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Rich and diverse fungal species occur in different habitats on the earth. Many new taxa are being reported and described in increasing numbers with the advent of molecular phylogenetics. However, there are still a number of unknown fungi that have not yet been discovered and described. During a survey of fungal diversity in different habitats in China, we identified and proposed two new species, based on the morphology and multi-gene phylogenetic analyses. Herein, we report the descriptions, illustrations and molecular phylogeny of the two new species, Bisifusarium keratinophilum sp. nov. and Ovatospora sinensis sp. nov.

The retrogradation behaviors of five damaged wheat starches (DS) after milling 0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min with different water contents (33, 50, 60 %) were evaluated. Milling treatment increased DS content and developed an agglomeration of small particles. After 7 days of storage, the recrystallinity and long-range ordered structure of starch pastes were increased with the contents of DS and water. This process led to a lower setback viscosity and poor leaching of amylose. LF-NMR indicated a conversion from tightly bound water and free water to weakly bound water. During storage, DS12 with 60 % water content had the highest retrogradation tendency where the retrogradation enthalpy increased by 1.5 J/g and 2.2 J/g compared with DS0 with 60 % and DS12 with 33 % water content. DS with higher water content promoted the water mobility and made the starch molecular chains migrated conveniently. These changes facilitated the recrystallinity process during retrogradation period.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a major cause of disability, characterized by chronic pain, irreversible destruction, and loss of function of the articular cartilage. The integrity and arrangement of the composition and structure of the extracellular matrix (ECM) are essential for maintaining the elasticity, integrity, and mechanical support function of the cartilage tissue. Osteoarthritis causes substantial changes in the ECM, driving the progression of the disease. Recent studies have shown that the ECM plays a critical role in the development of cartilage tissue as well as the occurrence and development of osteoarthritis by directly or indirectly regulating chondrocyte proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, and gene expression. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs derived from large transcripts. Mutations and disorders of lncRNAs are closely related to the development of osteoarthritis. Abnormal expression of lncRNAs in osteoarthritic cartilage regulates the synthesis and decomposition of the cartilaginous ECM. Therefore, the use of lncRNAs as nucleic acid drugs that regulate their targets may reduce ECM degradation, thereby delaying the pathological progression of osteoarthritis. In this review, the regulatory effects of lncRNAs on ECM in different cell behaviors related to OA are summarized. The roles of lncRNAs in the proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, and ECM-related gene activity of chondrocytes, as well as the application of lncRNAs as potential gene therapy drugs for the repair and regeneration of osteoarthritic tissue, are also reviewed. A better understanding of the roles of lncRNAs in guiding chondrocyte behavior and ECM metabolism is critical for their future applications in osteoarthritis therapy and regenerative medicine.

There is still a paucity of research on the relationship between triglyceride-glucose-body mass index (TyG-BMI) and long-term all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between the TyG-BMI index and mortality rate and to determine valuable predictive factors for the survival status of this population. Data were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 2001–2018) and the National Death Index (NDI). We used multivariate Cox regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) to analyze the link between the TyG-BMI index and all-cause and CVD mortality. Subgroup analysis was conducted according to age, gender, race, education and poverty. In addition, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were utilized to assess the differentiation of the TyG-BMI index in predicting mortality. A total of 3089 individuals were enrolled. Over a median follow-up period of 81 months, 1097 individuals passed away. The RCS analysis revealed a U-shaped link between the TyG-BMI index and all-cause and CVD mortality. The ROC curve indicated that the TyG-BMI index has a stronger diagnostic effect than the TyG index. Subgroup analysis results demonstrated that the TyG-BMI index was more significantly correlated with all-cause and CVD mortality rates in elderly patients. In the American population, a U-shaped association was discovered between the baseline TyG-BMI index and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality rates in CKD patients. The thresholds for all-cause and CVD mortality were found to be 299.31 and 294.85, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenolic compounds have long captivated the interest of organic synthesis, particularly in their quest for selective hydroxylation of arenes using H2O as a hydroxyl source. However, the inherent high reactivity and low redox potential of phenols often lead to undesirable overoxidation byproducts. To address this challenge, herein, we develop an electrophotochemical approach, finetuning substrate oxidative potential and enabling para-selective hydroxylation of anilides. This method showcases versatility, accommodating a wide array of substrates, while revealing high regional selectivity and compatibility with diverse functional groups. Moreover, the protocol allows facile late-stage functionalization of biologically active molecules. Mechanistic investigations demonstrate the activation of anilides by the excited state photocatalyst, effectively decreasing their oxidative potential and enhancing regional selectivity during hydroxylation. By using this protocol, important drug molecules such as Paracetamol, Fenretinide, Practolol, and AM404 could be synthesized, demonstrating the applicability of this approach in drug synthesis and late-stage functionalization. Phenolic compounds have long captivated the interest of organic synthesis, particularly in their quest for selective hydroxylation of arenes using H2O as a hydroxyl source but the inherent high reactivity and low redox potential of phenols often lead to undesirable overoxidation byproducts. Here the authors develop an electrophotochemical approach, finetuning substrate oxidative potential and enabling para-selective hydroxylation of anilides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employs two-temperature molecular dynamics simulations to investigate swift heavy ion irradiation of SiO2 substrate-supported two-dimensional material graphene. Material-dependent electronic and thermal properties are integrated into each region to model the energy transfer between the electronic and atomic subsystems of the studied materials. Simulations of interactions with Xe heavy ions are performed with ion kinetic energies ranging from 0.5 to 25 GeV with electronic stopping powers from ∼2.6 to 17.7 keV/nm. With the studied ion energy range, nanopores with a diameter of up to 5 nm can be formed in graphene due to the thermally driven sputtering effect, while amorphization occurs along the ion track in the SiO2 substrate. The coupling between the substrate and two-dimensional material significantly impacts the structural change due to heat transfer and atomic interactions among different layers of materials. The method applied in this work provides a valuable tool for modeling and understanding the structural modifications induced by ion irradiation in layered structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To reveal the role and mechanism of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) and mitochondria in promoting osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) in the inflammatory microenvironment. Methods: Bidirectional mitochondrial transfer was performed in bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and PDLSCs. Laser confocal microscopy and quantitative flow cytometry were used to observe the mitochondrial transfer and quantitative mitochondrial transfer efficiency. Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was employed to detect gene expression. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, alizarin red staining (ARS) and quantitative calcium ion analysis were used to evaluate the degree of osteogenic differentiation of PDLSCs. Results: Bidirectional mitochondrial transfer was observed between BMSCs and PDLSCs. The indirect co-culture system could simulate intercellular mitochondrial transfer. Compared with the conditioned medium (CM) for BMSCs, that for HA-CB1 BMSCs could significantly enhance the mineralisation ability of PDLSCs. The mineralisation ability of PDLSCs could not be enhanced after removing the mitochondria in CM for HA-CB1 BMSCs. The expression level of HO-1, PGC-1α, NRF-1, ND1 and HK2 was significantly increased in HA-CB1 BMSCs. Conclusion: CM for HA-CB1 BMSCs could significantly enhance the damaged osteogenic differentiation ability of PDLSCs in the inflammatory microenvironment, and the mitochondria of CM played an important role. CB1 was related to the activation of the HO-1/PGC-1α/NRF-1 mitochondrial biogenesis pathway, and significantly increased the mitochondrial content in BMSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing energy demand drives the rapid development of clean and reliable energy sources. In the past years, the exploration of novel materials with considerable efficiency and durability has drawn attention in the area of electrochemical energy conversion. Transition metal macrocyclic metallophthalocyanines (MPcs)‐based catalysts with a peculiar 2D constitution have emerged with a promising future account of their highly structural tailorability and molecular functionality which greatly extend their functionalities as electrocatalytic materials for energy conversion. This review summarizes the systematic engineering of synthesis of MPcs and their analogs in detail, and mostly pays attention to the frontier research of MPc‐based high‐performance catalysts toward different electrocatalytic processes concerning hydrogen, oxygen, water, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen, with a particular focus on discussing the interrelationship between the electrocatalytic activity and component/structure, as well as functional applications of MPcs. Finally, we give the gaps that need to be addressed after much thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bolt links and riveted joints, although widely used in aerospace and other mechanical systems, are susceptible to stress concentrations and fatigue cracks, which are undesirable. The flexible rosette eddy current sensor is typically used for the structural monitoring of bolt connections and riveted joints. This study proposes a method to improve the sensitivity of a flexible rosette eddy current sensor by reducing the cloud zenith angle of the pickup coil. First, the effect of the cloud zenith angle upon the sensitivity of the flexible rosette eddy current sensor is analyzed theoretically; the results show that a larger cloud zenith angle corresponds to a larger background signal. This diminishes the relative rate of change of the crack signal when the sensitivity of the sensor is evaluated based upon the maximum rate of change of the output. Therefore, the sensitivity is optimized by reducing the cloud zenith angle. Subsequently, through simulation and experimental methods, the relationship between sensor sensitivity and cloud zenith angle was studied. The results indicate that the cloud zenith angle significantly affects the sensitivity and that reducing the cloud zenith angle effectively reduces the background and improves the sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Odors existing in natural environment are typically mixtures of a large variety of chemical compounds in specific proportions. It is a challenging task for an electronic nose to recognize the gas mixtures. Most current research is based on the overall response of sensors and uses relatively simple datasets, which cannot be used for complex mixtures or rapid monitoring scenarios. In this study, a novel electronic nose (E-nose) using a spiking neural network (SNN) model was proposed for the detection and recognition of gas mixtures. The electronic nose integrates six commercial metal oxide sensors for automated gas acquisition. SNN with a simple three-layer structure was introduced to extract transient dynamic information and estimate concentration rapidly. Then, a dataset of mixed gases with different orders of magnitude was established by the E-nose to verify the model's performance. Additionally, random forests and the decision tree regression model were used for comparison with the SNN-based model. Results show that the model utilizes the dynamic characteristics of the sensors, achieving smaller mean squared error (MSE < 0.01) and mean absolute error (MAE) with less data compared to random forest and decision tree algorithms. In conclusion, the electronic nose system combined with the bionic model shows a high performance in identifying gas mixtures, which has a great potential to be used for indoor air quality monitoring in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]