Radiation-induced priming: enhancing the nutritional, medicinal, and antioxidant properties of sesame sprouts

Protection against ultraviolet (UV) radiation is the major function of sunscreen lotions and UV-protective coatings for vehicles, homes, equipment and clothing. Sunscreen formulations have been optimized to become protective over a broader spectrum of UV radiation and maintain greater photostability. They are comprised of organic and inorganic components that act as chemical and physical UV protectors, respectively. Some of the organic components are limited by their spectrum of protection and photostability. Studies using solid lipid nanoparticles, recently explored organic molecules, inorganic components and antioxidants attempt to further optimize UV protection. In this review, we examine traditional and emerging nanoparticle components and highlight novel ideas in UV protection which may provide pathways for future studies.

To better understand the genetic variability for nitrogen use efficiency in winter wheat is a necessity in the frame of the present economic and ecological context. The objective of this work was to investigate the role of the enzymes glutamine synthetase (GS) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), and other nitrogen (N)-related physiological traits in the control of agronomic performance in wheat. A quantitative genetics approach was developed using the Arche x Récital population of doubled haploid lines grown for 3 years in the field. GS and GDH activities, ammonium, amino acid and protein contents were measured at different stages of plant development in different organs after flowering. Significant genotypic effects were observed for all measured physiological and agronomical traits. Heading date was negatively correlated with ammonium, amino acid, protein contents and GS activity in the flag leaf lamina. Grain protein content was positively correlated with both ammonium and amino acid content, and to a lesser extent with soluble protein content and GS activity. A total of 148 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were detected, 104 QTLs for physiological traits and 44 QTLs for agronomic traits. Twenty-six QTLs were detected for GDH activity spread over 13 chromosomes and 25 QTLs for GS activity spread over 12 chromosomes. We found only a co-localization between a QTL for GS activity and GSe, a structural gene encoding cytosolic GS on chromosome 4B. A coincidence between a QTL for GDH activity and a gene encoding GDH was also found on chromosome 2B. QTL regions combining both physiological and agronomical QTLs were mainly identified on linkage groups 2A, 2B, 2D, 5A, 5B and 5D. This approach allowed us to propose possible functions of physiological traits to explain the variation observed for agronomic traits including yield and its components.

20 years after--milestones in molecular photobiology.

Dermatomyositis (DM) is an autoimmune disease, which is often accompanied by the development of disease-specific autoantibodies directed against the SNF2-superfamily helicase, Mi-2. Recent evidence suggests that ultraviolet radiation exposure may be an important risk factor for the development of not only the disease but also specific autoimmunity against Mi-2. Consequently, we investigated the effects of ultraviolet radiation on Mi-2 protein expression. We observed an increase in protein levels upon ultraviolet radiation exposure in cell culture systems. These changes in expression occur quite rapidly, are maximized just 1 h following exposure, and are unique to Mi-2 when compared with other members of the NuRD complex. Changes in protein levels are not mediated through transcriptional mechanisms. Treatment results in a more efficiently translated message through regulatory elements in the 5'-UTR region of the transcript. Investigation into protein half-life further demonstrated increased stability of Mi-2 following UV exposure. Taken together, we describe a system by which Mi-2 protein expression can be quickly increased following UV exposure and then maintained up to 16 h later. These data provide a novel regulation of an important transcriptional regulator and provide insight into the possible mechanisms of the development of DM and associated autoantibodies.

Solar radiation, especially ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB), can cause damage to the human body, and exposure to the radiation may vary according to the geographical location, time of year and other factors. The effects of UVA and UVB radiation on organisms range from erythema formation, through tanning and reduced synthesis of macromolecules such as collagen and elastin, to carcinogenic DNA mutations. Some studies suggest that, in addition to the radiation emitted by the sun, artificial sources of radiation, such as commercial lamps, can also generate small amounts of UVA and UVB radiation. Depending on the source intensity and on the distance from the source, this radiation can be harmful to photosensitive individuals. In healthy subjects, the evidence on the danger of this radiation is still far from conclusive.

Background: Overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation is linked to serious adverse health effects that are cumulative in nature and affect children more than adults. UV radiation has also been reported to have serious complications for the eye, particularly in areas with a high UV radiation index. Increasing public awareness about the harmful effects of UV radiation on the eye and promoting awareness about protection against UV radiation may prevent eye disease related to UV radiation damage and help in the improvement of public health in general. This study aims to assess public awareness and knowledge of UV radiation and practices toward UV protection in Jordan, which is a country recognized as having a relatively high UV index throughout the year. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed using an online questionnaire using Google Forms® to assess people's awareness, knowledge, practices toward eye protection from UV radiation, and the reasons for not wearing UV-protective eyeglasses in Jordan. Sociodemographic information of participants including age, gender, education level, and employment status was also acquired. People's knowledge on UV protection and harmfulness was measured via rewarding their correctly answered knowledge questions with one mark and zero for incorrectly answered questions based on key answers defined from the literature. Results: A total of 1331 participants (77% females and 23% males) with an average age of 26(±10) years completed the online questionnaire. Participants showed generally high levels of knowledge and awareness about UV radiation and its harmful effects. Nevertheless, participants showed a low level of knowledge about the link between UV radiation and some of the ocular diseases in the questionnaire. Practices toward UV radiation protection where inadequate, with 59% of the respondents reporting that they do not use any protective eyewear from natural UV radiation. The main reported reason for not wearing UV-protective sunglasses was uncertainty in the efficiency of UV protection in sunglasses, as reported by 47% of the participants who do not wear UV-protective sunglasses. Conclusions: The awareness of UV radiation and its harmful effects is high in the studied population. Participant knowledge is also relatively high in relation to nature of solar UV radiation, other synthetic sources of UV radiation, and the most dangerous UV exposure time. However, low participant knowledge was measured on the association between UV radiation with ocular disease and the role of UV-protective eyeglasses. Participant practice toward UV radiation protection was found to be insufficient. Thus, it is important to further increase the knowledge of damaging effects of solar and synthetic UV radiation and emphasize the benefits of eye protection from UV radiation. Eye care practitioners should target youth by different strategies including health campaigns, media, and clinics.

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is one of the most important environmental factors. Besides its well-known advantages and its indispensable effects on human life, UV light, particularly the middle wavelength range (290-320 nm [UVB]), can harm human health by inducing skin cancer, premature skin aging, inflammation, and cell death (1-4). Over the last 25 years, it has become apparent that exposure to UVB radiation may also suppress immune reactions. Review of the numerous studies on the immunosuppressive properties of UV radiation led to two quite surprising observations: 1) that UV exposure can have systemic immunologic consequences 2) that UV radiation can induce antigen-specific tolerance. This paper briefly reviews the phenomenon of UV-induced tolerance.

Background Our previous study determined that bushenhuoxue decoction can induce the reactive astrogliosis of retinal Muller cells in rat and further plays a protecting effect on retinal ganglion cells against the damage due to diabetic retinopathy（DR）. However,its mechanism is still being investigated. Objective The present study was to observe the change of activity of glutamine synthetase（GS） and retinal Muller cells in vitro under hypoxic conditions or transforming growth factor-β2 （TGF-β2）-intervened hypoxie conditions and investigate the effect of bushenhuoxue decoction. Methods Retinal Muller cells were isolated from clean 7-day-old SD rats and cultured in the DMEM containing 20% fetal bovine serum for 24 hours and then in free-serum medium for other 24 hours. The cells were grouped based on the next cultivating procedure as follows： normal group （DMEM ＋ 20% serum culture） , TGF-β2 group（ DMEM ＋ 20% serum and 150 ng/L TGF-β2 ） , hypoxia group（ DMEM ＋ 20% serum and 1.0 mmol/L sodium hydrosulfite） , TGF-β2 ＋ hypoxia group, serum with drug cultured group, serum with drug ＋ TGF-β2 ＋ hypoxia group. The uhrastructure of retinal Mailer cells was observed under the transmission electron microscope. The content of lactate dehydrogenase （LDH） in extracellular fluid was detected to evaluate the activity of retinal Mailer cells,and the activity of GS was assessed with 490-enzyme-labeled instrument. Results The uhrastructure of retinal Muller cells in hypoxia group showed obvious pathological damages in hypoxic conditions,including vacuolization of cytoplasm, deformation and agglutination of cell nucleus,destroy of cell organs and increase of glucogen in microvilli. However, these changes were mild. Compared with normal group,the release of LDH was significantly enhanced, and the activity of GS was obviously weakened in TGF-β2 group, hypoxic group and TGF-β2 ＋ hypoxic group （ P 〈 0.05 ）. Compared with hypoxic group, the LDH level was significantly increased, whereas the activity of GS was obviously decreased in TGF-β2 ＋ hypoxic group （ P 〈 0.05 ）. In comparison with TGF-β2 group or hypoxia group, the LDH content in TGF-β2 ＋ hypoxic group was considerably lower （P 〈 0. 05）. In all the groups with bushenhuoxue ＋ serum,the release of LDH was declined in comparison to without bushenhuoxue ＋ serum groups at 24 and 48 hours （P〈0.05）,and bushenhuoxue ＋ serum groups also significantly enhanced the activity of GS both in 12 hours of normal control condition and 24 - 48 hours of TGF-β2-intervened hypoxic conditions （P 〈 0.05 ）. Conclusion TGF-β2 can aggravate the activity of GS and retinal Mailer cells in hypoxic condition. Bushenhuoxue medicine-containing serum can strengthen the activity of retinal MUller cell and GS. Bushenhuoxue may be a new approach to the prevention and treatment of DR. Key words: bushenhuoxue, transforming growth factor-β2, hypoxia; retinal Muller cells; lactate dehydrogenase; glutamine synthetase

Chapter 15 - Ultraviolet-screening compound mycosporine-like amino acids in cyanobacteria: biosynthesis, functions, and applications

Information on glutamine synthetase (GS) activity of roots and leaves in response to nitrogen (N) application at different growth stages is limited for field‐grown rice. Root and leaf GS activity was measured on field‐grown rice plants to compare the effects of fertilizer‐N application at midtillering, panicle initiation, and flowering. Leaf GS activity was greater than root GS activity, regardless of N application. Root and leaf GS activity generally declined as plant aged, and the decline was greater in roots than leaves. Leaf and root GS activity were significantly increased by urea‐N applied at different growth stages. Root GS activity was maximum three days after N application, while leaf GS activity peaked one day after N application. Root GS activity showed greater response to N application at midtillering and panicle initiation than leaf GS activity, but the opposite was found at flowering. The stimulation of GS activity by N was greatest at midtillering and reduced with plant age.

Incidents of intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) have occurred in boiling water reactors (BWRs) for decades. The electrochemical corrosion potential (ECP) is currently a major indicator for the IGSCC susceptibility of stainless steel (SS) components in BWR environments. This study proposes a novel technique of titanium dioxide (TiO2) treatment to mitigate the IGSCC problems in BWRs that could eventually lead to a lower demand of dissolved hydrogen for hydrogen water chemistry (HWC). Electrochemical polarization analyses and ECP measurements were conducted to investigate the impact of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on the electrochemical behavior of oxygen and TiO2 treated specimens in 288 °C pure water. Prior to the electrochemical tests, all specimens were thermally sensitized and pre-oxidized in high temperature pure water containing 300 ppb dissolved O2. Afterwards, 38 nm TiO2 nanoparticles were deposited on the specimens by hydrothermal deposition at 150 °C for 96 hrs. The surface morphologies of the specimens were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and Laser Raman Spectra (LRS). SEM and EDX results showed that the distribution of TiO2 deposited on the oxides with both hematite (α -Fe2O3) and magnetite (Fe3O4) structures was not uniform and continuous. LRS results showed that the TiO2 particles on the treated specimens had an anatase-type structure. In addition, the ECPs of the TiO2 treated specimens with UV radiation were 100 mV lower than those without UV in high temperature water containing various levels of dissolved O2. The results of electrochemical potentiodynamic polarization analysis revealed that the corrosion current densities of the treated specimens and the exchange current densities of the O2 reduction reactions were comparatively lower in the presence of UV radiation. Without UV radiation, however, no significant differences were observed between the TiO2 treated and untreated specimens. These results indicate that the TiO2 treatment in combination with UV radiation would effectively reduce the corrosion rate of Type 304 stainless steels in high temperature oxygenated environments.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the potential of nitrogen applied in soil (90, 120 and 150 kg/ha) on activities of nitrogen assimilating enzymes viz. nitrate reductase (NR), glutamine synthetase (GS), glutamate synthase (GOGAT), glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) and glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) in relation to protein, amino acid and nitrogen content with respect to source-sink relationship (flag leaf and grains) at different developmental stages of six wheat genotypes (PBW 621, PBW 636, PBW 343, PBW 550, HD 2967 and GLU 1356). GLU 1356, HD 2967 and PBW 621 genotypes responded better at suboptimal dose of N (90 and 120 kg/ha N), while PBW 636, PBW 343 and PBW 550 at recommended dose of N. Significant increase in the activities of NR, GS, GOGAT, GOT and GPT was noted under 150 kg/ha N application, which caused an increase in protein and amino acid contents in all the genotypes. Activity pattern of studied enzymes revealed an increasing trend from tillering to anthesis stage and thereafter declined in parallel with decrease in protein and amino acid contents. Conversely, nitrogen and chlorophyll content showed a consistent decline with leaf growth. In crux, sub-optimal N doses had significant influence on nitrogen metabolism especially in GLU 1356 due to high activities of GS and GOGAT. GOT and GPT regulated protein and amino acid biosynthesis. GLU 1356, HD 2967 and PBW 621 were observed as nitrogen efficient genotypes for enhancing wheat crop productivity under low dose of nitrogen to save environment and input cost.

Two protein hydrolyzate–based fertilizers (PHFs), one from alfalfa (AH) and one from meat flour (MFH), were studied chemically and biologically. AH and MFH revealed a different degree of hydrolysis and a different amino acid composition. The biostimulant activity was investigated using two specific and sensitive bioassays of auxins and gibberellins. Extracts of AH and MFH elicited a gibberellin‐like activity and a weak auxin‐like one. To improve our understanding of the biostimulant activity, AH and MFH were supplied to maize plants and their effect on growth and nitrate metabolism was studied. Both PHFs increased root and leaf growth and induced morphological changes in root architecture. Besides, the treatments increased nitrate reductase (NR) and glutamine synthetase (GS) activities, suggesting a positive role of the two hydrolyzates in the induction of nitrate conversion into organic nitrogen. Moreover, treatments enhanced GS1 and GS2 isoforms in maize leaves. The latter isoform, amounting to 5‐ to 7‐fold the level of the former, appears to be a superior form in the assimilation of ammonia. The high NR and GS activities together with the high induction of GS isoforms indicate a stimulatory effect of the two PHFs on the assimilation of nitrate. In addition, a role of amino acids and small peptides of the two PHFs is suggested in the regulation of the hormone‐like activity and nitrogen pathway.

A review on the ability of smartphones to detect ultraviolet (UV) radiation and their potential to be used in UV research and for public education purposes

The purpose of this paper, based on the amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation in different areas of China, was to give the corresponding measures to prevent UV aging of asphalt. In this paper, based on the average annual amount of UV radiation in China in the past 30 years and the characteristics of UV aging of asphalt, the climatic zoning of UV radiation of asphalt in China was proposed. A variety of base asphalts and styrene–butadiene–styrene block copolymer (SBS) modified asphalts were selected to carry out a UV radiation test, and the relationship between UV radiation amount and viscosity, low-temperature performance, and the rheological properties of asphalt were studied. The equivalent aging indexes of asphalt during UV radiation were selected, the UV aging equation of asphalt was proposed, and the equivalent UV aging relationship among different UV climate zones was established. The prevention and control strategies of UV aging of asphalt among different zones were proposed, and the above theory was verified using a trial road. The main conclusions in the paper are presented: The climate zoning of asphalt UV radiation in China can be divided into three zones: zone I with an annual UV radiation less than or equal to 69.4 kW·h/m2 in the last 30 years; zone II with an annual UV radiation of 69.4~81.4 kW·h/m2 in the last 30 years; zone III with an annual UV radiation more than or equal to 81.4 kW·h/m2 in the last 30 years. The greater the amount of UV radiation, the greater the loss rate of penetration and ductility. For the same kind of asphalt, there is a relatively stable functional relationship between the loss rate and the amount of UV radiation. The results also show that UV radiation changes the proportion of viscous and elastic components in asphalt, showing that the proportion of viscous components decreases and the proportion of elastic components increases. The penetration loss rate and ductility loss rate of asphalt can be used as equivalent UV aging indexes of asphalt. Under the same outdoor UV irradiation time, for asphalt to achieve the same technical performance as zone I, the anti-UV ability of zone II needs to be improved by more than 5%, and that of zone III needs to be improved by more than 10%. Engineering practice has proved that the zoning established in this paper and the corresponding UV control measures are basically reasonable.