Therapeutic potential and pharmacological significance of extracellular vesicles derived from traditional medicinal plants

Medicinal plants are the primary sources for the discovery of novel medicines and the basis of ethnopharmacological research. While existing studies mainly focus on the chemical compounds, there is little research about the functions of other contents in medicinal plants. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are functionally active, nanoscale, membrane-bound vesicles secreted by almost all eukaryotic cells. Intriguingly, plant-derived extracellular vesicles (PDEVs) also have been implicated to play an important role in therapeutic application. PDEVs were reported to have physical and chemical properties similar to mammalian EVs, which are rich in lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, and pharmacologically active compounds. Besides these properties, PDEVs also exhibit unique advantages, especially intrinsic bioactivity, high stability, and easy absorption. PDEVs were found to be transferred into recipient cells and significantly affect their biological process involved in many diseases, such as inflammation and tumors. PDEVs also could offer unique morphological and compositional characteristics as natural nanocarriers by innately shuttling bioactive lipids, RNA, proteins, and other pharmacologically active substances. In addition, PDEVs could effectively encapsulate hydrophobic and hydrophilic chemicals, remain stable, and cross stringent biological barriers. Thus, this study focuses on the pharmacological action and mechanisms of PDEVs in therapeutic applications. We also systemically deal with facets of PDEVs, ranging from their isolation to composition, biological functions, and biotherapeutic roles. Efforts are also made to elucidate recent advances in re-engineering PDEVs applied as stable, effective, and non-immunogenic therapeutic applications to meet the ever-stringent demands. Considering its unique advantages, these studies not only provide relevant scientific evidence on therapeutic applications but could also replenish and inherit precious cultural heritage

An intelligent fault diagnosis method for PV arrays based on an improved rotation forest algorithm

With the exponential growth of global photovoltaic (PV) power capacity, it is essential to monitor, detect and diagnose the faults in PV arrays for optimal operation. This paper presents an improved rotation forest (RoF) algorithm classifiers ensemble hybridized with extreme learning machine (ELM) for fault diagnosis of PV arrays, which mainly consists of feature selection and classification. In the feature selection step, all the attributes are ranked by the ReliefF algorithm and the top-ranked attributes are chosen to create the new training data subset. In the classification step, the base classifier decision tree of the RoF is replaced by the extreme learning machine to form a new hybrid RoF-ELM ensemble classifier. In the RoF-ELM algorithm, the feature space is first split into several subspaces and the best number of feature subsets is found through the traversal search method. Then, the bootstrap algorithm is employed to carry out bootstrap resampling for each feature subspace, and the principal component analysis (PCA) is then used to transform the resampled samples. Finally, the ELM base classifier is exploited to build each classification model and the final decision is determined by the simple voting approach. By combining the RoF ensemble method with the ELM classifier, the proposed RoF-ELM algorithm not only overcomes the overfitting problem of the basic RoF algorithm, but also improves the generalization ability of the basic ELM. In order to experimentally verify the proposed approach, different types and levels of faults have been created in a laboratory small scale grid-connected PV power system to obtain the fault data samples. Experimental results demonstrate that the RoF-ELM can achieve higher diagnosis accuracy and reliability compared to the basic RoF and ELM algorithms

The anti-cholestatic effects of Coptis chinensis Franch. alone and combined with Tetradium ruticarpum (A. Jussieu) T. G. Hartley: dual effects on fecal metabolism and microbial diversity

Introduction: Drug dosages and combinations are the main factors that affect the efficacy of pleiotropic traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Coptis chinensis Franch. (CF) is a representative TCM with multiple effects and is often combined with Tetradium ruticarpum (A. Jussieu) T. G. Hartley (TR) to treat cholestasis. The present study assessed the influence of CF dose and its combination with TR on the efficacy of CF in cholestasis treatment, including their effects on fecal metabolism and fecal microorganisms.Methods: Rats with α-naphthylisothiocyanate (ANIT, 50 mg/kg)-induced cholestasis were administered low (0.3 g/kg) and high (0.6 g/kg) doses of CF, as well as CF combined with TR at doses of 0.6 g/kg and 0.9 g/kg, respectively. The anti-cholestatic effects of these treatments were assessed by determining their anti-inflammatory, hypolipidemic, and anti-oxidative stress properties. Additionally, fecal metabolomics and fecal microorganisms were analyzed.Results: Low dose CF had a more potent hypolipidemic effect than high dose CF, whereas high dose CF had more potent anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative stress effects. Combination with TR enhanced the hypolipidemic effect, but antagonized the anti-inflammatory effect, of CF. Analyses of fecal metabolomics and fecal microorganisms showed differences in the regulation of lipid- and amino acid metabolism-related pathways, including pathways of linoleic acid, tyrosine, and arachidonic acid metabolism, and amino acid biosynthesis between different doses of CF as well as between different doses of CF in combination with TR. These differences may contribute to differences in the anti-cholestatic effects of these preparations.Conclusion: CF dose influences its anti-cholestatic efficacy. The combination with TR had synergistic or antagonistic effects on the properties of CF, perhaps by altering fecal metabolism and fecal microbial homeostasis

Direct conversion of methane to formaldehyde and CO on B2O3 catalysts

甲烷作为天然气的主要成分，是非常重要的碳基资源。不过，甲烷分子的化学惰性使得其转化通常需要在高温条件下进行，反应选择性难于控制。如何实现甲烷的高选择性定向转化一直是化学研究中的重要挑战，甚至被誉为化学领域的“圣杯”。化学化工学院王帅教授与华盛顿州立大学王勇教授合作在甲烷选择氧化反应非金属硼基催化剂的研究中取得重要进展，本研究中发现负载型氧化硼催化剂在甲烷直接氧化反应中表现出优异的抗深度氧化能力。本研究工作是在王帅教授和王勇教授的共同指导下完成。2015级博士生田金树（已毕业）、硕士生谈江乔（已毕业）以及醇醚酯清洁生产国家工程实验室张朝霞工程师为共同第一作者，林敬东副教授和万绍隆副教授等参与了部分研究和讨论。【Abstract】Direct oxidation of methane to value-added C1 chemicals (e.g. HCHO and CO) provides a promising way to utilize natural gas sources under relatively mild conditions. Such conversions remain, however, a key selectivity challenge, resulting from the facile formation of undesired fully-oxidized CO2. Here we show that B2O3-based catalysts are selective in the direct conversion of methane to HCHO and CO (~94% selectivity with a HCHO/CO ratio of ~1 at 6% conversion) and highly stable (over 100 hour time-on-stream operation) conducted in a fixed-bed reactor (550 °C, 100 kPa, space velocity 4650 mL gcat−1 h−1 ). Combined catalyst characterization, kinetic studies, and isotopic labeling experiments unveil that molecular O2 bonded to tri-coordinated BO3 centers on B2O3 surfaces acts as a judicious oxidant for methane activation with mitigated CO2 formation, even at high O2/CH4 ratios of the feed. These findings shed light on the great potential of designing innovative catalytic processes for the direct conversion of alkanes to fuels/chemicals.This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21922201, 21872113, 91945301, 21673189, and 91545114) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 20720190036 and 20720160032).研究工作得到了国家自然科学基金（21922201、21872113、91945301、21673189、91545114）和中央高校基本科研业务费专项资金（20720190036、20720160032）的资助与支持

Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery Systems Targeting Tumor Microenvironment for Cancer Immunotherapy Resistance: Current Advances and Applications

Cancer immunotherapy has shown impressive anti-tumor activity in patients with advanced and early-stage malignant tumors, thus improving long-term survival. However, current cancer immunotherapy is limited by barriers such as low tumor specificity, poor response rate, and systemic toxicities, which result in the development of primary, adaptive, or acquired resistance. Immunotherapy resistance has complex mechanisms that depend on the interaction between tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME). Therefore, targeting TME has recently received attention as a feasibility strategy for re-sensitizing resistant neoplastic niches to existing cancer immunotherapy. With the development of nanotechnology, nanoplatforms possess outstanding features, including high loading capacity, tunable porosity, and specific targeting to the desired locus. Therefore, nanoplatforms can significantly improve the effectiveness of immunotherapy while reducing its toxic and side effects on non-target cells that receive intense attention in cancer immunotherapy. This review explores the mechanisms of tumor microenvironment reprogramming in immunotherapy resistance, including TAMs, CAFs, vasculature, and hypoxia. We also examined whether the application of nano-drugs combined with current regimens is improving immunotherapy clinical outcomes in solid tumors

Insight into the Roles of Ammonia during Direct Alcohol Amination over Supported Ru Catalysts

10.1016/j.jcat.2021.05.002Journal of Catalysi

Working temperature calculation of single-core cable by nonlinear finite element method

By simulating the actual working conditions of a cable, the temperature variation rule of different measuring points under different load currents was analyzed. On this basis, a three-dimensional finite element model (FEM) was established, and the difference and influence factors between the simulation temperature and the experimental measured value were discussed, then the influence of thermal conductivity on the operating temperature of the conductor layer was studied. Finally, combined with the steady-state thermal conductivity model and the experimental measured data, the relation between thermal conductivity and load current was obtained

Study on properties of high strength steel during warm roll forming

Roll forming is a 3D deformation complex process.Stiffness of stands and strength of shafts are the preconditions for the production of precision products.However, the existing roll forming equipment cannot meet the requirements of the production for high strength steel or ultra high strength steel.In order to solve the forming problem of high strength steel or ultra high strength steel, it needs to redesign a set of roll forming equipment.The redesign of roll forming equipment not only makes the production cycle too long, but also results in a high cost.So it is not suitable for the production of forming products.In this paper, based on the existing roll forming equipment a new method of roll forming operation is proposed to optimize the production of U shaped products.The influences of the new method on the roll forming products such as mechanical properties, microstructures and surface qualities, have also been discussed, Based on the new warm roll forming operation, numerical simulation has also been carried out.The simulation result of geometry is in good agreement with experimental result

Degradation of organophosphate esters in sewage sludge: Effects of aerobic/anaerobic treatments and bacterial community compositions

This dataset provides detail information on the analytical methods of organophosphate esters (OPEs) in sludge samples, including the sample preparation, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (UPLC-MS/MS) analysis, quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC). The concentration of target OPE compounds in collected samples of four individual treatment was provided, including aerobic composting combined with pig manure (T1), aerobic composting without pig manure (T2), anaerobic digestion combined with pig manure (T3), and anaerobic digestion without pig manure (T4). To investigate the variation of bacterial community compositions, principal components analysis (PCA) was provided based on the high-throughput sequencing. These data would be useful for clarifying the removal of OPEs under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Besides, it also provides important information on the potential bacterial strains responsible for the biodegradation of OPEs in each treatment

Investigation of high strength steel for automotive roll-forming parts

In recent years, the number of automobiles has been steadily increasing, which has significantly impacted on the society and human life, and led to many social problems such as fuel crisis, environment pollution. Therefore, lightweight designing becomes a focused issue. Lightweight materials application, optimized structure design and advanced manufacturing process are the main ways to achieve the lightweight. However, low plasticity and ductility of high strength steel constrain the application of high strength steel. In this paper, the basic principle of roll forming for automotive parts is investigated, and it is innovatively applied in the hot roll forming process of the ultra high strength steel