Foxtail millet, as a leading variety in arid and semi-arid areas of Asia and Africa, can provide broad potential benefits to human health. However, its digestion properties have not been reported. So in this study, the in vitro starch digestibilities and in vivo glycemic indices (GI) of foxtail millet and pure millet products were investigated. The results showed that starch digestibility of the foxtail millet flour is obviously lower than that of wheat flour. However, deproteinization and heating significantly increased its rapidly digestible starch and decreased its slowly digestible starch and resistant starch. The GIs of pure millet products were in the following order: millet porridge (93.6 ± 11.3) > millet steamed bread (89.6 ± 8.8) > No. 1 millet pancake (75.0% millet flour and 25.0% extrusion flour, 83.0 ± 9.6) > No. 2 millet pancake (without extrusion flour, 76.2 ± 10.7) > cooked millet (64.4 ± 8.5). They were significantly positively correlated with the rapidly digestible starch (r = 0.959), degree of gelatinization (r = 0.967) and estimated glycemic index (r = 0.988). Both in vitro and in vivo tests suggested that boiling, steaming and extrusion enhanced the formation of digestible starch and subsequently increased the GI values. Additionally, the No. 1 millet pancake and cooked millet had a relatively gentle stimulation on β-cell. Therefore, foxtail millet, especially the cooked millet, may serve as a potential source of nutraceutical and functional food that could delay the development of type 2 diabetes.

Foxtail millet has relatively low starch digestibility and moderate glycemic index compared to other grains. Since there are still no clinical researches regarding its long-term effect on blood glucose, this self-controlled study was conducted to investigate the glucose-lowering effect of foxtail millet in free-living subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). Fifty g/day of foxtail millet was provided to enrolled subjects throughout 12 weeks and the related clinical parameters were investigated at week 0, 6 and 12, respectively. After 12 weeks of foxtail millet intervention, the mean fasting blood glucose of the subjects decreased from 5.7 ± 0.9 mmol/L to 5.3 ± 0.7 mmol/L (p < 0.001) and the mean 2 h-glucose decreased from 10.2 ± 2.6 mmol/L to 9.4 ± 2.3 mmol/L (p = 0.003). The intake of foxtail millet caused a significant increase of serum leptin (p = 0.012), decrease of insulin resistance (p = 0.007), and marginal reduction of inflammation. Furthermore, a sex-dependent difference in glucose-lowering effect of foxtail millet was observed in this study. Foxtail millet could improve the glycemic control in free-living subjects with IGT, suggesting that increasing the consumption of foxtail millet might be beneficial to individuals suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Thus, ingestion of foxtail millet protein hydrolysates especially for the raw and extruded hydrolysates may ameliorate hypertension and alleviate related cardiovascular diseases.

No abstract

Mastication and saliva addition affects the formation of a bolus, directly playing a key role in people's eating enjoyment. However, the specific changes of oral physiological parameters and bolus moisture content in the oral processing of rice have not been studied in detail. Thus, in the present study, salivary flow rate, salivary secretion, chewing frequency, and bolus moisture content during oral processing of three rice varieties (japonica rice, indica rice, and glutinous rice) were fully investigated. The differences among different rice and changes among different oral processing stages (25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) were analyzed. Results showed that the swallowing time of glutinous rice was significantly lower than that of japonica and indica rice (p < .05). However, there was no significant difference in the chewing frequency of the three rice varieties throughout the oral processing stages (1.59–1.66 Hz, p > .05). During oral processing, the salivary flow rates for the three kinds of rice decreased significantly (p < .05), from 37.72 ± 4.32 mg/s (0%–25% stage) to 19.83 ± 5.50 mg/s (75%–100% stage). The dry basis moisture content of the bolus increased significantly (p < .05), from 1.53 ± 0.08 (0%) to 1.96 ± 0.02 (100%). In the 75%–100% stage, the amount of saliva secretion for japonica rice was highest, followed by indica rice and glutinous rice (p < .05). At the point of swallowing (100% stage), the dry basis moisture content of all three rice‐bolus' was consistent (1.94–1.99, p > .05).

Alloy cladding coatings are widely prepared on the surface of tools and machines. High-entropy alloys are potential replacements of nickel-, iron-, and cobalt-base alloys in machining due to their excellent strength and toughness. In this work, CoCrFeMnNbNi HEA coating was produced on AISI 304 steel by tungsten inert gas cladding. The microstructure and wear behavior of the cladding coating were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometer, microhardness tester, pin-on-ring wear tester, and 3D confocal laser scanning microscope. The microstructure showed up as a nanoscale lamellar structure matrix which is a face-centered-cubic solid solution and niobium-rich Laves phase. The microhardness of the cladding coating is greater than the structure. The cladding coating has excellent wear resistance under the condition of dry sliding wear, and the microploughing in the worn cladding coating is shallower and finer than the worn structure, which is related to composition changes caused by forming the nanoscale lamellar structure of Laves phase.

Toad venom, a traditional natural medicine, has been used for hundreds of years in China for treating different diseases. Many studies have been performed to elucidate the cardiotonic and analgesic activities of toad venom. Until the last decade, an increasing number of studies have documented that toad venom is a source of lead compound(s) for the development of potential cancer treatment drugs. Research has shown that toad venom contains 96 types of bufadienolide monomers and 23 types of indole alkaloids, such as bufalin, cinobufagin, arenobufagin, and resibufogenin, which exhibit a wide range of anticancer activities in vitro and, in particular, in vivo for a range of cancers. The main antitumor mechanisms are likely to be apoptosis or/and autophagy induction, cell cycle arrest, cell metastasis suppression, reversal of drug resistance, or growth inhibition of cancer cells. This review summarizes the chemical constituents of toad venom, analyzing their anticancer activities and molecular mechanisms for cancer treatments. We also outline the importance of further studies regarding the material basis and anticancer mechanisms of toad venom.

In this study, a well-textured AZ31 Mg alloy sheet was friction stir (FS) processed, and the microstructure and texture evolution in various regions of the processed alloy were examined by optical microscopy (OM) and electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD). The results showed that the grain size in the FS zone was significantly refined compared to that in the base material (BM). The average grain size in the thermomechanically affected zone (TMAZ) and heat-affected zone (HAZ) was comparable with that in the BM. There is a gradual change of local texture from BM to FS zone due to plastic flow together with heating input during the FS processing. The <0002> direction was roughly parallel to the cylindrical pin surface normal of the FS zone. The <0002> direction in the HAZ is similar to that in the BM, but more diffuse. The <0002> direction in the TMAZ was tilted 25~30o away from the ND and there is a distinct boundary between the FS zone and TMAZ at the advancing side which introduced an incompatibility between the FS zone and TMAZ. This might explain the fact that the transverse FS processed Mg alloys commonly fracture at the advancing side during tensile tests.