Sequential Degradation Research Articles

Detection of a novel SETBP1 variant in a Chinese neonate with Schinzel–Giedion syndrome

Schinzel–Giedion syndrome (SGS) is a multiple malformation syndrome characterized by typical facial features, severe neurodevelopmental delay, and multiple congenital abnormalities. SGS is associated with de novo pathogenic variants in the SETBP1 gene. In specific, SETBP1 variants in over 50 patients with classical or non-classical SGS were clustered within exon 4. A male Chinese neonate with dysmorphic facial features, nervous system disorders, and organ malformations at birth was examined in this study and long-term followed-up. Whole-exome sequencing was performed to identify any underlying pathogenic variants in the proband. Additionally, we reviewed the literature that documents the main clinical features and underlying variants of all patients genetically diagnosed with SGS. The neonate had a characteristic midface retraction, abnormal electroencephalogram waveforms, and genital abnormalities. The patient did not initially develop hydronephrosis or undergo a comprehensive skeletal assessment. Six months after birth, the patient had an epileptic seizure and experienced persistent neurodevelopmental delay with auditory and visual abnormalities. Color Doppler ultrasonography at 18 months revealed hydronephrosis and bilateral widening of the lateral ventricles. The patient died suddenly 20.5 months after birth. Whole-exome sequencing revealed a heterozygous de novo variant (c.2605A > G:p.S869G) in exon 4 degradation sequence in SETBP1. The reported de novo heterozygous variant in SETBP1 (c.2605A > G:p.S869G) broadens the knowledge of the scientific community's on the possible SGS genetic alterations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of SETBP1 variant (c.2605A > G:p.S869G) in SGS. The clinical manifestations of neonatal SGS are atypical, and genetic testing is crucial for diagnosis. Long-term follow-up should be conducted after diagnosis to optimize the therapeutic interventions.

Rapid transformation of tundra ecosystems from ice-wedge degradation

Ice wedges are a common form of massive ground ice that typically occupy 10–30% of the volume of upper permafrost in the Arctic and are particularly vulnerable to thawing from climate warming. In assessing the patterns and rates of ice-wedge degradation in northeastern Alaska, we found degradation was widespread and rapidly transforming the microtopography, hydrology, soils, ground ice, and vegetation of tundra ecosystems through a sequence of degradation and stabilization stages. Across an extensive mapping area (30 km2), thermokarst troughs and pits with open water (degradation-advanced) covered 0.7% overall and 1.6% in the oldest terrain in 2018. Within an area (0.5 km2) of concentrated thermokarst, undegraded and degraded ice wedges together covered 29% of the area, and all degradation stages combined increased from 2% in 1950 to 19% area in 2018. Initial degradation peaked at 9% in 2000 and initial stabilization was trending upward at 12% area in 2018, indicating slowing degradation and a transition to stabilization. Integration and reorganization of the drainage network as troughs expanded and connected reduced impounded surface water and helped slow degradation. Degradation created large changes in microtopography, trough widths, water depths, depth to wedge ice, pH, soil and ground ice characteristics, and thermal regimes among stages. Community composition completely shifted from dominance of deciduous and evergreen shrubs in tussock tundra in the undegraded stage to dominance of aquatic mosses and forbs in flooded depressions in degradation-advanced stage. Soil slumping along trough margins and rapid colonization by aquatic mosses halted the degradation, and aquatic sedges became dominant in the stabilization-initial stage. In stabilization-advanced, aquatic mosses persisted and the diversity of wet-adapted forbs, sedges, and mosses increased. Recovery back to tussock tundra, however, is unlikely. This decadal-scale transformation has major implications for arctic land cover, tundra productivity, lake expansion and drainage, soil‑carbon balance, trace-gas emissions, and caribou and bird populations.

Mineralization of tribromophenol under anoxic/oxic conditions in the presence of copper(II) doped green rust: Importance of sequential reduction-oxidation process

The groundwater environment often undergoes the transition from anoxic to oxic due to natural processes or human activities, but the influence of this transition on the fate of groundwater contaminates are not entirely understood. In this work, the degradation of tribromophenol (TBP) in the presence of environmentally relevant iron (oxyhydr)oxides (green rust, GR) and trace metal ions Cu(II) under anoxic/oxic-alternating conditions was investigated. Under anoxic conditions, GR-Cu(II) reduced TBP to 4-BP completely within 7 h while GR only had an adsorption effect on TBP. Under oxic conditions, GR-Cu(II) could generate •OH via dioxygen activation, which resulted in the oxidative transformation of TBP. Sixty-five percentage of TBP mineralization was achieved via a sequential reduction-oxidation process, which was not achieved through single reduction or oxidation process. The produced Cu(I) in GR-Cu(II) enhanced not only the reductive dehalogenation under anoxic conditions, but also the O2 activation under oxic conditions. Thus, the fate of TBP in anoxic/oxic-alternating groundwater environment is greatly influenced by the presence of GR-Cu(II). The sequential reduction-oxidation degradation of TBP by GR-Cu(II) is promising for future remediation of TBP-contaminated groundwater.

Multiphoton microscopy assessment of the structure and variability changes of dermal connective tissue in vulvar lichen sclerosus: A pilot study.

In this article, we offer a novel classification of progressive changes in the connective tissue of dermis in vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS) relying on quantitative assessment of the second harmonic generation (SHG) signal received from formalin fixed and deparaffinized tissue sections. We formulate criteria for distinguishing four degrees of VLS development: Initial-Mild-Moderate-Severe. Five quantitative characteristics (length and thickness type I Collagen fibers, Mean SHG signal intensity, Skewness and Coherence SHG signal) are used to describe the sequential degradation of connective tissue (changes in the structure, orientation, shape and density of collagen fibers) up to the formation of specific homogeneous masses. Each of the degrees has a characteristic set of quantitatively expressed features. We focus on the identification and description of early, initial changes of the dermis as the least specific. The results obtained by us and the proposed classification of the degrees of the disease can be used to objectify the dynamics of tissue changes during treatment.

Land management, dynamics and vegetation vulnerability analysis in the Guna-Tana watershed as a predictor of land degradation, using remote sensing data

<p>The vegetative coverage throughout the world is rapidly changing, which also directly affects the land degradation. Therefore, this study was intended to investigate the vegetation vulnerability analysis triggered by land use/land cover (LULC) dynamics as an indicator of land degradation conditions using Remote Sensing and GIS in Guna-tana watershed. Trend studies and cross-sectional research design was employed, which produces data from the population at a particular point in time and to examine patterns of change with a mixed research approach to examine the degree of influence to measure the sensitivity analysis. A multi-criteria decision evaluation was used to create a vegetation vulnerability map for the research area. The vulnerability model was run using four sets of parameters: closeness to the road, slope, settlement closeness, and land use planning. Landsat imageries of 1995 and 2020 was used to conduct a comparative study of land use pattern. The study area has experienced a sequence of land degradation from 1995 to 2020, according to the results of multitemporal data. Agricultural and built-up lands have increased throughout this time, while forest and shrub land has decreased. The vegetation vulnerability of the area also shows that 19.23% extreme vulnerable and 67.03% very strongly vulnerable which is more than 80% of the area is highly vulnerable to vegetation. Vegetation suitability and land management evaluation is critical for determining the risk of land deterioration, that shows the adverse effects on ecological elements due to a decrease in metabolic capacity and patch disintegration processes. </p>

An interval prediction approach based on fuzzy information granulation and linguistic description for remaining useful life of lithium-ion batteries

This paper proposed an interval prediction strategy for lithium-ion battery remaining useful life (RUL) based on fuzzy information granulation and linguistic description to solve the limitations on current numerical prediction strategies. Firstly, the fuzzy information granulation is introduced to process the time series of battery capacity degradation and then the original numerical level data is treated as granular level, which is the basic of achieving interval prediction. Secondly, in order to solve the problem of fluctuation information loss caused by fuzzy granulation when processing battery degradation data, this paper creatively introduced a linguistic description method to attach semantic label for each granule to represent the fluctuation characteristics. Then, combined with the least square support vector machine, the granules with linguistic labels are used for modeling, by which the fluctuation characteristics of degradation sequence are considered while implementing the RUL interval prediction. Finally, four groups of NASA battery aging data were used for the experiment, and the interval prediction evaluation criterion P was introduced to evaluate the RUL interval prediction performance. Compared with the model without linguistic description, the P% of the model with linguistic description is improved by 32% on average.

VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS FROM GREEN WASTE ANAEROBIC DEGRADATION AT LAB-SCALE: EVOLUTION AND COMPARISON WITH LANDFILL GAS

The chemical composition of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in landfill gas from municipal waste (MW) landfills primarily depends on the type of degrading waste. To provide first insights into the relationship between VOC chemistry (in landfill gas) and specific waste components, a lab-scale experiment on anaerobic digestion (AD) of green waste (GW) was carried out. The composition of the released C4+ VOCs was semi-quantitatively determined and indirectly compared to that generally expected for the overall MW landfill gas. The generated biogas from degrading GW during AD time showed up to 29 different VOCs, mainly including terpenes, followed by alkanes, alkenes, cyclics, aromatics, and halogenated compounds. O- and S-substituted compounds were sporadically detected. Overall, speciation and total concentration of VOCs fluctuated over AD time, likely due to changes in microbial populations and metabolism, as well as substrate depletion, during the AD evolution. As expected, VOC speciation in the GW biogas was lower than that of the typical MW landfill gas, since the latter is generated by a large variety of organic and synthetic waste components following different sequential degradation processes. These results highlighted that, when disposed of at MW landfill sites, the specific GW component may (i) potentially concur to the overall odour charge and toxic effects of MW landfill gas and (ii) detrimentally impact the energy exploitation of MW landfill gas by releasing terpenes, aromatics, and halogenated compounds.

A Temporal PROTAC Cocktail-Mediated Sequential Degradation of AURKA Abrogates Acute Myeloid Leukemia Stem Cells.

AURKA is a potential kinase target in various malignancies. The kinase‐independent oncogenic functions partially disclose the inadequate efficacy of the kinase inhibitor in a Phase III clinical trial. Simultaneously targeting the catalytic and noncatalytic functions of AURKA may be a feasible approach. Here, a set of AURKA proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) are developed. The CRBN‐based dAurA383 preferentially degrades the highly abundant mitotic AURKA, while cIAP‐based dAurA450 degrades the lowly abundant interphase AURKA in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells. The proteomic and transcriptomic analyses indicate that dAurA383 triggers the “mitotic cell cycle” and “stem cell” processes, while dAurA450 inhibits the “MYC/E2F targets” and “stem cell” processes. dAurA383 and dAurA450 are combined as a PROTAC cocktail. The cocktail effectively degrades AURKA, relieves the hook effect, and synergistically inhibits AML stem cells. Furthermore, the PROTAC cocktail induces AML regression in a xenograft mouse model and primary patient blasts. These findings establish the PROTAC cocktail as a promising spatial‐temporal drug administration strategy to sequentially eliminate the multifaceted functions of oncoproteins, relieve the hook effect, and prevent cancer stem cell‐mediated drug resistance.

Enhancing the degradation of selected recalcitrant organic contaminants through integrated cathode and anode processes in microbial electrochemical systems: A frontier review

Microbial electrochemical system (MES) technology has been widely investigated for organic degradation. However, the removal of recalcitrant organic contaminants containing halogen-, nitro-, or azo-groups remains a great challenge. Integrating the cathodic and anodic processes in an MES is able to improve or complete the mineralization of the target halogen-, nitro- and azo-organics via a sequential reductive and oxidative process. In this way, a cathode is used to reduce the toxic target organics, while an anode is to oxidize the residual organics from the reduction process and at the same time generate electrons to support the reduction process. This paper has provided a concise review about the sequential cathode-anode contaminant degradation in an MES and its specific mechanisms. Potential strategies to improve the MES degradation performance were discussed, mainly including the application and development of the biocatalyzed cathode as well as the optimization of the anodic operating condition and the improvement of anodic bacteria and electrode material. Perspectives on future directions were proposed and the key challenges were identified as the competitive or inhibitive influence of other compounds that could coexist in real wastewater on the target contaminants.

Carbamazepine degradation and genome sequencing of a novel exoelectrogen isolated from microbial fuel cells

Extracellular electron transfer and pharmaceutical products degradation mechanisms of electrochemical active microbial are helpful in optimizing electricity generation and biotoxic contaminants removal for microbial fuel cells (MFCs). An exoelectrogenic bacterial strain (designated as LYK-6) capable of degrading carbamazepine was first isolated from MFCs operated with carbamazepine as unique fuel. The strain LYK-6 was identified as the member of Pseudomonas genus according to morphological characteristics and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Carbamazepine degradation rate of the strain LYK-6 was determined as 56.28% in inorganic salt medium using carbamazepine as sole carbon source. There were two oxidation peaks located at −0.044 V and 0.288 V revealed with differential pulse voltammetry analysis of the strain LQK-6. The maximum voltage of MFCs inoculated the strain LYK-6 reached to 187 mV when the MFCs fed with carbamazepine. The complete genome of the strain LYK-6 was of 4,454,672 bp in length and encoding 4209 protein genes. Genome annotation and functional gene analysis showed that the strain LYK-6 had significant genes encoding proteins responsible for the degradation of carbamazepine. The results demonstrated that the strain LYK-6 was promising application for the treatment of carbamazepine contaminant water by MFCs. This finding increases the known diversity of exoelectrogens.

Gradient versus End-Capped Degradable Polymer Sequence Variations Result in Stiff to Elastic Photochemically 3D-Printed Substrates.

Additive manufacturing affords the construction of complex scaffolds for tissue engineering, yet the limitation in material choice remains a barrier to clinical translation. Herein, a series of poly(propylene fumarate-co-propylene succinate) were synthesized using both one-pot and sequential ring-opening copolymerization reactions. Continuous liquid interface production-based photochemical 3D printing utilizing thiol-ene chemistry was used to fabricate precise structures with improved build time over the traditional poly(propylene fumarate)/diethyl fumarate 3D printing processes. Significantly, the materials do not exhibit a yield point under tension and Young's modulus of the 3D printed products can be tuned by more than 2 orders of magnitude (0.6-110 MPa) using polymer composition and the degree of polymerization. Printed constructs degrade fully under hydrolytic conditions and degradation rates can be tailored using polymer composition, polymer sequence, and resin formulation.

Clarification of the structural features of Rhamnogalacturonan-I type polysaccharide purified from radish leaves

Determining the structure of REPI, an immunostimulatory polysaccharide fraction from radish leaves, is an important health objective. Herein, we show that REP-I contains nine different monosaccharides, including GalA (22.2%), Gal (32.6%), Ara (27.5%), and Rha (10.2%) as main sugars. REP-I was also reacted with β-glucosyl Yariv reagent (29.8%), suggesting the presence of the arabino-β-3,6-galactan. Furthermore, methylated-product analysis revealed that REP-I contains 13 different glycosyl linkages, including 4-linked GalpA (21.0%), 2,4-linked Rhap (7.0%), 4-linked Galp (5.8%), 5-linked Araf (10.1%), and 3,6-linked Galp (7.9%), which are characteristic of RG-I. Microstructural information was obtained by sequential degradation using four linkage-specific glycosylases and β-elimination, with fragments analyzed on the basis of sugar composition, methylation, and MS/MS spectra. The results show that the immunostimulatory activity of REP-I is possibly due to the structure of RG-I, which is composed of a main chain with repeating [→2)-Rhap-(1 → 4)-GalpA-(1→] linkage units and three side-chains: a branched α(1 → 5)arabinan, a β(1 → 4)galactan, and arabino-β-3,6-galactan, which are branched at the C(O)4 position of each Rha residue in the REP-I main chain.

Insight of microencapsulation and fluorescence efficacy of chitosan based nanocomposite for photocatalytic performance

Hydrogel based microencapsulation of metal oxide nanoparticles have been found to be more practical commencement for the functional materials in current research scenario. Here, in situ development of microencapsulated ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) using functionalized chitosan based hydrogel has been achieved. Fluorescent NPs are shielded by organic moieties in a specific chiral backbone of polysaccharide; thus, electrons and holes can be moved across the interface of NPs/Organic framework in hydrogel. The enhanced mechanical strength, compactness, stability in buffer solution, adsorption, positive ζ-potential, and photocatalytic effect of the nanocomposite has been thoroughly investigated with various instrumental analyses. Inherent fluorescence efficacy from NPs in nanocomposite has been monitored for the sequential photocatalytic degradation using two model organic pollutants. The catalytic efficiency for visible-light induced degradation has been established utilizing absorbance, kinetics, equilibrium and thermodynamic point of view. Microencapsulation protects NPs from open air oxidation, retains their activity and reduces toxicity. Degradation process has been monitored through real time and time dependent fluorescence efficacy study of the nanocomposite. Insolubility of hydrogel based nanocomposite facilitates a very convenient recovery and removal of unused nanocomposite without generating further harmful wastage.

Sequential degradations of Dananhu lignites by Nocardia mangyaensis and Bacillus licheniformis

The sequential degradation of coal by two bacterial species was one of the effective methods to improve the coal biodegradation rates. In this paper, two bacteria N. mangyaensis and B. licheniformis were selected to degrade Dananhu lignite sequentially. The biodegradation rates and products of Dananhu lignites by two degradation ways were investigated and characterized, respectively. The results indicated the best way for sequential degradation of Dananhu lignite was to use N. mangyaensis first and then B. licheniformis (represented as “N. mangyaensis → B. licheniformis” order), in which the highest degradation rate reached 82.1%. On the contrary, the degradation rate attained 75.5% with the order of “B. licheniformis → N. mangyaensis”. The compositions and structures of solid and liquid bioproducts by two ways were analyzed. The side chains in oxidized lignite were prone to be degraded by N. mangyaensis and the aromatic skeletons were attacked by B. licheniformis. Therefore, the sequential degradation order of “N. mangyaensis → B. licheniformis” was the effective way for Dananhu lignite.

Evaluation of the pollutant interactions between different overlying water and sediment in simulated urban sewer system by excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy.

The water quality in the sewer systems can be significantly influenced by the interaction between sediment and overlying water, which are still many doubts about the impact of pollutants transformation, degradation sequence, and reaction time. In this study, the exchanging processes between sewer sediment and four different overlying waters were evaluated in simulated urban sewer systems (dark and anaerobic environments). Dissolved organic matter (DOM) was used as an indicator to reflect the mitigation and exchange processes of pollutants. Excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy coupled with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) as an effective method for deciphering DOM properties was applied. There are three findings: (1) Three main processes (biological degradation, desorption, and adsorption) happened in the simulated sewer systems, in which the predominant pathway in the interaction process is biological degradation though consuming amino acid components. (2) The characteristics of overlying water could induce significant changes in sediment signatures; the amino acid-like components are more susceptible to degradation, and the humic-like compositions are more readily absorbed by sediments. (3) The reaction time is another significant factor (14days was the turning point of the processes). This study unravels the transformation processes in sediment and different overlying waters, which provides the theoretical foundation for urban sewer efficient management and operation.

Probing of sequential atmospheric degradation of chlorine radical initiated 1,8-cineole in the presence of O2 and NO radical with the emission of secondary pollution

1,8-cineole is an essential monoterpene cyclic ether which is released into the troposphere by many types of plants. It interacts with several atmospheric oxidants because of which is removed from the troposphere via oxidation. The oxidation of 1,8-cineole with Cl radical and the subsequent addition of atmospheric O2 and NO radical with the intermediates are studied using the quantum chemical method. Further, the thermodynamic parameters of 1,8-cineole, such as enthalpy and Gibbs free energy are calculated for all initial and subsequent reactions to facilitate perspicacity. The dissociation and formation of chemical bonds during H abstraction from 1,8-cineole at C2, C6, and C8 sites are described using Mayer bond order analysis. The reaction force analysis demonstrates that the structural rearrangement is dominant with the yield percentages of 85%, 50.80%, and 96.9% over electron reordering with the yield percentages of 15%, 49.19%, and 3.03% respectively in the H abstraction reaction of 1,8-cineole. In the temperature range of 278–350 K, the total CVT/SCT rate constant is calculated to be 2.94 × 10−12 cm3/molecule/sec, which is consistent with the experimentally available value of 2.2 × 10−10 cm3/molecule/sec. At 298 K, branching ratios of rate constant of alkyl radical intermediates I1A, I1B, and I1C are calculated with the percentage of 42.19%, 21.52%, and 36.29% respectively, which suggest that the Cl addition to the C2 site contributes more to the total rate constant rather than the other two sites (C6 and C8). The lifetime of 1,8-cineole is calculated to be 5.2 weeks, implies that the 1,8-cineole may be readily destroyed in the atmosphere after it is released. Secondary pollutants formed from this degradation mechanism may be harmful to the environment and the living things.

Sequential photocatalytic degradation of organophosphorus pesticides and recovery of orthophosphate by biochar/α-Fe2O3/MgO composite: A new enhanced strategy for reducing the impacts of organophosphorus from wastewater

Photocatalysis is regarded as one of the most promising techniques for degrading organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) from wastewater given its low-cost and environmental benignity. Yet, photocatalytic degradation of OPs is an incomplete process, since PO43− is produced after photocatalysis. Here, biochar-supported α-Fe2O3/MgO composite (BC-α-Fe2O3/MgO) is developed for sequential photocatalytic degradation of OPs and recovery of the produced PO43−. The degradation efficiency of N-phosphonomethyl iminodiacetic acid (NPA) by BC-α-Fe2O3/MgO based photocatalysis reaches 90.1% within 80 min, and the recovery ratio of the produced PO43− by BC-α-Fe2O3/MgO is as high as 82.3%. Besides, the as-prepared BC-α-Fe2O3/MgO used in this integrated photocatalysis and adsorption process maintain a high stability towards NPA degradation and PO43− recovery during five cycling experiments. The mechanistic study reveals that holes, •OH, and •O2– radicals generated in the photocatalytic process are responsible for NPA degradation. UV light can activate persistent free radicals on BC-α-Fe2O3/MgO surface, which provide O2 withelectrons for the generation of •O2– and subsequent yield of •OH. Moreover, the presence of α-Fe2O3 and MgO on the surface of biochar leads to the excellent P adsorption performance of BC-α-Fe2O3/MgO. This study opens new possibilities for the recovery of P resource from organophosphorus polluted wastewater.

Lifetime and Aging Degradation Prognostics for Lithium-ion Battery Packs Based on a Cell to Pack Method

Aging diagnosis of batteries is essential to ensure that the energy storage systems operate within a safe region. This paper proposes a novel cell to pack health and lifetime prognostics method based on the combination of transferred deep learning and Gaussian process regression. General health indicators are extracted from the partial discharge process. The sequential degradation model of the health indicator is developed based on a deep learning framework and is migrated for the battery pack degradation prediction. The future degraded capacities of both battery pack and each battery cell are probabilistically predicted to provide a comprehensive lifetime prognostic. Besides, only a few separate battery cells in the source domain and early data of battery packs in the target domain are needed for model construction. Experimental results show that the lifetime prediction errors are less than 25 cycles for the battery pack, even with only 50 cycles for model fine-tuning, which can save about 90% time for the aging experiment. Thus, it largely reduces the time and labor for battery pack investigation. The predicted capacity trends of the battery cells connected in the battery pack accurately reflect the actual degradation of each battery cell, which can reveal the weakest cell for maintenance in advance.

Rational Design of Hydrogel Networks with Dynamic Mechanical Properties to Mimic Matrix Remodeling.

Engineered hydrogels are increasingly used as extracellular matrix (ECM) surrogates for probing cell function in response to ECM remodeling events related to injury or disease (e.g., degradation followed by deposition/crosslinking). Inspired by these events, this work establishes an approach for pseudo-reversible mechanical property modulation in synthetic hydrogels by integrating orthogonal, enzymatically triggered crosslink degradation, and light-triggered photopolymerization stiffening. Hydrogels are formed by a photo-initiated thiol-ene reaction between multiarm polyethylene glycol and a dually enzymatically degradable peptide linker, which incorporates a thrombin-degradable sequence for triggered softening and a matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-degradable sequence for cell-driven remodeling. Hydrogels are stiffened by photopolymerization using a flexible, MMP-degradable polymer-peptide conjugate and multiarm macromers, increasing the synthetic matrix crosslink density while retaining degradability. Integration of these tools enables sequential softening and stiffening inspired by matrix remodeling events within loose connective tissues (Young's modulus (E) ≈5 to 1.5 to 6kPa with >3x ΔE).The cytocompatibility and utility of this approach is examined with breast cancer cells, where cell proliferation shows a dependence on the timing of triggered softening. This work provides innovative tools for 3D dynamic property modulation that are synthetically accessible and cell compatible.

Evidence-Based Challenges to the Continued Recommendation and Use of Peroxidatively-Susceptible Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid-Rich Culinary Oils for High-Temperature Frying Practises: Experimental Revelations Focused on Toxic Aldehydic Lipid Oxidation Products.

In this manuscript, a series of research reports focused on dietary lipid oxidation products (LOPs), their toxicities and adverse health effects are critically reviewed in order to present a challenge to the mindset supporting, or strongly supporting, the notion that polyunsaturated fatty acid-laden frying oils are “safe” to use for high-temperature frying practises. The generation, physiological fates, and toxicities of less commonly known or documented LOPs, such as epoxy-fatty acids, are also considered. Primarily, an introduction to the sequential autocatalytic peroxidative degradation of unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) occurring during frying episodes is described, as are the potential adverse health effects posed by the dietary consumption of aldehydic and other LOP toxins formed. In continuance, statistics on the dietary consumption of fried foods by humans are reviewed, with a special consideration of French fries. Subsequently, estimates of human dietary aldehyde intake are critically explored, which unfortunately are limited to acrolein and other lower homologues such as acetaldehyde and formaldehyde. However, a full update on estimates of quantities derived from fried food sources is provided here. Further items reviewed include the biochemical reactivities, metabolism and volatilities of aldehydic LOPs (the latter of which is of critical importance regarding the adverse health effects mediated by the inhalation of cooking/frying oil fumes); their toxicological actions, including sections focussed on governmental health authority tolerable daily intakes, delivery methods and routes employed for assessing such effects in animal model systems, along with problems encountered with the Cramer classification of such toxins. The mutagenicities, genotoxicities, and carcinogenic potential of aldehydes are then reviewed in some detail, and following this the physiological concentrations of aldehydes and their likely dietary sources are considered. Finally, conclusions from this study are drawn, with special reference to requirements for (1) the establishment of tolerable daily intake (TDI) values for a much wider range of aldehydic LOPs, and (2) the performance of future nutritional and epidemiological trials to explore associations between their dietary intake and the incidence and severity of non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs).