Gut microbiota and urine metabolomics based exploration of Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt. tea on type 2 diabetic mellitus

Scented tea, as an integral part of tea culture for several centuries, is important to prevent chronic metabolic diseases. Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt. (CT) tea is often used to prevent and treat diabetes, but the mechanism of action needs further study. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to analyze 23 chemical components of CT extracts, and a “compounds-target-healthy function” network was constructed while the pathway enrichment analysis was carried out. Eleven CT compounds, including flavanomarein, luteolin, isookanin, marein, 7,3′,5′-trihydroxy-flavanone, okanin, caffeic acid, cynaroside, acetylcoreopsin, quercetin-7-O-β-D-glucoside, protocatechuic acid, were obtained through network pharmacology screening. The corresponding targets SRC, TP53, HSP90AA1, STAT3, MAPK1, PIK3R1, AKT1 and PIK3CA were associated with anti-glycemic effects. The rat model of type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM) was induced by a high-fat diet combined with low-dose streptozotocin injection and biochemical indexes (blood glucose, serum total cholesterol, and triglyceride) were determined. The low-dose water extract of CT can significantly regulate the total cholesterol level of diabetic rats (p < 0.01). 16S rDNA sequencing showed that CT could reverse the imbalance of intestinal flora, especially Lactobacillus, Prevotella, Succinivibrio, unidentified_Ruminococcaceae, and Treponema. Urine metabolomics observed 31 differential metabolites, mainly related to Glycerophospholipid metabolism. The correlation study showed that CT could treat T2DM by modulating the interaction of gut microbiota composition, changes in key bacterial genera, and the levels of endogenous metabolites to act on carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and lipid metabolism pathways. Therefore, CT water extract can effectively alleviate the changes of T2DM may be related to the combined changes of intestinal flora and metabolic characteristics

Crystallization, rheological behavior and mechanical properties of carbon nanotube/metallocene polypropylene composites

In this paper, metallocene polypropylene (mPP) composites filled with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were prepared using twin-screw extruder. The crystallization behavior, mechanical properties and rheological behavior were characterized by a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), universal material testing machine and rotational rheometer. The results of DSC indicated that the effect of CNTs on heterogeneous nucleation of mPP was very obvious and the crystallizability of the resin matrix was improved after adding CNTs, especially the initial crystallization temperature ( T _0 ), crystallization temperature ( T _c ) increased by 9.63 °C and 8.28 °C when the CNTs content was 1.25 wt%. The yield stress and elastic modulus increased to 33.98 MPa and 1605.6 MPa as the CNTs concentration increased to 1.0 wt% in contrast to that of the neat mPP. The results of SEM images showed that the better dispersion and adhesion of CNTs into polymer matrix. The results of rotational rheometer proved that interactions increased between CNTs and mPP as the content of CNTs increasing

Biomimetic honeycomb Zn anode enabled multi-field regulation toward highly stable flexible Zn-ion batteries

Flexible Zn-ion batteries (ZIBs) emerge as a promising entrant for flexible and safe energy systems in the post-Li era, while the instability of Zn anode including inferior flexibility, uncontrollable plating, and dendrite growth remains a challenge. Naturally inspired, a topology-optimized biomimetic honeycomb Zn (BH-Zn) anode through mechanical-electrochemical processing is demonstrated. Numerical simulations and experimental observations reveal the BH-Zn engenders smooth current–stress–thermal field distributions, concurrently realizing the multi-field regulation effect and boosted stability. After in situ alloying, the BH-Zn enables half-diminished voltage polarization, superior electrochemical stability of 2000 h cycling, and thermal stability even at 30 mA cm−2. Moreover, the assembled ZIBs manifest over 20 times enhanced capacity retention and are integrated as a self-powered wearable system for real-time health monitoring. This strategy can be extended to customizable metal anodes and promises to be applied in stable flexible batteries.The authors acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 52175534, U22A20193), the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, China (grant no. 2022JJ30154), the Science and Technology Innovation Program of Hunan Province (grant no. 2021RC3052), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant no. 531118010016), and the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body (grant no. 72175008). F.C. acknowledges the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 51975204) and the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, China (grant no. 2021JJ30103). H.L. is grateful for the funding of China Scholarship Council (CSC)