation by blocking the DLL4-NOTCH2 axis.

Hexokinase 1 and 2 mediates glucose utilization to regulate the synthesis of kappa casein via ribosome protein subunit 6 kinase 1 in bovine mammary epithelial cells.

Glucose plays a vital part in milk protein synthesis through the mTOR signaling pathway in bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMEC). The objectives of this study were to determine how glucose affects hexokinase (HK) activity in BMEC and investigate the regulatory effect of HK in kappa casein (CSN3) synthesis via the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling pathway in BMEC. For this, HK1 and HK2 were knocked out in BMEC using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. The gene and protein expression, glucose uptake, and cell proliferation were measured. We found that glucose uptake, cell proliferation, CSN3 gene expression levels, and expression of HK1 and HK2 increased with increasing glucose concentrations. Notably, glucose uptake was significantly reduced in HK2 knockout (HK2KO) BMEC treated with 17.5 mM glucose. Moreover, under the same glucose treatment conditions, the proliferative ability and abundance of CSN3 were significantly diminished in both HK1 knockout (HK1KO) and HK2KO BMEC compared with that in wild-type BEMC. We further observed that the phosphorylation levels of ribosome protein subunit 6 kinase 1 (S6K1) were reduced in HK1KO and HK2KO BMEC following treatment with 17.5 mM glucose. As expected, the levels of glucose-6-phosphate and the mRNA expression levels of glycolysis-related genes were decreased in both HK1KO and HK2KO BMEC following glucose treatment. These results indicated that the knockout of HK1 and HK2 inhibited cell proliferation and CSN3 expression in BMEC under glucose treatment, which may be associated with the inactivation of the S6K1 and inhibition of glycolysis.

Gut Microbiota Disorders in Obesity-Associated Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in Rats.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), commonly seen in older men, can cause symptoms of discomfort, and may even need surgical intervention. Studies have shown the potential link between gut microbes and BPH, but the molecular association is not fully understood. METHODS: Four-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 16) were randomly allocated to normal control diet (ND, 10% fat) and high-fat diet-induced BPH (HFD, 45% fat) groups. Metagenomic analysis was used to examine the abundance and discrepancies in gut microbiota within the two groups after 24 weeks of feeding. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis was conducted to assess the biological functions of the differentially expressed genes. RESULTS: Rats with HFD-induced obesity exhibited morphological abnormalities in their prostate tissues. Metagenomic analysis of the gut revealed that Firmicutes were the dominant phyla in the HFD group, whereas the ND group had a higher abundance of Spirochaetes. At the genus level, Ruminococcus spp exhibited greater abundance in the HFD group, whereas Treponema spp were more abundant in the ND group. KEGG analysis demonstrated that the differentially expressed genes were mainly enriched in the NOD-like receptor (NLR) signaling, PI3K-Akt signaling, estrogen-signaling, signalings associated with GABAergic synapses, pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis. CONCLUSION: The findings of our study indicated that there was a notable variation in the microbiota abundance within the intestinal tract of obese rats suffering from prostate hyperplasia. It is plausible that these differentially abundant bacteria played a role in the development of pathological alterations in the prostate through the facilitation of inflammatory responses; however, additional research is required to validate the findings.

Suspect, Nontarget Screening, and Toxicity Prediction of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in the Landfill Leachate.

Landfills are the final stage of urban wastes containing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). PFASs in the landfill leachate may contaminate the surrounding groundwater. As major environmental pollutants, emerging PFASs have raised global concern. Besides the widely reported legacy PFASs, the distribution and potential toxic effects of numerous emerging PFASs remain unclear, and unknown PFASs still need discovery and characterization. This study proposed a comprehensive method for PFAS screening in leachate samples using suspect and nontarget analysis. A total of 48 PFASs from 10 classes were identified; nine novel PFASs including eight chloroperfluoropolyether carboxylates (Cl-PFPECAs) and bistriflimide (HNTf2) were reported for the first time in the leachate, where Cl-PFPECA-3,1 and Cl-PFPECA-2,2 were first reported in environmental media. Optimized molecular docking models were established for prioritizing the PFASs with potential activity against peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α and estrogen receptor α. Our results indicated that several emerging PFASs of N-methyl perfluoroalkyl sulfonamido acetic acids (N-MeFASAAs), n:3 fluorotelomer carboxylic acid (n:3 FTCA), and n:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (n:2 FTSA) have potential health risks that cannot be ignored.

Effects of Bile Acid Supplementation on Lactation Performance, Nutrient Intake, Antioxidative Status, and Serum Biochemistry in Mid-Lactation Dairy Cows.

This experiment investigated the effects of different levels of bile acid (BA) additives in diets on the lactation performance, serum antioxidant metabolites, and serum biochemical indices of 60 multiparous mid-lactation dairy cows. The cows were randomized to receive one of the four homogeneous treatments, with the BA preparation supplemented at 0, 6, 12, and 18 g/head/d. The experiment lasted for 14 weeks. The first 2 weeks were the pre-feeding period. The milk yield and composition data were recorded weekly, and the dry matter intake and antioxidative blood index were analyzed on the 6th, 10th, and 14th weeks of the study. On the 84th day of the experiment, the experimental group exhibited significantly higher levels of total protein and albumin, by 57.5% and 55.6%, respectively, compared to the control group (p < 0.05). On both the 28th and 84th days of the trial, the experimental group showed a markedly higher lipase content compared to the control group, by 26.5% and 25.2%, respectively (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the experimental group displayed notably elevated levels of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and total antioxidant capacity, surpassing the control group by 17.4%, 21.6%, and 8.7%, respectively. In conclusion, BA additives improve the serum antioxidant indices of dairy cows, thereby enhancing the performance of these cows.

Effects of Silica Hydrogel on Degumming of Fragrant Rapeseed Oil.

Hot-pressed rapeseed oils with pleasant flavor, i.e., fragrant rapeseed oils, are favored by consumers, especially people from the southwest provinces of China. Although degumming is an important section in producing edible rapeseed oils, conventional degumming techniques are generally suffered from disadvantages such as moisture control, and large losses of micronutrients and flavors. In the present paper, hot-pressed rapeseed oils were treated with silica hydrogel to remove their gums, and changes in phospholipids, acid values, peroxide values, tocopherols, total phenols, and flavor compounds were analyzed to compare the silica hydrogel-degumming with conventional methods. The optimized conditions were suggested to be carried out at 45°C for 15 min, and the silica hydrogel dosage was 1.10%. More than 97.00% of phospholipids were removed after the degumming, and more than 85.00% of micronutrients, were retained in the treated oils. The degumming efficiency was therefore significantly higher than those operated by conventional acid degumming and soft degumming techniques. It was found that the dosage of the silica hydrogel significantly affected the removal rate of phospholipids compared with degumming time and temperature. There were nearly typical volatile compounds found in the rapeseed oils, while most of them kept almost stable after the silica hydrogel-degumming. In this regard, silica hydrogel adsorption exhibited little effect on volatile compounds, making it more suitable for the production of fragrant rapeseed oils.

Plant molecules reinforce bone repair: Novel insights into phenol-modified bone tissue engineering scaffolds for the treatment of bone defects.

Bone defects have become a major cause of disability and death. To overcome the limitations of natural bone implants, including donor shortages and immune rejection risks, bone tissue engineering (BTE) scaffolds have emerged as a promising therapy for bone defects. Despite possessing good biocompatibility, these metal, ceramic and polymer-based scaffolds are still challenged by the harsh conditions in bone defect sites. ROS accumulation, bacterial infection, excessive inflammation, compromised blood supply deficiency and tumor recurrence negatively impact bone tissue cells (BTCs) and hinder the osteointegration of BTE scaffolds. Phenolic compounds, derived from plants and fruits, have gained growing application in treating inflammatory, infectious and aging-related diseases due to their antioxidant ability conferred by phenolic hydroxyl groups. The prevalent interactions between phenols and functional groups also facilitate their utilization in fabricating scaffolds. Consequently, phenols are increasingly incorporated into BTE scaffolds to boost therapeutic efficacy in bone defect. This review demonstrated the effects of phenols on BTCs and bone defect microenvironment, summarized the intrinsic mechanisms, presented the advances in phenol-modified BTE scaffolds and analyzed their potential risks in practical applications. Overall, phenol-modified BTE scaffolds hold great potential for repairing bone defects, offering novel patterns for BTE scaffold construction and advancing traumatological medicine.

Effect of Temperature, pH, and aw on Cereulide Synthesis and Regulator Genes Transcription with Respect to Bacillus cereus Growth and Cereulide Production.

Bacillus cereus is a food-borne pathogen that can produce cereulide in the growth period, which causes food poisoning symptoms. Due to its resistance to heat, extreme pH, and proteolytic enzymes, cereulide poses a serious threat to food safety. Temperature, pH, and aw can influence cereulide production, but there is still a lack of research with multi-environmental impacts. In this study, the effects of temperature (15~45 °C), pH (5~8), and aw (0.945~0.996) on the emetic reference strain B. cereus F4810/72 growth, cereulide production, relevant ces genes (cesA, cesB, cesP), and transcription regulators genes (codY and abrB) expression at transcription level were studied. B. cereus survived for 4~53 h or grew to 6.85~8.15 log10 CFU/mL in environmental combinations. Cereulide accumulation was higher in mid-temperature, acidic, or high aw environments. Increased temperature resulted in a lower cereulide concentration at pH 8 or aw of 0.970. The lowest cereulide concentration was found at pH 6.5 with an increased aw from 0.970 to 0.996. Water activity had a strong effect on transcriptional regulator genes as well as the cesB gene, and temperature was the main effect factor of cesP gene expression. Moreover, environmental factors also impact cereulide synthesis at transcriptional levels thereby altering the cereulide concentrations. The interaction of environmental factors may result in the survival of B. cereus without growth for a period. Gene expression is affected by environmental factors, and temperature and pH may be the main factors influencing the correlation between B. cereus growth and cereulide formation. This study contributed to an initial understanding of the intrinsic link between the impact of environmental factors and cereulide formation and provided valuable information for clarifying the mechanism of cereulide synthesis in combined environmental conditions.

The combined actions of the granule surface barrier and multiscale structural evolution of starch on in vitro digestion of oat flour.

The digestive properties of oat-based food have garnered considerable interest. This study aimed to explore the internal and external factors contributing to different digestion properties of oat flour under actual processing conditions. Analysis of the ordered structure of oat starch revealed that an increase in gelatinization moisture to 60 % led to a decrease in crystallinity, R1047/1022 value, and helical structures content to 0, 0.48 %, and 1.45 %, respectively. Even when the crystal structure was completely destroyed, the short-range structure retained a certain degree of order. Surface structure observations of starch granules and penetration experiments with amylase-sized polysaccharide fluorescence probes indicated that non-starch components and small pores effectively hindered the diffusion of the probes but low-moisture (20 %) gelatinization substantially damaged this barrier. Furthermore, investigations into starch digestibility and starch molecular structure revealed that the ordered structure remaining inside the starch after high gelatinization delayed the digestion rate (0.028 min-1) and did not increase the content of resistant starch (7.10 %). It was concluded that the surface structure and non-starch components of starch granules limited the extent of starch digestion, whereas the spatial barrier of the residual ordered structure affected the starch digestion rate.