This study aimed to optimize the culinary use of pork hams through sous-vide cooking. Pork hams were cooked at 55, 58, 60, and 65 °C for 8 h, leading lower shrinkage, reduced cooking loss, improved tenderness, and lower TBARS values compared to conventional cooking methods, i.e. boiling and roasting (P < 0.05). The myofibrillar fragmentation index (MFI) increased at temperatures above 58 °C, while collagen content in the exudates rose with higher temperatures (P < 0.05). Additionally, cathepsin (B + L) activity declined as cooking temperatures increased (P < 0.05). Pork hams cooked at 58 °C for over 5 h exhibited reduced hardness and chewiness (P < 0.05). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that sous-vide cooked samples (58 °C) has more cracked surfaces of muscle fibers. Connective tissues and collagen fibers were weakened and gelatinized, respectively, upon increasing cooking durations. Thus, 58 °C sous-vide for 5 h offers a practical method to enhance the utilization of pork hams, benefiting both industrial/restaurant processing and home preparation.

Rice is a critical global staple food; however, its production is a substantial contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The burning of rice straw (RS), a byproduct of the harvest, further exacerbates global warming by emitting greenhouse gases and air pollutants, such as particulate matter, contributing to biodiversity loss and soil fertility degradation in agricultural areas. To explore the synergies of RS bioresources, this study systematically evaluates various RS management practices, including open burning, soil organic amendment, and bioenergy production, from the perspective of their lifecycle environmental and economic performance. This study considers all stages of rice production, including different irrigation systems such as conventional flooding and alternate wetting and drying (AWD). The findings indicate that replacing conventional flooding with AWD irrigation results in reduced lifecycle environmental impacts across all midpoint indicators. Specifically, AWD irrigation combined with RS used as soil amendments exhibits the lowest global warming potential, at −435.2 kg CO2eq per ton-RS. In terms of economic costs, the lifecycle costs across all scenarios range from approximately 91.7 to 186.9 USD per tonne of RS. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses are conducted on RS portion allocation and transportation distance. The study also identifies the synergies between soil organic amendment and bioenergy production, leveraging global carbon pricing and feed-in tariffs, as crucial factors for optimizing both the environmental and economic performance of RS management. This study offers valuable insights into the potential of integrated RS management practices for achieving environmental sustainability and economic viability over the rice production lifecycle.

Growing evidence shows that breathing microplastics (MPs)-polluted air increases the risk of pulmonary health effects. However, a complete understanding of how inhaled MPs distribute within the human respiratory tract (HRT) remains insufficient. This study developed a physiologically-based kinetic HRT model to evaluate the deposition and clearance of MPs over time and at varying concentrations based on their aerodynamic diameter (AD). We quantified the contributions of AD-specific MPs to inhalation exposure trends using literature-based atmospheric MP pollution data from 2015 to 2022. Exposure assessments were conducted in data-rich settings, including megacities, urban-rural, and age-specific populations. Our analysis revealed that all suspended MPs had ADs less than 70 μm, with fragments, fibers, and spheres in decreasing order of prevalence. Modeling results demonstrated a pronounced variation (∼1010 magnitudes) in internal MP burdens across airway regions during long-term exposure. On average, inhaled MPs larger than 40 μm accumulated exclusively in extrathoracic and bronchi regions, whereas MPs with ADs of 0.1–5 μm were the primary contributors to internal burdens. We identified nasal airflow rate as the most sensitive factor influencing internal burdens of MPs larger than 1 μm. Furthermore, our findings showed that infants, children, and the elderly were more vulnerable to short-term exposure, whereas adolescents and adults were of greater concern with long-term exposure. These insights provide valuable guidance for policy decisions on targeting interventions to at-risk regions or susceptible populations.

Pei-Lin Lee serves as Clinical Associate Professor, School of Medicine, National Taiwan University; Consultant, Center of Sleep Disorder, National Taiwan University Hospital. Her current academic positions at international sleep societies include American Academy of Sleep Medicine Fellow and Co-Chair International Assembly; Asian Society of Sleep Medicine, Sleep Medicine Education Task Force committee member. Her current research focuses on the era of new technology and big data in sleep medicine; and intervention on sleep and metabolism in sleep disordered breathing.