Effects of Body Weight and Waist Circumference on Balance Function in Overweight and Obese Adults / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

ObjectiveTo explore the effects of body weight and waist circumference on static and dynamic balance function in overweight and obese adults. MethodsParticipants （n=103） were selected by cluster random sampling from the Hypoglycemic Weight Loss Clinic of the Endocrinology Department of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. All participants were assessed for basic data collection， biochemical test， body weight， waist circumference and height measurement， static balance function assessed by balance error scoring system （BESS） and dynamic balance function assessed by functional reach test （FRT）. The BESS score and FRT distance of all participants were compared among groups according to different BMI grades and WC grades. Multivariate linear regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of participants' dynamic and static balance functions. Results① With the increase of BMI grading， the BESS score showed an upward trend， and the difference between groups was statistically significant （P = 0.004）. The BESS score of normal WC patients was lower than that of central obesity patients （P < 0.001）， which indicated that compared with normal BMI， overweight and obese people had poor dynamic and static balance ability； ② With the BMI grading， the FRT distance increased， showing a downward trend （P < 0.001）. The FRT distance in normal WC patients was significantly higher than that in central obesity patients （P < 0.001）， which indicated that the static and dynamic balance ability of central obesity patients was worse than that of normal WC patients； ③ In BMI overweight group， the FRT distance decreased significantly with the increase of WC （P = 0.02）. The results showed that under the condition of no difference in BMI， Compared with normal WC， the dynamic and static balance ability of central obese patients was worse； ④ The influence of BESS score on BMI（B=4.12，P =0.027， 95% CI=0.48-7.75）and WC（B = 3.47，P = 0.046， 95% CI = 0.07 - 6.88）was significant. The influence of FRT distance on BMI（B = -5.68，P = 0.001， 95% CI = -8.95 - 2.41）and WC（B = -4.71，P = 0.003， 95% CI = -7.83 to -1.61）was significant， which indicated that the static and dynamic balance ability of obese people was worse with the increase of BMI， and the ability of dynamic and static balance of central obesity was worse than that of normal WC. ConclusionWaist circumference is an independent factor affecting the dynamic and static balance function of overweight and obese people. Under similar BMI， the dynamic balance function of central obese people is worse than that of people with normal waist circumference， leading to higher risk of falling.

Analysis of nicotine-induced metabolic changes in Blakeslea trispora by GC-MS / 浙江大学学报（英文版）（B辑：生物医学和生物技术）

Blakeslea trispora is a natural source of carotenoids, including β-carotene and lycopene, which have industrial applications. Therefore, classical selective breeding techniques have been applied to generate strains with increased productivity, and microencapsulated β-carotene preparation has been used in food industry (Li et al., 2019). In B. trispora, lycopene is synthesized via the mevalonate pathway (Venkateshwaran et al., 2015). Lycopene cyclase, which is one of the key enzymes in this pathway, is a bifunctional enzyme that can catalyze the cyclization of lycopene to produce β-carotene and exhibit phytoene synthase activity (He et al., 2017).

Microencapsulated β-carotene preparation using different drying treatments / 浙江大学学报（英文版）（B辑：生物医学和生物技术）

β-Carotene is one of the most abundant natural pigments in foods; however, usage of β-carotene is limited because of its instability. Microencapsulation techniques are usually applied to protect microencapsulated β-carotene from oxidization. In this study, β-carotene was microencapsulated using different drying processes: spray-drying, spray freeze-drying, coating, and spray granulation. The properties of morphology, particle size, water content, thermal characteristic, and chemical stability have been explored and compared. Scanning electron microscopy measurements showed that the coated powder had a dense surface surrounded by starch and suggested that the coating process gave a microencapsulated powder with the smallest bulk density and the best compressibility among the prepared powders. The chemical stabilities of microcapsules were evaluated during six months of storage at different temperatures. The coated powder had the highest mass fraction of β-carotene, which indicated that the coating process was superior to the three other drying processes.

Studyies on the Breeding and Cultivation of L-Lactic Acid Producing Strain / 微生物学通报

In order to obtain higher L-lactic acid yield industrial strain, the original strain Rhizopus oryzae PW352 was mutated by means of N+ ions implantation and a mutant strain Rhizopus oryzae RE3303 was obtained. Its lactic acid yield was increased by 75% than that of the original one. The acid producing condition was optimized by orthogonal design. The concentration of L-lactic acid reached to 131～136g/L and the conversion rate of glucose was as high as 86%～90% under the optimum condition.