Unilever (China)

Zein–curcumin composite colloidal particles were synthesized using an antisolvent precipitation method. The average particle size could be controlled down to 100–150 nm, depending on the solvent system and the ratio of zein and curcumin used in the synthesis. In all cases, spherical particles were obtained, as confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. Depending on the preparation conditions, curcumin load and encapsulation efficiency varied from 1.6 to 4.1% and 71.1 to 86.8%, respectively. Solid state characterization by differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction indicated the amorphous nature of entrapped curcumin. An UV irradiation study confirmed enhanced photostability of curcumin due to the entrapment of curcumin in the biopolymeric matrix. The particles were also found to have good colloidal stability at a broad range of physiologically relevant pH (1.2, 4.5, 6.7 and 7.4) and in simulated gastro-intestinal conditions. Results from an in vitro mucoadhesion study showed retention of more than 60% curcumin for 150 minutes. The mucoadhesion property was further confirmed from a mucin association study carried out on Caco-2 cells.

Dysregulated cell division, which leads to aberrant cell proliferation, is one of the key hallmarks of cancer. Therefore, therapeutic targets that block cell division would be effective for cancer treatment. Cell division is mainly controlled by a complex composed of cyclin and cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs). To date, the CDK inhibitors (CDKIs), specifically the ones that block the enzyme activity of CDK4 and CDK6 (CDK4/6), have been approved by FDA for the treatment of metastatic hormone receptor positive breast cancer. However, due to the non-selectivity and significant toxicity, most of the first generation CDK inhibitors (so called pan-CDK inhibitors that target several CDKs), have not been approved for clinical application. Despite this, great efforts and progress have been made to enable pan-CDK inhibitors application in the clinical setting. Notably, the development of combination therapy strategies in recent years has made it possible to reduce the toxicity and side effects of pan-CDK inhibitors. Thus, as a combination therapy approach, pan-CDK inhibitors regain great potential in clinical application. In this review, we introduced the CDK family members and discussed their major functions in cell cycle controlling. Then, we summarized the research progress regarding CDK inhibitors, especially those other than CDK4/6 inhibitors. We reviewed first-generation pan-CDKIs Flavopiridol and Roscovitine, and second-generation CDKIs Dinaciclib, P276-00, AT7519, TG02, Roniciclib, RGB-286638 by focusing on their developing stages, clinical trials and targeting cancers. The specific CDKIs, which targets to increase specificity and decrease the side effects, were also discussed. These CDKIs include CDK4/6, CDK7, CDK9, and CDK12/13 inhibitors. Finally, the efficacy and discrepancy of combination therapy with CDK inhibitors and PD1/PDL1 antibodies were analyzed, which might give insights into the development of promising strategy for cancer treatment.

This paper reports a systematic study on the relationship between surface structure and wetting state of ordered nanoporous alumina surface. The wettability of the porous alumina is dramatically changed from hydrophilicity to hydrophobicity by increasing the hole diameter, while maintaining the hole interval and depth. This phenomenon is attributed to the gradual transition between Wenzel and Cassie states which was proved experimentally by comparing the wetting behavior on these porous alumina surfaces. Furthermore, the relationship between surface wettability and hole depth at a fixed hole interval and diameter was investigated. For those porous alumina with relatively larger holes in diameter, transition between Wenzel and Cassie states was also achieved with increasing hole depth. A capillary-pressure balance model was proposed to elucidate the unique structure-induced transition, and the criteria for the design and construction of a Cassie wetting surface was discussed. These structure-induced transitions between Wenzel and Cassie states could provide further insight into the wetting mechanism of roughness-induced wettability and practical guides for the design of variable surfaces with controllable wettability.

Obesity is a major health problem in the developed and developing world. Many "functional" foods and ingredients are advocated for their effects on body composition but few have consistent scientific support for their efficacy. However, an increasing amount of mechanistic and clinical evidence is building for green tea (GT). This experiment was therefore undertaken to study the effects of a high-catechin GT on body composition in a moderately overweight Chinese population. In a randomized placebo-controlled trial, 182 moderately overweight Chinese subjects, consumed either two servings of a control drink (C; 30 mg catechins, 10 mg caffeine/day), one serving of the control drink and one serving of an extra high-catechin GT1 (458 mg catechins, 104 mg caffeine/day), two servings of a high-catechin GT2 (468 mg catechins, 126 mg caffeine/day) or two servings of the extra high-catechin GT3 (886 mg catechins, 198 mg caffeine/day) for 90 days. Data were collected at 0, 30, 60, and 90 days. We observed a decrease in estimated intra-abdominal fat (IAF) area of 5.6 cm(2) in the GT3 group. In addition, we found decreases of 1.9 cm in waist circumference and 1.2 kg body weight in the GT3 group vs. C (P < 0.05). We also observed reductions in total body fat (GT2, 0.7 kg, P < 0.05) and body fat % (GT1, 0.6%, P < 0.05). We conclude that consumption of two servings of an extra high-catechin GT leads to improvements in body composition and reduces abdominal fatness in moderately overweight Chinese subjects.

BACKGROUND: Curcumin has been demonstrated to have many neuroprotective properties, including improvement of cognition in humans and neurogenesis in animals, yet the mechanism of such effects remains unclear. METHODOLOGY: We assessed behavioural performance and hippocampal cell proliferation in aged rats after 6- and 12-week curcumin-fortified diets. Curcumin enhanced non-spatial and spatial memory, as well as dentate gyrate cell proliferation as compared to control diet rats. We also investigated underlying mechanistic pathways that might link curcumin treatment to increased cognition and neurogenesis via exon array analysis of cortical and hippocampal mRNA transcription. The results revealed a transcriptional network interaction of genes involved in neurotransmission, neuronal development, signal transduction, and metabolism in response to the curcumin treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a neurogenesis- and cognition-enhancing potential of prolonged curcumin treatment in aged rats, which may be due to its diverse effects on genes related to growth and plasticity.

Here we report the preparation of super stable liquid foams with various bubble sizes stabilized by colloidal ethyl cellulose (EC) particles. What is novel and different in this particle stabilized foam is that both the initial material (EC) and processes used are in principle food grade, thus it may offer scope in food applications. The particles were prepared using a conventional anti-solvent precipitation method, involving the dissolution of EC polymer into acetone, followed by fast mixing with water (anti-solvent), leading to the precipitation of EC particles, then followed by the rotary evaporation of acetone. The interfacial tension of the resulting dispersion is 36 mN m−1, indicating that particles co-exist with surface active and water soluble components, which is most likely a low molecular weight EC fraction. The average particle diameter is 0.13 μm and their zeta potential is −50mV at pH = 6, increasing to −5mV at pH = 3. This negative surface potential is attributed to adsorption of hydroxyl ions, known to occur on many hydrophobic surfaces, including oil–water, air–water and hydrophobic particle–water. As a result, there is strong electrostatic repulsion between EC particles at neutral and low ionic strength, which stabilizes EC dispersion and also significantly increases the adsorption barrier of EC particle at the air–water interface. Due to their similar origin, both inter-particle repulsion and adsorption barrier can be controlled by pH and/or ionic strength, which leads to dispersion destabilization and at the same time good foamability and extreme foam stability at acidic conditions (pH < 4) and/or moderate or high ionic strengths (I > 20 mM). Foam coarsening shows an initial stage with coarsening time of approximately 1 week, followed by a plateau, where the coarsening has been arrested for a period of months. By using cryo scanning electron microscopy, we reveal that these EC foams are Pickering stabilized, where EC particles are closely packed at the air–water interface forming a single or multi-layers. We also show that super stable EC foams can be prepared using various aeration techniques, allowing us to vary the bubble diameter from a few microns to hundreds of microns.

A biomimetic construction of enamel-like apatite material is achieved by the cooperation of nanoparticles and Glu on enamel substrate under physiological conditions; the artificial apatite layer shares the exactly same crystallographic and tectonic properties with the natural enamel; and the apparent restoration of enamel hardness is particularly significant. We suggest a biomineralization-inspired strategy to approach biomaterials with optimal characteristics. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.

Monodisperse chitosan microspheres with different structures are prepared and loaded with proteins, as exemplified in the figure. The different types of microspheres show different protein release profiles, which implies that that their properties can be adjusted to fit the needs of different therapeutic applications. The structural properties of the microspheres are varied by adjusting the surface charge, cavity size, and wall porosity. Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW under http://www.wiley-vch.de/contents/jc_2089/2008/adma200702663_s.pdf or from the author. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.

Dandruff is a skin condition that affects the scalp of up to half the world's population, it is characterised by an itchy, flaky scalp and is associated with colonisation of the skin by Malassezia spp. Management of this condition is typically via antifungal therapies, however the precise role of microbes in the aggravation of the condition are incompletely characterised. Here, a combination of 454 sequencing and qPCR techniques were used to compare the scalp microbiota of dandruff and non-dandruff affected Chinese subjects. Based on 454 sequencing of the scalp microbiome, the two most abundant bacterial genera found on the scalp surface were Cutibacterium (formerly Propionibacterium) and Staphylococcus, while Malassezia was the main fungal inhabitant. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis of four scalp taxa (M. restricta, M. globosa, C. acnes and Staphylococcus spp.) believed to represent the bulk of the overall population was additionally carried out. Metataxonomic and qPCR analyses were performed on healthy and lesional buffer scrub samples to facilitate assessment of whether the scalp condition is associated with differential microbial communities on the sampled skin. Dandruff was associated with greater frequencies of M. restricta and Staphylococcus spp. compared with the healthy population (p<0.05). Analysis also revealed the presence of an unclassified fungal taxon that could represent a novel Malassezia species.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has a 3000 years' history of human use. A literature survey addressing traditional evidence from human studies was done, with key result that top 10 TCM herb ingredients including Poria cocos, Radix polygalae, Radix glycyrrhizae, Radix angelica sinensis, and Radix rehmanniae were prioritized for highest potential benefit to dementia intervention, related to the highest frequency of use in 236 formulae collected from 29 ancient Pharmacopoeias, ancient formula books, or historical archives on ancient renowned TCM doctors, over the past 10 centuries. Based on the history of use, there was strong clinical support that Radix polygalae is memory improving. Pharmacological investigation also indicated that all the five ingredients mentioned above can elicit memory-improving effects in vivo and in vitro via multiple mechanisms of action, covering estrogen-like, cholinergic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic, neurogenetic, and anti-Aβ activities. Furthermore, 11 active principles were identified, including sinapic acid, tenuifolin, isoliquiritigenin, liquiritigenin, glabridin, ferulic acid, Z-ligustilide, N-methyl-beta-carboline-3-carboxamide, coniferyl ferulate and 11-angeloylsenkyunolide F, and catalpol. It can be concluded that TCM has a potential for complementary and alternative role in treating senile dementia. The scientific evidence is being continuously mined to back up the traditional medical wisdom.

Two kinds of highly ordered mesoporous silica materials (FDU-11, FDU-13) with novel three-dimensional (3-D) tetragonal and orthorhombic structures were synthesized by using tetra-headgroup rigid bolaform quaternary ammonium surfactant [(CH(3))(3)NCH(2)CH(2)CH(2)N(CH(3))(2)CH(2)(CH(2))(11)OC(6)H(4)C(6)H(4)O(CH(2))(11)CH(2)N(CH(3))(2)CH(2)CH(2)CH(2)N(CH(3))(3).4Br] (C(3-12-12)(-)(3)) as a template under alkaline conditions. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) show that mesoporous silica FDU-11 has primitive tetragonal P4/mmm structure with cell parameters a = b = 8.46 nm, c = 5.22 nm, and c/a ratio = 0.617. N(2) sorption isotherms show that calcined FDU-11 has a high BET surface area of approximately 1490 m(2)/g, a uniform pore size of approximately 2.72 nm, and a pore volume of approximately 1.88 cm(3)/g. Mesoporous silica FDU-13 has primitive orthorhombic Pmmm structure. The cell parameters are a = 9.81, b = 5.67, and c = 3.66 nm. N(2) sorption isotherms show that calcined FDU-13 has a high BET surface area of 1210 m(2)/g, a uniform mesopore size of approximately 1.76 nm, and a large pore volume of approximately 1.83 cm(3)/g. Such low symmetries for 3-D mesostructures (tetragonal and orthorhombic system) have not been observed before even in amphiphilic liquid crystals, which maybe resulted from an oblate aggregation of the bolaform surfactant and its strong electrostatic interaction with inorganic precursor. A probable mechanism has been proposed for the formation of such a 3-D low symmetrical mesostructure. These results will further extend the synthesis of mesoporous materials and may open up new opportunities for their new applications in catalysis, separation, and nanoscience.

BACKGROUND: Perceived age is important to women and is a primary driver for topical product use and facial cosmetic surgery. Changes in facial features and biophysical skin parameters with chronological age and their associations with perceived age have not been described in Asian populations. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between biophysical properties of the skin, visual features of skin ageing and perceived facial age in Chinese women. METHODS: Facial photographs were collected of 250 Chinese women, aged 25-70 years in Shanghai, China. The perceived facial age was determined and related to the chronological age for each participant and to a range of visual assessments of skin appearance and objective biophysical measurements of the skin. The profile of changes in these parameters with age was investigated together with the differences in those parameters for women judged to look younger than their chronological age and those judged to look older than their chronological age. RESULTS: Large discrepancies in perceived age (up to 29 years) were found in women of the same chronological age. Each objective skin measure and visual assessment parameter had a stronger correlation with perceived age than with chronological age. The strongest relationships to perceived age were for wrinkles and hyperpigmentation. Skin colour, hydration and trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL) had weaker associations with perceived age. Women judged to look older than their chronological age had significantly higher scores than those judged to look younger for coarse wrinkles and hyperpigmentation across all age groups. The appearance differences between these groups were evident in composite facial images of the same average chronological age. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified the skin attributes which differ with perceived age in Chinese women. Perceived age is a better measure of the biological age of facial skin than is chronological age in this population.

A facile approach was developed to modify chitin whiskers by reacting them with bromohexadecane, and the potential application of modified whiskers in structuring oil was evaluated. The results of Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (XRD), elemental analysis, solid (13)C NMR, and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) confirmed that the long alkyl chains were successfully introduced to the chitin whiskers and endowed them with improved hydrophobicity and thermal transition. By hot pressing the modified whiskers, the highly hydrophobic whisker sheets were constructed, showing high contact angles close to 150°. The hydrophobic interaction between the long alkyl chains and chitin backbone induced the crystal alignment with micro-nano structure, leading to the surface roughness and high hydrophobicity of the sheets. Furthermore, the modified whiskers could form a stable dispersion in sunflower oil, displaying a remarkable thickening effect. The viscosity of the oily suspension exhibited temperature dependence and shear-thinning behavior, suggesting great potentials to fabricate oleogel without adding any saturated fat. Furthermore, the intrinsic biocompatibility of α-chitin structure benefits its application in foodstuff, cosmetics, and medical fields.

Two natural homogalacturonan (HG) pectins (MW ca. 20 kDa) were isolated from green tea based on their immunomodulatory activity. The crude tea polysaccharides (TPS1 and TPS2) were obtained from green tea leaves by hot water extraction and followed by 40% and 70% ethanol precipitation, respectively. Two homogenous water soluble polysaccharides (TPS1-2a and TPS1-2b) were obtained from TPS1 after purification with gel permeation, which gave a higher phagocytic effect than TPS2. A combination of composition, methylation and configuration analyses, as well as NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy revealed that TPS1-2a and TPS1-2b were homogalacturonan (HG) pectins consisting of a backbone of 1,4-linked α-D-galacturonic acid (GalA) residues with 28.4% and 26.1% of carboxyl groups as methyl ester, respectively. The immunological assay results demonstrated that TPS1-2, which consisted mainly of HG pectins, showed phagocytosis-enhancing activity in HL-60 cells.

Sequential projection pursuit (SPP) is proposed to detect inhomogeneities (clusters) in high-dimensional analytical data. Such inhomogeneities indicate that there are groups of objects (samples) with different chemical characteristics. The method is compared with principal component analysis (PCA). PCA is generally applied to visually explore structure in high-dimensional data, but is not specifically used to find clustering tendency. Projection pursuit (PP) is specifically designed to find inhomogeneities, but the original method is computationally very intensive. SPP combines the advantages of both methods and overcomes most of their weak points. In this method, latent variables are obtained sequentially according to their importance measured by the entropy index. This involves an optimization step, which is achieved by using a genetic algorithm. The performance of the method is demonstrated and evaluated, first on simulated data sets, and then on near-infrared and gas chromatography data sets. It is shown that SPP indeed reveals more easily information about inhomogeneities than PCA.

Abstract It still remains challenging to simultaneously achieve high stability, selectivity, and activity in CO 2 reduction. Herein, a dual chainmail‐bearing nickel‐based catalyst (Ni@NC@NCNT) was fabricated via a solvothermal‐evaporation‐calcination approach. In situ encapsulated N‐doped carbon layers (NCs) and nanotubes (NCNTs) gave a dual protection to the metallic core. The confined space well maintained the local alkaline pH value and suppressed hydrogen evolution. Large surface area and abundant pyridinic N and Ni δ + sites ensured high CO 2 adsorption capacity and strength. Benefitting from these, it delivered a CO faradaic efficiency of 94.1 % and current density of 48.0 mA cm −2 at −0.75 and −1.10 V, respectively. Moreover, the performance remained unchanged after continuous electrolysis for 43 h, far exceeding Ni@NC with single chainmail, Ni@NC/NCNT with Ni@NC sitting on the walls of NCNT, bare NCNT and most state‐of‐the‐art catalysts, demonstrating structural superiority of Ni@NC@NCNT. This work sheds light on designing unique architectures to improve electrochemical performances.

I'm forever blowing bubbles: Superstable foams comprising air bubbles stabilized by modified, rigid CaCO3 rods have a bimodal bubble-size distribution. The very high stability and stiffness of the rod-stabilized bubbles means that their spherical shape is retained when dried on glass substrates and that they could be ordered into 2D binary colloidal crystals, with large bubbles at the bottom and small bubbles filling the spaces in between (see picture). Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.

Perceived facial age has been proposed as a biomarker of ageing with 'looking young for one's age' linked to physical and cognitive functioning and to increased survival for Caucasians. We have investigated the environmental and lifestyle factors associated with perceived facial ageing in Chinese women. Facial photographs were collected from 250 Chinese women, aged 25-70 years in Shanghai, China. Perceived facial age was determined and related to chronological age for each participant. Lifestyle and health information was collected by questionnaire. Bivariate analyses (controlling for chronological age) identified and quantified lifestyle variables associated with perceived facial age. Independent predictors of perceived age were identified by multivariate modelling. Factors which significantly associated with looking younger for one's chronological age included greater years of education (p<0.001), fewer household members (p=0.027), menopausal status (p=0.020), frequency of visiting one's doctor (p=0.013), working indoors (p<0.001), spending less time in the sun (p=0.015), moderate levels of physical activity (p=0.004), higher frequency of teeth cleaning (p<0.001) and more frequent use of facial care products: cleanser (p<0.001); moisturiser (p=0.016) or night cream (p=0.016). Overall, 36.5% of the variation in the difference between perceived and chronological age could be explained by a combination of chronological age and 6 independent lifestyle variables. We have thus identified and quantified a number of factors associated with younger appearance in Chinese women. Presentation of these factors in the context of facial appearance could provide significant motivation for the adoption of a range of healthy behaviours at the level of both individuals and populations.

Since the implementation of the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China in 2009 use of Quantitative Microbiological Risk Assessment (QMRA) has increased. QMRA is used to assess the risk posed to consumers by pathogenic bacteria which cause the majority of foodborne outbreaks in China. This review analyses the progress of QMRA research in China from 2000 to 2013 and discusses 3 possible improvements for the future. These improvements include planning and scoping to initiate QMRA, effectiveness of microbial risk assessment utility for risk management decision making, and application of QMRA to establish appropriate Food Safety Objectives.

INTRODUCTION: Nutrient profiling is defined as the science of categorising foods based on their nutrient composition. The Choices Programme is a nutrient profile system with criteria that determine whether foods are eligible to carry a "healthier option" stamp. The Daily Menu Method which has been developed to evaluate these criteria is described here. This method simulates the change in calculated nutrient intakes which would be the result of consumers changing their diets in favour of food products that comply with the criteria. METHODS: Average intakes of energy, trans fatty acids (TFA), saturated fatty acids (SAFA), sodium, added sugar and fibre were derived from dietary intake studies and food consumption surveys of 7 countries: The Netherlands, Greece, Spain, the USA, Israel, China and South Africa. For each of the key nutrients, these average intakes were translated into three Typical Daily Menus per country. Average intakes based on these three menus were compared with average intakes from three Choices Daily Menus. To compose the Choices Menus, foods from the Typical Menus that did not comply with the Choices criteria were replaced with foods that did comply and are available on the market. RESULTS: Comparison of intakes from the Choices Menus with the survey data showed that calculated intakes of energy, SAFA, TFA, sodium and added sugar were reduced. Fibre intakes were increased. The size of the effect differed per country. CONCLUSION: The Daily Menu Method is a useful means to predict the potential effects of nutrient profiles such as the Choices criteria, on daily nutrient intakes. The method can be applied internationally and confirms that the criteria of the Choices Programme are in line with the aim of the programme: to improve nutrient intakes in the direction of the recommendations.