Puerarin alleviates osteoporosis in rats by targeting the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway

Osteoporosis (OP) is a common chronic progressive bone disease that increases fracture risk in postmenopausal women. Research suggests that puerarin (Pue) may be an effective treatment for OP. This study examined the effects and underlying mechanisms of Pue in treating postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP) in rats. Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats underwent bilateral ovariectomy to simulate PMOP and were then treated with subcutaneous injections of Pue. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured using a bone densitometer. Micro-CT scans assessed femur bone structure and various parameters were calculated: bone volume fraction (BV/TV), bone surface density (BS/TV), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), trabecular number (Tb.N), trabecular separation (Tb.Sp), and bone surface area-to-bone volume ratio (BS/BV). Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was employed to observe femoral tissue pathology. Serum levels of bone formation metabolism-related markers—osteocalcin (OC), bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP), and procollagen type I N-terminal propeptide (PINP)—were measured via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The protein expression levels of the Janus kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (JAK2/STAT3) signaling pathway in bone tissue were evaluated using Western blotting assay. The results showed improved bone density and reduced bone loss in rats treated with Pue. There were also significant increases in serum levels of OC and BALP, indicating enhanced osteogenesis. Furthermore, there was a decrease in activation of the JAK2/STAT3 pathway in femoral tissue, suggesting a pathway inhibition. These findings indicate that Pue may combat osteoporosis by promoting osteogenesis and inhibiting activation of the JAK2/STAT3 pathway activation

Integrated glycomic analysis of ovarian cancer side population cells

Additional file 2. The category of representative lectins for glycan profiling

Corporate digital transformation and idiosyncratic risk: Based on corporate governance perspective

This study examines the relationship between corporate digital transformation and idiosyncratic risk. We employ crawler technology to gather “digital transformation” characteristic words in annual reports, and innovatively construct a proxy variable for corporate digital transformation. Using 12,516 observations from 2941 listed companies in China across the period 2014 to 2020, we find that the relationship between corporate digital transformation and idiosyncratic risk presents as “U-shaped”. The results are still robust when we address the endogeneity concern, and use alternative measures of the dependent variable, further validate the U-shaped relationship as well as exclude special samples. The moderating effect of management shareholding and product market competition is further explored from internal and external corporate governance mechanisms, respectively. Results show that internal and external corporate governance mechanisms strengthen the relationship between digital transformation and idiosyncratic risk. In general, our research results enrich the study of corporate digital transformation and risk management, which gives some insight into corporate governance in the digital age.</p

Trade credit and corporate digital transformation: the role of managerial ability

We examine whether managerial ability affects the relationship between corporate digital transformation and trade credit. To measure digital transformation, we perform a textual analysis of companies’ annual reports using a customized Chinese dictionary containing digital transformation keywords based on national policy documents and academic literature. Using 10,554 observations from 2509 A-shares listed companies in China, we show that corporate digital transformation has significantly impacted trade credit. Managerial ability enhances the relationship between digital transformation and received trade credit but does not change the impact between digital transformation and provided trade credit. A battery of robustness tests confirms the findings.</p

SiO₂-Alginate-Based Gel Polymer Electrolytes for Zinc-Ion Batteries

Aqueous Zn-ion batteries (AZIBs) are quite promising energy sources. However, aqueous electrolytes present many challenges such as hydrolysis reactions, liquid leakage, Zn dendrites, and interfacial side reactions. To solve the above problems of aqueous electrolytes, in this study, a kind of SiO2-sodium alginate gel polymer electrolyte (SiO2-SA GPE) is prepared through a one-pot method. The SiO2-SA GPE possessed high ionic conductivity of 1.144 × 10−2 S·cm−1 and perfect mechanical strength. The Zn//LiFePO4 batteries assembled with SiO2-SA GPE delivered a high discharge specific capacity of 89.9 mAh g−1 (capacity retention = 74.9%) after 300 cycles at 1 C, which was much better than traditional liquid electrolytes (residual discharge capacity = 79.2 mAh g−1). Results of the rate performance and long cycle life of AZIBs proved that SiO2-SA GPE could effectively prevent zinc dendrites and side reactions, providing a feasible strategy for improving the performance of AZIBs

In-depth comparison of morphology, microstructure, and pathway of char derived from sewage sludge and relevant model compounds

Hydrothermal conversion (HTC) of sewage sludge (SS) and its relevant model compounds such as cellulose, glucose, lignin and soybean protein (substitute for protein) was experimentally conducted at moderate reaction temperature of 260 °C for 60 min. The structural properties, carbon-containing groups, and microstructure of the char were characterised by several techniques. The results revealed that more benzene rings were formed by small clusters and the C[sbnd]O bond on Aryl-alkyl ether decomposed on the surface particles during the HTC process. In addition, the catalyst Zeolite Socony Mobil-5 (ZSM-5, Si/Al: 300) showed an excellent performance on the high graphite degree of the char under moderate reaction temperature of 260 °C. In particular, cellulose has the most dramatic influence on the depolymerisation of C[sbnd](C,H). As evidenced with SEM, the size of the char derived from SS with ZSM-5 catalyst is 10–15 μm, which is smaller than the char without catalyst. A mechanism for derivation of char from individual model compounds is proposed. The end products of lignin are composed of polyaromatic char, while the composition of the char derived from protein suggests that polymerisation may occur during hydrothermal reaction leading to formation of structures with N-containing compounds

Designing “Core–Shell” Insoluble‐SiW11Fe@δ‐Bi2O3 Z‐Scheme Heterojunction for Photo‐Driven Nitrogen Reduction Reaction and Evaluating the Impact of Oxygen toward Nitrogen Reduction

Abstract Photo‐driven nitrogen fixation is regarded as a promising sustainable strategy to generate low‐concentration NH3/NH4+. Insoluble SiW11Fe@δ‐Bi2O3 with “core–shell” structure and Z‐scheme featured heterojunction is constructed under solvothermal conditions. Chemisorption of nitrogen improves significantly due to increased oxygen vacancies on δ‐Bi2O3 as induced by insoluble SiW11Fe salt. Z‐scheme heterojunction is suggested according to energy diagram analyses and electron paramagnetic resonance spin‐trapping experiments, which can be well correlated to enhanced transient photocurrent and catalytic efficacy. [Ru(bpy)3]2+ counter ion in the composite acts as a photosensitizer, leading to improved light harvesting. These merits account for superior performance of Ru2.5SiW11Fe@δ‐Bi2O3. NH3/NH4+ production rate of 121 µmol gcat−1 h−1 is achieved under simulated sunlight irradiation in nitrogen atmosphere, but reduces on switching to air. The impact of oxygen over nitrogen reduction is investigated, and productions of both NH3/NH4+ and H2O2 are evaluated when using gas mixture feedstock with different V(N2):V(O2) ratios. The performance of nitrogen reduction depends mainly on its volume ratio in mixture feedstock, in addition to reduction capability of photocatalyst. By reducing the latter one appropriately, nitrogen reduction would be slightly favored when using air as feedstock

First discovery of acetone extract from cottonseed oil sludge as a novel antiviral agent against plant viruses.

A novel acetone extract from cottonseed oil sludge was firstly discovered against plant viruses including Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), Rice stripe virus (RSV) and Southern rice black streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV). Gossypol and β-sitosterol separated from the acetone extract were tested for their effects on anti-TMV and analysed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) assay. In vivo and field trials in different geographic distributions and different host varieties declared that this extract mixture was more efficient than the commercial agent Ningnanmycin with a broad spectrum of anti-plant-viruses activity. No phytotoxic activity was observed in the treated plants and environmental toxicology showed that this new acetone extract was environmentally friendly, indicating that this acetone extract has potential application in the control of plant virus in the future