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With the gradual expansion of aquaculture industry in China, the frequent occurrence of diseases in aquatic animal aquaculture and the pollution of aquatic water are becoming more and more serious. The long-term use of antibiotics and traditional vaccines in aquaculture has caused water pollution, drug-resistant strains, antibiotic residues, and other problems, which restricts the healthy development of aquaculture industry. Plant polysaccharides play an important role in replacing antibiotics. Plant polysaccharides exist in the leaves, flowers, roots, stems, and fruits of plants. They are macromolecular polymers that connect various monosaccharides by glycosidic bonds. Plant polysaccharides have the advantages of safety, high efficiency, low residue and no drug resistance. Plant polysaccharides have many biological functions, such as regulating immunity, anti-oxidation, lowering blood sugar, anti-tumor, and improving intestinal health. The application of plant polysaccharides in animal production can improve body health, enhance immunity and antioxidant capacity, and improve production performance. Therefore, this paper mainly reviewed the physicochemical properties, biological functions of plant polysaccharides and their application in aquaculture, so as to provide a reference for their further promotion and application in aquaculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Tetrandrine, the Q‐marker in Stephaniae Tetrandrae Radix, was proven to present an obvious antitumor effect. Until now, the metabolism and antitumor mechanism of tetrandrine have not been fully elucidated. Methods: The metabolites of tetrandrine in rats were profiled using ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry. The potential antitumor mechanism of tetrandrine in vivo was predicted using network pharmacology. Results: A total of 30 metabolites were characterized in rats after ingestion of tetrandrine (10 mg/kg), including 0 in plasma, 7 in urine, 11 in feces, 9 in liver, 8 in spleen, 4 in lung, 5 in kidney, 5 in heart, and 4 in brain. This study was the first to show the metabolic processes demethylation, hydroxylation, and carbonylation in tetrandrine. The pharmacology network results showed that tetrandrine and its metabolites could regulate AKT1, TNF, MMP9, MMP2, PAK1, and so on by involving in proteoglycan tumor pathway, PI3K‐Akt signaling pathway, tumor pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, and Rap1 signaling pathway. Conclusions: The metabolism features of tetrandrine and its potential antitumor mechanism were summarized, providing data for further pharmacological validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural phase transition, phase stability, mechanical properties, and electronic structures of ScB4 are investigated in the pressure range of 0–100 GPa via first principle calculations. A new ground-state structure P4/mbm is discovered by the structural substitution for ScB4, where the P4/mbm phase transforms to Cmcm at 4.8 GPa and the Cmcm phase transforms to Pnma at 8.7 GPa, respectively. The conical structure of Sc–B–Sc and the annular structure of B facilitate the structural stability and mechanical properties of ScB4. The P4/mbm, Cmcm and Pnma phases of ScB4 are thermodynamically, dynamically and mechanically stable in accordance with the calculated formation enthalpies, phonon dispersions and elastic constants, respectively. The establishment of new convex hull diagrams has driven the development of stable structures of compounds in the Sc-B system. Both the Cmcm and Pnma phases of ScB4 are hard phases with Vickers hardness of 35.0 and 31.4 GPa at ambient and high pressures, respectively. The electronic structures of ScB4 are calculated adopting the GGA + U approach, which exhibits metallic properties at both zero and high pressures. The density of states, electron localization function and valence electron density (VED) demonstrate that the Cmcm and Pnma phases of ScB4 have stronger B–B and B–Sc covalent bonds as well as higher VED, which lead to their high hardness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]