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There has been a growing interest in developing natural antioxidants with high efficiency and low cost. Bioactive protein hydrolysates could be a potential source of natural and safer antioxidants. The objectives of this study were to hydrolyze corn gluten meal using three plant-derived proteases, namely papain, ficin, and bromelain, to produce antioxidative hydrolysates and peptides and to characterize the antioxidant performances using both chemical assays and a ground meat model. The optimum hydrolysis time for papain was 3 h, and for ficin and bromelain was 4 h. The hydrolysates were further separated by sequential ultrafiltration to 5 hydrolysate fractions named F1 to F5 from low molecular weight (MW) (<1 kDa) to high MW range (>10 kDa), which were further characterized for TPC, free radical scavenging capacity against DPPH and ABTS, and metal chelating activity. The fraction F4 produced by papain (CH-P4), F1 produced by ficin (CH-F1), and F3 produced by bromelain (CH-B3) showed the strongest antioxidant activity and yield, respectively. These three fractions were incorporated into ground pork to determine their inhibition effects on lipid oxidation during a 16-day storage period. The inhibition effect was enhanced with the addition of higher amount of hydrolysate (e.g., 1000 vs. 500 mg/kg). The CH-P4 reduced lipid oxidation in ground meat by as much as 30.45%, and CH-B3 reduced oxidation by 27.2% at the same level, but the inhibition was only 13.83% with 1000 mg/kg of CH-F1. The study demonstrated that CGM protein hydrolysates and peptides could be used as naturally derived antioxidant in retarding lipid oxidation and improving product storage stability.

The stimuli-responsive nanofibers prepared by electrospinning have become an ideal stimuli-responsive material due to their large specific surface area and porosity, which can respond extremely quickly to external environmental incitement. As an intelligent drug delivery platform, stimuli-responsive nanofibers can efficiently load drugs and then be stimulated by specific conditions (light, temperature, magnetic field, ultrasound, pH or ROS, etc.) to achieve slow, on-demand or targeted release, showing great potential in areas such as drug delivery, tumor therapy, wound dressing, and tissue engineering. Therefore, this paper reviews the recent trends of stimuli-responsive electrospun nanofibers as intelligent drug delivery platforms in the field of biomedicine.

Regenerable nanozymes with high catalytic stability and sustainability are promising substitutes for naturally-occurring enzymes but are limited by insufficient and non-selective catalytic activities. Herein, we developed single-atom nanozymes of RhN 4 , VN 4 , and Fe-Cu-N 6 with catalytic activities surpassing natural enzymes. Notably, Rh/VN 4 preferably forms an Rh/V-O-N 4 active center to decrease reaction energy barriers and mediates a “two-sided oxygen-linked” reaction path, showing 4 and 5-fold higher affinities in peroxidase-like activity than the FeN 4 and natural horseradish peroxidase. Furthermore, RhN 4 presents a 20-fold improved affinity in the catalase-like activity compared to the natural catalase; Fe-Cu-N 6 displays selectivity towards the superoxide dismutase-like activity; VN 4 favors a 7-fold higher glutathione peroxidase-like activity than the natural glutathione peroxidase. Bioactive sutures with Rh/VN 4 show recyclable catalytic features without apparent decay in 1 month and accelerate the scalp healing from brain trauma by promoting the vascular endothelial growth factor, regulating the immune cells like macrophages, and diminishing inflammation. The catalytic activity of regenerable nanozymes is currently the bottle neck for their wider employment. Here, the authors report on single-atom nanozymes of RhN 4 , VN 4 , and Fe-Cu-N 6 with higher catalytic activities than natural enzymes, and demonstrate the Rh/VN 4 recyclability and scalp healing properties in bioactive sutures.

Four commercial pea protein isolates were analyzed for their physico-chemical properties including water absorption capacity (WAC), least gelation concentration (LGC), rapid visco analyzer (RVA) pasting, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)-based heat-induced denaturation and phase transition (PTA) flow temperature. The proteins were also extruded using pilot-scale twin-screw extrusion with relatively low process moisture to create texturized plant-based meat analog products. Wheat-gluten- and soy-protein-based formulations were similarly analyzed, with the intent to study difference between protein types (pea, wheat and soy). Proteins with a high WAC also had cold-swelling properties, high LGC, low PTA flow temperature and were most soluble in non-reducing SDS-PAGE. These proteins had the highest cross-linking potential, required the least specific mechanical energy during extrusion and led to a porous and less layered texturized internal structure. The formulation containing soy protein isolate and most pea proteins were in this category, although there were notable differences within the latter depending on the commercial source. On the other hand, soy-protein-concentrate- and wheat-gluten-based formulations had almost contrary functional properties and extrusion characteristics, with a dense, layered extrudate structure due to their heat-swelling and/or low cold-swelling characteristics. The textural properties (hardness, chewiness and springiness) of the hydrated ground product and patties also varied depending on protein functionality. With a plethora of plant protein options for texturization, understanding and relating the differences in raw material properties to the corresponding extruded product quality can help tailor formulations and accelerate the development and design of plant-based meat with the desired textural qualities.

Emerging artificial enzymes with reprogrammed and augmented catalytic activity and substrate selectivity have long been pursued with sustained efforts. The majority of current candidates have rather poor catalytic activity compared with natural molecules. To tackle this limitation, we design artificial enzymes based on a structurally well-defined Au 25 cluster, namely clusterzymes, which are endowed with intrinsic high catalytic activity and selectivity driven by single-atom substitutions with modulated bond lengths. Au 24 Cu 1 and Au 24 Cd 1 clusterzymes exhibit 137 and 160 times higher antioxidant capacities than natural trolox, respectively. Meanwhile, the clusterzymes demonstrate preferential enzyme-mimicking catalytic activities, with Au 25 , Au 24 Cu 1 and Au 24 Cd 1 displaying compelling selectivity in glutathione peroxidase-like (GPx-like), catalase-like (CAT-like) and superoxide dismutase-like (SOD-like) activities, respectively. Au 24 Cu 1 decreases peroxide in injured brain via catalytic reactions, while Au 24 Cd 1 preferentially uses superoxide and nitrogenous signal molecules as substrates, and significantly decreases inflammation factors, indicative of an important role in mitigating neuroinflammation. Artificial enzymes with reprogrammed and augmented catalytic activity and substrate selectivity have emerged to tackle limitations of noble metals or transition metal oxides. Here, the authors report Au 25 clusterzymes which are endowed with high catalytic activity and selectivity in a range of enzyme-mimicking reactions.

Rising concerns of environment and health from animal-based proteins have driven a massive demand for plant proteins. Textured vegetable protein (TVP) is a plant-protein-based product with fibrous textures serving as a promising meat analog. This study aimed to establish possible correlations between the properties of raw TVPs and the corresponding meatless patties. Twenty-eight commercial TVPs based on different protein types and from different manufacturers were compared in proximate compositions, physicochemical and functional properties, as well as cooking and textural attributes in meatless patties. Significant differences were observed in the compositions and properties of the raw TVPs (p < 0.05) and were well reflected in the final patties. Of all the TVP attributes, rehydration capacity (RHC) was the most dominant factor affecting cooking loss (r = 0.679) and textures of hardness (r = −0.791), shear force (r = −0.621) and compressed juiciness (r = 0.812) in meatless patties, as evidenced by the significant correlations (p < 0.01). The current study may advance the knowledge for TVP-based meat development.

Cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML) is the largest and most heterogeneous AML subgroup. It lacks sensitive and specific biomarkers. Emerging evidences have suggested that microRNAs are involved in the pathogenesis of various leukemias. This paper evaluated the association between microRNA expression and prognostic outcome for CN-AML, based on the RNA/microRNA sequencing data of CN-AML patients. High let-7a-2-3p expression and low miR-188-5p expression were identified to be significantly associated with longer overall survival (OS) and event free survival (EFS) for CN-AML, independently or in a combined way. Their prognostic values were further confirmed in European Leukemia Net (ELN) genetic categories. Also, in multivariable analysis with other known risk factors, high let-7a-2-3p and low miR-188-5p expression remained to be associated with longer OS and EFS. In addition, the prognostic value of these two microRNAs was confirmed in patients who received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). To gain more biological insights of the underlying mechanisms, we derived the genome-wide differential gene/microRNA signatures associated with the expression of let-7a-2-3p and miR-188-5p. Several common microRNA signatures indicating favorable outcome in previous studies were up-regulated in both high let-7a-2-3p expressers and low miR-188-5p expressers, including miR-135a, miR-335 and miR-125b and all members of miR-181 family. Additionally, common up-regulated genes included FOSB, IGJ, SNORD50A and ZNF502, and FOSB was a known favorable signature in AML. These common signatures further confirmed the underlying common mechanisms for these two microRNAs value as favorable prognostic biomarkers. We concluded that high let-7a-2-3p and low miR-188-5p expression could be potentially used as favorably prognostic biomarkers independently or in a combined way in CN-AML patients, whether they received HSCT or not.

Intuitively, higher intelligence might be assumed to correspond to more efficient information transfer in the brain, but no direct evidence has been reported from the perspective of brain networks. In this study, we performed extensive analyses to test the hypothesis that individual differences in intelligence are associated with brain structural organization, and in particular that higher scores on intelligence tests are related to greater global efficiency of the brain anatomical network. We constructed binary and weighted brain anatomical networks in each of 79 healthy young adults utilizing diffusion tensor tractography and calculated topological properties of the networks using a graph theoretical method. Based on their IQ test scores, all subjects were divided into general and high intelligence groups and significantly higher global efficiencies were found in the networks of the latter group. Moreover, we showed significant correlations between IQ scores and network properties across all subjects while controlling for age and gender. Specifically, higher intelligence scores corresponded to a shorter characteristic path length and a higher global efficiency of the networks, indicating a more efficient parallel information transfer in the brain. The results were consistently observed not only in the binary but also in the weighted networks, which together provide convergent evidence for our hypothesis. Our findings suggest that the efficiency of brain structural organization may be an important biological basis for intelligence.

Facilitating Cooperation for Wireless Systems Cooperative Communications: Hardware, Channel & PHY focuses on issues pertaining to the PHY layer of wireless communication networks, offering a rigorous taxonomy of this dispersed field, along with a range of application scenarios for cooperative and distributed schemes, demonstrating how these techniques can be employed. The authors discuss hardware, complexity and power consumption issues, which are vital for understanding what can be realized at the PHY layer, showing how wireless channel models differ from more traditional models, and highlighting the reliance of PHY algorithm performance on the underlying channel models. Numerous transparent and regenerative relaying protocols are described in detail for a variety of transparent and regenerative cooperative schemes. Key Features: Introduces background, concepts, applications, milestones and thorough taxonomy Identifies the potential in this emerging technology (e.g. applications to LTE/WiMAX, WSN) Discusses latest wireless channel models for transparent and regenerative protocols Addresses the fundamentals as well as latest emerging PHY protocols Introduces transparent distributed STBC, STTC, multiplexing and beamforming protocols Quantifies regenerative distributed space-time, channel and network coding protocols Explores system optimization, such as distributed power allocation and relay selection Introduces and compares analog and digital hardware architectures Quantifies complexity, memory and power consumption of 3G UMTS and 4G LTE/WiMAX relay Highlights future research challenges within the cooperative communications field This book is an invaluable guide for professionals and researchers in communications fields. It will also be of interest to graduates of communications and electronic engineering courses.

As one of the oldest plants cultivated by humans, hemp used to be banned in the United States but returned as a legal crop in 2018. Since then, the United States has become the leading hemp producer in the world. Currently, hemp attracts increasing attention from consumers and scientists as hemp products provide a wide spectrum of potential functions. Particularly, bioactive peptides derived from hemp proteins have been proven to be strong antioxidants, which is an extremely hot research topic in recent years. However, some controversial disputes and unknown issues are still underway to be explored and verified in the aspects of technique, methodology, characteristic, mechanism, application, caution, etc. Therefore, this review focusing on the antioxidant properties of hemp proteins is necessary to discuss the multiple critical issues, including in vitro structure-modifying techniques and antioxidant assays, structure-activity relationships of antioxidant peptides, pre-clinical studies on hemp proteins and pathogenesis-related molecular mechanisms, usage and potential hazard, and novel advanced techniques involving bioinformatics methodology (QSAR, PPI, GO, KEGG), proteomic analysis, and genomics analysis, etc. Taken together, the antioxidant potential of hemp proteins may provide both functional food benefits and phytotherapy efficacy to human health.