Gender Differences in the Relationships between Perceived Stress,Eating Behaviors,Sleep, Dietary Risk,and Body Mass Index

Background: Obesity is a growing epidemic among university students, and the high levels of stress reported by this population could contribute to this issue. Singular relationships between perceived stress; engagement in restrained, uncontrolled, and emotional eating; sleep; dietary risk; and body mass index (BMI) have been reported in the current body of literature; however, these constructs interact with each other, and the complex relationships among them are infrequently examined. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore the complex relationships between these constructs using mediation and moderation analyses stratified by gender. Methods: A cross-sectional study, enrolling university students from the United States (U.S.), the Netherlands, South Korea, Malaysia, Ireland, Ghana, and China, was conducted between October 2020 and January 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Perceived stress; maladaptive eating behaviors including restrained, uncontrolled, and emotional eating; sleep duration and quality; dietary risk; and BMI were assessed using validated questionnaires, which were distributed through an online platform. Results: A total of 1392 students completed the online survey (379 male, 973 female, and 40 who self-identified as “other”). Uncontrolled and emotional eating mediated the relationship between perceived stress and dietary risk for both males and females; higher sleep quality weakened this relationship among female students but not males. Emotional eating mediated the relationship between perceived stress and BMI for both males and females, but higher sleep quality weakened this relationship only among females. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that students in higher education are likely to benefit from interventions to reduce uncontrolled and emotional eating. Programs that improve sleep quality, especially during highly stressful periods, may be helpful.     

癸酸能够活化CD8+ T细胞并提高其抗肿瘤免疫反应能力

目的：探究中链脂肪酸癸酸对CD8+ T细胞活化的影响,及其对CD8+ T细胞介导的抗肿瘤免疫反应的作用和机制。方法：建立C57BL/6小鼠黑色素瘤B16F10 皮下荷瘤模型,随机分为癸酸组（10 mg/kg 癸酸灌胃）和对照组（等量溶剂灌胃）,观察癸酸对小鼠肿瘤生长以及生存率的影响,采用流式细胞术检测肿瘤微环境中浸润CD8+ T细胞的活化水平。建立B16F10-OVA和OT-I T细胞共培养体系,采用流式细胞术检测癸酸对CD8+ T细胞的肿瘤细胞杀伤能力的影响。采用α-CD8抗体清除B16F10 荷瘤小鼠体内CD8+ T细胞,观察对小鼠肿瘤体积的影响。小鼠原代CD8+ T细胞经癸酸处理后,采用WB、ELISA及qPCR、流式细胞术检测T细胞受体（TCR）活化、效应细胞因子产生以及增殖和代谢水平。在B16F10荷瘤小鼠模型中,观察α-PD-1抗体联合癸酸给药对小鼠肿瘤生长以及生存率的影响。结果：在小鼠黑色素瘤荷瘤模型中,与对照组相比,癸酸组小鼠移植瘤体积显著降低且生存率显著提高（均P<0.05）,肿瘤浸润CD8+ T细胞IFN-γ和TNF-α的表达水平显著升高（P<0.01）。经癸酸处理的OT-I T细胞对B16F10-OVA细胞的杀伤水平显著升高（P<0.01）。在荷瘤小鼠模型中用α-CD8 抗体清除CD8+ T 细胞后,癸酸对移植瘤的抑制作用显著降低（P<0.000 1）。小鼠原代CD8+ T细胞经癸酸处理后,TCR活化水平显著升高、细胞因子IL-2和IFN-γ的产生增多、线粒体代谢水平显著上调（均P<0.05）。在黑色素瘤荷瘤小鼠模型中,癸酸与α-PD-1抗体联用,能够显著抑制小鼠移植瘤生长并提高其生存率（均P<0.05）。结论：癸酸能够促进CD8+ T细胞活化、增强其抗肿瘤免疫反应能力。     

Fe3O4@PDA@PEI Core-Shell Microspheres as a Novel Magnetic Sorbent for the Rapid and Broad-Spectrum Separation of Bacteria in Liquid Phase

Bacterial infection is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality to humans worldwide. Thus, a method for nonspecific, sensitive, and rapid enrichment of such bacteria is essential for bacteria detection and treatment. This study demonstrates a self-made core-shell Fe₃O₄@Polydopamine@Polyethyleneimine magnetic beads (Fe₃O₄@PDA@PEI MBs) with a high density positive charge-based magnetic separation scheme for the broad-spectrum rapid enrichment of microorganisms in the liquid phase. MBs with a high-density positive charge have a strong electrostatic attraction to most microorganisms in nature. Our scheme is as follows: (1) wrapping dopamine (DA) on the iron oxide through self-polymerization and wrapping PEI on the outermost shell layer in a mode of crosslinking with the PDA; (2) subsequently, the Fe₃O₄@PDA@PEI MBs were used to concentrate microorganisms from the sample solution; (3) performing magnetic separation and calculating the adsorption efficiency. The as-prepared Fe₃O₄@PDA@PEI MBs composite was carefully characterized by zeta potential analysis, Value stream-mapping (VSM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transforms infrared spectrometry (FT-IR). In this study, both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria could be captured in three minutes through electrostatic interaction. Furthermore, the adsorption efficiency on gram-negative (>98%) is higher than that on gram-positive (>95%), allowing for a simple, rapid assay to enrich organisms in resource-limited settings.     

Efficient Use of Graphene Oxide in Layered Cement Mortar

Graphene oxide (GO) has been found to be an attractive nanomaterial to improve the properties of cementitious composites. However, the use of GO in the industry is limited by its high cost. To achieve a higher cost/performance ratio, GO can be strategically applied in certain parts of cementitious composites structure according to the principle of functionally graded materials. In this study, graded distribution of GO in cement mortar was achieved by sequentially casting a fresh GO-incorporated cement layer on another cement mortar layer. The mechanical properties, especially flexural strength, of layered cement mortar were found to be dependent on the GO content, the delay time, and the interface formed due to layering fabrication. With the GO incorporated in the tensile region only (30% of the total depth), the flexural strength of the layered beam attained 90.91% of that of the beam, with GO uniformly distributed throughout the sample. Based on the results of rapid chloride migration tests, when 12 mm GO-incorporated cement mortar layer was used, the chloride migration coefficient was reduced by 21.45%. It was also found that the measured chloride migration coefficient of layered cement mortar agreed with the series model. The present investigation provides an efficient approach to use GO in cement-based materials from the perspective of mechanical and durability properties.     

Effects of Dietary Ferulic Acid Supplementation on Hepatic Injuries in Tianfu Broilers Challenged with Lipopolysaccharide

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an endotoxin that can cause an imbalance between the oxidation and antioxidant defense systems and then induces hepatic damages. Ferulic acid (FA) has multiple biological functions including antibacterial and antioxidant activities; however, the effect of FA on lipopolysaccharide-induced hepatic injury remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism of action of dietary Ferulic acid against Lipopolysaccharide-induced hepatic injuries in Tianfu broiler chickens. The results showed that supplementation of FA in daily feed increased body weight (BW) and decreased the feed conversion ratio (FCR) in LPS treatment broilers significantly (p < 0.05). Additionally, supplement of FA alleviated histological changes and apoptosis of hepatocytes in LPS treatment broilers. Supplement of FA significantly decreases the activities of ROS. Interestingly, the levels of antioxidant parameters including total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), and glutathione (GSH) in LPS group were significantly increased by the FA supplementation (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, administration of LPS to broilers decreased the expressions of Nrf2, NQO1, SOD, GSH-Px, CAT and Bcl-2, whereas it increased the expressions of Bax and Caspase-3 (p < 0.05). Moreover, the expressions of Nrf2, NQO1, SOD, CAT, Bcl-2 were significantly upregulated and Caspase-3 were significantly downregulated in the FL group when compared to LPS group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, supplementation of FA in daily feed improves growth performance and alleviates LPS-induced oxidative stress, histopathologic changes, and apoptosis of hepatocytes in Tianfu broilers.