Insights into the interaction of CaCl2 and potato starch: Rheological, structural and gel properties.

High viscosity of starch greatly limit its application in some specific foods, in this work, a novel low-viscosity potato starch (PS) was developed via crosslinking between PS (3 %, w/v) and Ca2+ to investigate the effect of CaCl2 concentration (0.1-5 % CaCl2, w/v) on the rheological behaviors, structural and gel properties of PS. The results showed that peak viscosity (PV), trough viscosity (TV), final viscosity (FV), and breakdown viscosity (BD) of pasting curves of CaCl2-treated PS were significantly reduced compared with the native PS. The CaCl2 treatment also decreased the firmness of the PS gel and increased its pasting temperature (PT) and gelatinization enthalpy (∆H). Moreover, The CaCl2 treatment also led to more organized crystallites in the PS granules as affected by the slight increase in the ratio of 1044/1015 cm-1 in the FT-IR analysis, reduced the homogeneity of ordered structures inside granules as indicated by the increase in conclusion temperature (Tc)-onset temperature (To) in DSC analysis, and decreased relatively crystallinity revealed by XRD analysis. The findings of this study indicated CaCl2-treated PS could serve as food ingredients with reduced paste viscosity and regulated paste stability under shear during heating.

Coexisting unconventional Rashba- and Zeeman-type spin splitting in Pb-adsorbed monolayer WSe2.

Based on first-principles calculations, the unconventional Rashba- and Zeeman-type spin splitting can simultaneously coexist in the Pb-adsorbed monolayer WSe2system. The first two adsorption configurationst1andt2show remarkable features under the spin-orbit coupling, in which two split energy branches show same spin states at the left or right side of Γ, and the spin polarization is reversed for both Rashba band branches. For the second adsorption configuration, an energy gap was observed near the unconventional spin polarization caused by the repelled Rashba bands for avoid crossing, and this gap can produce non-dissipative spin current by applying the voltage. The results fort2configuration with spin reversal show that the repel band gap and Rashba parameter can be effectively regulated within the biaxial strain range of -8% to 6%. By changing the adsorption distancedbetween Pb and the neighboring Se atom layer, the reduceddcaused the transfer from Rashba-type to Zeeman-type spin splitting. This predicted adsorption system would be promising for spintronic applications.

Large Rashba splitting, carrier mobility, and valley polarization in a 1T-SnS2/MoTe2 heterostructure.

The structural and electronic properties of the 1T-SnS2/MoTe2 heterostructure were investigated based on density functional theory and Berry curvature calculations. Considering the strong spin-orbit coupling and space inversion asymmetry, large Rashba spin splitting of electronic bands appeared in this hybrid system. The Rashba coupling parameter αR in 1T-SnS2/MoTe2 reached 0.383 eV Å. Importantly, αR can be effectively tuned by biaxial strain. Moreover, our first-principles calculations show that the 1T-SnS2/MoTe2 heterostructure possesses a high carrier mobility of 5038.46 cm2 V-1 s-1. The Berry curvature and spin splitting were opposite at the K and K' valleys. Hence, the valleys and spins were simultaneously locked and polarized, and the valley and spin Hall effects simultaneously occurred.

Fabrication of pea protein-curcumin nanocomplexes via microfluidization for improved solubility, nano-dispersibility and heat stability of curcumin: Insight on interaction mechanisms.

Poor dispersibility of curcumin (cur) in aqueous medium and heat instability are common drawbacks preventing its efficiently practical use. Herein, the aim of this work was to reduce the size of cur crystals to the nanoscale through solid dispersion technique and subsequently stabilize them in an amorphous form. In this work, different ratios of pea protein (PP) to cur (6: 1, 12:1, 18:1 and 24:1, w/w) nano-supernatant (NS) in water were prepared via microfluidization. Results showed that particle size, Zeta potential (ZP) and cur concentration of cur in PP-cur NS in optimal conditions reached 357.45 nm, -33.43 mV and 81.68 mg/L, respectively. PP-cur NS showed excellent storage stability within one month and high heat stability of 52.32% at 90 °C after 180 min. Structural analysis including FT-IR, DSC and XRD indicated that cur entered into the hydrophobic pocket of PP by hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonds after microfluidization. This study indicated that PP exhibiting as an emulsifier and carrier might significantly reduce the surface tension of NS and in turns prolong their storability.

Development of high-fiber wheat bread using microfluidized corn bran.

Microfluidized corn bran is an excellent source of dietary fiber but has not been used to develop high-fiber bread. To develop such bread, it replaced 18, 20, and 22% of flour in the control white bread formula. At the standard water content, the amount of water required to develop a dough consistency of 500 Brabender Units in farinograph tests, the resulting bread had worse microstructure and textural properties, and much smaller loaf volume than the control bread. Instead of using existing physical, chemical and enzymatic methods to reduce the deteriorating effects of bran, we resolved the issue effectively by optimizing the water content in bread formulas. For the three levels of bran addition, when the water content was increased from its standard values of 38.3, 38.6, 38.8% to 40.8, 41.9, and 44.0%, respectively, the obtained loaves exhibited similar microstructure, specific loaf volume, and textural properties to the control bread.

Perinatal α-linolenic acid availability alters the expression of genes related to memory and to epigenetic machinery, and the Mecp2 DNA methylation in the whole brain of mouse offspring.

Many animal and human studies indicated that dietary ω-3 fatty acids could have beneficial roles on brain development, memory, and learning. However, the exact mechanisms involved are far from being clearly understood, especially for α-linolenic acid (ALA), which is the precursor for the ω-3 elongation and desaturation pathways. This study investigated the alterations induced by different intakes of flaxseed oil (containing 50% ALA), during gestation and lactation, upon the expression of genes involved in neurogenesis, memory-related molecular processes, and DNA methylation, in the brains of mouse offspring at the end of lactation (postnatal day 19, P19). In addition, DNA methylation status for the same genes was investigated. Maternal flaxseed oil supplementation during lactation increased the expression of Mecp2, Ppp1cc, and Reelin, while decreasing the expression of Ppp1cb and Dnmt3a. Dnmt1 expression was decreased by postnatal flaxseed oil supplementation but this effect was offset by ALA deficiency during gestation. Mecp2 DNA methylation was decreased by maternal ALA deficiency during gestation, with a more robust effect in the lactation-deficient group. In addition, linear regression analysis revealed positive correlations between Mecp2, Reelin, and Ppp1cc, between Gadd45b, Bdnf, and Creb1, and between Egr1 and Dnmt1, respectively. However, there were no correlations, in any gene, between DNA methylation and gene expression. In summary, the interplay between ALA availability during gestation and lactation differentially altered the expression of genes involved in neurogenesis and memory, in the whole brain of the offspring at the end of lactation. The Mecp2 epigenetic status was correlated with ALA availability during gestation. However, the epigenetic status of the genes investigated was not associated with transcript levels, suggesting that either the regulation of these genes is not necessarily under epigenetic control, or that the whole brain model is not adequate for the exploration of epigenetic regulation in the context of this study.

The role of N-acetylglucosaminyltransferases V in the malignancy of human hepatocellular carcinoma.

To investigate the role of N-acetylglucosaminyltransferases V (GnT-V) in the malignancy of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the GnT-V stably suppressed cell line HepG2 GnT-V/1564 was constructed from HepG2. The proliferation, migration, invasion, metastasis of HepG2 GnT-V/1564 was investigated both in vitro and in vivo. The clinical pathological significance of GnT-V expression was also studied in 140 cases of HCC tissues. This study showed that down-regulation of GnT-V inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of the HepG2 cells. In addition, GnT-V expression was shown in 138 cases of 140 (98.6%) HCC samples, in 3 cases of 31 (9.7%) in liver cirrhosis cases and in 1 cases of 20 (5.0%) in normal liver tissues. Besides, a higher level of GnT-V was observed more frequently in the advanced tumors with higher T stage and histological grade. These data suggested that GnT-V expression was positively related with malignancy in HCC and GnT-V may be both a differentiation marker and a potential target for the treatment of HCC.

The role of translationally controlled tumor protein in tumor growth and metastasis of colon adenocarcinoma cells.

Translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) plays a major role in a broad array of biological processes. However, the TCTP-related biological process and interactive proteins still remain poorly characterized. In the present study, we found that knockdown of TCTP inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion activities of LoVo cells in vitro and in vivo. The whole-cell proteomes were compared by 2D gel electrophoresis before and after knockdown of TCTP. Alterations in 27 proteins were detected and their identities were revealed by mass spectrometry analysis. Components of Ubiquitin-Proteasome System, proteins involved in the cytoskeleton biosynthesis and tumor metastasis were found to be changed upon TCTP removal. These results imply that TCTP might play at least a partial role in colon adenocarcinoma progression.