Search

In this study, a quantitative method based on fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labelled Hizikia fusiforme polyphenol–polysaccharide complex (HPC) and its purified fractions (PC1, PC4) was used, and its pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution were investigated in mice. The results showed that the FITC-labelled method had good linearity (R2 > 0.99), intra-day and inter-day precision (RSD, %) consistently lower than 15%, recovery (93.19–106.54%), and stability (RSD < 15%), which met the basic criteria for pharmacokinetic studies. The pharmacokinetic and tissue distribution results in mice after administration showed that all three sample groups could enter the blood circulation. and HPC-FITC had a longer half-life (T1/2: 26.92 ± 0.76 h) and mean retention time (MRT0–∞: 36.48 h) due to its larger molecular weight. The three groups of samples could be absorbed by the organism in a short time (0.5 h) mainly in the stomach and intestine; the samples could be detected in the urine after 2 h of administration indicating strong renal uptake, and faecal excretion reached its maximum at 12 h. The samples were also detected in the urine after 2 h of administration. This study provides some theoretical basis for the tissue distribution pattern of polyphenol–polysaccharide complex.

Night lighting is essential for urban life, and the occurrence of faults can significantly affect the presentation of lighting effects. Many reasons can cause lighting faults, including the damage of lamps and circuits, and the typical manifestation of the faults is that the lights do not light up. The current troubleshooting mainly relies on artificial visual inspection, making detecting faults difficult and time-consuming. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce technical means to detect lighting faults. However, current research on lighting fault detection mainly focuses on using non-visual methods such as sensor data analysis, which has the disadvantages of having a high cost and difficulty adapting to large-scale fault detection. Therefore, this study mainly focuses on solving the problem of the automatic detection of night lighting faults using machine vision methods, especially object detection methods. Based on the YOLOv5 model, two data fusion models have been developed based on the characteristics of lighting fault detection inverse problems: YOLOv5 Channel Concatenation and YOLOv5 Image Fusion. Based on the dataset obtained from the developed automatic image collection and annotation system, the training and evaluation of these three models, including the original YOLOv5, YOLOv5 Channel Concatenation, and YOLOv5 Image Fusion, have been completed. Research has found that applying complete lighting images is essential for the problem of lighting fault detection. The developed Image Fusion model can effectively fuse information and accurately detect the occurrence and area of faults, with a mAP value of 0.984. This study is expected to play an essential role in the intelligent development of urban night lighting.

Although the adoption of green innovation has been explored in various contexts, there is still a lack of research on the determinants of green technology innovation adoption (GTIA) in the third-party logistics (3PL) industry of emerging economies and the resulting economic, environmental, operational, and intangible outcomes. This study aims to investigate the influence of different determinants of technological, organizational, and environmental factors in the TOE-DOI framework on the adoption of green technology innovation, as well as the outcomes of such adoption. The study utilizes sample data from 544 Chinese 3PL firms and employs two-stage structural equation modeling and artificial neural network analysis. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) explains 85.4% of the variance in green technology innovation adoption, 21% in environmental outcomes, 18.5% in economic outcomes, 20.8% in operational outcomes, and 22.3% in intangible outcomes. The artificial neural network (ANN) model ranks the standardized importance of each predictive variable. The results indicate that institutional pressure is the most significant determinant of GTIA. Additionally, 3PL firms should consider the positive impact of green supplier integration and relative advantage. Complexity does not have a positive impact on GTIA. The longer a company has been established, the more experience and resources it accumulates, and the more opportunities it has to adopt green technology innovation. This study contributes to the existing research on emerging economies and other regions. Furthermore, this is the first study to successfully validate the nonlinear relationship within the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework and diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory, namely the TOE-DOI framework. The research findings further enhance the current understanding of green technology innovation adoption and its impact. This study provides valuable insights for managers and policymakers in the 3PL industry to achieve various effects, such as environmental, economic, operational, and intangible outcomes.

Lipids have not traditionally been considered likely candidates for catalyzing reactions in biological systems. However, there is significant evidence that aggregates of amphiphilic compounds are capable of catalyzing reactions in synthetic organic chemistry. Here, we demonstrate the potential for the hydrophobic region of a lipid bilayer to provide an environment suitable for catalysis by means of a lipid aggregate capable of speeding up a chemical reaction. By bringing organic molecules into the nonpolar or hydrophobic region of a lipid bilayer, reactions can be catalyzed by individual or collections of small, nonpolar, or amphiphilic molecules. We demonstrate this concept by the ester hydrolysis of calcein-AM to produce a fluorescent product, which is a widely used assay for esterase activity in cells. The reaction was first carried out in a two-phase octanol–water system, with the organic phase containing the cationic amphiphiles cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) or octadecylamine. The octanol phase was then replaced with phospholipid vesicles in water, where the reaction was also found to be carried out. The reaction was monitored using quantitative fluorescence, which revealed catalytic turnover numbers on a scale of 10−7 to 10−8 s−1 for each system, which is much slower than enzymatic catalysis. The reaction product was characterized by 1H-NMR measurements, which were consistent with ester hydrolysis. The implications of thinking about lipids and lipid aggregates as catalytic entities are discussed in the context of biochemistry, pharmacology, and synthetic biology.

Due to the complex interaction of urban and mountainous floods, assessing flood susceptibility in mountainous urban areas presents a challenging task in environmental research and risk analysis. Data-driven machine learning methods can evaluate flood susceptibility in mountainous urban areas lacking essential hydrological data, utilizing remote sensing data and limited historical inundation records. In this study, two ensemble learning algorithms, Random Forest (RF) and XGBoost, were adopted to assess the flood susceptibility of Kunming, a typical mountainous urban area prone to severe flood disasters. A flood inventory was created using flood observations from 2018 to 2022. The spatial database included 10 explanatory factors, encompassing climatic, geomorphic, and anthropogenic factors. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) were selected for model comparison. To minimize the influence of expert opinions on model training, this study employed a strategy of uniformly random sampling in historically non-flooded areas for negative sample selection. The results demonstrated that (1) ensemble learning algorithms offer higher accuracy than other machine learning methods, with RF achieving the highest accuracy, evidenced by an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.87, followed by XGBoost at 0.84, surpassing both ANN (0.83) and SVM (0.82); (2) the interpretability of ensemble learning highlighted the differences in the potential distribution of the training data’s positive and negative samples. Feature importance in ensemble learning can be utilized to minimize human bias in the collection of flooded-site samples, more targeted flood susceptibility maps of the study area’s road network were obtained; and (3) ensemble learning algorithms exhibited greater stability and robustness in datasets with varied negative samples, as evidenced by their performance in F1-Score, Kappa, and AUC metrics. This paper further substantiates the superiority of ensemble learning in flood susceptibility assessment tasks from the perspectives of accuracy, interpretability, and robustness, enhances the understanding of the impact of negative samples on such assessments, and optimizes the specific process for urban flood susceptibility assessment using data-driven methods.

Vip3Aa, secreted by Bacillus thuringiensis, is effective at controlling major agricultural pests such as Spodoptera frugiperda. However, to control Vip3Aa resistance evolved in the field by different lepidoptera species, an in–depth study of sequence––structure––activity relationships is necessary to design new Vip3Aa variants. In this study, the four specific loops (β4–β5 loop, β9–β10 loop, β12–β13 loop, and β14–β15 loop) in domain III were selected and four loop mutants were constructed by replacing all residues in each specific loop with alanine. We obtained soluble proteins for three of the loop mutants, excluding the β9–β10 loop. These loop mutants have been characterized by toxicity bioassays against S. frugiperda, proteolytic processing, and receptor binding. These results indicate that the β4–β5 loop and β14–β15 loop are involved in receptor binding and Vip3Aa toxicity. Based on this, we constructed numerous mutants and obtained three single mutants (Vip3Aa–S366T, Vip3Aa–S366L, and Vip3Aa–R501A) that exhibited significantly increased toxicity of 2.61–fold, 3.39–fold, and 2.51–fold, respectively. Compared to Vip3Aa, the receptor affinity of Vip3Aa–S366T and Vip3Aa–S366L was significantly enhanced. Furthermore, we also analyzed and aligned the three–dimensional structures of the mutants and Vip3Aa. In summary, these results indicate that the loops in domain III have the potential to be targeted to enhance the insecticidal toxicity of the Vip3Aa protein.

Edible insects are a highly nutritious source of protein and are enjoyed by people all over the world. Insects contain various other nutrients and beneficial compounds, such as lipids, vitamins and minerals, chitin, phenolic compounds, and antimicrobial peptides, which contribute to good health. The practice of insect farming is far more resource-efficient compared to traditional agriculture and animal husbandry, requiring less land, energy, and water, and resulting in a significantly lower carbon footprint. In fact, insects are 12 to 25 times more efficient than animals in converting low-protein feed into protein. When it comes to protein production per unit area, insect farming only requires about one-eighth of the land needed for beef production. Moreover, insect farming generates minimal waste, as insects can consume food and biomass that would otherwise go to waste, contributing to a circular economy that promotes resource recycling and reuse. Insects can be fed with agricultural waste, such as unused plant stems and food scraps. Additionally, the excrement produced by insects can be used as fertilizer for crops, completing the circular chain. Despite the undeniable sustainability and nutritional benefits of consuming insects, widespread acceptance of incorporating insects into our daily diets still has a long way to go. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the nutritional value of edible insects, the development of farming and processing technologies, and the problems faced in the marketing of edible insect products and insect foods to improve the reference for how people choose edible insects.

A novel interlaminar elastic screw spacer technique was designed to maintain lumbar mobility in treating lumbar degenerative diseases. A validated finite element model of L4/5 was used to establish an ISES-1/2 model and an ISES-1/3 model based on different insertion points, a unilateral fixation model and a bilateral fixed model based on different fixation methods, and a Coflex-F model based on different implants. The elastic rods were used to fix screws. Under the same mechanical conditions, we compared the biomechanical characteristics to investigate the optimal entry point for ISES technology, demonstrate the effectiveness of unilateral fixation, and validate the feasibility of the ISES technique. Compared to ISES-1/3, the ISES-1/2 model had lower intradiscal pressure, facet cartilage stress, and posterior structural stress. Compared to the ISES-BF model, the ISES-UF model had lower intervertebral pressure, larger mobility, and smaller stress on the posterior structures. The ISES model had a similar intervertebral pressure and limitation of extension as the Coflex-F model. The ISES model retained greater mobility and reduced the stress on the facet cartilage and posterior structure compared with the Coflex-F model. Our study suggests that the ISES technique is a promising treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases, especially those with osteoporosis.

Hizikia fusiforme has a long history of consumption and medicinal use in China. It has been found that natural plants containing polyphenol–polysaccharide complexes have better activity compared with polyphenols and polysaccharides. Therefore, in this study on enzymatic hydrolysis and fractional alcohol precipitation, two kinds of polyphenol–polysaccharide complexes (PPC), PPC1 and PPC2, were initially obtained from Hizikia fusiforme, while the dephenolization of PPC1 and PPC2 produced PPC3 and PPC4. Through in vitro assays, PPC2 and PPC4 were found to have higher antioxidant activity, and thus were selected for testing the PPCs’ anti-aging activity in a subsequent in vivo experiment with D-gal-induced aging in mice. The results indicated that PPCs could regulate the expressions of antioxidant enzymes and products of oxidation, elevate the expressions of genes and proteins related to the Nrf2 pathway in the mouse brain, enrich the gut microbiota species and increase the Bacteroidota–Firmicute (B/F) ratio. Above all, the Hizikia fusiforme polyphenol–polysaccharide complex has potential in the development of natural anti-aging drugs.

Chitooligosaccharides (COS), a high-value chitosan derivative, have many applications in food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and agriculture owing to their unique biological activities. Chitosanase, which catalyzes the hydrolysis of chitosan, can cleave β-1,4 linkages to produce COS. In this study, a chitosanase-producing Bacillus paramycoides BP-N07 was isolated from marine mud samples. The chitosanase enzyme (BpCSN) activity was 2648.66 ± 20.45 U/mL at 52 h and was able to effectively degrade chitosan. The molecular weight of purified BpCSN was approximately 37 kDa. The yield and enzyme activity of BpCSN were 0.41 mg/mL and 8133.17 ± 47.83 U/mg, respectively. The optimum temperature and pH of BpCSN were 50 °C and 6.0, respectively. The results of the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and thin-layer chromatography (TLC) of chitosan treated with BpCSN for 3 h showed that it is an endo-chitosanase, and the main degradation products were chitobiose, chitotriose and chitotetraose. BpCSN was used for the preparation of oligosaccharides: 1.0 mg enzyme converted 10.0 g chitosan with 2% acetic acid into oligosaccharides in 3 h at 50 °C. In summary, this paper reports that BpCSN has wide adaptability to temperature and pH and high activity for hydrolyzing chitosan substrates. Thus, BpCSN is a chitosan decomposer that can be used for producing chitooligosaccharides industrially.

Curved structures are used in many engineering applications. Temperature affects the performance of structural vibration and acoustics and can damage the equipment when its effects are severe. A theoretical model of the sound transmission loss (STL) of a simply supported curved plate considering the effect of temperature was established. Moreover, a numerical solution was obtained using the modal superposition method. The finite element results were compared to validate the theoretical model. The effects of temperature and acoustic loading on the modal frequency and STL were considered, and the variation laws of the radius of curvature, opening angle, and loss factor on the STL were analyzed. The results showed that the modal frequency increased with decreasing temperature, the frequency ratio of the same-order modal frequency varied approximately linearly with temperature, and the trough of the STL shifted toward high frequencies. The pitch angle substantially influenced the STL, whereas the azimuth angle was negligible. A larger radius increased the effect of temperature. In addition, an increase in the opening angle formed an aggregation of STL at (1, 1)-order modal frequencies. The loss factor affects only the amplitude of the trough position of the STL. Therefore, the proposed theoretical model can aid in the vibroacoustic design of curved plates in a thermal environment.

Ascophyllum nodosum, a brown algae abundantly found along the North Atlantic coast, is recognized for its high polysaccharide content. In this study, we investigated the anti-hyperlipidemic effect of fucoidans derived from A. nodosum, aiming to provide information for their potential application in anti-hyperlipidemic therapies and to explore comprehensive utilization of this Iceland brown seaweed. The crude fucoidan prepared from A. nodosum was separated using a diethylethanolamine column, resulting in two fucoidan fractions, AFC-1 and AFC-2. Both fractions were predominantly composed of fucose and xylose. AFC-1 exhibited a higher sulfate content of 27.8% compared to AFC-2 with 17.0%. AFC-2 was primarily sulfated at the hydroxy group of C2, whereas AFC-1 was sulfated at both the hydroxy groups of C2 and C4. To evaluate the anti-hyperlipidemic effect, a hyperlipidemia mouse model was established by feeding mice a high-fat diet. The effects of AFC-1, AFC-2, and the crude extract were investigated, with the drug atorvastatin used as a positive comparison. Among the different fucoidan fractions and doses, the high dose of AFC-2 administration demonstrated the most significant anti-hyperlipidemic effect across various aspects, including physiological parameters, blood glucose levels, lipid profile, histological analysis, and the activities of oxidative stress-related enzymes and lipoprotein-metabolism-related enzymes (p < 0.05 for the final body weight and p < 0.01 for the rest indicators, compared with the model group), and its effect is comparable to the atorvastatin administration. Furthermore, fucoidan administration resulted in a lower degree of loss in gut flora diversity compared to atorvastatin administration. These findings highlight the significant biomedical potential of fucoidans derived from A. nodosum as a promising therapeutic solution for hypolipidemia.

Fucoidanase is an unstable enzyme with high specificity that requires a large about of time to screen it from microorganisms. In this study, enzymatic hydrolysis was used to produce low-molecular-weight fucoidan from microorganisms via the degradation of high-molecular-weight fucoidan without damage to the sulfate esterification structure of oligosaccharide. The microbial strain HN-25 was isolated from sea mud and was made to undergo mutagenicity under ultraviolet light. Fucoidanase was extracted via ultrasonication and its enzymatic activity was improved via optimization of the ultrasonic conditions. The enzymatic properties and degradation efficiency of fucoidanase were characterized. The microbial strain HN-25 is a Gram-negative aerobic and rod-shaped-cell bacterium, and therefore was identified as Cobetia amphilecti via 16s rDNA. The results proved that fucoidanase is a hydrolytic enzyme with a molecular weight of 35 kDa and with high activity and stability at 30 °C and pH 8.0. The activity of fucoidanase was significantly enhanced by sodium and calcium ions and inhibited by a copper ion and ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA). There was a significant decrease in the molecular weight of fucoidan after enzymatic hydrolysis. The low-molecular-weight fuicodan was divided into four fractions, mainly concentrated at F3 (20~10 kDa) and F4 (≤6 kDa). These consequences suggest that fucoidanase obtained from Cobetia amphilecti is stable and efficient and could be a good tool in the production of bioactive compounds.

Northern Shaanxi is important in understanding the ancient use and northward spread of foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum). Nonetheless, due to the lack of millet remains, AMS radiocarbon data, and environmental background, the emergence, crop structure, and environmental factors of millet use in northern Shaanxi remain ambiguous. To address this knowledge gap, a systematic survey was conducted along the Beiluo River. Forty-two relic units at 19 Neolithic sites were selected for analysis through phytolith, AMS radiocarbon dating, and spatio-temporal approaches. Phytolith and AMS radiocarbon dating analyses traced the utilization of millets in the Beiluo River to 6280 cal. BP. In addition, broomcorn millet was more prevalent than foxtail millet during the Neolithic period, although the prevalence of the latter increased during the late Longshan period. Spatio-temporal analysis demonstrated that millets initially appeared in the Beiluo River during the Yangshao period, gradually moving away during the Longshan period, which was probably first related to the nearest rivers and then the spread of cattle and sheep. However, the millet cultivation altitude remained at 1400 m throughout the Yangshao and Longshan periods. Collectively, these findings provide evidence for the use and northward spread of millets in northwest China.

Derived from Landsat imagery and capable of enhancing the contrast between surface water bodies and the background, water indices are widely used in surface water body extraction. Whether one index and its optimal threshold can maintain the best all year round is a question. At present, however, little research has considered the effect of time or conducted experiments with data from different months. To identify the best index for surface water body extraction, two regions in Jilin Province were selected for the case study and a comprehensive comparative analysis considering the imagery acquisition time was conducted. Ten water indices were selected and calculated based on the 30 m spatial resolution Landsat TM/OLI imagery acquired in 1999 and 2001 and 2019 and 2021 from May to October. The indices included the Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI3 and MNDWI), Automated Water Extraction Index (AWEI) for images with and without shadow, Multi-Band Water Index (MBWI), New Water Index (NWI), Water Ratio Index (WRI), Sentinel-2 Water Index (SWI) originally calculated based on the Sentinel-2 imagery, New Comprehensive Water Index (NCIWI), Index of Water Surfaces (IWS), and Enhanced Water Index (EWI). The OTSU algorism was adopted to adaptively determine the optimal segmentation threshold for each index and the indices were compared in terms of inter-class separability, threshold sensitivity, optimal threshold robustness, and water extraction accuracy. The result showed that NWI and EWI performed the best in different months and years, with the best water enhancement effect that could suppress background information, especially for the water-related land use types and cloud pollution. Their optimal segmentation thresholds throughout the study period were more stable than others, with the ranges of −0.342 to −0.038 and −0.539 to −0.223, respectively. Based on the optimal thresholds, they achieved overall accuracies of 0.952 to 0.981 and 0.964 to 0.981, commission errors of 0 to 28.2% and 0 to 7.7%, and omission errors of 0 to 15% and 0 to 8%, with a kappa coefficient above 0.8 indicating good extraction results. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of NWI and EWI combined with the OTSU algorithm in better monitoring surface water during different water periods and offering reliable results. Even though this study only focuses on the lakes within two regions, the indices have the potential for accurately monitoring the surface water over other regions.

Enterococcus faecium FUA027 transforms ellagic acid (EA) to urolithin A (UA), which makes it a potential application in the preparation of UA by industrial fermentation. Here, the genetic and probiotic characteristics of E. faecium FUA027 were evaluated through whole-genome sequence analysis and phenotypic assays. The chromosome size of this strain was 2,718,096 bp, with a GC content of 38.27%. The whole-genome analysis revealed that the genome contained 18 antibiotic resistance genes and seven putative virulence factor genes. E. faecium FUA027 does not contain plasmids and mobile genetic elements (MGEs), and so the transmissibility of antibiotic resistance genes or putative virulence factors should not occur. Phenotypic testing further indicated that E. faecium FUA027 is sensitive to clinically relevant antibiotics. In addition, this bacterium exhibited no hemolytic activity, no biogenic amine production, and could significantly inhibit the growth of the quality control strain. In vitro viability was >60% in all simulated gastrointestinal environments, with good antioxidant activity. The study results suggest that E. faecium FUA027 has the potential to be used in industrial fermentation for the production of urolithin A.

Pain involves both sensory and affective elements. An aspect of the affective dimension of pain is its sustained unpleasantness, characterized by emotional feelings. Pain results from interactions between memory, attentional, and affective brain circuitry, and it has attracted enormous interest in pain research. However, the brain targets and signaling mechanism involved in pain remain elusive. Using a conditioned place avoidance (CPA) paradigm, we show that colorectal distention (CRD magnitude ≤ 35 mmHg, a subthreshold for pain) paired with a distinct environment can cause significant aversion to a location associated with pain-related insults in rats. We show a substantial increase in the L-lactate concentration in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) following CPA training. Local exogenous infusion of lactate into the ACC enhances aversive memory and induces the expression of the memory-related plasticity genes pCREB, CREB, and Erk1/2. The pharmacological experiments revealed that the glycogen phosphorylation inhibitor 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-D-arabinitol (DAB) impairs memory consolidation. Furthermore, short-term Gi pathway activation of ACC astrocytes before CPA training significantly decreases the lactate level and suppresses pain-related aversive learning. The effects were reversed by the local infusion of lactate into the ACC. Our study demonstrates that lactate is released from astrocytes in vivo following visceral pain-related aversive learning and memory retrieval and induces the expression of the plasticity-related immediate early genes CREB, pCREB, and Erk1/2 in the ACC. Chronic visceral pain is an important factor in the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The current study provides evidence that astrocytic activity in the ACC is required for visceral pain-related aversive learning and memory.

Spliced X-box binding protein-1 (XBP1s) is a protein that belongs to the cAMP-response element-binding (CREB)/activating transcription factor (ATF) b-ZIP family with a basic-region leucine zipper (bZIP). There is mounting evidence to suggest that XBP1s performs a critical function in a range of different cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), indicating that it is necessary to gain a comprehensive knowledge of the processes involved in XBP1s in various disorders to make progress in research and clinical therapy. In this research, we provide a summary of the functions that XBP1s performs in the onset and advancement of CVDs such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, cardiac hypertrophy, and heart failure. Furthermore, we discuss XBP1s as a novel therapeutic target for CVDs.

Existing fractured gas reservoir development techniques are mainly based on dual medium numerical-simulation models, which can, to a certain extent, effectively simulate natural fractures with high fracture density; however, these models have some limitations, particularly in terms of simulating the fracture morphology and distribution. Considering carbonate gas reservoirs with complex fractures, in this paper, we establish a numerical-simulation model of embedded discrete-fracture seepage in horizontal wells of carbonate gas reservoirs, in order to compare and study the development effect of carbonate gas reservoirs under different horizontal well fracture parameters. The fracture distribution and structure in carbonate gas reservoirs is obtained using an ant-tracking approach based on 3D seismic bodies, and a numerical-simulation model based on the embedded discrete-fractures model is solved using the open-source program MRST. We considered the following parameters: half fracture length, fracture permeability, and horizontal segment length. By changing the fracture parameters of horizontal wells and comparing the gas-production trends, technical optimization in gas reservoir development can be realized. The results show that the embedded discrete-fracture model can effectively solve the difficult problem of characterizing fluid seepage in fractures of different scale in carbonate gas reservoirs. Although gas production increases with increasing fracture length, fracture conductivity, horizontal section length, and natural fracture conductivity, the contributions of these parameters to gas well production capacity are greatly influenced by the natural fractures.

Urolithin A, a metabolite of ellagic acid, has many beneficial biological activities for people. Strains capable of producing urolithin A from ellagic acid have the hope of becoming the next-generation probiotics. However, only a few species of these strains have been reported. In this study, FUA329, a strain capable of converting ellagic acid to urolithin A in vitro, was isolated from the breast milk of healthy Chinese women. The results of morphological observation, physiological and biochemical tests, and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis confirmed that the strain FUA329 was Streptococcus thermophilus. In addition, the S. thermophilus FUA329 growth phase is consistent with the degradation of ellagic acid, and urolithin A was produced in the stationary phase, with a maximum concentration of 7.38 μM at 50 h. The corresponding conversion efficiency of urolithin A from ellagic acid was 82%. In summary, S. thermophilus FUA329, a novel urolithin A-producing bacterium, would be useful for the industrial production of urolithin A and may be developed as a next-generation probiotic.

Transcription factors (TFs) can regulate the synthesis of secondary metabolites through different metabolic pathways in Aureobasidium spp. In this study, a set of 16 superfamilies, 45 PFAM families of TFs with the DNA-binding domains, seven zinc finger families and eight categories of the C2H2 TFs have been identified in Aureobasidium spp. Among all the identified TFs, four superfamilies and six PFAM families are the fungal-specific types in this lineage. The Zn2Cys6 and fungal-specific domain regulators are found to be overwhelmingly predominated, while the C2H2 zinc finger class comprises a smaller regulator class. Since there are currently no databases that allow for easy exploration of the TFs in Aureobasidium spp., based on over 50 references and 2405 homologous TFs, the first TFs pipeline—the Aureobasidium Transcription Factor Database (ATFDB)—has been developed to accelerate the identification of metabolic regulation in various Aureobasidium species. It would be useful to investigate the mechanisms behind the wide adaptability and metabolite diversity of Aureobasidium spp.

The deficiency or wrong combination of metal ions in Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD1), is regarded as one of the main factors causing the aggregation of SOD1 and then inducing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A ligands-targets screening process based on native electrospray ionization ion mobility mass spectrometry (ESI-IMS-MS) was established in this study. Four glycosides including daidzin, sophoricoside, glycitin, and genistin were screened out from seven soybean isoflavone compounds and were found to interact with zinc-deficient or metal-free SOD1. The structure and conformation stability of metal-free and zinc-deficient SOD1 and their complexes with the four glycosides was investigated by collision-induced dissociation (CID) and collision-induced unfolding (CIU). The four glycosides could strongly bind to the metal-free and copper recombined SOD1 and enhance the folding stability of these proteins. Additionally, the ThT fluorescence assay showed that these glycosides could inhibit the toxic aggregation of the zinc-deficient or metal-free SOD1. The competitive interaction experiments together with molecular docking indicate that glycitin, which showed the best stabilizing effects, binds with SOD1 between β-sheet 6 and loop IV. In short, this study provides good insight into the relationship between inhibitors and different SOD1s.

The post-assessment of highway atmospheric environmental impacts was limited by the traditional air pollution prediction model, which cannot adapt to complex terrain and complex obstacle scenes. The traditional model has a single evaluation index, which cannot accurately evaluate and predict the transient and long-term emissions of various pollutants. Based on the computational fluid dynamics model, this work establishes a post-assessment method of the atmospheric environment impact of the Beijing–Chengde Expressway construction project. The main pollution factors NOx and CO of highway traffic for transmission and diffusion simulation analysis were selected. The influence law of traffic function, environmental impact, meteorological conditions, and landform on the diffusion of pollution factors in complex tunnel sections were analyzed. It concludes that the pollution within 200 m along the expressway is severe and mainly concentrated in the tunnel entrance and gully area. The NOx concentration is generally higher than CO. The environmental quality is not up to standard and has a diffusion trend with increased traffic flow, operation time, wind speed, wind temperature, and wind direction frequency. The research results can provide theoretical guidance and technical support for the scientific post-assessment of highway environmental impact under complex conditions.

Dietary polyphenol ellagic acid has anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory activities, and these biological activities require the conversion of ellagic acid to urolithins by intestinal microbes. However, few gut microbes are capable of metabolizing ellagic acid to produce urolithins, limiting the beneficial effects of ellagic acid on health. Here, we describe an intestinal bacterium Lactococcus garvieae FUA009 isolated from the feces of a healthy volunteer. It was demonstrated via HPLC and UPLC-MS analysis that the end product of ellagic acid metabolism of FUA009 was urolithin A. In addition, we also examined the whole genome sequence of FUA009 and then assessed the safety and probiotic properties of FUA009 based on a complete genome and phenotype analysis. We indicated that FUA009 was safe, which was confirmed by FUA009 being sensitive to multiple antibiotics, having no hemolytic activity, and being free of aggressive putative virulence factors. Moreover, 19 stress-responsive protein genes and 8 adhesion-related genes were predicted in the FUA009 genome. Furthermore, we demonstrated that FUA009 was tolerant to acid and bile salt by determining the cell viability in a stress environment. In summary, Lactococcus garvieae FUA009, as a novel UA-producing bacterium, not only contributes to the study of the metabolic pathway of ellagic acid but is also expected to be a novel probiotic candidate.

Spatial differentiation of the net primary productivity (NPP) of vegetation is an important factor in the ecological protection and restoration of mining areas. However, most studies have focused on climatic productivity constraints and rarely considered the effects of soil properties and mining activities. Thus, the impact of the forces driving NPP in mining areas on spatial location remains unclear. Taking the Changhe Basin mining area as an example, we used the Carnegie–Ames–Stanford approach (CASA) model to estimate NPP and quantified the impact of climate, soil properties, and mining activities based on factorial experiments. Our results indicate that the average NPP in the Changhe Basin mining area was 290.13 gC/(m2·yr), and the NPP in the western Changhe Basin, an intensive coal mining area, was significantly lower than that in the east. The correlations between each driver and NPP varied by location, with mean annual temperature and precipitation, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and land degradation showing strong correlations. The relative importance of climate, soil properties, and mining activities on the spatial variability of NPP was 38.97%, 31.50%, and 29.53%, respectively. Furthermore, 70.72% of the NPP variability in mining areas was controlled by the coupled effects of climate and soil properties (CS + SC) or climate and mining activities (CM + MC). Meanwhile, The NPP in the western Changhe Basin mining area was mainly controlled by mining activities (M) or climate and mining activities (CM), while that in the east was mainly controlled by soil properties and climate (CS). Overall, our study extends the knowledge regarding the impacts of driving forces on spatial variation of NPP in mining areas and provides a reference point for forming strategies and practices of ecological restoration and land reclamation in different spatial locations in mining areas.

Chitosan is a functional ingredient that is widely used in food chemistry as an emulsifier, flocculant, antioxidant, or preservative. Chitin deacetylases (CDAs) can catalyze the hydrolysis of acetyl groups, making them useful in the clean production of chitosan. However, the high inactivity of crystalline chitin catalyzed by CDAs has been regarded as the technical bottleneck of crystalline chitin deacetylation. Here, we mined the AsCDA gene from the genome of Acinetobacter schindleri MCDA01 and identified a member of the uraD_N-term-dom superfamily, which was a novel chitin deacetylase with the highest deacetylation activity. The AsCDA gene was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 by IPTG induction, whose activity to colloidal chitin, α-chitin, and β-chitin reached 478.96 U/mg, 397.07 U/mg, and 133.27 U/mg, respectively. In 12 h, the enzymatic hydrolysis of AsCDA removed 63.05% of the acetyl groups from α-chitin to prepare industrial chitosan with a degree of deacetylation higher than 85%. AsCDA, as a potent chitin decomposer in the production of chitosan, plays a positive role in the upgrading of the chitosan industry and the value-added utilization of chitin biological resources.

Plantago asiatica L. (PAL) as a medicinal and edible plant is rich in chemical compounds, which makes the systematic and comprehensive characterization of its components challenging. In this study, an integrated strategy based on three-dimensional separation including AB-8 macroporous resin column chromatography, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF MS), and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry with ion-mobility spectrometry (UHPLC-IM-MS) was established and used to separate and identify the structures of compounds from PAL. The extracts of PAL were firstly separated into three parts by AB-8 macroporous resin and further separated and identified by UHPLC-Q-TOF MS and UHPLC-IM-MS, respectively. Additionally, UHPLC-IM-MS was used to identify isomers and coeluting compounds, so that the product ions appearing at the same retention time (RT)can clearly distinguish where the parent ion belongs by their different drift times. UNIFI software was used for data processing and structure identification. A total of 86 compounds, including triterpenes, iridoids, phenylethanoid glycosides, guanidine derivatives, organic acids, and fatty acids, were identified by using MS information and fragment ion information provided by UHPLC-Q-TOF MS and UHPLC-IM-MS. In particular, a pair of isoforms of plantagoside from PAL were detected and identified by UHPLC-IM-MS combined with the theoretical calculation method for the first time. In conclusion, the AB-8 macroporous resin column chromatography can separate the main compounds of PAL and enrich the trace compounds. Combining UHPLC-IM-MS and UHPLC-Q-TOF MS can obtain not only more fragments but also their unique drift times and RT, which is more conducive to the identification of complex systems, especially isomers. This proposed strategy can provide an effective method to separate and identify chemical components, and distinguish isomers in the complex system of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

Crocins are highly valuable natural compounds for treating human disorders, and they are also high-end spices and colorants in the food industry. Due to the limitation of obtaining this type of highly polar compound, the commercial prices of crocins I and II are expensive. In this study, macroporous resin column chromatography combined with high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was used to purify crocins I and II from natural sources. With only two chromatographic steps, both compounds were simultaneously isolated from the dry fruit of Gardenia jasminoides, which is a cheap herbal medicine distributed in a number of countries. In an effort to shorten the isolation time and reduce solvent usage, forward and reverse rotations were successively utilized in the HSCCC isolation procedure. Crocins I and II were simultaneously obtained from a herbal resource with high recoveries of 0.5% and 0.1%, respectively, and high purities of 98.7% and 99.1%, respectively, by HPLC analysis. The optimized preparation method was proven to be highly efficient, convenient, and cost-effective. Crocins I and II exhibited inhibitory activity against ATP citrate lyase, and their IC50 values were determined to be 36.3 ± 6.24 and 29.7 ± 7.41 μM, respectively.

Underwater noise produced by rainfall is an important component of underwater ambient noise. For example, the existence of rainfall noise causes strong disturbances to sonar performance. The underwater noise produced by a single raindrop is the basis of rainfall noise. Therefore, it is necessary to study the associated underwater noise when drops strike the water surface. Previous research focused primarily on the sound pressure and frequency spectrum of underwater noise from single raindrops, but the study on its sound energy is insufficient. The purpose of this paper is to propose a method for predicting the acoustic energy generated by raindrops of any diameter. Here, a formula was derived to calculate the underwater sound energy radiated by single raindrops based on a dipole radiation pattern. A series of experiments were conducted to measure the underwater sound energy in a 15 m × 9 m × 6 m reverberation tank filled with tap water. The analysis of the acoustic energy characteristics and conversion efficiency from kinetic to acoustic energy helped develop the model to predict the average underwater sound energy radiated by single raindrops. Using this model, the total underwater sound energy of all raindrops during a rainfall event can be predicted based on the drop size distribution.

Heart diseases are in the front rank among several kinds of life threats, due to its high incidence and mortality. Regarded as a powerful tool in the diagnosis of the cardiac disorder and arrhythmia detection, analysis of electrocardiogram (ECG) signals has become the focus of numerous researches. In this study, a feature extraction method based on the bispectrum and 2D graph Fourier transform (GFT) was developed. High-order matrix founded on bispectrum are extended into structured datasets and transformed into the eigenvalue spectrum domain by GFT, so that features can be extracted from statistical quantities of eigenvalues. Spectral features have been computed to construct the feature vector. Support vector machine based on the radial basis function kernel (SVM-RBF) was used to classify different arrhythmia heartbeats downloaded from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Beth Israel Hospital (MIT-BIH) Arrhythmia Database, according to the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) standard. Based on the cross-validation method, the experimental results depicted that our proposed model, the combination of bispectrum and 2D-GFT, achieved a high classification accuracy of 96.2%.

Waste concrete must be crushed, screened, and ground in order to produce high-quality recycled aggregate. In this treatment process, 15−30% waste concrete powder (

Based on the natural isoprenyl phenyl ether from a mangrove-derived fungus, 32 analogues were synthesized and evaluated for inhibitory activity against influenza H1N1 neuraminidase. Compound 15 (3-(allyloxy)-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde) exhibited the most potent inhibitory activity, with IC50 values of 26.96 μM for A/GuangdongSB/01/2009 (H1N1), 27.73 μM for A/Guangdong/03/2009 (H1N1), and 25.13 μM for A/Guangdong/05/2009 (H1N1), respectively, which is stronger than the benzoic acid derivatives (~mM level). These are a new kind of non-nitrogenous aromatic ether Neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors. Their structures are simple and the synthesis routes are not complex. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis revealed that the aryl aldehyde and unsubstituted hydroxyl were important to NA inhibitory activities. Molecular docking studies were carried out to explain the SAR of the compounds, and provided valuable information for further structure modification.

The development of biomaterials with the potential to accelerate wound healing is a great challenge in biomedicine. In this study, four types of samples including pepsin soluble collagen sponge (PCS), acid soluble collagen sponge (ACS), bovine collagen electrospun I (BCE I) and bovine collagen electrospun II (BCE II) were used as wound dressing materials. We showed that the PCS, ACS, BCE I and BCE II treated rats increased the percentage of wound contraction, reduced the inflammatory infiltration, and accelerated the epithelization and healing. PCS, ACS, BCE I, and BCE II significantly enhanced the total protein and hydroxyproline level in rats. ACS could induce more fibroblasts proliferation and differentiation than PCS, however, both PCS and ACS had a lower effect than BCE I and BCE II. PCS, ACS, BCE I, and BCE II could regulate deposition of collagen, which led to excellent alignment in the wound healing process. There were similar effects on inducing the level of cytokines including EGF, FGF, and vascular endothelial marker CD31 among these four groups. Accordingly, this study disclosed that collagens (PCS and ACS) from tilapia skin and bovine collagen electrospun (BCE I and BCE II) have significant bioactivity and could accelerate wound healing rapidly and effectively in rat model.

Natural gas hydrate (NGH) is a potential type of clean and efficient energy that is widely distributed in the ocean and permafrost, and most of the present researches are mainly focused on finding out efficient exploitation methods. Taking the effects of natural gas productivity and extraction time into account, one of the exploitation methods that are most commonly investigated is depressurization combined with thermal stimulation. However, few studies considered the effect of different mining methods on NGH production in vertical wells, especially aiming at the in-situ electric heating without mass injection and the comparison of production efficiency in different modes. Considering the current research status, four exploitation methods which are pure depressurization (PD), pure heating (PH), simultaneous depressurization combined with electric heating (SDH) and huff and puff (H&P) were carried out in this paper to study the influences of different production methods on NGH exploitation in a vertical well. Some parameters such as gas production (VP), water production (CP) and the energy efficiency (η) were investigated to evaluate the production performance of these methods. The results suggest that the temperature in the reactor is affected by the exploitation methods as well as the water production during exploitation. For PD, although it has no extra energy consumption, the longest production period is seen in it due to the insufficient pressure driving force. On the contrary, the NGH cannot be completely exploited only triggered by heating driving force with PH method. So there is a limited decomposition effect with it. Taking the gas production time, the VP, and the NGH dissociation rate into account, the production effects of SDH are more beneficial than other methods as the dual decomposition driving force was adopted in it. Furthermore, a reasonable heating power can result in a better production performance. On the other hand, promoted by pressure difference and discontinuous heating, H&P shows its obvious advantage in shortening production duration and improving energy efficiency, which is therefore believed to have the best commercial exploitation value among the four methods.

This paper discusses the effect of basketweave microstructure on the very high cycle fatigue behavior of TC21 titanium alloy. Ultrasonic fatigue tests at 20 kHz are done on a very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) property of the alloys with 60 μm and 40 μm basketweave size, respectively. Results show that the alloys illustrate step-wise S-N characteristics over the 105–109 cycle regimes and that fatigue fracture in both of the alloys occur beyond the conventional fatigue limit of 107 cycles. Subsurface crack initiation occurs at low stress amplitude. A fine granular area (FGA) is observed along the α lamella at the subsurface crack initiation site. The mechanism for the subsurface crack initiation is revealed using layer-by-layer-polishing, due to the micro-voids that are introduced at the granular α phase. The colony of α lamella is due to the local stress concentrated between them under the cyclic load. The stress intensity factor range at the FGA front is regarded as the threshold value controlling the internal crack propagation. Furthermore, the effect of the baseketweave size on the very high cycle fatigue limits of the TC21 titanium alloy is evaluated based on the Murakami model, which is consistent with the experimental results. The fatigue life of TC21 titanium alloy is well predicted using the energy-based crack nucleation life model.

To improve the transdermal bioavailability and safety of alendronate (ALN), a nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate, we developed self-dissolving microneedle arrays (MNs), in which ALN is loaded only at the tip portion of micron-scale needles by a dip-coating method (ALN(TIP)–MN). We observed micron-scale pores in rat skin just after application of ALN(TIP)–MN, indicating that transdermal pathways for ALN were created by MN. ALN was rapidly released from the tip of MNs as observed in an in vitro release study. The tip portions of MNs completely dissolved in the rat skin within 5 min after application in vivo. After application of ALN(TIP)–MN in mice, the plasma concentration of ALN rapidly increased, and the bioavailability of ALN was approximately 96%. In addition, the decrease in growth plate was effectively suppressed by this efficient delivery of ALN in a rat model of osteoporosis. Furthermore, no skin irritation was observed after application of ALN(TIP)–MN and subcutaneous injection of ALN, while mild skin irritation was induced by whole-ALN-loaded MN (ALN–MN)—in which ALN is contained in the whole of the micron-scale needles fabricated from hyaluronic acid—and intradermal injection of ALN. These findings indicate that ALN(TIP)–MN is a promising transdermal formulation for the treatment of osteoporosis without skin irritation.

Micro- and nanobubbles (MNBs) are potentially useful for industrial applications such as the purification of wastewater and the promotion of physiological activities of living organisms. To develop such applications, we should understand their properties and behavior, such as their lifetime and their number density in solution. In the present study, we observed oxygen MNBs distributed in an electrolyte (NaCl) solution using a transmission electron microscope to analyze samples made with the freeze-fracture replica method. We found that MNBs in a 100 mM NaCl solution remain for at least 1 week, but at higher concentrations decay more quickly. To better understand their lifetimes, we compared measurements of the solution's dissolved oxygen concentration and the ζ-potential of the MNBs. Our detailed observations of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images allows us to conclude that low concentrations of NaCl stabilize MNBs due to the ion shielding effect. However, higher concentrations accelerate their disappearance by reducing the repulsive force between MNBs.