36 research outputs found
Enhancing Antioxidant Performance of Lignin by Enzymatic Treatment with Laccase
The
utilization of lignin is of high interest since it represents the
most abundant polyphenol worldwide. For the application of lignin
as a natural antioxidant more phenolic hydroxyl groups (Ph–OH)
and lower molecular weight (<i>M</i><sub>w</sub>) are essential.
Here, we proposed a green method based on enzymatic treatment of two
lignins (alkaline lignin AL and hydrolysis lignin HL) with laccase,
by which the structure, especially the Ph–OH contents and <i>M</i><sub>w</sub> of lignin, could effectively controlled. The
antioxidant activity of the lignin was evaluated <i>in vitro</i> by DPPH<sup>•</sup> (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylÂhydrazyl)
radical scavenging ability. The mechanism of antioxidant activity
improvement was also elucidated. As expected, the enzymatic treated
lignin (HL-L1.0) with the highest Ph–OH content and lower <i>M</i><sub>w</sub> exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity
(IC<sub>50</sub> = 28.8 μg/mL), which was even stronger than
the commercial antioxidants BHT (3,5-di-<i>tert</i>-butyl-4-hydroxyÂtoluene,
IC<sub>50</sub> = 38.2 μg/mL) and BHA (3-<i>tert</i>-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole, IC<sub>50</sub> = 56.3 μg/mL). This
study suggested that the enzymatic treatment was a green and effective
way to obtain lignin derivatives that showed great potential for antioxidant
applications
Electric Field-Assisted Matrix Coating Method Enhances the Detection of Small Molecule Metabolites for Mass Spectrometry Imaging
Small
molecule metabolites (SMMs, typically <500 Da) are important
cellular constituents closely associated with tumor development and
progression. However, <i>in situ</i> label-free detection
of tissue SMMs has been limited due to interference from matrix and/or
low sensitivity. Herein, we develop an electric field-assisted scanning-spraying
(EFASS) matrix coating system to deposit matrix on tissue with crystal
sizes of <10 μm, followed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass
spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) in negative ion mode. A comparison
with other matrix deposition methods (i.e., airbrush and sublimation)
using common matrixes (i.e., <i>N</i>-(1-naphthyl) ethylenediamine
dihydrochloride (NEDC), 9-aminoacridine (9-AA), 2,5-dihydroxybenoic
acid (DHB)) indicated that the EFASS system could effectively enhance
detection sensitivity and the number of tissue SMMs detected. MSI
of five gastric cancer tissues coated with NEDC by the EFASS system
demonstrated that significantly increased levels of fatty acids (i.e.,
palmitic acid and oleic acid) and nucleosides monophosphate (i.e.,
uridine monophosphate, adenosine monophosphate, and guanosine monophosphate)
and significantly decreased levels of nucleosides (i.e., inosine,
guanosine, and uridine) and <i>N</i>-acetylneuraminic acid
were observed in cancerous areas
Surface-Functionalized Porous Lignin for Fast and Efficient Lead Removal from Aqueous Solution
The development of
ecofriendly sorbents for fast and efficient
removal of heavy metals from aqueous media still remains a significant
challenge. Here, we report that this task can be addressed by creating
a porous naturally occurring polymer, as illustrated by functionalizing
lignin with large numbers of mesopores and functional groups. We show
that surface-functionalized porous lignin (SFPL), obtained by a two-step
process, has a large surface area of 22.3 m<sup>2</sup>/g, 12 times
that of lignin, and a high density of dithiocarbamate groups (2.8
mmol/g). SFPL was found to exhibit an excellent adsorption performance
toward lead ions dissolved in water. For example, 99% of the lead
ions from 50 mL of a solution containing 20 mg/L lead ions was removed
in just 30 min by 0.01 g of SFPL. The saturated adsorption capacity
of SFPL for lead ions was found to be 188 mg/g, which is 13 times
that of the original lignin and 7 times that of activated carbon.
The adsorption process is endothermic and involves intraparticle diffusion
and chemical adsorption between lead ions and the functional groups
of SFPL. The cost effectiveness and environmental friendliness of
SFPL make it a promising material for removing lead and other heavy
metals from wastewater
DataSheet1_Spatial patterns and drivers of soil total nitrogen in anthropogenic shrub encroachment in desert steppe.CSV
Nitrogen is the most important driving factor in primary production and decomposition in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. The effects of shrub encroachment on nitrogen cycling have been investigated at the site scale but seldomly conducted at the landscape scale. Here, we selected 43 shrubland sites distributing across 3000 km2 area in temperate desert grassland in eastern Yanchi County of Ningxia Hui Autonomous. We investigated the spatial heterogeneity and driving factors of soil total nitrogen (STN) at the landscape scale by using geostatistical analysis and the geographical detector method. Our results showed that the average soil total nitrogen decreased in the order of 0–5 cm (0.21 g kg−1) > 5–15 cm (0.19 g kg−1) > 15–40 cm (0.18 g kg−1). Geostatistical analysis showed that soil total nitrogen exhibited the strong spatial autocorrelation in the 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil layers and the moderate spatial autocorrelation in the 15–40 cm soil layer. Furthermore, the geographic detector method indicated that soil physicochemical properties exhibited the stronger effects than these of topographic and vegetation biomass in determining the spatial distribution of soil total nitrogen. Specifically, soil water content in the 0–20 cm soil layer explained 35% of variation in soil total nitrogen spatial pattern in the 0–5 cm soil layer, while soil organic carbon content in the 15–40 cm soil layer explained 64% and 45% of variation in soil total nitrogen spatial patterns in the 5–15 cm and 15–40 cm soil layers, respectively. It was concluded that soil water content and organic carbon content primarily drove the formation of soil total nitrogen spatial heterogeneity in shrubland at the landscape scale, indicating that anthropogenic shrub encroachment evidently affected soil water content and redistribution in dryland.</p
Table1_Spatial patterns and drivers of soil total nitrogen in anthropogenic shrub encroachment in desert steppe.DOCX
Nitrogen is the most important driving factor in primary production and decomposition in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. The effects of shrub encroachment on nitrogen cycling have been investigated at the site scale but seldomly conducted at the landscape scale. Here, we selected 43 shrubland sites distributing across 3000 km2 area in temperate desert grassland in eastern Yanchi County of Ningxia Hui Autonomous. We investigated the spatial heterogeneity and driving factors of soil total nitrogen (STN) at the landscape scale by using geostatistical analysis and the geographical detector method. Our results showed that the average soil total nitrogen decreased in the order of 0–5 cm (0.21 g kg−1) > 5–15 cm (0.19 g kg−1) > 15–40 cm (0.18 g kg−1). Geostatistical analysis showed that soil total nitrogen exhibited the strong spatial autocorrelation in the 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil layers and the moderate spatial autocorrelation in the 15–40 cm soil layer. Furthermore, the geographic detector method indicated that soil physicochemical properties exhibited the stronger effects than these of topographic and vegetation biomass in determining the spatial distribution of soil total nitrogen. Specifically, soil water content in the 0–20 cm soil layer explained 35% of variation in soil total nitrogen spatial pattern in the 0–5 cm soil layer, while soil organic carbon content in the 15–40 cm soil layer explained 64% and 45% of variation in soil total nitrogen spatial patterns in the 5–15 cm and 15–40 cm soil layers, respectively. It was concluded that soil water content and organic carbon content primarily drove the formation of soil total nitrogen spatial heterogeneity in shrubland at the landscape scale, indicating that anthropogenic shrub encroachment evidently affected soil water content and redistribution in dryland.</p
TaFeSb-Based Half-Heusler Thermoelectrics with High <i>zT</i> > 1 through the Alloying Effect
Ternary half-Heusler (HH) alloys have been extensively
studied
because of their various intriguing functionalities, such as thermoelectric
(TE), magnetic, superconductive, and topological properties. Recently,
TaFeSb-based HH alloys have been determined to be potential high-temperature
TE materials with a dimensionless TE figure of merit zT > 1 for the application of power generation. Herein, we simultaneously
optimize the electrical and thermal properties of TaFeSb-based materials
through the alloying effect of elemental substitution, leading to
a maximum zT of 1.20 at 1025 K. Furthermore, the
co-alloying effect not only optimizes the electrical transport performances
but also significantly diminishes the lattice thermal conductivity.
In comparison with that of pristine TaFeSb, a remarkable reduction
of 65% is achieved at room temperature for the (Ta0.8V0.2)0.84Ti0.16FeSb sample, which can
be correlated to the mass and strain field fluctuations. Our work
highlights the significance of the alloying effect as a design factor
and demonstrates the advantages of p-type TaFeSb-based HHs due to
their excellent TE performance
Facile and Selective Enrichment of Intact Sialoglycopeptides Using Graphitic Carbon Nitride
Combining
powerful selectivity, high stability, convenient operation,
mild condition, and eco-friendliness, a novel graphitic carbon nitride
(g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>)-based enrichment method of intact sialoglycopeptides
(SGs) was developed. The intact SGs could be simply enriched and separated
from protein tryptic digests by hydrogen bonding without damage of
glycan structures due to the specific structure of g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>. By optimizing the enrichment and elution conditions,
45 and 38 SGs were detected from the tryptic digests of bovine fetuin
and transferrin, respectively. Under the synergistic effect of hydrogen
bonding and electrostatic adsorption, the SGs could be enriched simply
in less than 2 h with a detection limit of 50 fmol. The method is
repeatable due to the high stability of g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> and the simple protocol of the method, indicating the potential
application of g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> in efficient and selective
enrichment of intact SGs
Additional file 1 of Development and validation of a model and nomogram for breast cancer diagnosis based on quantitative analysis of serum disease-specific haptoglobin N-glycosylation
Additional file 1: Figure S1. Aggregation plots of missing values of clinical variables. The first plot shows the proportion of missing values in each variable. The second plot shows patterns of missing values. The frequencies of the corresponding combinations are demonstrated to the right. The blue bars represent missing values, while the orange bars represent observed values. Figure S2. Strip plots of observed and imputed data of clinicopathological variables. The strip plots display the distribution of imputed values (orange points) over observed values (blue points) in a combined way. In total, 5 multiple imputed data sets were created. Column 1 represents the original data set, while column 2-6 represent the 5 imputed data sets. The second imputed data set (column 3) was used. Most of its imputations were in a plausible range, and properly accounted for the distribution of the missing data. Figure S3. Histogram plots displaying propensity score distributions for the malignant and benign groups before and after propensity score matching (caliper = 0.333). Figure S4. Heatmap of the correlations of DSHp-β N-glycopeptides and tumor markers. The numbers in grid show the Spearman correlation coefficients. Blank indicates a Bonferroni correction p-value of ≥ 0.05. Table S1. Identified N-glycopeptides of DSHp-β, their potential structures, and intensities between benign breast diseases and breast cancer
DataSheet1_Profiling of amines in biological samples using polythioester-functionalized magnetic nanoprobe.docx
Introduction: The metabolic balance of amines is closely related to human health. It remains a great challenge to analyze amines with high-throughput and high-coverage.Methods: Polythioester-functionalized magnetic nanoprobes (PMPs) have been prepared under mild conditions and applied in chemoselective capture of amides. With the introduction of polythioester, PMPs demonstrate remarkably increased capture efficiency, leading to the dramatically improved sensitivity of mass spectrometry detection.Results: The analysis method with PMPs treatment has been applied in rapid detection of more than 100 amines in lung adenocarcinoma cell lines, mouse organ tissues, and 103 human serum samples with high-throughput and high-coverage. Statistical analysis shows that arginine biosynthesis differed between lung adenocarcinoma cell lines.Discussion: Phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis differed between tissues. The combination indicators demonstrate a great diagnostic accuracy for distinguishing between health and lung disease subjects as well as differentiating the patients with benign lung disease and lung cancer. With powerful capture ability, low-cost preparation, and convenient separation, the PMPs demonstrate promising application in the intensive study of metabolic pathways and early diagnosis of disease.high-throughput and high-coverage. Here, polythioester-functionalized magnetic nanoprobes (PMPs) have been prepared under mild conditions and applied in chemoselective capture of amides. With the introduction of polythioester, PMPs demonstrate remarkably increased capture efficiency, leading to the dramatically improved sensitivity of mass spectrometry detection. The analysis method with PMPs treatment has been applied in rapid detection of more than 100 amines in lung adenocarcinoma cell lines, mouse organ tissues, and 103 human serum samples with high-throughput and high-coverage. Statistical analysis shows that arginine biosynthesis differed between lung adenocarcinoma cell lines. Phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis differed between tissues. The combination indicators demonstrate a great diagnostic accuracy for distinguishing between health and lung disease subjects as well as differentiating the patients with benign lung disease and lung cancer. With powerful capture ability, low-cost preparation, and convenient separation, the PMPs demonstrate promising application in the intensive study of metabolic pathways and early diagnosis of disease.</p
Cellular microRNA miR-181b Inhibits Replication of Mink Enteritis Virus by Repression of Non-Structural Protein 1 Translation
<div><p>Mink enteritis virus (MEV) is one of the most important viral pathogens in the mink industry. Recent studies have showed that microRNAs (miRNAs), small noncoding RNAs of length ranging from 18–23 nucleotides (nt) participate in host-pathogen interaction networks; however, whether or not miRNAs are involved in MEV infection has not been reported. Our study revealed that miRNA miR-181b inhibited replication of MEV in the feline kidney (F81) cell line by targeting the MEV non-structural protein 1 (NS1) messenger RNA (mRNA) coding region, resulting in NS1 translational repression, while MEV infection reduced miR-181b expression. This is the first description of cellular miRNAs modulating MEV infection in F81 cells, providing further insight into the mechanisms of viral infection, and may be useful in development of naturally-occurring miRNAs antiviral strategies.</p></div