Le regole del gioco: Primo incontro con l'ingegneria strategica

Cu particles decorated carbon composite microspheres (CCMs) with a unique sesame ball structure have been prepared by combining the mass-producible spray drying technique with calcinations. The conventional cuprammonium cellulose complex solution obtained by dissolving cellulose in a cuprammonia solution has been applied as raw materials for the preparation of Cu­(NH₃)₄²⁺/cellulose complex microspheres via a spray drying process. The resulted Cu­(NH₃)₄²⁺/cellulose complex microspheres are then transformed into the Cu particles homogeneously decorated porous carbon spheres <i>in situ</i> by calcinations at 450 or 550 °C. The coordination effect between the Cu­(NH₃)₄²⁺ species and the hydroxyl groups of the cellulose macromolecules has been exploited for directing the dispersion of the Cu particles in the resultant composite CCMs. The antimicrobial effects of the CCMs are evaluated by determining the minimum growth inhibitory concentrations using Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli as representatives, respectively. The CCMs show high efficiency catalytic properties to the conversion of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol using NaBH₄ as a reductant in a mild condition. The recyclability and stability of the CCM catalysts have also been studied

Detection of clothianidin residues in cucumber and apple juice using lateral-flow immunochromatographic assay

Clothianidin (CTA), third generation neonicotinoid insecticide that has been widely used for the long-term control of a wide variety of pests. Therefore, we developed immunochromatographic assay for the detection of CTA residues in cucumber and apple juice. The antigen HCTA-EDC-OVA and the goat anti-mouse IgG antibody were added to a nitrocellulose membrane as the test and control lines, respectively. Under optimal conditions, the cut-off limits of the semi-quantitative strip test for CTA were 1 ng/mL in 0.01 M PBS (pH 7.4), 4 ng/mL in cucumber juice, and 5 ng/mL in apple juice, and the results were obtained within 5 min. The immunochromatographic assay can be used for the sensitive, rapid, and specific on-site screening of CTA residues in cucumber and apple juice.</p

Table_1_Screening for key genes in circadian regulation in advanced atherosclerosis: A bioinformatic analysis.XLSX

BackgroundAtherosclerosis (AS) is the most important cardiovascular disease threatening human health, leading to adverse events such as myocardial infarction and stroke. The research on the pathogenesis and causes of AS is being improved step by step, and many factors are associated with AS. However, the relationship between circadian regulation and the pathogenesis of AS is still unclear. Our study identified 2 key genes of circadian regulation in AS by bioinformatics analysis, which provides new perspectives to understand the relationship between circadian rhythm and AS.MethodsWe downloaded samples of early and advanced AS from public databases, screened key genes by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and Lasso, calculated the immune cell content of the samples using “CIBERSORT,” and analyzed the relationship between key genes and immune cells.ResultsWe obtained the most relevant core modules for advanced AS and analyzed the functions of these modules. Two circadian rhythm-related genes were obtained, which influence the immune infiltration of this late AS. ROC curves demonstrated the efficacy of key genes to differentiate between early and advanced AS.ConclusionWe identified 2 genes most associated with circadian rhythms in advanced AS, whose association with AS has not been elucidated and may become the next therapeutic target.</p

Table_2_Screening for key genes in circadian regulation in advanced atherosclerosis: A bioinformatic analysis.XLSX

BackgroundAtherosclerosis (AS) is the most important cardiovascular disease threatening human health, leading to adverse events such as myocardial infarction and stroke. The research on the pathogenesis and causes of AS is being improved step by step, and many factors are associated with AS. However, the relationship between circadian regulation and the pathogenesis of AS is still unclear. Our study identified 2 key genes of circadian regulation in AS by bioinformatics analysis, which provides new perspectives to understand the relationship between circadian rhythm and AS.MethodsWe downloaded samples of early and advanced AS from public databases, screened key genes by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and Lasso, calculated the immune cell content of the samples using “CIBERSORT,” and analyzed the relationship between key genes and immune cells.ResultsWe obtained the most relevant core modules for advanced AS and analyzed the functions of these modules. Two circadian rhythm-related genes were obtained, which influence the immune infiltration of this late AS. ROC curves demonstrated the efficacy of key genes to differentiate between early and advanced AS.ConclusionWe identified 2 genes most associated with circadian rhythms in advanced AS, whose association with AS has not been elucidated and may become the next therapeutic target.</p

Image1_Identification and verification of novel immune-related ferroptosis signature with excellent prognostic predictive and clinical guidance value in hepatocellular carcinoma.JPEG

Background: Immunity and ferroptosis often play a synergistic role in the progression and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, few studies have focused on identifying immune-related ferroptosis gene biomarkers.Methods: We performed weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and random forest to identify prognostic differentially expressed immune-related genes (PR-DE-IRGs) highly related to HCC and characteristic prognostic differentially expressed ferroptosis-related genes (PR-DE-FRGs) respectively to run co-expression analysis for prognostic differentially expressed immune-related ferroptosis characteristic genes (PR-DE-IRFeCGs). Lasso regression finally identified 3 PR-DE-IRFeCGs for us to construct a prognostic predictive model. Differential expression and prognostic analysis based on shared data from multiple sources and experimental means were performed to further verify the 3 modeled genes’ biological value in HCC. We ran various performance testing methods to test the model’s performance and compare it with other similar signatures. Finally, we integrated composite factors to construct a comprehensive quantitative nomogram for accurate prognostic prediction and evaluated its performance.Results: 17 PR-DE-IRFeCGs were identified based on co-expression analysis between the screened 17 PR-DE-FRGs and 34 PR-DE-IRGs. Multi-source sequencing data, QRT-PCR, immunohistochemical staining and testing methods fully confirmed the upregulation and significant prognostic influence of the three PR-DE-IRFeCGs in HCC. The model performed well in the performance tests of multiple methods based on the 5 cohorts. Furthermore, our model outperformed other related models in various performance tests. The immunotherapy and chemotherapy guiding value of our signature and the comprehensive nomogram’s excellent performance have also stood the test.Conclusion: We identified a novel PR-DE-IRFeCGs signature with excellent prognostic prediction and clinical guidance value in HCC.</p

Density Functional Study on the Reaction Mechanism of Proton Transfer in 2-Pyridone: Effect of Hydration and Self-Association

The proton-transfer mechanism in the isolated, mono, dehydrated forms and dimers of 2-pyridone and the effect of hydration or self-assistance on the transition state structures corresponding to proton transfer from the keto form to the enol form have been investigated using B3LYP and BH-LYP hybrid density functional methods at the 6-311++G (2d, 2p) basis set level. The barrier heights for both H2O-assisted and self-assisted reactions are significantly lower than that of the bare tautomerization reaction from 2-pyridone to 2-hydroxypyridine, implying the importance of the superior catalytic effect of H2O and (H2O)2 and the important role of 2-pyridone itself for the intramolecular proton transfer. Long-range solvent effects have also been taken into account by using the continuum model (Onsager model and polarizable continuum model (PCM)) of water. The tautomerization energies and the potential energy barriers are increased both for the water-assisted and for the self-assisted reaction because of the bulk solvent, which imply that the tautomerization of PY becomes less favorable in the polar solvent

<i>N</i>-Alkylamides from <i>Piper longum</i> L. and their stimulative effects on the melanin content and tyrosinase activity in B16 melanoma cells

Piper longum L., known as long pepper, is an edible and medicinal plant used as spice and for the treatment of stomach disease and analgesia in traditional Chinese medicine. N-Alkylamides are the major secondary metabolites in this plant. Sixteen known N-alkylamides were isolated from P. longum. Their structures were established on the basis of spectroscopic data and comparison to reported literatures. Among them, five compounds were isolated from this plant for the first time. Ethanol extract, compounds 1, 2, 3, 7 and 11 exhibited potent ability to increase the melanin content and weak stimulative effect on the tyrosinase activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Moreover, compound 2 also presented strong capacity to increase the tyrosinase activity in a concentration-dependent manner. These results indicated that P. longum might be a good natural source of lead compound for skin disorder diseases. </p

Origins of Opposite Syn−Anti Diastereoselectivities in Primary and Secondary Amino Acid-Catalyzed Intermolecular Aldol Reactions Involving Unmodified α-Hydroxyketones

The effects of different amino acid catalysts on the stereoselectivity of the direct intermolecular aldol reactions between α-hydroxyketones and isobutyraldehyde or 4-nitrobenzaldehyde have been studied with the aid of density functional theory methods. The transition states of the crucial C−C bond-forming step with the enamine intermediate addition to the aldehyde for the proline and threonine-catalyzed asymmetric aldol reactions are reported. B3LYP/6-31+G** calculations provide a good explanation for the opposite syn vs anti diastereoselectivity of these two kinds of amino acid catalysts (anti-selectivity for the secondary cyclic amino acids proline, syn-selectivity for the acyclic primary amino acids like threonine). Calculated and observed diastereomeric ratio and enantiomeric excess values are in good agreement

Tuning the Microstructures of Electrospray Multicore Alginate Microspheres for the Enhanced Delivery of Astaxanthin

Multicore alginate microspheres (MCPs) have been demonstrated as promising carriers for bioactive substances. Herein, the influence of the size of the inner core on the bioaccessibility of astaxanthin (AST) was investigated using both in vitro and in vivo methods. MCPs with different inner core sizes were fabricated in which the oil-in-water emulsion with different oil droplet sizes was embedded in alginate microspheres (AST@MCPs) via the electrospray technology. The AST@MCPs appeared as a uniform sphere with an average size of 300 μm. The AST encapsulation efficiency in the AST@MCPs was determined to be more than 68%, which was independent of the inner core size. The bioaccessibility of AST increased from 38.3 to 83.2% as the size of the inner core decreased. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory activity of AST@MCPs after in vitro simulated digestion was evaluated by LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. The results suggested that AST@MCPs with a smaller inner core size exhibited a stronger anti-inflammatory activity, which further proved the results obtained from in vitro simulated digestion. As expected, the oral administration of AST@MCPs significantly mitigated colitis symptoms in DSS-induced ulcerative colitis mice. Compared with AST@MCPs with larger inner cores, AST@MCPs with smaller inner cores reflect stronger anti-inflammatory activity in vivo. These results suggested that the bioaccessibility of AST in MCPs increased significantly with the decrease in the inner core size, which may be attributed to the rapid formation of micelles in the intestine. This work provides a simple and efficient strategy to prepare microspheres for the enhanced delivery of AST, which has important implications for the design of health-promoting foods

DataSheet_1_Field determination of nitrate in seawater using a novel on-line coppered cadmium column: A comparison study with the vanadium reduction method.docx

Nitrate is the main form of dissolved inorganic nitrogen, playing an important role in both marine biogeochemical research and water environment management. In this work, the most commonly used coppered cadmium column was modified and a novel on-line Cu/Cd column with a spiral structure coupled with a de-bubbling device and syringe-type filter was developed. With the advantages of convenience, portability, stability, and high reduction efficiency, the interference of air bubbles in the column could easily be avoided. Based on the classic Griess reaction, a simple reverse flow injection system coupled with a novel Cu/Cd column and custom-made flow cell was established for the field spectrophotometric determination of nitrate in seawater. The effects of certain reaction parameters—including the reagent concentration, flow rate, length of the Cu/Cd column, and salinity—were investigated, optimized, and compared with pure water, with an approximate 9% increase in the sensitivity of seawater samples. This method exhibited a detection limit of 0.03 μmol/L, with a relative standard deviation of 0.6%, and the working range was 20 μmol/L before dilution. Compared to the referred vanadium reduction method based on the same flow system, the proposed method showed significant advantages including sensitivity and reproducibility. No significant difference was observed between the analytical seawater sample results obtained by the proposed and reference methods. Furthermore, the proposed method was validated by the first class of National Certified Reference Materials and successfully applied to the nitrate determination of Wenling coastal seawater (Zhejiang, China).</p