Liquids

The etiology of lung cancer in never-smokers remains elusive, despite 15% of lung cancer cases in men and 53% in women worldwide being unrelated to smoking. Here, we aimed to enhance our understanding of lung cancer pathogenesis among never-smokers using untargeted metabolomics. This nested case-control study included 395 never-smoking women who developed lung cancer and 395 matched never-smoking cancer-free women from the prospective Shanghai Women's Health Study with 15,353 metabolic features quantified in pre-diagnostic plasma using liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry...

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) originating from cancer cells incorporate various critical biomolecules that can aid in early cancer diagnosis. However, the rapid analysis of these micro vesicles remains challenging due to their nano-scale size and overlapping dimensions, hindering sufficient capture in terms of quantity and purity. In this study, an acoustofluidic device was developed to enhance the yield of immune-captured EVs. The channel of the device was modified with degradable gelatin nanoparticles (∼220 nm) to increase the surface roughness, and subsequently treated with CD63 antibodies...

OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis aimed to comprehensively explore the risk factors for inadequate bowel preparation (IBP). METHODS: We searched the Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, and The Cochrane Library databases up to August 24, 2023, to identify observational studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that examined risk factors for IBP. A random effects model was used to pool the adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: A total of 125 studies (91 observational studies, 34 RCTs) were included...

Microwave irradiation (MW) and ionic liquids (ILs) are two of the most promising relatively greener synthetic approaches to preparing value-added chemicals. Herein, a series of 2-acylbenzothiazole derivatives were synthesized for the first time from commercially available α-bromoacetophenones and disulfane-diyl-dianilines through the cooperation of ionic liquids and microwave irradiation under metal- and extra-additives-free conditions. A plausible mechanism involving the successive IL-induced enolation has been proposed...

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of certain moulds, prevalent in 60-80% of food crops and many processed products but challenging to eliminate. Consuming mycotoxin-contaminated food and feed can lead to various adverse effects on humans and livestock. Therefore, testing mycotoxin residue levels is critical to ensure food safety. Gold standard analytical methods rely on liquid chromatography coupled with optical detectors or mass spectrometers, which are high-cost with limited capacity. This study reported the successful development of a microfluidic "lab-on-a-chip" device to enrich and detect zearalenone in food samples based on the fluorescence quenching effect of quantum dots and selective affinity of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs)...

The present study describes the seasonal and circadian variations of the major compounds from Lippia alba leaves. SPSS was used to identify, quantify, and associate the variations in the secondary metabolites of this species through HPLC/DAD analysis of the leaves hydroethanolic extracts of six selected L. alba specimens. For the circadian study, the samples were collected at four different daily hours in each year's season. For the seasonal study, the samples were collected monthly from the same individuals for two consecutive years (2018 and 2019)...

Trillium govanianum, a medicinal herb, exhibiting diverse morphometric traits and phytochemicals across developmental stages of plants. The changes in the chemical profile and steroidal saponin levels in the rhizome of T. govanianum across different developmental stages were previously unknown. This study categorizes rhizomes into three types based on scar presence: juvenile (5-10 scars, Type I), young (11-19 scars, Type II), and mature (21-29 scars, Type III). Rhizomes show varying sizes (length 1.2-4.7 cm, girth 0...

The application of pulsed electric fields (PEFs) is becoming a promising tool for application in biotechnology, and the food industry. However, real-time monitoring of the efficiency of PEF treatment conditions is challenging, especially at the industrial scale and in continuous production conditions.  To overcome this challenge, we have developed a straightforward setup capable of real-time detection of yeast biological autoluminescence (BAL) during pulsing. Saccharomyces cerevisiae culture was exposed to 8 pulses of 100 µs width with electric field strength magnitude 2-7 kV cm-1 ...

Protein purifications based on phase separations (e.g., precipitation and liquid-liquid extraction) have seen little adoption in commercial protein drug production. To identify barriers, we analyzed the purification performance and economics of 290 phase separation purifications from 168 publications. First, we found that studies using Design of Experiments for optimization achieved significantly greater mean yield and host cell protein log10 removal values than those optimizing one factor at a time (11.5% and 53% increases, respectively)...

MD2 pineapple ( Ananas comosus ) is the second most important tropical crop that preserves crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), which has high water-use efficiency and is fast becoming the most consumed fresh fruit worldwide. Despite the significance of environmental efficiency and popularity, until very recently, its genome sequence has not been determined and a high-quality annotated proteome has not been available. Here, we have undertaken a pilot proteogenomic study, analyzing the proteome of MD2 pineapple leaves using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), which validates 1781 predicted proteins in the annotated F153 (V3) genome...

We investigate the depletion contributions to the self-assembly of microcolloids on solid substrates. The assembly is driven by the exclusion of nanoparticles and nonadsorbing polymers from the depletion zone between the microcolloids in the liquid and the underlying substrate. The model system consists of 1 μm polystyrene particles that we deposit on a flat glass slab in an electrolyte solution. Using polystyrene nanoparticles and poly(acrylic acid) polymers as depleting agents, we demonstrate in our experiments that nanoparticle concentrations of 0...

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of creep-feeding solid starter diet, liquid milk replacer, and a liquid mixture of starter diet and milk replacer to suckling pigs on their growth and medication usage up to target slaughter weight (approximately 120 kg). Ninety-one sows and their litters were randomly assigned to one of four post-farrowing treatments at day 107 of gestation; (1) no creep feed provided to weaning at day 28 of age (CONTROL; n  = 20), (2) dry pelleted starter diet provided as creep feed from day 10 of age to weaning (DPS; n  = 25), (3) liquid milk replacer provided as creep feed from day 3 of age to weaning (LMR; n  = 23), and (4) liquid milk replacer provided from days 3 to 6 of age followed by a mixture of liquid milk replacer with an increasing proportion of liquid starter diet to weaning provided as creep feed (LMR + S; n  = 23)...

Glioma is the most common malignant tumor of the nervous system in recent centuries, and the incidence rate of glioma is increasing year by year. Its invasive growth and malignant biological behaviors make it one of the most challenging malignant tumors. Maximizing the resection range (EOR) while minimizing the impact on normal brain tissue is crucial for patient prognosis. Changes in metabolites produced by tumor cells and their microenvironments might be important indicators. As a powerful spectroscopic technique, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has many advantages, including ultra-high sensitivity, high specificity, and non-invasive features, which allow SERS technology to be widely applied in biomedicine, especially in the differential diagnosis of malignant tumor tissues...

PURPOSE: Isotretinoin (ITN) is a poorly water-soluble drug. The objective of this study was to design a successful liquid self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (L-SNEDDS) for ITN to improve its solubility, dissolution rate, and antibacterial activity. METHODS: According to solubility and emulsification studies, castor oil, Cremophor EL, and Transcutol HP were selected as system excipients. A pseudo ternary phase diagram was constructed to reveal the self-emulsification area...

Global climate change has altered the frequency of soil freeze-thaw cycles, but the response of soil microorganisms to different elevation gradients during the early freeze-thaw period remains unclear. So far, the influence of the altitudinal gradient on the microbial community and metabolic characteristics in the early freeze-thaw period of the Qinghai Lake Basin remains unclear. To this end, we collected soil at different elevations in the early freeze-thaw period of the Qinghai Lake Basin and investigated the influence of the elevation gradient on soil microbial community characteristics and soil metabolic processes as well as the corresponding environmental driving mechanism by high-throughput sequencing and LC-MS (Liquid Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer) nontargeted metabolite determination...

Wound healing is an intricate process of tissue regeneration that depends on the simultaneous presence of immunological and microenvironmental factors. The significant role of platelets and their granules in the wound-healing process has led to extensive research on their potential as a therapeutic intervention in different areas, including chronic wounds and aesthetic therapies. Saltwater aids in purification and promotes healing by utilizing osmosis. Sodium chloride, the chemical component present in salt, induces the extrusion of fluids from cells upon contact...

BACKGROUND: Cytocompatibility should always be considered, especially if the surface of treated carious lesions is close to soft tissue or is accidentally exposed to the oral soft tissue by the clinician. METHODS: The aim of the present study was to compare the cytocompatibility of two fluoride-containing liquids and two resin-containing restorative materials with buccal mucosa fibroblasts. The fluoride-containing materials were silver diamine fluoride and water-based silver fluoride...

Cellulose membranes were prepared from an EMIMAc ionic liquid solution by nonsolvent-induced phase separation (NIPS) in coagulation baths of water-acetone mixtures, ethanol-water mixtures and water at different temperatures. High water volume fractions in the coagulation bath result in a highly reproducible gel-like structure with inhomogeneities observed by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). A structural transition of cellulose takes place in water-acetone baths at very low water volume fractions, while a higher water bath temperature increases the size of inhomogeneities in the gel-like structure...

The contribution of dehydration to the growing market of food powders from slurry/liquid matrices is inevitable. To overcome the challenges posed by conventional drying technologies, several innovative approaches have emerged. However, industrial implementation is limited due to insufficient information on the best-suited drying technologies for targeted products. Therefore, this review aimed to compare various conventional and emerging dehydration technologies (such as active freeze, supercritical, agitated thin-film, and vortex chamber drying) based on their fundamental principles, potential applications, and limitations...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Turions are vegetative, dormant overwintering organs formed in aquatic plants in response to unfavourable ecological conditions. Contents of cytokinin (CK) and auxin metabolites and ABA as main growth and development regulators were compared in innately dormant autumnal turions of 22 aquatic plant species of different functional ecological or taxonomic groups with those in non-dormant winter apices in three aquatic species and with those in spring turions of four species after their overwintering...