Publications by authors named "Zihui Xu"

Instant fresh rice noodles (IFRNs) on the market suffer from issues such as undesirable gel hardness and poor extensibility after high-temperature sterilization and rehydration, significantly compromising their mechanical properties and overall edibility. This research aimed to improve the quality of IFRNs by incorporating sweet potato starch (SPS) into rice flour. The physiochemical properties and multi-scale structural properties of the IFRNs with SPS were then characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, texture profile analysis, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering, and scanning electron microscopy.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study examines how the digestion of soybean protein changes when treated with phytase, an enzyme that reduces phytate levels in the protein.
  • Results showed that phytase treatment improved the solubility of soybean protein and shifted its isoelectric point, which helps the protein dissolve better in acidic conditions.
  • The findings suggest that using phytase leads to a faster digestion rate and less aggregation of the protein, making it potentially more effective for clinical nutrition and specialized medical foods.
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The widespread use of organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) in industrial and household products increases the risk of their environmental exposure, posing a serious threat to ecosystems and human health. Photocatalytic technology has been widely used in wastewater treatment due to its high efficiency, mild reaction conditions, and robustness. This review summarizes the current status of research on photocatalytic degradation of OPFRs, focusing on the effect of different types of catalysts on the degradation efficiency, the effects of pH, and co-existing inorganic and organic ions.

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In recent years, functional foods with lipophilic nutraceutical ingredients are gaining more and more attention because of its potential healthy and commercial value, and developing of various bioderived food-grade particles for use in fabrication of Pickering emulsion has attracted great attentions. Herein, the bio-originated sodium caseinate-lysozyme (Cas-Lyz) complex particles were firstly designed to be used as a novel interfacial emulsifier for Pickering emulsions. Pickering emulsions of various food oils were all successfully stabilized by the Cas-Lyz particles without addition of any synthetic surfactants, while the fluorescence microscopy and SEM characterizations clearly evidenced Cas-Lyz particles were attached on the surface of emulsion droplets.

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Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a prevalent risk factor for cognitive impairment. Cerebral amyloid-β (Aβ) accumulation, as an important pathology of cognitive impairment, can be caused by impaired Aβ clearance in the periphery. The liver is the primary organ for peripheral Aβ clearance, but the role of peripheral Aβ clearance in NAFLD-induced cognitive impairment remains unclear.

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Chemodynamic therapy (CDT) shows immense potential in cancer treatment as it not only directly kills tumor cells but also induces anti-tumor immune responses. However, the efficacy of CDT is hampered by challenges in targeting CDT catalysts specifically to tumors using nanomaterials, along with the limitations of low H O levels and short catalyst duration within the tumor microenvironment. In this study, DNA adjuvant hydrogel to arrange a glucose oxidase-ferrocene cascade for continuously generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) from glucose in situ for tumor CDT combined with immunotherapy is employed.

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Background: Insulin resistance (IR) is one of the risk factors for chronic kidney disease (CKD) and diabetes. The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index is considered a reliable alternative marker of IR. We investigated the correlation between the TyG index and the severity of CKD in patients with latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA).

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Glaucoma and other optic neuropathies lead to progressive and irreversible vision loss by damaging retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and their axons. Cell replacement therapy is a potential promising treatment. However, current methods to obtain RGCs have inherent limitations, including time-consuming procedures, inefficient yields and complex protocols, which hinder their practical application.

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Synbiotics are increasingly used by the general population to boost immunity. However, there is limited evidence concerning the immunomodulatory effects of synbiotics in healthy individuals. Therefore, we conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study in 106 healthy adults.

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Background: Previous experimental studies have shown that mice overexpressing amyloid precursor protein, in which β-amyloid (Aβ) is overproduced, exhibit peripheral insulin resistance, pancreatic impairment, and hyperglycemia. We aimed to explore the effects of Aβ on insulin action and insulin secretion and the association of plasma Aβ with prediabetes in human.

Methods: We examined the effects of Aβ40 and Aβ42 on insulin-inhibited glucose production in HepG2 cells, insulin-promoted glucose uptake in C2C12 myotubes, and insulin secretion in INS-1 cells.

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The decoding of the motor imaging electroencephalogram (MI-EEG) is the most critical part of the brain-computer interface (BCI) system. However, the inherent complexity of EEG signals makes it challenging to analyze and model them. In order to effectively extract and classify the features of EEG signals, a classification algorithm of motor imagery EEG signals based on dynamic pruning equal-variant group convolutional network is proposed.

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Aims: The study aims to find a new functional additive for diabetic liver injury.

Background: It is well-established that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a metabolic disease with multiple complications and places a significant health and economic burden on modern society. Linarin is a natural flavonoid isolated from Asteraceae and Lamiaceae, which has beneficial effects in preventing and treating metabolic diseases such as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and diabetes.

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The low number of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) present in the adult and aged primate brains represents a challenge for generating high-yield and viable in vitro cultures of primary brain cells. Here we report a step-by-step approach for the fast and reproducible isolation of high-yield and viable primary brain cells, including mature neurons, immature cells and NPCs, from adult and aged macaques. We describe the anesthesia, transcardial perfusion and brain tissue preparation; the subsequent microdissection of the regions of interest and their enzymatic dissociation, leading to the separation of single cells.

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Fatty liver disease (FLD), which includes both non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and alcoholic fatty liver disease (ALD), is a worldwide health concern. The etiology of ALD is long-term alcohol consumption, while NAFLD is defined as an abnormal amount of lipid present in liver cells, which is not caused by alcohol intake and has recently been identified as a hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome (such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and obesity). Inflammation, oxidative stress, and lipid metabolic dysregulation are all known to play a role in FLD progression.

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The high flammability of vinyl ester resin (VE) significantly limits its widespread application in the fields of electronics and aerospace. A new phosphorus-based flame retardant 6,6'-(1-phenylethane-1,2 diyl) bis (dibenzo[c,e][1,2]oxaphosphinine 6-oxide) (PBDOO), was synthesized using 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide (DOPO) and acetophenone. The synthesized PBDOO was further incorporated with VE to form the VE/PBDOO composites, which displayed an improved flame retardancy with higher thermal stability.

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The outbreak of COVID-19 has exposed the privacy of positive patients to the public, which will lead to violations of users' rights and even threaten their lives. A privacy-preserving scheme involving virus-infected positive patients is proposed by us. The traditional ciphertext policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) has the features of enhanced plaintext security and fine-grained access control.

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A sensitive detection system based on aptamer-based biosensors for the detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) by mapping encoding upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) was constructed. In this sensor, oligonucleotides with CEA aptamer fragments immobilized on magnetic beads (MBs) were hybridized to complementary DNA modified on UCNPs (cDNA-UCNPs); thus, sandwich-structured probes were formed. In the presence of CEA, due to the stronger interaction between the aptamer and CEA than that of the aptamer and complementary DNA on UCNPs, the cDNA-UCNPs were isolated from the MBs, and the number of isolated UCNPs was directly related to the concentration of CEA.

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Background: The competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network plays an important role in the occurrence and development of a variety of diseases. This study aimed to construct a ceRNA network related to exosomes in diabetic retinopathy (DR).

Methods: We explored the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and then analyzed the RNAs of samples to obtain differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs), miRNAs (DEMs) and mRNAs (DEGs) alongside the progress of DR.

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Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) regulates energy homeostasis via activation of the GLP-1 receptors (GLP-1Rs) in the central nervous system. However, the mechanism by which the central GLP-1 signal controls blood glucose levels, especially in different nutrient states, remains unclear. Here, we defined a population of glucose-sensing GLP-1R neurons in the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus (DMH), by which endogenous GLP-1 decreases glucose levels via the cross-talk between the hypothalamus and pancreas.

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Background: Limited studies have explored the difference of fatty acid profile between women with and without gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and the results were inconsistent. Individual fatty acids tend to be interrelated because of the shared food sources and metabolic pathways. Thus, whether fatty acid patters during pregnancy were related to GDM odds needs further exploration.

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Background: Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) is common in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), mainly presented as decreased heart rate variability (HRV) which often leads to cardiac death. However, HRV measurement is not convenient in most clinics. Therefore, identifying high-risk patients for CAN in diabetes with easier measurements is crucial for the early intervention and prevention of catastrophic consequences.

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causes significant morbidity and mortality in swine worldwide. Avilamycin showed no cross resistance and good activity for treatment of . The aim of this study was to formulate optimal regimens of avilamycin treatment for infection based on the clinical breakpoint (CBP).

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Emerging evidence suggests that insoluble dietary fiber prevents obesity by regulating gut dysbiosis. However, whether insoluble yeast β-glucan (IYG) has an anti-obesity effect is still unclear. Here, the impact and potential mechanism of long-term IYG supplementation on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity were investigated.

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Background: Chinese Herbal Medicines (CHMs), as an important and integral part of a larger system of medicine practiced in China, called Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), have been used in stroke therapy for centuries. A large body of studies suggest that some Chinese herbs can help reverse cognitive impairment in stroke patients, while whether these herbs also exert therapeutic benefits for Alzheimer's disease remains to be seen.

Objective: To address this issue, we selected four types of CHMs that are commonly prescribed for stroke treatment in clinical practice, namely DengZhanXiXin (D1), TongLuoJiuNao (T2), QingKaiLing (Q3), and HuangQinGan (H4), and tested their effects on amyloid-β protein precursor (AβPP) processing in vitro.

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Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is an independent risk factor of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and populations with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have high incidence to suffer from AD. Therefore, discerning who may be more vulnerable to MCI, among the increasing T2DM populations, is important for early intervention and eventually decreasing the prevalence rate of AD. This study was to explore whether the change of plasma β-amyloid (Aβ) could be a biomarker to distinguish MCI (T2DM-MCI) from non-MCI (T2DM-nMCI) in T2DM patients.

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