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AbstractPhenolic acids are natural compounds with potential therapeutic effects against various diseases. However, their incorporation into food and pharmaceutical products is limited by challenges such as instability, low solubility, and reduced bioavailability. This systematic review summarizes recent advances in phenolic acid encapsulation using food-grade carrier systems, focusing on proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides. Encapsulation efficiency, release behavior, and bioavailability are examined, as well as the potential health benefits of encapsulated phenolic acids in food products. Strategies to address limitations of current encapsulation systems are also proposed. Encapsulation has emerged as a promising method to enhance the stability and bioavailability of phenolic acids in food products, and various encapsulation technologies have been developed for this purpose. The use of proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates as carriers in food-grade encapsulation systems remains a common approach, but it is associated with certain limitations. Future research on phenolic acid encapsulation should focus on developing environmentally friendly, organic solvent-free, low-energy, scalable, and stable encapsulation systems, as well as co-encapsulation methods that combine multiple phenolic acids or phenolic acids with other bioactive substances to produce synergistic effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cholinergic system is very important for many higher brain functions, including learning and memory. Cholinergic neurons, especially those in the basal forebrain, are specifically susceptible in some neurodegenerative diseases, such as in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Here, we studied the cholinergic system lesion effects of five familial AD mutations in 5XFAD mice, a transgenic mouse model of AD. Although the cholinergic system has been studied in this mouse model, the cholinergic deficits in AD mice have never been systematically mapped in a whole-brain three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction. Using the 3D reconstruction technology combined with immunohistochemistry (3D-IHC) and design-based stereology, we comprehensively compared the differences of the cholinergic neurons and fibers between the 5XFAD mice and C57BL/6 control mice at different age. Here, we found that the lesion of cholinergic fibers occurred earlier than the cholinergic neuron loss in 5XFAD mice. The cholinergic fiber lesions in the AD mice started sequentially in amygdala, cortex, hippocampus, and then basal forebrain. However, the basal forebrain was the first brain region observed with cholinergic neuron loss at the age of 9 months in 5XFAD mice, whereas such phenomenon first occurred at the age of 15 months in C57BL/6 control mice. Moreover, using 3D reconstruction to compare the lesion of cholinergic system of aged 5XFAD and C57BL/6 control mice, it is intuitive to notice the pathologic regions and severity of lesion. Therefore, the 3D-IHC provides detailed overview of the cholinergic neurons in the whole mouse brain, which will contribute to the study of the developing and pathologic mouse brain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chondroitin sulfate (CS) was modified on a polyamidoamine dendrimer (PAMAM) through Michael addition to construct a tumor-targeted carrier CS-PAMAM for miR-34a delivery. The derivative CS-PAMAM was demonstrated to achieve an efficient cellular uptake of miR-34a in a CD44-dependent endocytosis way and further facilitate the endosomal escape of miR-34a after 4 h. Through the miR-34a delivery, obvious inhibition of cell proliferation could be detected which was attributed to the enhancement of cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, and meanwhile the cell migration and invasion has been observed to be inhibited. Finally, the intravenous injection of CS-PAMAM/miR-34a formulation into mice bearing human lung adenocarcinoma cell A549 xenografts could efficiently inhibit the tumor growth and induce the tumor apoptosis owing to the enhanced accumulation of miR-34a in tumor tissue. Overall, CS-PAMAM is potential to be used as a tumor-targeted oligonucleotide carrier for achieving tumor gene therapy. Statement of Significance The cationic dendrimer PAMAM was modified by chondroitin sulfate (CS) through Michael addition to construct a tumor-targeted carrier CS-PAMAM for miR-34a delivery. The introduction of CS could achieve an efficient cellular uptake and intracellular transfection of miR-34a in a CD44-dependent endocytosis manner. The miR-34a delivery could execute the anti -proliferation activity by simultaneously inducing cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, and also the anti -migration activity. The CS-PAMAM-mediated systemic delivery of miR-34a showed significant inhibition of tumor growth and induction of tumor apoptosis using a mice model of subcutaneously implanted tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An extension of the transferable potentials for phase equilibria united-atom (TraPPE-UA) force field to N -Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) is proposed in this work. The extensional force field can accurately predict the saturated liquid densities, vapor pressures, normal boiling point, heats of vaporization and critical properties of NMP. Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo (GEMC) simulations are carried out to calculate the isobaric vapor–liquid equilibria for the binary mixtures of benzene + NMP, thiophene + NMP and their ternary mixture at 101.3 kPa. All of these simulation results are in good accordance with the available experimental data without introducing additional binary interaction parameters. In order to study the mechanism of extracting thiophene from benzene by NMP, NPT Monte Carlo simulations are performed to have obtained the radial distribution functions for the ternary liquid mixture benzene + thiophene + NMP. The results show that the oxygen atom of NMP forms stronger hydrogen bond with the hydrogen atom of thiophene than with that of benzene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The liquid phase acylation of 2-methylfuran with acetic anhydride over modified Hβ zeolite was first conducted in a continuous flow reactor. The deactivation of Hβ zeolites was attributed to strong adsorption of reactants or products and was verified by GC-MS and C MAS NMR. Deactivated zeolites can be regenerated to their original state by calcination. The acidic properties was adjusted by surface modification on Hβ, the maximum yield of 89.5 mol% and selectivity of 100 % were obtained over tartaric acid modified by Hβ. The deposition of tetraethoxysilane to silica on Hβ contributed to enhancing the catalytic stability. Combined with the results of NH-TPD and Py-FTIR, the amount of Broensted acids played a major role on catalytic activity. A close relationship between the catalytic stability and the ratio of the amount of strong to weak acids at 1:1 was highlighted here. The solvents' effect on the catalytic performances was examined, and 1,2-dichloroethane with moderate polarity exerted a positive effect on catalytic stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selection and design of an optimal solvent for extractive distillation require reliable vapour-liquid phase equilibrium data and knowledge of extraction mechanisms. Compared with time-consuming experiments, molecular simulation presents great potential in research on the properties of fluids. Therefore, in this work, Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo was applied to successfully predict the vapour-liquid phase equilibrium data of binary and ternary systems containing benzene, thiophene and N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) at P = 101.3 kPa. The explicit hydrogen version of the transferable potentials for phase equilibria potential model was chosen for benzene and thiophene, whereas the OPLS potential model was selected for DMF. The predicted phase diagrams were compared with experimental data and the UNIQUAC thermodynamic model. A good agreement was obtained, which corroborated the validity of the potential models. In addition, the extraction mechanism was explored by radial distribution function (RDF) of the liquid-phase structure. The RDFs showed that thiophene and benzene shared a similar liquid-phase structure because of the intermolecular interaction. The distinct difference between the RDFs of DMF/benzene and those of DMF/thiophene is that the oxygen atom of DMF is more associated with hydrogen atoms of thiophene than that of benzene, which may be responsible for the extraction effect of DMF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We appraise built-up land efficiency and discern inefficient land at multi scales. • We analyze the coupling between BUI and LUE based on multi-source spatial data. • Overloaded built-up land distributes in South YRD, while inefficient in West. • For where built-up land is overloaded, appropriate new urban area is necessary. • Redevelopment is more suitable for where built-up land is inefficient. Irrational built-up land expansion debilitates urban sustainability and leads to environmental decay, food security, and climate change. Using the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) urban agglomeration as an example, this research identifies the mismatch between the intensity and use efficiency of built-up land at multiple scales. Specifically, the study gauges built-up land intensity (BUI) using horizontal layout and vertical height data. Land use efficiency (LUE) is calculated by fusing multi-source spatial data, including nighttime light (NTL), land surface temperature (LST), population density (PD), gross domestic product (GDP), and points of interest (POI). The coupling index (CI) between BUI and LUE determines the misallocation of built-up land resources. The results indicate that BUI and LUE match well in YRD, whereas well-coupled built-up land with high BUI and LUE is concentrated in the eastern YRD. Based on the coupling findings, built-up land can be divided into three categories: overloaded, well-coupled, or inefficient. When built-up land is overloaded, it is essential to notice the excessive concentration of urban functions. On the other hand, reducing land resource waste should be a priority where built-up land is inefficient. This research helps confine irrational urban expansion, deploy rational urban expansion plans, and foster sustainable cities and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paecilomyces hepiali is a fungus widely used in Asian countries for various potential pharmacological activities. The present study aims to evaluate the antidiabetic and antinephritic effects of the Paecilomyces hepiali mycelium water extract (PHC) in diabetic rat, which is established by eight-week high-fat diet administration followed by one-week tail intravenous injection of 25 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ). After four-week 0.12 g/kg metformin and PHC at doses of 0.08, 0.4, and 2.0 g/kg treatment, an increment of body weight, a decrement of plasma glucose, low levels of total cholesterol, and low density lipoprotein cholesterol in diabetic rats were observed. PHC promotes glucose metabolism by enhancing insulin, pyruvate kinase activity, and increasing the synthesis of glycogen. PHC normalized the disturbed levels of superoxide dismutase, methane dicarboxylic aldehyde, and glutathione peroxidase in kidney. The inhibitory effects on the levels of interleukin-2, interleukin-6, interleukin-10, and tumor necrosis factor-α in serum and kidney revealed the protection of PHC against diabetic nephropathy. Compared with nontreated diabetic rats, four-week PHC treatment resulted in a decrement on nuclear factor kappa B expression in kidney. These results show that Paecilomyces hepiali possesses antidiabetic and antinephritic effects which are related to the modulation of nuclear factor kappa B activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a novel class of analytical chirped soliton solutions of the triple-power law nonlinear Schrödinger equation with perturbations are constructed. This model is used to describe the propagation of light waves in a nonlinear medium with the higher-order nonlinear optical effects including the triple-power law nonlinearity, self-frequency shift and self-steepening. The results shown that exact chirped plane wave, bright and kink solitons can exist in this physical setting when the degree of nonlinearity satisfy 2 m = 3 n. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A novel microwave cavity was applied to degrade volatile organic compounds. • The relative permittivity of catalyst was measured by neural network. • Electric field and temperature distribution validated with experimental data. • High energy efficiency in degrading volatile organic compounds was achieved. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are common organic pollutants that are harmful to human and the environment. Degradation of VOCs has aroused widespread concern. Catalytic oxidation is considered as an effective method to degrade VOCs. Microwave heating is a promising technology for heterogeneous catalytic gas–solid reactions, which is considered as an alternative to conventional conductive heating. Here, microwave enhanced catalytic degradation of VOCs were carried out in a novel double ridge field compressed cavity, in which Cu-Mn/AC catalyst was applied. The relative permittivity of Cu-Mn/AC at different temperatures were obtained by neural network. Further, based on the relative permittivity obtained, numerical simulations for the double ridge field compressed cavity were conducted at 2.45 GHz by a coupled three-dimensional electromagnetic-thermal model using COMSOL Multiphysics software. The simulation results of electric field distribution and temperature distribution in cavity present similar trend to the experimental results. Experimentally, the degradation of ethanol, benzene and acetone were carried out in this reactor for 50 W and 70 W at 2.45 GHz with the concentration and gas flow rate of 1000 ppm and 18 L/min. At 70 W and 2.45 GHz, the degradation efficiency of ethanol, benzene and acetone reached 99%, 70% and 99%, leading higher energy efficiency than other VOCs degradation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]