Described herein are methods of producing prebiotic compositions that are made up of oligosaccharide compositions, as well as methods of using such prebiotic compositions in nutritional compositions and methods of producing such oligosaccharide and nutritional compositions.

The present disclosure relates to disaccharides with defined sulfation patterns, and oligosaccharide mimetics comprising the disaccharides as repeating units linked in a head to tail fashion. The present disclosure further relates to methods of making the same, and to methods of using the same to mediate cell proliferation, cell differentiation, amyloid plaque formation, anti-coagulation, and neuronal growth.

Provided are a method of manufacturing a functional polysaccharide, the method including: preparing a cell containing a polysaccharide; crushing the cell to extract polysaccharide to the outside of the cell to obtain an extract; and purifying the extract by removing at least one of crude protein, crude fat, and crude powder from the extract, and a cosmetic composition for skin moisturizing or skin elasticity improvement, the cosmetic composition including the functional polysaccharide as an active ingredient.

Molded articles are disclosed herein, the molded article comprising a polysaccharide, wherein the polysaccharide comprises i) poly alpha-1,3-glucan; ii) poly alpha-1,3-1,6-glucan; iii) a graft copolymer that comprises (A) a backbone comprising dextran with a weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of at least about 100000 Daltons, and (B) poly alpha-1,3-glucan side chains comprising at least about 95% alpha-1,3-glucosidic linkages; or iv) a composition comprising a poly alpha-1,3-glucan ester compound as disclosed herein. Optionally, the molded articles can further comprise a plasticizer and/or starch. The molded articles can be useful as a container, a handle, packaging, a tray, a bottle, a cup, a sheet, a disposable food packaging item, an automotive part, a casing for an electronic device, or a toy.

The present invention relates to a water-soluble binder composition comprising at least one carbohydrate component and at least one carbon dioxide reaction product comprising at least the reaction product(s) of carbon dioxide with at least one nitrogen-containing compound. It further relates to a method of its manufacture, its use, a method of manufacturing a collection of matter bound by said polymeric binder, as well as a binder solution or dispersion comprising said binder composition.

Disclosed herein is a novel compound of formula (I) for detecting circulating cancerous cells, particularly, cholangio-cancerous cells, from a biological sample, ##STR00001##
wherein, R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are independently H, or —SO.sub.3M; and M is a monovalent cation selected from the group consisting of sodium ion, potassium ion, lithium ion or ammonium ion. Also disclosed herein is a method of treating and detecting cholangio-cancerous cells from a biological sample of a subject suspected of having cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). The method includes steps of, contacting the biological sample with a magnetic bead pre-coated with the compound of formula (I); detecting a complex formed between the magnetic bead and the biological sample in an immunoassay; and administering to the subject an effective amount of a chemotherapeutic agent to ameliorate symptoms associated with the CCA.

Aspects of the disclosure relate to nanoparticle formulations and methods for generating nanoparticles. Embodiments include nanoparticles comprising an amphiphile and a polymer co-assembly agent. In some cases, polymers for use in therapeutic delivery are described. In some embodiments, the disclosed methods and compositions involve TLR agonists and formulations thereof capable of activating an immune response. Certain aspects relate to nanoparticles comprising linked TLR agonists for use in immunotherapy.

The disclosure generally relates to poly_alpha-1,3-glucan compositions and articles containing them. In particular interest are compositions comprising poly_alpha-1,3-glucan ester derivatives. The poly_alpha-1,3-glucan derivatives are useful in thermoprocesses and in particular, injection molding processes.

An aqueous dispersion of fructan-containing particles, wherein the D.sub.50 of the fructan-containing particles lies between 2 μm and 50 μm and the solids content of the aqueous dispersion lies between 61 wt. % and 80 wt. %. Also described is a process for the preparation of an aqueous dispersion of fructan-containing particles comprising: bringing fructan and water together to form a mixture; optionally hydrolyzing a portion of the fructans in the mixture, such that at the end of this step between 5 wt. % and 25 wt. % of all fructans in the mixture are essentially non-soluble at room temperature; optionally bring the mixture into contact with a purification agent, followed by removal of the purification agent from the mixture; and concentrating the mixture such that the solids content lies between 61 and 80%.

It is disclosed a continuous process for soaking a ligno-cellulosic biomass stream in an extraction solution comprising water and dissolved water soluble species derived from a previously treated ligno-cellulosic biomass, wherein the soaked ligno-cellulosic biomass stream is optionally rinsed with a rinse solution stream to produce a soaking liquid. The electrical conductivity of the extraction solution and/or the soaking liquid are controlled to a value in a suitable target range by regulating one or more dilution streams.

The disclosed process is useful to remove non-ligno-cellulosic water soluble compounds from the ligno-cellulosic biomass with a low consumption of water.