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Topic Review
Bioactive Compounds Microencapsulation to Enrich and Fortify Bread
Bread made from refined flour is poor in nutrients and the baking process leads to the reduction, or even the destruction, of some bioactive compounds. Thus, common bread cannot meet the growing consumers' nutritional and healthy needs. There have been attempts to improve the bread's nutritional characteristics, including the direct addition of bioactive compounds, but unpleasant flavour and taste, thermal instability and the high volatility of some bioactive compounds limited this application. Encapsulation allows for overcoming these drawbacks. Many researchers have applied encapsulation technology for the development of functional bread with encapsulated probiotics, enzymes, vitamins, polyphenols, and omega-3 fatty acids. However, the addition of the encapsulated bioactive compounds to the bread requires the evaluation of different aspects, such as the health benefits, technological, rheological, and sensory properties, and product shelf-life; in the case of probiotics, it is mandatory to perform an evaluation of the survival in the gastrointestinal tract. All of these aspects must be carefully assessed and balanced as they determine the functionality and boost consumer acceptance of the final products. The applications of encapsulation technology in the production of functional bread summarizing the heath benefit and the effect of microcapsule inclusion in technological and sensory bread characteristics were pointed out.
  • 1.9K
  • 09 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Crossover Effect in Cement-Based Materials
Cement-based materials (CBMs) such as pastes, mortars and concretes are the most frequently used building materials in the present construction industry. Cement hydration, along with the resulting compressive strength in these materials, is dependent on curing temperature, methods and duration. A concrete subjected to an initial higher curing temperature undergoes accelerated hydration by resulting in non-uniform scattering of the hydration products and consequently creating a great porosity at later ages. This phenomenon is called crossover effect (COE). The COE may occur even at early ages between seven to 10 days for Portland cements with various mineral compositions. Compressive strength and other mechanical properties are important for the long life of concrete structures, so any reduction in these properties is of great concern to engineers.  COE phenomenon was reported in the literature. However, based on the data reported in some papers, COE could be observed while the authors did not highlight and discuss this phenomenon in the publications.  This study is a broad literature review on this phenomenon based on the existing published papers and try to identify this phenomenon in the other published papers those could not discover and discuss about it in the study. In addition, this paper tries to further explain about COE, reason and mechanisms and methods to overcome this drawback in concrete/mortar.    
  • 1.9K
  • 25 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Hyaluronic acid-based theranostic nanomedicines
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a natural mucopolysaccharide and has many useful advantages, including biocompatibility, non-immunogenicity, chemical versatility, non-toxicity, biodegradability, and high hydrophilicity. Numerous tumor cells overexpress several receptors that have a high binding affinity for HA, while these receptors are poorly expressed in normal body cells. HA-based drug delivery carriers can offer improved solubility and stability of anticancer drugs in biological environments and allow for the targeting of cancer treatments. Based on these benefits, HA has been widely investigated as a promising material for developing the advanced clinical cancer therapies in various formulations, including nanoparticles, micelles, liposomes, and hydrogels, combined with other materials.
  • 1.9K
  • 31 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Cheese
Cheese is a worldwide produced and consumed commodity. There are many varieties of cheese from soft to hard, white to yellow, and fresh to aged after ripening. Especially, each category has its own producing technology.
  • 1.9K
  • 09 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Sintering
Sintering or frittage is the process of compacting and forming a solid mass of material by heat or pressure without melting it to the point of liquefaction. Sintering happens naturally in mineral deposits or as part of a manufacturing process used with metals, ceramics, plastics, and other materials. The atoms in the materials diffuse across the boundaries of the particles, fusing the particles together and creating one solid piece. Because the sintering temperature does not have to reach the melting point of the material, sintering is often chosen as the shaping process for materials with extremely high melting points such as tungsten and molybdenum. The study of sintering in metallurgy powder-related processes is known as powder metallurgy. An example of sintering can be observed when ice cubes in a glass of water adhere to each other, which is driven by the temperature difference between the water and the ice. Examples of pressure-driven sintering are the compacting of snowfall to a glacier, or the forming of a hard snowball by pressing loose snow together. The word "sinter" comes from the Middle High German sinter, a cognate of English "cinder".
  • 1.9K
  • 04 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Various Factors on Calcium Enrichment in Edible Mushrooms
Calcium is one of the essential minerals that enhances various biological activities, including the regulation of blood pressure, the prevention of osteoporosis and colorectal adenomas. Calcium-enriched edible mushrooms can be considered as one of the important daily sources of calcium in foods. Calcium accumulation in edible mushrooms is an effective way to enhance its activities because the organic state of calcium metabolites in edible mushrooms can be formed from the original inorganic calcium.
  • 1.9K
  • 20 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Microbial Fermentation for Legumes
Microbial fermentation is a sustainable method of producing wholesome, nutritious, aesthetically pleasing, and high-quality food products. This technology has been employed for millennia to enhance the functional properties of food, as well as its shelf life, safety, transportability, palatability, and organoleptic properties, including texture, color, aroma, mouthfeel and overall acceptability and also for the reduction of antinutritional factors (ANF) such as phytic acid, tannins, and protease inhibitors. Fermentation can also enhance the protein quality of legumes (seeds, flour, protein concentrates, and protein isolates) by increasing the content of essential amino acids, such as lysine and methionine, and promoting the synthesis of bioactive peptides with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties. The process of fermentation can be broadly categorized into traditional and modern fermentation methods.
  • 1.9K
  • 14 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Rheological Behavior of Cement Paste
The rheological behavior of cement paste displays several complexities such as non-linearity, yielding, time-dependence and chemical changes. The most common testing procedures allowing for the characterization of this behavior have been reported. For flow behavior, the most relevant protocol consists of the application of a ramp sweep (shear rate or shear stress) so that the flow curve (shear stress as a function of the shear rate) is at steady state flow. The structural build-up can be characterized by static yield stress measurements or the SAOS protocol for various resting times. The non-linearity of flow behavior corresponds to a shear-thinning/shear-thickening phenomenon that can be represented by the Herschel–Bulkley model. If the shear-thinning phenomenon can be related to the flocculation state, the origins of shear thickening are not clearly elucidated. Theories based on order–disorder transition, particle clustering, or viscous/inertial regime transition have been developed to explain the appearance of shear thickening. 
  • 1.9K
  • 17 Aug 2023
Topic Review
Fungal Light Responses
Organisms have developed different features to capture or sense sunlight. Vertebrates have evolved specialized organs (eyes) which contain a variety of photosensor cells that help them to see the light to aid orientation. Opsins are major photoreceptors found in the vertebrate eye. Fungi, with more than five million estimated members, represent an important clade of living organisms which have important functions for the sustainability of life on our planet. Light signalling regulates a range of developmental and metabolic processes including asexual sporulation, sexual fruit body formation, pigment and carotenoid production and even production of secondary metabolites. Fungi have adopted three groups of photoreceptors: (I) blue light receptors, White Collars, vivid, cryptochromes, blue F proteins and DNA photolyases, (II) red light sensors, phytochromes and (III) green light sensors and microbial rhodopsins.
  • 1.9K
  • 15 Jun 2023
Topic Review
The Modified Phenanthridine PJ34
This entry summarizes recent data disclosing the efficacy of the modified phenanthridine PJ34 in exclusive eradication of a variety of human cancer cells without impairing healthy proliferating cells. Its cytotoxic activity in cancer cells is attributed to the insertion of specific un-repairable anomalies in the structure of their mitotic spindle, leading to mitotic catastrophe cell death. 
  • 1.9K
  • 19 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Gaseous Emissions from the Composting Process
Compost can be used in agricultural activities due to its various positive impacts on the physical and chemical properties of the soil, meanwhile reducing utilization of inorganic fertilizers. Composting has also negative environmental impacts, some of them of social concern. This is the case of composting atmospheric emissions, especially in the case of greenhouse gases (GHG) and certain families of volatile organic compounds (VOC). 
  • 1.9K
  • 27 Oct 2021
Topic Review
FNDC5/Irisin
Irisin is a portion of the cell membrane protein known as FNDC5 (FNDC5 Fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5). FNDC5 consists of a signal peptide, a fibronectin III domain, and a C-terminal domain. FNDC5 comprises 209 amino acid residues, having a signal sequence of 29 amino acids at the N-terminal end, followed by a 94-amino-acid residue fibronectin III (FNIII) 2 domains (irisin domain), a linking peptide comprising 28 amino acid residues, a 19-amino-acid residue transmembrane domain, and a cytoplasmic domain consisting of 39 amino acid residues.
  • 1.9K
  • 04 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Pasta-Making Process
Pasta is an increasingly popular food worldwide and different formulations have been developed to improve its nutritional profile.  When alternative raw materials are used, an understanding of the relationship between processing variables and pasta quality is crucial in order to optimize the redesign of the production process. 
  • 1.9K
  • 22 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Bivalent Proximity-Inducing Compounds for Targeted Protein Degradation
Bivalent proximity-inducing compounds represent a novel class of small molecule therapeutics with exciting potential and new challenges. The most prominent examples of such compounds are utilized in targeted protein degradation where E3 ligases are hijacked to recruit a substrate protein to the proteasome via ubiquitination.
  • 1.9K
  • 30 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Methanol as a Marine Fuel
Methanol is efficient and cost-effective and excels over marine gasoil (MGO), especially in new ships. It is economically advantageous, with decreasing investment costs compared to liquefied natural gas (LNG), while providing flexibility without specialized pressure tanks. Global marine fuel trends prioritize fuel traits, accessibility, and environmental considerations, incorporating factors like policies, emissions, bunkering, and engine adaptability during transitions.
  • 1.9K
  • 02 Feb 2024
Topic Review
All-Solid-State Batteries
       All-solid-state batteries (SSBs) are one of the most fascinating next-generation energy storage systems that can provide improved energy density and safety for a wide range of applications from portable electronics to electric vehicles. The development of SSBs was accelerated by the discovery of new materials and the design of nanostructures. In particular, advances in the growth of thin-film battery materials facilitated the development of all solid-state thin-film batteries (SSTFBs)—expanding their applications to microelectronics such as flexible devices and implantable medical devices. However, critical challenges still remain, such as low ionic conductivity of solid electrolytes, interfacial instability and difficulty in controlling thin-film growth. In this review, we discuss the evolution of electrode and electrolyte materials for lithium-based batteries and their adoption in SSBs and SSTFBs. We highlight novel design strategies of bulk and thin-film materials to solve the issues in lithium-based batteries. We also focus on the important advances in thin-film electrodes, electrolytes and interfacial layers with the aim of providing insight into the future design of batteries. Furthermore, various thin-film fabrication techniques are also covered in this review.
  • 1.9K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Zika Virus
Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emergent arthropod-borne virus whose outbreak in Brazil has brought major public health problems. Infected individuals have different symptoms, including rash and pruritus, which can be relieved by the administration of antiallergics. In the case of pregnant women, ZIKV can cross the placenta and infect the fetus leading to congenital defects. We have identified that mast cells in the placentae of patients who had Zika during pregnancy can be infected. This led to our investigation on the possible role of mast cells during a ZIKV infection, using the HMC-1 cell line. We analyzed their permissiveness to infection, release of mediators and ultrastructural changes. Flow cytometry detection of ZIKV-NS1 expression 24h post infection in 45.3% of cells showed that HMC-1 cells are permissive to ZIKV infection. Following infection, β-hexosaminidase was measured in the supernatant of the cells with a notable release at 30 min. In addition, an increase in TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10 and VEGF levels were measured at 6h and 24h post infection. Lastly, different intracellular changes were observed in an ultrastructural analysis of infected cells. Our findings suggest that mast cells may represent an important source of mediators that can activate other immune cell types during a ZIKV infection, which has the potential to being a major contributor in the spread of the virus in cases of vertical transmission.
  • 1.9K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Role of Mitochondria in Neuroinflammation
Innate immune response is one of our primary defense against pathogens infection, although, if dysregulated, it represents the leading cause of chronic tissue inflammation. This dualism is even more present in the central nervous system, where neuroinflammation is both important for the activation of reparatory mechanisms and, at the same time, leads to the release of detrimental factors that induce neurons loss. Key players in modulating the neuroinflammatory response are mitochondria. They are responsible for a variety of cell mechanism that control tissue homeostasis, such as autophagy, apoptosis, energy production and also inflammation. Accordingly, it is widely recognized that mitochondria exert a pivotal role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases, since the neurodegenerative process is highly based on neuroinflammation and tissue damage. Interestingly, it has been suggested that neuroinflammation, and thus mitochondria (dys)function, have a fundamental role in neurodegenerative diseases and also in acute brain damage, such in ischemic stroke and epileptic seizures.
  • 1.9K
  • 07 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Animal and Plant Protein Oxidation
Protein oxidation, a phenomenon that was not well recognized previously but now better under-stood, is a complex chemical process occurring ubiquitously in food systems and can be induced by processing treatments as well. While early research concentrated on muscle protein oxidation, later investigations included plant, milk, and egg proteins. The process of protein oxidation involves both radicals and nonradicals, and amino acid side chain groups are usually the site of initial oxidant attack which generates protein carbonyls, disulfide, dityrosine, and protein radicals. The ensuing alteration of protein conformational structures and formation of protein polymers and aggregates can result in significant changes in solubility and functionality, such as gelation, emulsification, foaming, and water-holding. Oxidant dose-dependent effects have been widely reported, i.e., mild-to-moderate oxidation may enhance the functionality while strong oxidation leads to insolubilization and functionality losses. Therefore, controlling the extent of protein oxidation in both animal and plant protein foods through oxidative and antioxidative strategies has been of wide interest in model system as well in in situ studies.
  • 1.9K
  • 13 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Glyoxalase System
Dicarbonyl compounds, including methylglyoxal (MGO) and glyoxal (GO), are mainly formed as byproducts of glucose metabolism. The main glyoxalase system consists of glyoxalase I and II (Glo1 and Glo2) and is the main enzyme involved in the detoxification of dicarbonyl stress, which occurs as an accumulation of MGO or GO due to decreased activity or expression of Glo1. Dicarbonyl stress is a major cause of cellular and tissue dysfunction that causes various health issues, including diabetes, aging, and cancer. 
  • 1.9K
  • 22 Jan 2021
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