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Influenza, a severe respiratory disease caused by the influenza virus, has long been a prominent threat to human health. An increasing number of studies have demonstrated that oral administration with probiotics may increase the immune response to lung infection via the gut-lung axis leading to the alleviation of the pulmonary disease. In this study, we evaluated the effects of oral administration of Pediococcus pentosaceus MIANGUAN2 (MIANGUAN2) on influenza infection in a mouse model. Our results showed that oral administration of MIANGUAN2 significantly improved weight loss, lung index, and lung pathology, and decreased lung viral load of influenza-infected mice. Additionally, MIANGUAN2-treated mice showed significantly lower levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IFN-γ, and IL-12p70 and higher production of IL-4 in the lung. In accordance with this, the transcriptome analysis of the lung indicated that MIANGUAN2-treated mice had reduced expression of inflammation markers, such as TNF, apoptosis, and the NF-Kappa B pathway. Furthermore, the administration of MIANGUAN2 restored the SCFAs profiles through regulating the gut microbiota. SCFA-producing bacteria, such as p_Firmicutes, f_Lachnospiraceae, and f_Ruminococcaceae, were enriched in the MIANGUAN2-treated group compared with PBS-treated group. Consistently, the concentrations of SCFAs in the MIANGUAN2 group were significantly higher than those in the PBS-treated group. In addition, the concentrations of SCFAs were positively correlated with SCFA-producing bacteria, such as Ruminococcus, while being negatively correlated with the virial titers and proinflammatory cytokines. In conclusion, this animal study suggests that Pediococcus pentosaceus MIANGUAN2 may alleviate the influenza infection by altering the gut microbiota composition and increasing the levels of gut microbiota-derived SCFAs.

Abstract Water‐splitting reactions such as the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) typically require expensive noble metal‐based electrocatalysts. This has motivated researchers to develop novel, cost‐effective electrocatalytic systems. In this study, a new multicomponent nanocomposite was assembled by combining functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes, a Cu‐based metal–organic framework (MOF) (HKUST‐1 or HK), and a sulfidized NiMn‐layered double hydroxide (NiMn‐S). The resulting nanocomposite, abbreviated as MW/HK/NiMn‐S, features a unique architecture, high porosity, numerous electroactive Cu/Ni/Mn sites, fast charge transfer, excellent structural stability, and conductivity. At a current density of 10 mA cm−2, this dual‐function electrocatalyst shows remarkable performance, with ultralow overpotential values of 163 mV (OER) or 73 mV (HER), as well as low Tafel slopes (57 and 75 mV dec−1, respectively). Additionally, its high turnover frequency values (4.43 s−1 for OER; 3.96 s−1 for HER) are significantly superior to those of standard noble metal‐based Pt/C and IrO2 systems. The synergistic effect of the nanocomposite's different components is responsible for its enhanced electrocatalytic performance. A density functional theory study revealed that the multi‐interface and multicomponent heterostructure contribute to increased electrical conductivity and decreased energy barrier, resulting in superior electrocatalytic HER/OER activity. This study presents a novel vision for designing advanced electrocatalysts with superior performance in water splitting. Various composites have been utilized in water‐splitting applications. This study investigates the use of the MW/HK/NiMn‐S electrocatalyst for water splitting for the first time to indicate the synergistic effect between carbon‐based materials along with layered double hydroxide compounds and porous compounds of MOF. The unique features of each component in this composite can be an interesting topic in the field of water splitting.

Obesity is a major public health issue worldwide. Oolong tea (OT), which is partially fermented from Camellia sinensis leaves, has proven health benefits and potential preventive applications in multiple studies. However, research on the role of OT in obesity prevention and potential mechanisms is still limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate the modulatory effects of OT intervention on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and gut microbiota dysbiosis using an obese mouse model. Our results showed that 8-week OT supplementation with 93.94% polyphenols significantly decreased body weight gain, adipose tissue mass, and serum levels of triglyceride (2.60 mmol/L), cholesterol (5.49 mmol/L), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (0.61 mmol/L) in HFD-fed mice. Meanwhile, OT intervention was observed to improve fat accumulation, hepatic damage, glucose intolerance, and endotoxemia and alleviate inflammation by decreasing the levels of pro-inflammatory factors. OT also upregulated the expression of genes including Srebf1, Ppara, Lxra, Pgc1a, and Hsl and downregulated the expression of genes including Leptin, Il-6, and Il-1b. In addition, the gut dysbiosis characterized by decreased flora diversity and increased Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio in obese mice was recovered by OT intervention. Certain differentially abundant microbes caused by HFD feeding, including Enterococcus, Intestinimonas, Blautia, and Bilophila, were also improved by OT treatment. This study demonstrated that OT, as a novel resource of dietary polyphenols, exhibited a protective effect on HFD-induced obesity and gut microbiota disorder.

Cold-brewed jasmine tea (CB-JT) is regarded to possess characteristic flavors and health benefits as a novel resource of functional tea beverages. To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying CB-JT-mediated protective effects on obesity, we evaluated the serum biochemistry, histological condition, glucose tolerance, gene expression profile and intestinal microbial diversity in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. Our results demonstrate that cold-brewed jasmine tea can significantly attenuate HFD-induced body weight gain, abnormal serum lipid levels, fat deposition, hepatic injury, inflammatory processes as well as metabolic endotoxemia. CB-JT also modified the microbial community composition in HFD-fed mice and altered the balance to one closely resembled that of the control group. The differential abundance of core microbes in obese mice was reversed by CB-JT treatment, including an increment in the abundance of Blautia, Mucispirillum, and Bilophila as well as a decrease in the abundance of Alloprevotella. CB-JT was proved to regulate the mRNA expression levels of lipid metabolism-related genes such as Leptin, Pgc1a Il6, and Il1b in the adipose tissue coupled with Cyp7a1, Lxra, Srebp1c, and Atgl in the liver. These findings indicate that cold-brewed jasmine tea might be served as a potential functional tea beverage to prevent obesity and gut microbiota dysbiosis.

Photocatalytic water splitting is one of the promising approaches to solving environmental problems and energy crises. However, the sluggish 4e− transfer kinetics in water oxidation half-reaction restricts the 2e− reduction efficiency in photocatalytic water splitting. Herein, cobalt vanadate-decorated polymeric carbon nitride (named CoVO/PCN) was constructed to mediate the carrier kinetic process in a photocatalytic water oxidation reaction (WOR). The photocatalysts were well-characterized by various physicochemical techniques such as XRD, FT-IR, TEM, and XPS. Under UV and visible light irradiation, the O2 evolution rate of optimized 3 wt% CoVO/PCN reached 467 and 200 μmol h−1 g−1, which were about 6.5 and 5.9 times higher than that of PCN, respectively. Electrochemical tests and PL results reveal that the recombination of photogenerated carriers on PCN is effectively suppressed and the kinetics of WOR is significantly enhanced after CoVO introduction. This work highlights key features of the tuning carrier kinetics of PCN using charge-conducting materials, which should be the basis for the further development of photocatalytic O2 reactions.

Based on the generalized gradient approximation of density functional theory, the geometric structure and electronic properties of the intrinsic Ti3C2 and Cu-, Pt-, Co-, Si-, F-, Cl- or Br-doped Ti3C2 are optimized, and the adsorption process of HCHO on the surface of the intrinsic Ti3C2 and doped Ti3C2 is calculated. The effects of adsorption energy, stability, DOS and doping on bond length were discussed. The results show that the adsorption energy of the intrinsic Ti3C2 crystal plane at the top site is the strongest, at −7.58 eV. The optimal adsorption sites of HCHO on various doping systems are Cu-Top, Pt-Top, Co-Top, Si-Hollow, Cl-Hollow, F-Bridge and Br-Hollow, respectively. Among the doped elements, anion (F, Cl, Br) doping at each adsorption site generally reduces the formaldehyde adsorption activity of the substrate; cationic doping (Cu, Pt, Co, Si) enhances the adsorption activity of the substrate for formaldehyde at most of the adsorption sites, indicating that the modification effect of anions on Ti3C2 is not as good as that of cations. The adsorption capacity of Si-doped Ti3C2 for formaldehyde was significantly improved. Compared with the intrinsic Ti3C2 crystal plane at the same adsorption site, the adsorption activity of HCHO was improved, and the highest adsorption energy was −8.09 eV.

The electrochemical NO reduction reaction (NORR) for the synthesis of NH3 from nitric oxide (NO) presents a promising alternative to the conventional Haber process for ammonia production. However, exploring suitable catalysts for the NO-to-NH3 conversion remains a significant challenge due to the absence of effective screening methods. In this study, we implemented a strategic approach known as the SAAS (stability, adsorption, activity, and selectivity) strategy, which employs four pivotal descriptors to comprehensively screen for efficient catalysts. This approach was applied to 27 transition metals to evaluate their potential as either single-atom (SA) or homonuclear double-atom (DA) catalysts for the conversion of NO to NH3. Consequently, Hf2–CN emerged as a stable catalyst for the NORR, exhibiting high selectivity for NH3 production. Notably, DA catalysts demonstrated a distinct reaction mechanism compared to their SA counterparts, attributed to the synergistic effects of the diatomic configuration. This study provides a theoretical foundation for developing SA and DA catalysts for the conversion of NO to NH3 and offers valuable insights for future experimental investigations in enhancing NORR efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]