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Obesity is a chronic metabolic disease that can be induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) and predisposes to a variety of complications. In recent years, various bioactive substances, such as probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics, have been widely discussed because of their good anti-lipid and anti-inflammatory activities. In this paper, soybean protein isolate was used as a substrate to prepare the postbiotic. Compound prebiotics (galactose oligosaccharides, fructose oligosaccharides, and lactitol) preparation Aunulife Postbiotics and Prebiotics Composition (AYS) is the research object. Weight loss and bowel movements in mice induced by a high-fat diet were studied. Moreover, qualitative and quantitative analyses of small-molecule metabolites in AYS were performed to identify the functional molecules in AYS. After 12 weeks of feeding, the weight gain of mice that were fed with high-dose AYS (group H) and low-dose AYS (group L) from 4 to 12 weeks was 6.72 g and 5.25 g (p < 0.05), both of which were significantly lower than that of the high-fat diet (group DM, control group) group (7.73 g) (p < 0.05). Serum biochemical analysis showed that TC, TG, and LDL-C levels were significantly lower in mice from the H and L groups (p < 0.05). In addition, the fecal lipid content of mice in the L group reached 5.89%, which was significantly higher than that of the DM group at 4.02% (p < 0.05). The study showed that AYS changed the structure of the intestinal microbiota in mice on a high-fat diet, resulting in a decrease in the relative abundance of Firmicutes and Muribaculaceae and an increase in the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia, and Lactobacillus. The metabolomics study results of AYS showed that carboxylic acids and derivatives, and organonitrogen compounds accounted for 51.51% of the AYS metabolites, among which pantothenate, stachyose, betaine, and citrate had the effect of preventing obesity in mice. In conclusion, the administration of prebiotics and postbiotic-rich AYS reduces weight gain and increases fecal lipid defecation in obese mice, potentially by regulating the intestinal microbiota of mice on a high-fat diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To effectively remove methylene blue (MB) from dye wastewater, a novel activated carbon (BAC) was manufactured through co-pyrolysis of bamboo shoot shell and K2FeO4. The activation process was optimized to a temperature of 750 °C and an activation time of 90 min based on its excellent adsorption capacity of 560.94 mg/g with a yield of 10.03%. The physicochemical and adsorption properties of BACs were investigated. The BAC had an ultrahigh specific surface area of 2327.7 cm2/g and abundant active functional groups. The adsorption mechanisms included chemisorption and physisorption. The Freundlich model could be used to describe the isothermal adsorption of MB. The kinetics confirmed that the adsorption of MB belonged to the pseudo-second-order model. Intra-particle diffusion was the main rate-limiting step. The thermodynamic study showed that the adsorption process was endothermic and temperature was beneficial for the improvement of adsorption property. Furthermore, the removal rate of MB was 63.5% after three cycles. The BAC will have great potential for commercial development for purifying dye wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of different infant formulas on the growth and development, sleep, allergy symptoms, and intestinal flora of infants. A total of 428 infants participated in the study. Breastfeeding (BF) was used as the control, and the remaining subjects were randomly assigned to the full goat milk protein formula group (FGM), partial goat milk protein formula group (PGM), and cow milk formula group (M). During the 6‐month feeding experiment, data on the growth, sleep, allergy symptoms, and intestinal flora of infants were collected using questionnaires, anthropometric measurements, and biochemical examinations. In general, the basic information of the participants was consistent among the groups. There were no differences in infant weight, length, or head circumference among the groups (p >.05). The sleep time of infants in the formula‐fed groups was longer than that of the breastfeeding group at baseline (p <.05), but there were no differences at mid‐term or outcome (p >.05). The incidence of allergic symptoms continued to decrease, and the total scores of allergic symptoms did not differ among the groups (p >.05). The relative abundance of intestinal Bifidobacteriaceae in the PGM group was lower than that in the other groups (p <.05). There was no difference in the β‐diversity of intestinal flora between formula‐fed and breastfed infants (p >.05). There were strong correlations in the composition of the main intestinal flora at the family level between the formula and breastfeeding groups. This study showed that within 6 months of feeding, there were no significant differences in the growth and development, allergic symptoms, or intestinal flora of the infants among the groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]