Association between Intraoperative Early Warning Score and Mortality and In-Hospital Stay in Lower Gastrointestinal Spontaneous Perforation.

Background: Early warning scores (EWSs) can be easily calculated from physiological indices; however, the extent to which intraoperative EWSs and the corresponding changes are associated with patient prognosis is unknown. In this study, we investigated whether EWS and the corresponding time-related changes are associated with patient outcomes during the anesthetic management of lower gastrointestinal perforation. Methods: This was a single-center, retrospective cohort study conducted at a tertiary emergency care center. Adult patients who underwent surgery for spontaneous lower gastrointestinal perforations between September 1, 2012, and December 31, 2019, were included. The National Early Warning Score (NEWS) and Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) were calculated based on the intraoperative physiological indices, and the associations with in-hospital death and length of hospital stay were investigated. Results: A total of 101 patients were analyzed. The median age was 70 years, and there were 11 cases of in-hospital death (mortality rate: 10.9%). There was a significant association between the intraoperative maximum NEWS and in-hospital death (odds ratio (OR): 1.60, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.10-2.32, p=0.013) and change from initial to maximum NEWS (OR: 1.60, 95% CI: 1.07-2.40, p=0.023) in the crude analysis. However, when adjustments were made for confounding factors, no statistically significant associations were found. Other intraoperative EWS values and changes were not significantly associated with the investigated outcomes. The preoperative sepsis-related organ failure assessment score and the intraoperative base excess value were significantly associated with in-hospital death. Conclusions: No clear association was observed between EWSs and corresponding changes and in-hospital death in cases of lower gastrointestinal perforation. The preoperative sepsis-related organ failure assessment score and intraoperative base excess value were significantly associated with in-hospital death.

Comprehensive survey of transposon mPing insertion sites and transcriptome analysis for identifying candidate genes controlling high protein content of rice.

Rice is the most important crop species in the world, being staple food of more than 80% of people in Asia. About 80% of rice grain is composed of carbohydrates (starch), with its protein content as low as 7-8%. Therefore, increasing the protein content of rice offers way to create a stable protein source that contributes to improving malnutrition and health problems worldwide. We detected two rice lines harboring a significantly higher protein content (namely, HP5-7 and HP7-5) in the EG4 population. The EG4 strain of rice is a unique material in that the transposon mPing has high transpositional activity and high copy numbers under natural conditions. Other research indicated that mPing is abundant in the gene-rich euchromatic regions, suggesting that mPing amplification should create new allelic variants, novel regulatory networks, and phenotypic changes in the EG4 population. Here, we aimed to identify the candidate genes and/or mPing insertion sites causing high protein content by comprehensively identifying the mPing insertion sites and carrying out an RNA-seq-based transcriptome analysis. By utilizing the next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based methods, ca. 570 mPing insertion sites were identified per line in the EG4 population. Our results also indicated that mPing apparently has a preference for inserting itself in the region near a gene, with 38 genes in total found to contain the mPing insertion in the HP lines, of which 21 and 17 genes were specific to HP5-7 and HP7-5, respectively. Transcriptome analysis revealed that most of the genes related to protein synthesis (encoding glutelin, prolamin, and globulin) were up-regulated in HP lines relative to the control line. Interestingly, the differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis revealed that the expression levels of many genes related to photosynthesis decreased in both HP lines; this suggests the amount of starch may have decreased, indirectly contributing to the increased protein content. The high-protein lines studied here are expected to contribute to the development of high protein-content rice by introducing valuable phenotypic traits such as high and stable yield, disease resistance, and abundant nutrients.

Comparison between the timing of the occurrence of taste sensitivity changes and short-term memory decline due to aging in SAMP1 mice.

Several studies have suggested that cognitive impairment affects taste sensitivity. However, the mechanism behind this is still unclear. In this study, we focused on short-term memory. Using senescence-accelerated mouse prone 1 (SAMP1) mice, we compared whether the effects of aging are observed earlier in taste sensitivity or short-term memory. We used 8-week-old mice as the young group, and 70- and 80-week-old mice as aged groups. Taste sensitivity was evaluated using a 48-hour two-bottle preference test, and short-term memory was evaluated using the Y-maze test. SAMP1 mice showed apparently changes in taste sensitivity at 70-weeks-old. However, the influence of aging on spontaneous alternation behavior, which is indicative of short-term memory alterations, was not observed in 70-week-old mice. At 80-weeks-old, the influence of aging was observed, and spontaneous alternation behavior was significantly decreased. This suggests that age-dependent changes in taste sensitivity occur prior to short-term memory function decline. In addition, there was no significant influence of aging on the mRNA expression of long-term potentiation-related genes in the hippocampus of 80-week-old mice. Therefore, the age-related decline of short-term memory may not affect taste sensitivity.

Tolerance of bitter stimuli and attenuation/accumulation of their bitterness in humans.

Some components of bitterness make key flavor contributions to promote the palatability of foods, whereas other components are recognized as aversive signals to avoid consuming harmful substances. These contradictory behaviors suggest that humans tolerate tastes of bitterants based on certain criteria. Here, we investigated human taste tolerance and sensory cues leading to diverse taste tolerance of bitter compounds. Tolerance of eight bitter compounds, which are typically contained in foods, was evaluated by measuring detection and rejection thresholds. The results revealed that the level of tolerance of each compound was variable, and some compounds showed an acceptable concentration regarding the suprathreshold intensity. Tolerance did not depend on the nutritive value or attenuation and accumulation characteristics of bitterness and bitter taste receptors. These results suggest that the criteria controlling tolerance of bitter compounds may be derived from a complex relationship between the taste quality and cognitive process.

Diversity of γ- glutamyl peptides and oligosaccharides, the "kokumi" taste enhancers, in seeds from soybean mini core collections.

Soybeans (Glycine max (L,) Merr,) contain γ-glutamyl peptides and oligosaccharides, and these components play an important role in imparting the "kokumi" taste to foods. To gain insight into the genetic diversities and molecular mechanisms of accumulation of γ-glutamyl peptides and oligosaccharides in soybean, we measured the contents of these components using the Japan and World mini core collections. Similar to other previously reported traits, wide variations were detected among the accessions in the core collections with respect to the content of γ-glutamyl peptides and oligosaccharides. We found a positive relationship between the content of γ-glutamyl tyrosine and γ-glutamyl phenylalanine and between the content of raffinose and stachyose. Furthermore, there were unique accessions that included high levels of γ-glutamyl peptides and oligosaccharides. These accessions may be helpful in understanding the accumulation mechanism of γ-glutamyl peptides and oligosaccharides and to increase the "kokumi" taste components in soybean by performing a genetic analysis.

Microgelation imparts emulsifying ability to surface-inactive polysaccharides-bottom-up vs top-down approaches.

In order to impart emulsifying ability to gel-forming polysaccharides that have not been used as emulsifying agents, three kinds of polysaccharides, agar, curdlan, and gellan gum were converted to microgels by different gelation methods via the bottom-up and top-down approaches. We clearly demonstrated that agar and curdlan acquired the ability to emulsify an edible oil by microgel formation. Among the colloidal properties of microgel suspensions such as microstructure, particle size, zeta-potential, viscosity, and surface hydrophobicity, we pointed out the importance of particle size on the emulsifying ability of polysaccharide-based microgels. The creaming behavior of the microgel-stabilized emulsions depended on the polysaccharide types and microgel preparation methods. The emulsion stability against oil droplet coalescence was extremely high for agar and curdlan microgel-stabilized emulsions during storage in the static condition, whereas different stability was observed for both the emulsions, that is, the curdlan microgel-based ones were more resistant to dynamic forcible destabilization by centrifugation than the agar ones, which can be attributed to the surface hydrophobicity of the microgels.

Isolation and characterization of key contributors to the "kokumi" taste in soybean seeds.

The water extract of soybean seeds (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is nearly tasteless, but "kokumi" taste sensation was confirmed upon addition of a basic umami solution containing glutamic acid, inosine monophosphate, and sodium chloride. To identify the key contributors to the "kokumi" taste sensation in soybean seeds, sensory-guided fractionation, taste sensory analyses, and LC-MS/MS analyses were utilized. γ-glutamyl-tyrosine and γ-glutamyl-phenylalanine were identified as contributors to "kokumi taste"; specifically, these γ-glutamyl peptides imparted the "kokumi" taste sensation at a low taste threshold in a basic umami solution. Raffinose and stachyose, which are sufficiently present in soybean seeds, exhibited a synergistic effect in regard to the enhanced "kokumi" taste sensation of γ-glutamyl peptides. This is the first report that the combined use of γ-glutamyl peptides and oligosaccharides can increase the "kokumi" intensity, which suggests that soybean extracts or soymilk can be used to enhance the "kokumi" taste sensation in food products.

Solubility of soy lipophilic proteins: comparison with other soy protein fractions.

Solubility of soy lipophilic proteins (LP) was studied as compared with that of other soy protein fractions. LP, ß-conglycinin, glycinin, and soy protein isolate (N-SPI) were prepared under the condition to avoid heat denaturation. Solubility of LP was lower than that of other soy protein fractions under all the tested conditions varying in pH values and ionic strength. The solubility of LP was increased constantly by elevating temperature until 90 °C, whereas that of ß-conglycinin and glycinin dropped at high temperature. Temperature-dependent change in solubility of N-SPI might reflect the balance among that of glycinin, ß-conglycinin and LP. Based on the results of SDS-PAGE, determination of phospholipid content and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, we discussed the solubilization behavior of LP relating to its origin and composition.

Protein-surfactant interactions between bovine lactoferrin and sophorolipids under neutral and acidic conditions.

To understand the protein-surfactant interactions between naturally derived sophorolipids (SLs) and bovine lactoferrin (bLf), we carried out spectroscopic, microscopic, and biochemical experiments under weakly acidic and neutral pH conditions. Particle size analysis, microscopy, and enzymatic digestion indicated that bLf and SLs interact with each other to form sheet-like and small aggregated structures reflecting the original self-organization of SLs at pH 5.0 and 7.0, respectively. Circular dichroism (CD) showed that SLs did not significantly affect the secondary structure of bLf.

Influence of processing factors on the stability of model mayonnaise with whole egg during long-term storage.

Mayonnaise-like oil-in-water emulsions with different stabilities-evaluated from the degree of macroscopic defects, e.g., syneresis-were prepared by different formulations and processing conditions (egg yolk weight, homogenizer speed, and vegetable oil temperature). Emulsions prepared with lower egg yolk content were destabilized for shorter periods. The long-term stability of emulsions was weakly related to initial properties, e.g., oil droplet distribution and protein coverage at the interface. Protein aggregation between oil droplets was observed and would be responsible for the instability of emulsions exhibited by the appearance defects. SDS-PAGE results for adsorbed and unadsorbed proteins at the O/W interface suggested that predominant constituents adsorbed onto the interface were egg white proteins as compared with egg yolk components when the amount of added egg yolk was low. In present condition, egg white proteins adsorbed at the O/W interface could be a bridge of neighboring oil droplets thereby causing flocculation in emulsions.

Transdermal administration of lactoferrin with sophorolipid.

Lactoferrin (Lf), a multifunctional glycoprotein, is known to activate dermal fibroblasts. Enhancing percutaneous absorption without decreasing the activity of Lf is critical in making the dermal administration of Lf beneficial. Sophorolipid (SL), a glycolipid-type biosurfactant, is known to form assemblies that may elevate the efficiency of the transdermal delivery of active ingredients. Here, we investigated the role of SL in the transdermal absorption of bovine Lf (bLf) and the effect of SL on the bLf activity on dermal fibroblasts. Transdermal absorption of bLf through a model skin was enhanced by 1.3-fold to 1.7-fold when SL was added. The effects of SL on the bLf activities on dermal fibroblasts were examined by cell proliferation activities and by gene expression levels of elastic fiber components, collagen IV, and hyaluronan synthases, revealing that SL did not depress the effect of bLf to any extent. Instead, the tropoelastin gene expression was upregulated ~60-fold by bLf alone, which was further increased to ~160-fold by bLf and SL together, suggesting a significant synergism between bLf and SL. Protein levels of elastin, assessed by immunohistochemistry, correlated well with the results of gene expressions. These results indicate the feasibility of the transdermal administration of bLf with SL.

Rennet-induced aggregation and curd formation from skimmed milk powders prepared under different sterilizing conditions.

Heat treatment during the production of skimmed milk powder causes denaturation of proteins, thereby affecting the physicochemical properties of the skimmed milk powder. To understand the effects of heat treatment on the sensitivity of the casein micelles in skimmed milk powders, low heating type (L), normal heating type (N), high heating type (H), and super-high heating type (SH), to reaction with rennet, rennet-induced curd formation was investigated. A well-developed network structure with wide spaces was observed only in the curd derived from the solution of type L skimmed milk powder. SDS-PAGE suggested that there was no difference in the amount of glycomacropeptide generated from kappa-casein in the four types of skimmed milk powder, but casein micelles in the solution of type L skimmed milk powder formed aggregates most effectively. These results are discussed with respect to the thermal denaturation of proteins in skimmed milk powder.