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Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is becoming an increasingly serious health problem in humans and animals. Probiotics can inhibit the development of IBD. Due to the specificity of the strains, the function and mechanism of action of different strains are still unclear. Here, a DSS-induced colitis mouse model was utilized to investigate the ability and mechanism by which Lacticaseibacillus casei IB1 alleviates colitis. Treatment with L. casei IB1 improved DSS-induced colitis in mice, as indicated by increased body weight, colon length, and goblet cell numbers and decreased disease activity index (DAI), proinflammatory factor (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) levels, and histopathological scores after intake of IB1. IB1 supplementation also improved the expression of tight junction proteins and inhibited the activation of the MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways to alleviate intestinal inflammation. In addition, IB1 rebalanced the intestinal microbial composition of colitis mice by increasing the abundance of Faecalibaculum and Alistipes and decreasing the abundance of Bacteroides and Escherichia_Shigella. In summary, L. casei IB1 showed great potential for relieving colitis by regulating the microbiota and restoring the epithelial barrier. It can be used as a potential probiotic for the prevention and treatment of UC in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have predominantly spotlighted bacterial diversity within coral microbiomes, leaving coral-associated fungi in the shadows of scientific inquiry. This study endeavors to fill this knowledge gap by delving into the biodiversity, distribution and functional differences of fungi associated with soft corals Cladiella krempfi and Sarcophyton tortuosum, gorgonian coral Dichotella gemmacea and stony coral Favia speciosa from the South China Sea. Leveraging high-throughput sequencing of fungal internal transcribed spacer-1 (ITS1) region of the rRNA gene, a total of 431 fungal amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were identified in this study, which indicated that a large number of fungal communities were harbored in the South China Sea corals. Noteworthy among our findings is that 10 fungal genera are reported for the first time in corals, with Candolleomyces, Exophiala, Fomitopsis, Inaequalispora, Kneiffiella, Paraphaeosphaeria, and Yamadazyma belonging to the Ascomycota, and Cystobasidium, Psathyrella, and Solicoccozyma to the Basidiomycota. Moreover, significant differences (p < 0.05) of fungal communities were observed among the various coral species. In particular, the gorgonian coral D. gemmacea emerged as a veritable haven for fungal diversity, boasting 307 unique ASVs. Contrastingly, soft corals S. tortuosum and C. krempfi exhibited modest fungal diversity, with 36 and 21 unique ASVs, respectively, while the stony coral F. speciosa hosted a comparatively sparse fungal community, with merely 10 unique ASVs in total. These findings not only provide basic data on fungal diversity and function in the South China Sea corals, but also underscore the imperative of nuanced conservation and management strategies for coral reef ecosystems worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis of diverse phthalides containing quaternary carbon centers remains poorly exploited, requiring stepwise reactions with toxic reagents under high temperatures. Herein, we describe a visible‐light promoted, photo‐ and metal‐catalyst‐free protocol for the modular synthesis of 3,3‐disubstituted phthalides with water as the sole by‐product. This process featured an open‐flask operation of a three‐component reaction involving an isocoumarin as the self‐photosensitizer for aerobic ring contracting rearrangements, allowing the convenient preparation of 3‐(1′‐indolyl)‐phthalides in moderate to good yields. The mechanistic investigations suggested that singlet oxygen (1O2) was generated through an energy‐transfer pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tripartite motif (TRIM) proteins, comprising a family of over 100 members with conserved motifs, exhibit diverse biological functions. Several TRIM proteins influence viral infections through direct antiviral mechanisms or by regulating host antiviral innate immune responses. To identify TRIM proteins modulating hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication, we assessed 45 human TRIMs in HBV-transfected HepG2 cells. Our study revealed that ectopic expression of 12 TRIM proteins significantly reduced HBV RNA and subsequent capsid-associated DNA levels. Notably, TRIM65 uniquely downregulated viral pregenomic (pg) RNA in an HBV-promoter-specific manner, suggesting a targeted antiviral effect. Mechanistically, TRIM65 inhibited HBV replication primarily at the transcriptional level via its E3 ubiquitin ligase activity and intact B-box domain. Though HNF4α emerged as a potential TRIM65 substrate, disrupting its binding site on the HBV genome did not completely abolish TRIM65's antiviral effect. In addition, neither HBx expression nor cellular MAVS signaling was essential to TRIM65-mediated regulation of HBV transcription. Furthermore, CRISPR-mediated knock-out of TRIM65 in the HepG2-NTCP cells boosted HBV infection, validating its endogenous role. These findings underscore TRIM proteins' capacity to inhibit HBV transcription and highlight TRIM65's pivotal role in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to investigate the pollution emission of freight diesel motor vehicles in logistics parks, the article selected three logistics parks A, B and C in Dongxihu District of Wuhan City as the research object, analyzed the activity level of diesel motor vehicles based on the on-site survey and the data obtained from Wuhan Motor Vehicle Supervisory Platform, and carried out the field monitoring of NOx and PM2.5 in the entrance and exit sections of the logistics parks. The results show that the trucks entering and leaving the logistics park are mainly heavy-duty diesel vehicles, accounting for over 78.1%; the proportion of diesel motor vehicles of National + National emission standard types is more than 50%, but there are still a small number of diesel motor vehicles of National standard. The activity level of diesel motor vehicles in each logistics park has no direct correlation with the area of the logistics park, and the changes in traffic flow on weekdays and non-weekdays show different trends from the traffic volume on urban roads. The total emissions of NOx, PM2.5, PM10, CO, and HC from the three logistics parks during August were 36.958 tons, 0.529 tons, 0.586 tons, 16.588 tons, and 1.157 tons, respectively, and the monitored concentrations of NO2 and PM2.5 at the cross-sections into and out of the logistics parks in August and November were 1.24-2.41 times higher than those of the neighboring street air-quality monitoring stations, and 2.70-2.82 times higher than that of the neighboring -street air-quality monitoring stations, respectively, which shows that diesel motor vehicle exhaust emissions from the Logistics Park have a considerable impact on the quality of the air environ ment in the neighboring areas, and the type of diesel motor vehicle structure in the Logistics Park is also associated with the green transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incineration is one of the most widely used treatments in the field of sewage sludge disposal. However, the choice of sewage sludge incineration process is still controversial. In this study, the comparative life cycle assessment of sewage sludge incineration processes, including the mono-incineration, co-incineration in coal-fired power plants and co-incineration in municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration plants, was carried out from the perspective of environment, carbon footprint and economy. The environmental assessment results show that terrestrial ecotoxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, marine ecotoxicity, human carcinogenic toxicity and human non-carcinogenic toxicity are the most significant environmental impacts. And the environmental performance of co-incineration in coal-fired power plants is the best. Moreover, the environmental impact is most sensitive to the dehydrant, electricity and fly ash chelating agent. Co-incineration in MSW incineration plants has the lowest carbon emissions, with only 70.50% and 82% of the carbon emissions from mono-incineration and co-incineration in coal-fired power plants, respectively. Furthermore, sewage sludge mono-incineration has the highest disposal costs because of the higher depreciation and solid waste disposal costs. The comprehensive evaluation results reveal that the optimization should focus on the selection of dehydrant and fly ash chelating agent, as well as the improvement of the equipment efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

为提高漆籽油质量，以陕西漆树籽为原料，研究了漆籽仁预处理方法对提取漆籽油的影响，通过正交试验优化了漆籽油精制脱蜡的工艺条件，研究了助滤剂添加量对蜡晶过滤速度的影响，并测定了漆籽油的理化指标，脂肪酸、维生素E和植物甾醇组成及含量。结果表明：热碱水处理漆籽仁所提取的漆籽油品质更好，此工艺也更适于实际生产；适合规模化生产的漆籽油精制脱蜡最佳工艺条件为降温速率1.0 ℃/h、养晶温度5 ℃、搅拌速度20 r/min；加入2.0%的珍珠岩作助滤剂，油蜡分离速度最快；在上述条件下，漆籽油脱蜡率为95.88%。漆籽油含有较高含量的亚油酸（687%）、δ-生育酚（422.78 mg/kg）、植物甾醇（3 760.00 mg/kg），其中植物甾醇中的β-扶桑甾醇(386.21 mg/kg)、柠檬二烯醇(138.55 mg/kg)在常见植物油中未见报道。In order to improve the quality of lacquer seed oil, Shaanxi lacquer tree seed was used as raw material to study the effect of lacquer seed kernel pretreatment method on the extraction of lacquer seed oil. The dewaxing conditions of lacquer seed oil were optimized through orthogonal experiment. The effect of the amount of filter aid on the filtration rate of wax crystal was studied, and the physicochemical indexes, compositions of fatty acid, vitamin E and phytosterol in lacquer seed oil were determined. The results showed that the quality of lacquer seed oil extracted from lacquer seed kernel pretreated with hot alkaline water was better, and this process was more suitable for practical production. The optimal dewaxing conditions of lacquer seed oil suitable for large-scale production were obtained as follows: cooling rate 1.0 ℃/h, crystallization temperature 5 ℃ and stirring speed 20 r/min. Adding 2.0% perlite as filter aid, the separation speed of lacquer seed oil and lacquer wax was the fastest. Under the optimal conditions, the dewaxing rate of lacquer seed oil was 95.88%. Lacquer seed oil contained high content of linoleic acid (68.7%), δ-tocopherol (422.78 mg/kg) and phytosterol (3 760.00 mg/kg), and β-fusosterol (386.21 mg/kg) and limonol (138.55 mg/kg) were substances not reported in common vegetable oils.

Photo-active shape memory polymers (SMPs) are considered as a promising candidate for converting light into mechanical energy. However, most known SMPs are only thermo-responsive. To achieve photo-activity, photo-responsive choromophores or fillers usually have to be incorporated from the very beginning of the material synthesis. Here, we introduce a novel post-synthesis approach to endow normal SMPs with photo-active properties using mussel-inspired surface chemistry. Without changing the original properties, the resultant polydopamine (PDA) coated SMPs show an efficient photo-active performance. The coating can be easily patterned and erased, which allows flexible light-triggered 3-D shape deformation of a planar SMP sheet. Moreover, owing to the high chemical activity, the PDA coating also provides a platform to optimize the surface properties of the photo-responsive SMPs through secondary surface modification.