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Trace elements in four kinds of soybean and three kinds of salt have been measured by means of in-air PIXE. In soybeans, which were made in Japan, America, Canada and China, six kinds of trace elements were detected, such as Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn and Br. The concentration of these elements varied depending on the place they were made. American soybean showed characteristic feature compared with other soybeans. As to the bromine concentration, American soybean contains ten times as much as Japanese one. In salts Br and Sr were detected.

A drying droplet changes its morphological pattern depending upon complex pattern forming system. To control the distribution of solute particles in a droplet during drying is an important aspect in many scientific and industrial purposes. In this work, with the help of optical microscopy, we study characteristic patterns generated in dried drops of colloidal copper sulphate (CuSO${}_4\cdot$5H₂O) solution on surface of glass. At lower concentration of salt solution the growth pattern follows a monofractal structure whereas at higher concentration, the self-assembled pattern gradually gets disappeared. Calculating the fractal dimension (FD) of the generated patterns by box counting method with help of imageJ, it is observed that the patterns resemble DLA structure through a specific range of concentration of the salt solution.

Forum boosts Queensland-China research partnerships.

Taiwan researchers develop stress-releasing lactic fermented drink.

Salt cress genome yields new clues to salt tolerance.

Shanghai scientists may have found AIDS vaccine.

Improved production of Acetone–Butanol–Ethanol (ABE) by genome shuffling of Clostridium acetobutylicum CICC 8012.

BGI debuts new tool "PDXomics™" for tumor xenograft research and applications.

New study sheds light on the niche divergence between related ungulates at large scale.

MoU signed between PAS, CAS to enhance scientific cooperation.

RegeneRx and Lee's reach license agreement for TB4-based products.

INDIA – Rice diplomacy in South Asia.

INDIA – Indian court's Novartis ruling keeps door to cheap drugs open.

INDONESIA – A blueprint for changing diabetes in Indonesia.

SINGAPORE – Understanding abnormal proteins in degenerative diseases.

SINGAPORE – Singapore scientist wins coveted Chen New Investigator Award 2013.

SINGAPORE – Singapore single-cell research center opens door for Asian biological discoveries.

THE PHILIPPINES – Wild parent spawns super salt-tolerant rice.

AUSTRALIA – Women: Hormone therapy won't harm your head.

AUSTRALIA – QLD government's removal of "green tape" will achieve results for all.

AUSTRALIA – Chinese herbs help cut diabetes symptoms.

AUSTRALIA – iSonea launches new Asthmasense™ cloud technology.

EUROPE – Bone Therapeutics and Erasme University Hospital start Phase IIa trial in osteoporosis.

NORTH AMERICA – Medicago and IDRI reports positive results for its Phase I clinical trial for an H5N1 vaccine.

NORTH AMERICA – Civitas Therapeutics announces positive Phase II clinical results an inhaled L-dopa for Parkinson's disease.

NORTH AMERICA – Impel NeuroPharma completes industry's first nose-to-brain human imaging study.

NORTH AMERICA – A new treatment option for alcohol dependence: Reduced consumption rather than abstinence.

NORTH AMERICA – Targacept completes recruitment in Phase IIb schizophrenia trial.

UNITED KINGDOM – ID deadly pathogens without growing bacteria.

Magnetoencephalographic recordings were evaluated in five different states: normal condition, sweet, bitter, sour, and salt taste. Twenty-eight healthy volunteers, 14 male and 14 female, ranging from 12 to 50 years of age, were included in the study. The results showed that, in the normal condition, as well as in the sweet and the bitter taste, the male volunteers exhibited a higher count of low-frequency than high-frequency channels compared to the femal ones; in the case of the sour taste, there was no clear differentiation between the genders; with the salt taste, the female volunteers exhibited a higher count of low-frequency channels whereas there was no clear differentiation in the number of high frequencies between the gender. A discrimination in the spatial distribution of the frequencies provides novel insights into the identification of gender-related taste sensation.

Dry air alters salt and water balance in the upper airways and increases the risks of COVID-19 among other respiratory diseases. We explored whether such upper airway variations in salt and water balance might alter respiratory droplet generation and potentially contribute to observed impacts of airway hydration on respiratory disease. In a randomized 4-arm study of 21 healthy human subjects we found that the breathing of humid air, the wearing of cotton masks, and the delivery of (sodium, calcium, and magnesium chloride) salt droplets sized to deposit in the nose, trachea, and main bronchi similarly reduce the exhalation of respiratory droplets by approximately 50% ($P$ < 0.05) within 10 minutes following hydration. Respiratory droplet generation returns to relatively high baseline levels within 60–90 minutes on return to dry air in all cases other than on exposure to divalent (calcium and magnesium) salts, where suppression continues for 4–5 hours. We also found via a preliminary ecological regression analysis of COVID-19 cases in the United States between January 2020 and March 2021 that exposure to elevated airborne salt on (Gulf and Pacific) US coastlines appears to suppress by approximately 25%–30% ($P$ < 0.05) COVID-19 incidence and deaths per capita relative to inland counties — accounting for ten potential confounding environmental, physiological, and behavioral variables including humidity. We conclude that the hydration of the upper airways by exposure to humidity, the wearing of masks, or the breathing of airborne salts that deposit in the upper airways diminish respiratory droplet generation and may reduce the risks of COVID-19 incidence and symptoms.

In the present study, salt granules were dried in fluidized bed dryer and suitable technologic parameters of drying operation were obtained. The results could direct design of industrial dryer. Besides, the air distributing structure of fluidized bed dryer was studied and its pressure drop curve was measured. The result indicated that one layer intertexture net below the air distributing board could obtain good effect of air distributing without increase of pressure drop. This kind of structure could also prevent the material from leaking availably.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of various parameters, i.e., concentration of salt solution (2, 3, 4% (w/v)), boiling time (3, 5, 7 minutes) and drying air temperature (80, 100, 120°C) on the kinetics of drying and various quality attributes of shrimp, namely, color, texture, shrinkage and rehydration ability, during drying in a jet-spouted bed dryer. Small shrimp (350-360 shrimp/kg) was boiled and then dried until its moisture content was around 25% (d.b.). It was found that the color changes, toughness and shrinkage of shrimp increased while the rehydration ability decreased with an increase in the concentration of salt solution and boiling time.

The incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is increasing worldwide, but there is no specific treatment available. Therefore, understanding and controlling the risk factors for CKD are essential for preventing disease occurrence. Salt intake raises blood pressure by increasing fluid volume and contributes to the deterioration of kidney function by enhancing the renin-angiotensin system and sympathetic tone. Thus, a low-salt diet is important to reduce blood pressure and prevent kidney diseases. With recent advancements in genetic research, our understanding of the etiology and genetic background of CKD has deepened, enabling the identification of populations with a high genetic predisposition to CKD. It is thought that the impact of lifestyle or environmental factors on disease occurrence or prevention may vary based on genetic factors. This study aims to investigate whether frequency of adding salt has different effects depending on genetic risk for CKD. CKD polygenic risk scores (PRS) were generated using CKDGen Consortium GWAS (N= 765,348) summary statics. Then we applied the CKD PRS to UK Biobank subjects. A total of 331,318 European individuals aged 40-69 without CKD were enrolled in the study between 2006-2010. The average age at enrollment of the participants in this study was 56.69, and 46% were male. Over an average follow-up period of 8 years, 12,279 CKD cases were identified. The group that developed CKD had a higher percentage of individuals who added salt (46.37% vs. 43.04%) and higher CKD high-risk PRS values compared to the group that did not develop CKD (23.53% vs. 19.86%). We classified the individuals into four groups based on PRS: low (0-19%), intermediate (20-79%), high (80-94%), very high (≥ 95%). Incidence of CKD increased incrementally according to CKD PRS even after adjusting for age, sex, race, Townsend deprivation index, body mass index, estimated glomerular filtration rate, smoking, alcohol, physical activity, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, hypertension, coronary artery diseases, cerebrovascular diseases at baseline. Compared to the “never/rarely” frequency of adding salt group, “always” frequency of adding salt group had an increasing incidence of CKD proportionate to the degree of frequency of adding salt. However, the significant association of “always” group on incident CKD disappeared in the low PRS group. This study validated the signal from PRSs for CKD across a large cohort and confirmed that frequency of adding salt contributes to the occurrence of CKD. Additionally, it confirmed that the effect of frequency of “always” adding salt on CKD incidence is greater in those with more than intermediate CKD-PRS. This study suggests that increased salt intake is particularly concerning for individuals with genetic risk factors for CKD, underscoring the clinical importance of reducing salt intake for these individuals.