Clausenain B, a phenylalanine-rich cyclic octapeptide from Clausena anisum-olens

A new cyclic octapeptide, named clausenain B, was isolated by a multi-step chromatography procedure from Clausena anisum-olens. Its structure was established as cyclo(-Phe¹-Ser-Leu¹-Phe²-Phe4-Gly-Leu²-Phe³-) (1) based on extensive spectroscopic studies and chemical evidence. Clausenain B (1) is a phenylalanine-rich cyclic octapeptide

A statistical examination of the link between environmental performance and legal practices: an evaluation of China’s strategies for residual legislative power allocation

This study investigates the correlation between the environmental legal practices of different countries and their environmental performance. It entails an empirical analysis of cross-sectional environmental data collected from 34 countries, including members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the BRICs nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). Then the study explores the correlation between a country’s environmental performance and both the environmental policy stringency and regulatory enforcement. The findings from this global assessment are subsequently corroborated through an examination of China’s environmental time series data spanning a decade, revealing a significant relationship between a country’s environmental performance and regulatory enforcement. These results validate the Incomplete Law Theory within the field of environmental law. Moreover, as the second most populous and the third-largest country in terms of land area globally, China’s environmental protection strategies and performance play a pivotal role in influencing international environmental outcomes. Consequently, the study conducts a case study on China’s environmental legal practices and provides suggestions for enhancing China’s allocation strategies of residual legislative power. The study advocates for the optimization of residual legislative power allocation within local environmental law enforcement agencies and a balanced distribution of public and private residual legislative power. This approach reinforces the government’s role in strategic formulation

Enhancement of polar phases in PVDF by forming PVDF/SiC nanowire composite

Different contents of silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires were mixed with Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) to facilitate the polar phase crystallization. It was shown that the annealing temperature and SiC content affected on the phase and crystalline structures of PVDF/SiC samples. Furthermore, the addition of SiC nanowire enhanced the transformation of non-polar α phase to polar phases and increased the relative fraction of β phase in PVDF. Due to the nucleating agent mechanism of SiC nanowires, the ion-dipole interaction between the negatively charged surface of SiC nanowires and the positive CH2 groups in PVDF facilitated the formation of polar phases in PVDF

(S)-3-Bromo-4-diallyl­amino-5-[(1R,2S,5R)-2-isopropyl-5-methyl­cyclo­hex­yloxy]furan-2(5H)-one

The title compound, C20H30BrNO3, was obtained via a tandem asymmetric Michael addition–elimination reaction of 3,4-dibromo-5-(S)-(l-menth­yloxy)-2(5H)-furan­one and diallyl­amine in the presence of potassium fluoride. In the mol­ecule, the five-membered furan­one ring is approximately planar [maximum atomic deviation = 0.030 (3) Å], and the six-membered cyclo­hexane ring adopts a chair conformation

AUTOMATED ADVERTISEMENT CREATION SYSTEM

An advertisement creation system generates sizeless creatives and renders the creatives as display advertisements of any arbitrary dimension. The system extracts text assets and image assets from creatives provided by an advertiser. In particular, the system selects assets to display based on scores for the respective text assets and image assets. The system then combines selected text assets and image assets to generate a final creative. Finally, the system optimizes the final creative and renders the final creative for display

Etiological Analysis of Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: Single-Center Eight-Year Clinical Experience in South China

Etiology determination of neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDDs) currently remains a worldwide common challenge on child health. We herein reported the etiology distribution feature in a cohort of 285 Chinese patients with NDDs. Although concrete NDD etiologies in 48.4% of the total patients could not be identified, genetic diseases (with the proportion of 35.8% in the total cases) including inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) and congenital dysmorphic diseases, constituted the commonest etiology category for NDDs in this study. The two key experimental technologies in pediatric metabolomics, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS), proved to be substantially helpful for the exploration of the NDD etiologies in this clinical investigation. The findings in this paper provided latest epidemiologic information on the etiology distribution of NDDs in Chinese, and the syndromic NDDs caused by citrin deficiency and the novel chromosomal karyotype, respectively, further expanded the etiology spectrum of NDDs

The missing piece: recent approaches investigating the antimicrobial mode of action of essential oils

Antibiotic resistance is a major global health issue that has seen alarming rates of increase in all parts of the world over the past two decades. The surge in antibiotic resistance has resulted in longer hospital stays, higher medical costs, and elevated mortality rates. Constant attempts have been made to discover newer and more effective antimicrobials to reduce the severity of antibiotic resistance. Plant secondary metabolites, such as essential oils, have been the major focus due to their complexity and bioactive nature. However, the underlying mechanism of their antimicrobial effect remains largely unknown. Understanding the antimicrobial mode of action of essential oils is crucial in developing potential strategies for the use of essential oils in a clinical setting. Recent advances in genomics and proteomics have enhanced our understanding of the antimicrobial mode of action of essential oils. We might well be at the dawn of completing a mystery on how essential oils carry out their antimicrobial activities. Therefore, an overview of essential oils with regard to their antimicrobial activities and mode of action is discussed in this review. Recent approaches used in identifying the antimicrobial mode of action of essential oils, specifically from the perspective of genomics and proteomics, are also synthesized. Based on the information gathered from this review, we offer recommendations for future strategies and prospects for the study of essential oils and their function as antimicrobials

Co-culture systems for the production of secondary metabolites: current and future prospects

Microorganisms are the great sources of Natural Products (NPs); these are imperative to their survival apart from conferring competitiveness amongst each other within their environmental niches. Primary and secondary metabolites are the two major classes of NPs that help in cell development, where antimicrobial activity is closely linked with secondary metabolites. To capitalize on the effects of secondary metabolites, co-culture methods have been often used to develop an artificial microbial community that promotes the action of these metabolites. Different analytical techniques will subsequently be employed based on the metabolite specificity and sensitivity to further enhance the metabolite induction. Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) and Gas Chromatography (GC)-MS are commonly used for metabolite separation while Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Mass Spectrometry (MS) have been used as tools to elucidate the structure of compounds. This review intends to discuss current systems in use for co-culture in addition to its advantages, with discourse into the investigation of specific techniques in use for the detailed study of secondary metabolites. Further advancements and focus on co-culture technologies are required to fully realize the massive potential in synthetic biological systems

Protein expression patterns in HEK-blue-cells treated with Clinacanthus nutans extracts

Background: Clinacanthus nutans (CN) is a small shrub native to tropical Asia known for their anti-oxidant, anti-inflammation, anti-cancer, and anti-viral activities. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effect of CN extract on human embryonic kidney cell line (HEK-Blue™-4) in a proteomic perspective. Materials and Methods: Comparative proteomic profiling through two-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis was performed on HEK-Blue™-4 treated with CN leaf polar extract. Results: We successfully identified seven upregulated proteins, of which five promoted the growth of the HEK-Blue™-4 cells. Interestingly, a potent antioxidant enzyme which neutralizes reactive oxygen or nitrogen species, peroxiredoxin-1 was also upregulated in HEK-Blue™-4 cell lines after treatment with CN leaf polar extract. Conclusion: CN leaf polar extract promotes the growth of HEK-Blue™-4 cells and induced the expression of peroxiredoxin-1, which protects the cells from reactive oxygen species during the inflammation process