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Fruits and vegetables are vulnerable to enhanced respiratory metabolism, water loss, enzymatic browning, and microbial invasion during postharvest storage and transportation, leading to spoilage and reduced shelf life. Traditional preservation methods, such as physical, chemical, and single-component film technologies, offer limited benefits due to their single function and instability. Composite films, however, show great promise in postharvest preservation by integrating the strengths of different substrates and active components. This review discusses the research progress of composite films in preserving fruits and vegetables, covering their definition, classification, and key performance characteristics. It also examines the functional roles of substrates like polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids, and explores the mechanisms of composite films, including gas regulation, metabolic inhibition, water retention, antimicrobial effects, antioxidant activity, and browning delay. Additionally, it compares the applications of composite films in whole and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. Current research highlights the shift from general applications to targeted designs based on the unique deterioration mechanisms of different produce. Future studies should focus on optimizing the matching between product characteristics and film design, advancing composite films towards safer, more stable, and practical applications.

Background Artemisia is important medicinal plants in China and are widely used in medicine, agriculture, and food. Pharmacologically active components of the plants remain to be investigated. Methods This study sought to identify and compare the chemical constituents of three species of Artemisia in Tibet using a widely-targeted metabolomics approach and their antibacterial and antioxidant capacities were determined. Result A total of 1109 metabolites within 10 categories were detected from the three species of Artemisia , including lipids, amino acids, nucleotides, flavonoids, terpenes, coumarins, organic acids, and phenolic acids. 732 different metabolites have been identified between Artemisia sieversiana and Artemisia annua , 751 different metabolites were identified between Artemisia wellbyi and A. sieversiana , and 768 differential metabolites were differentially detected from A. wellbyi and A. annua. Differentially identified compounds included flavonoids, phenolic acids, artemisinins and coumarin. A. annua contained the highest relative content of artemisinin among three Artemisia . The antimicrobial experiments showed that the three Artemisia species had strong antibiotic activities against Bacillus subtilis , Escherichia coli , Staphylococcus aureus , Proteus mirabilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa . The biochemical analysis showed that the three species of Artemisia have strong antioxidant capacity. Conclusions This is the first reported attempt to comparatively determine the types of the metabolites of the three widely distributed Artemisia species in Tibet. The information should help medicinal research and facilitate comprehensive development and utilization of Artemisia species in Tibet.

Early human embryogenesis is a very sophisticated process due to its unique gene regulatory network. Autophagy has been suggested to play an important role in mediating the development of early embryonic cells in mammals. However, evidence showing how autophagy regulates early human embryogenesis remains to be further explored. In this study, we systematically investigated the human transcriptome and methylome patterns of autophagy-related (ATG) genes in early embryonic cells at single-cell resolution. We analyzed the transcriptomic data of 365 cells and methylome data of 265 cells. The results showed that most ATG genes remained epigenetically active and were expressed stably throughout early embryogenesis, whereas the dynamics varied among different developmental stages. This evidence indicated that the autophagy pathway was constitutively activated and exerted a fundamental role in early human embryo development. Our work, for the first time, comprehensively reveals the features of autophagy during early human embryo development.

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox), as an efficient and low-carbon method for nitrogen removal from wastewater, faces the challenge of slow enrichment of functional bacteria. In this study, the enrichment of anammox bacteria Candidatus Brocadia was successfully accelerated by co-culturing with the quorum-sensing strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa and anoxic sludge from a pig farm. Experimental results showed that the R2, which had Pseudomonas aeruginosa added, exhibited chemical reaction ratios RS (NO2−-N consumption/NH4+-N consumption) and RP (NO3−-N production/NH4+-N consumption) closer to the theoretical values of the anammox reaction since Phase Ⅱ. Bacterial community analysis indicated that the abundance of Candidatus Brocadia in R2 reached 1.63% in cycle 20, significantly higher than the 0.45% in R1. More quorum-sensing signaling molecules, primarily C6-HSL, were detected in R2. C6-HSL was positively correlated with processes such as the secretion of anammox extracellular polymers (EPS) and the regulation of nitric oxide reductase (Nir), which may explain the reason behind the accelerated increase in the abundance of Candidatus Brocadia through co-culturing. Moreover, the metabolism of the dominant genus Paracoccus within the two groups of reactors also showed positive regulation by C6-HSL, with its abundance trend similar to that of Candidatus Brocadia, jointly completing the nitrogen removal process in the reactors. However, it is still unknown which genera secrete large amounts of C6-HSL after inoculation with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This research provides a novel and low-cost method for the enrichment of anammox bacteria.

ObjectiveTo determine whether sense of coherence acts as a mediator between perceived stress and depression in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients.MethodsA single face-to-face interview was administered to characterize sociodemographic, clinical, and psychological characteristics; perceived stress scale (PSS), sense of coherence scale (SOC) and Hamilton depression scale (HAMD). Part of the characterize sociodemographic information was extracted from the women’s medical charts. The interview was with 1100 patients newly diagnosed with breast cancer from breast wards in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China; 1046 respondents completed this survey from May 2018 to March 2019. A data analysis was conducted based on correlation analysis, multiple linear regression, and structural equation model.ResultsThe total score of the sense of coherence was negatively correlated with perceived stress (r = −0.595, p < 0.01) and depression (r = −0.821, p < 0.01), and the total scores of perceived stress and depression were positively correlated (r = 0.755, p < 0.01). As indicated from the structural equation model, sense of coherence had a partial mediation effect between perceived stress and depression, with the mediator effect of 0.566, taking up 63.1% of the total effect.ConclusionsSense of coherence acted as a mediator between perceived stress and depression in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, demonstrating that medical staff should actively assess patients’ sense of coherence level to provide personalized interventions for patients.

Background Effective health management of people at high risk of stroke in China is challenging. Aim To explore and identify the experiences of health management among people at high risk of stroke in order to provide a foundation for a targeted health management strategy for this special group. Design A qualitative, descriptive study based on interviews. Methods Semistructured interviews were conducted with 31 people at high risk of stroke. The interviews were collated and analysed using Colaizzi’s seven‐step method. Results A total of 31 people at high risk of stroke were included, and the ages ranged from 40 to 86, with an average age of 60.71 (SD = 11.55). The experiences of health management were categorized into three themes. Theme 1: Facing many ongoing problems in health management, limited knowledge, lack of confidence and poor compliance. Theme 2: Accumulated some value experiences of coping with problems of health management, becoming active learners, promoting social interaction and enhancing self‐health management. Theme 3: Sensitivity to multiple influencing factors, the severity of disease and complexity of disease management, family income and economic burden and the value of social support. Conclusions This study explored the experiences of health management among people at high risk of stroke, and these findings are of great significance in the primary prevention of stroke.

Swainsonine-containing plants contain swainsonine which has been shown to cause neurological signs and pathological changes in farm animals. It causes a large number of livestock poisonings every year resulting in economic losses to the livestock industry. At present, “Jifang E” is used in the prevention of swainsonine-containing plants poisoning livestock, and the preventive effects have been well-documented. However, “Jifang E” is typically administered in drinking water, making it difficult to control the administered dosage, because of feeding difficulties and it may cause certain side effects that are unique to the water-dissolved powder. To overcome these difficulties, we developed a temperature-sensitive gel for injection and the optimal ratio of each formula of sustained-release injection is P407 (24%), P188 (6%), Vitamin C (1%), PEG4000 (0.5%), and “Jifang E” (10%). Our results suggest that novel formulation makes the micellar system more stable and the particles are uniformly dispersed. Colloidal morphological studies showed that each group formed a homogeneous pore structure after gelling, and the structure became more dense with the addition of “Jifang E”. The rheological study shows that “Jifang E” is a pseudoplastic fluid, and the addition of “Jifang E” reduces the viscosity of the formula, which is beneficial to the injection. In vitro and in vivo release rate studies have shown that the effective concentration of “Jifang E” can be maintained for 3 to 5 days. The acute toxicity test in SPF Kunming mice showed that its LD50 was 828.323 mg/kg, with confidence limits of 676.706–1013.911 mg/kg, which is a safe dosage (LD50 > 200 mg/kg). There were no observed reactions of muscle irritation or subcutaneous tissue irritation with the dosage used for New Zealand rabbits. In summary, we successfully developed the sustained-release injection formulation of “Jifang E” for the prevention of swainsonine-containing plants poisoning livestock, which provides the basis for subsequent field extension trials and the further study of its detoxification mechanism.

Vicarious trial and error behaviors (VTEs) indicate periods of indecision during decision-making, and have been proposed as a behavioral marker of deliberation. In order to understand the neural underpinnings of these putative bridges between behavior and neural dynamics, researchers need the ability to readily distinguish VTEs from non-VTEs. Here we utilize a small set of trajectory-based features and standard machine learning classifiers to identify VTEs from non-VTEs for rats performing a spatial delayed alternation task (SDA) on an elevated plus maze. We also show that previously reported features of the hippocampal field potential oscillation can be used in the same types of classifiers to separate VTEs from non-VTEs with above chance performance. However, we caution that the modest classifier success using hippocampal population dynamics does not identify many trials where VTEs occur, and show that combining oscillation-based features with trajectory-based features does not improve classifier performance compared to trajectory-based features alone. Overall, we propose a standard set of features useful for trajectory-based VTE classification in binary decision tasks, and support previous suggestions that VTEs are supported by a network including, but likely extending beyond, the hippocampus.

This study aims to explore the mediating role of sense of coherence in the relationship of type C personality and depression among newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. A descriptive and correlational survey was conducted in 600 breast cancer patients aged ≥18 years from September 2018 to March 2019 in Zhengzhou, China. The demographic questionnaire, Cancer Behavior Scale, Sense of Coherence Scale and Hamilton Depression Scale were included in this study. Data analysis was performed by correlation analysis, multiple linear regression analysis, and structural equation modeling. The valid questionnaires were 575 (effective response rate: 95.8%). The score of sense of coherence was negatively correlated with type C personality and depression ( = -0.41, < 0.01; = -0.58, < 0.01); the score of type C personality and depression were positively correlated ( = 0.51, < 0.01). The results of multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the effect of type C personality on depression was partly mediated by sense of coherence, which was confirmed by structural equation modeling. The mediation effect accounts for 45.2% (0.269/0.594) of the total effect. The results of this study revealed that sense of coherence as a partial mediating role is essential for reducing the influence of type C personality on depression. Early and targeted psychological interventions on sense of coherence are needed to alleviate the symptom of depression in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients.

Aconitine is the principal toxic ingredient of Aconitum , which can cause systemic poisoning involving multiple organs and systems after animal ingestion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of aconitine on hematological indices and histological changes in mice. One hundred twenty mice were divided into a control group (normal saline), low-dose group (0.14 μmol/L), middle-dose group (0.28 μmol/L) and high-dose group (0.56 μmol/L), which were continuously lavaged for 30 days. The blood of 10 mice were collected randomly and analyzed by group at the 10th, 20th, and 30th days, and some tissues were collected and stained with hematoxylin-eosin to observe histological changes at the 30th day. Compared with the control group, the organ coefficient (%) of liver, spleen, lungs, and brain of the high-dose group were significantly increased ( p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). WBC and Gran initially decreased and then increased in each poisoning group, with significant differences in the high-dose group ( p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). RBC, HGB, HCT, and PLT decreased continuously in all groups except the low-dose group at the 20th and 30th days ( p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). Moreover, BUN, ALT and AST increased in each poisoning group, in comparison with the control group, with significant differences except for the low-dose group ( p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). CRE initially increased and then decreased, the TP and ALB decreased, with significant differences observed in the high-dose and middle-dose groups ( p < 0.05). All the mice in the poison-treated groups showed varying degrees of histopathological changes such as degeneration and necrosis of tissues, especially heart and cerebellum. Our data suggest that different doses of aconitine have remarkable effects on hematological and histopathological changes in mice, in a significant time and dose-effect relationship.