The alternative food market has attracted much attention due to concerns about climate change, increasing consumer awareness of value consumption, and the development of the Food-Tech industry. This study aimed to analyze the factors that drive consumers to purchase alternative food products and identify the mechanisms that can induce consumers to continue buying. We surveyed 1,200 consumers and estimated data using a logit model. The results showed that the presence of vegetarians in the household, environmental concerns, a vegetable-oriented diet, and a mixed diet of meat and vegetables were positively associated with purchasing plant-based alternatives. Of particular interest was the non-linear relationship between respondents’ age and their purchasing experience with plant-based options, with the likelihood of purchasing alternatives increasing with age from the mid-50s onward. These findings suggest that in addition to the growing number of consumers who share the environmental value, which leads to increased interest in and purchase of plant-based alternatives, alternative foods are also health-oriented and meet the needs of older consumers, who are becoming an increasingly important segment of the super-aged society, suggesting the potential for continued growth in the alternative food market.

As ZIF materials have their unique properties such as high surface area, tunable pore structure, thermal and chemical stability, they can be used in gas separation. In this work, we synthesized ZIF-8 seed layer by combining ZnO coating on the support and the conversion synthesis of ZnO layer in H-mIm solution to ZIF-8 layer, followed by the secondary growth synthesis for ZIF-8 membranes. The effect of solvent on conversion seeding had been investigated to control the reaction rate combining the dissolution rate of ZnO and the crystallization rate. The optimum solvent combination (water and methanol) was studied according to the thickness of the ZnO layer used in the conversion seeding. The obtained membranes showed excellent performance for propylene/propane gas separation. The thicker the ZnO layer, the lower the permeability.

As ZIF materials have their unique properties such as high surface area, tunable pore structure, thermal and chemical stability, they can be used in various applications including gas separation and catalysis. For synthesis of ZIF membranes, fixing sub-micron ZIF seed particles on the support is challenging and important. In this work, ZIF-8 seed layer was synthesized by conversion synthesis of ZnO layer on support in H-mIm solution, followed by the secondary growth synthesis of ZIF-8 membranes. The parameters of conversion seeding had been investigated to control the reaction rate combining the dissolution rate of ZnO and the crystallization rate of ZIF-8. This ZIF-8 membranes showed the better coverage of seeding layer and improved gas separation properties compared with the membranes prepared by traditional dip-coating seeding method.

To determine the medicinal properties of Pleurotus cornucopiae and Safflower Oil (PS), the osteoblast effect was investigated. PS can prevent estrogen deficiency-induced bone loss. It was taken the measurements of biochemical factors such as serum osteocalcin, alkaline phosphatase, IGF-1, and bone status. Forty adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to four equal groups for 12 weeks of treatment: (1) sham operation (SHAM) + vehicle; (2) ovariectomy (OVX) + vehicle; (3) OVX + 17β-estradiol (25 μg/kg); (4) OVX + PS (300 mg/kg/d, PO). At the end of the experiment, bone turnover, and trabecular microarchitecture were assessed by micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), and histopathology, respectively. Ovariectomized rats experienced remarkable increases in global volumetric bone density, and trabecular microarchitecture deterioration. These OVX-induced pathological changes are reversible in that most of them could be mostly corrected upon 17β-estradiol treatment. PNS treatment significantly prevented bone mass loss and microarchitecture deterioration. Moreover, PS enhanced osteoblast activity but suppressed osteoclast turnover, as evidenced by decreased levels of serum C-terminal telopeptides of type I collagen and elevated levels of alkaline phosphatase. PS mitigates estrogen deficiency-induced deterioration of trabecular microarchitecture.

As ZIF materials have their unique properties such as high surface area, tunable pore structure, thermal and chemical stability, they can be used in various applications including gas separation and catalysis. For synthesis of ZIF membranes, fixing sub-micron ZIF seed particles on the support is challenging and important. In this work, ZIF-8 seed layer was synthesized by conversion synthesis of ZnO layer on support in H-mIm solution, followed by the secondary growth synthesis of ZIF-8 membranes. The parameters of conversion seeding had been investigated to control the reaction rate combining the dissolution rate of ZnO and the crystallization rate of ZIF-8. This ZIF-8 membranes showed the better coverage of seeding layer and gas separation properties compared with the membranes prepared by traditional dip-coating seeding.