The Evaluation of Toxicity Induced by Psoraleae Fructus in Rats Using Untargeted Metabonomic Method Based on UPLC-Q-TOF/MS

Psoraleae Fructus is the dry and mature fruit of leguminous plant Psoralea corylifolia L., with the activity of warming kidney and enhancing yang, warming spleen, and other effects. However, large doses can cause liver and kidney toxicity. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the toxicity of Psoraleae Fructus systematically. Although traditional biochemical indicators and pathological tests have been used to evaluate the safety of drug, these methods lack sensitivity and specificity, so a fast and sensitive analytical method is urgently needed. In this study, an ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) method was used to analyze the metabolic profiles of rat plasma. The changes of metabolites in plasma samples were detected by partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Compared with the control group, after 7 days of administration, the pathological sections showed liver and kidney toxicity, and the metabolic trend was changed. Finally, 13 potential biomarkers related to the toxicity of Psoraleae Fructus were screened. The metabolic pathways involved were glycerol phospholipids metabolism, amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism, and so forth. The discovery of these biomarkers laid a foundation for better explaining the hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity of Psoraleae Fructus and provided a guarantee for its safety evaluation

Multimodal Contrast Agents for Optoacoustic Brain Imaging in Small Animals

Optoacoustic (photoacoustic) imaging has demonstrated versatile applications in biomedical research, visualizing the disease pathophysiology and monitoring the treatment effect in an animal model, as well as toward applications in the clinical setting. Given the complex disease mechanism, multimodal imaging provides important etiological insights with different molecular, structural, and functional readouts in vivo. Various multimodal optoacoustic molecular imaging approaches have been applied in preclinical brain imaging studies, including optoacoustic/fluorescence imaging, optoacoustic imaging/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), optoacoustic imaging/MRI/Raman, optoacoustic imaging/positron emission tomography, and optoacoustic/computed tomography. There is a rapid development in molecular imaging contrast agents employing a multimodal imaging strategy for pathological targets involved in brain diseases. Many chemical dyes for optoacoustic imaging have fluorescence properties and have been applied in hybrid optoacoustic/fluorescence imaging. Nanoparticles are widely used as hybrid contrast agents for their capability to incorporate different imaging components, tunable spectrum, and photostability. In this review, we summarize contrast agents including chemical dyes and nanoparticles applied in multimodal optoacoustic brain imaging integrated with other modalities in small animals, and provide outlook for further research

Time-Varying Fault Diagnosis for Asynchronous Multisensor Systems Based on Augmented IMM and Strong Tracking Filtering

A fault detection, isolation, and estimation approach is proposed in this paper based on Interactive Multimodel (IMM) fusion filtering and Strong Tracking Filtering (STF) for asynchronous multisensors dynamic systems. Time-varying fault is considered and a candidate fault model is built by augmenting the unknown fault amplitude directly into the system state for each kind of possible fault mode. By doing this, the dilemma of predetermining the fault extent as model design parameters in traditional IMM-based approaches is avoided. After that, the time-varying fault amplitude is estimated based on STF using its strong ability to track abrupt changes and robustness against model uncertainties. Through fusing information from multiple sensors, the performance of fault detection, isolation, and estimation is approved. Finally, a numerical simulation is performed to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method

Remaining Useful Life Estimation Based on Asynchronous Multisource Monitoring Information Fusion

An asynchronous RUL fusion estimation algorithm is presented for the hidden degradation process with multiple asynchronous monitoring sensors based on multisource information fusion. Firstly, a state-space type model is established by modeling the stochastic degradation as a Wiener process and transforming asynchronous indirectly observations in the fusion period to the fusion time. The statistical characteristics of involved noises and their correlations are analyzed. Secondly, the estimate of the hidden degradation state is obtained by applying Kalman filtering with correlated noises to the established state-space model, where the synchronized observations are fused. Also, the unknown model parameters are recursively identified based on the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm with the Generic Algorithm (GA) adopted to solve the maximization problem. Finally, the probability distribution of RUL is obtained using the fused degradation state estimation and the updated identification result of the model parameters. Simulation results show that the proposed fusion method has better performance than the RUL estimation with single sensor

Structure and Properties of Biodegradable Polymer Materials for Fused Deposition Modeling 3D Printing

The properties of 3D printed products are closely related to the raw materials and the processes by which they are made. The processes of melting, depositing, and cooling of polymers affect the orientation, crystallinity, and microstructure of the product. These in turn influence the thermal, mechanical, optical, and other properties of the printed part. Among various 3D printing methods, filament and pellet extrusion-based fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing is the cheapest and mostly adopted. In this chapter, the devices and some biodegradable polymer materials applicable in FDM 3D printing are briefly introduced. In the first part, preparation and the structure-property relationship of polylactic acid/polybutylene succinate blend filaments are discussed. Rheological, thermal properties of the raw materials and the properties of the printed parts were characterized. In the second part, a pellet extrusion 3D printer with a micro-screw was designed for using pellets of polyhydroxyalkanoate composites, which are difficult to produce filaments. The relationship between the screw parameters of the micro-screw extrusion 3D printer, rheological properties of the composites, and the printed product performance has been investigated. Combining theory and practical application will provide guidance for formulating biodegradable polymer materials and designing equipment for FDM 3D printing

Effect of Carnosic Acid on Quality Characteristics of Rapeseed Oil during Thermal Processing

In order to reveal the influence of carnosic acid on the quality characteristics of thermal processed rapeseed oil, the changes of color, acid value, peroxide value, tocopherol, viscosity, fatty acid composition and total polar compound were investigated during thermal processing (180 ℃, 0, 8, 16, 24, 32 h) by adding different concentrations of carnosic acid (0, 200, 400, 700 mg/kg) and 200 mg/kg tert-butylhydroquinone as antioxidants. The results indicated that the addition of 700 mg/kg carnosic acid showed a better performance in the thermal processed rapeseed oil: The color deterioration was delayed and the increase of viscosity was inhibited; the increased value of acid value was the smallest which was from 0.280±0.030 mg/g to 0.757±0.020 mg/g, as well as the minimum peroxide value (0.138 g/100 g) was obtained at 32 h; the loss rate of α-tocopherol and γ-tocopherol were 95.51%±0.96% and 83.37%±0.39%, respectively; the content of polar components was 26.62%±0.03%, prolonging the thermal processing life of rapeseed oil by delaying the increase of total polar compound. It was found that the use of carnosic acid could better control the risk factors in rapeseed oil during thermal processing and reduce the waste of oils

Purification and Partial Characterization of Bacteriocin Lac-B23, a Novel Bacteriocin Production by Lactobacillus plantarum J23, Isolated From Chinese Traditional Fermented Milk

The exploration and evaluation of bacteriocin-producing lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been one of the powerful means to food preservation. A total of 300 strains were isolated from Chinese traditional fermented milk products. A bacteriocin-producing LAB, named Lactobacillus plantarum J23, was screened and identified. Bacteriocin Lac-B23 from L. plantarum J23 was purified by 80% ammonium sulfate precipitation, cation-exchange chromatography, and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Molecular weight of bacteriocin Lac-B23 was determined to be approximately 6.73 kDa by tricine sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis, and it was confirmed as a novel bacteriocin by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Moreover, bacteriocin Lac-B23 showed thermal stability when heated at below 100°C for 30 min, pH stability between pH 2.0 and 12.0, and sensitivity to trypsin, proteinase K, and proteinase E. The antimicrobial activity of bacteriocin could be enhanced by addition of Fe2+, Mn2+, and ethyl alcohol, and inhibited by Cu2+, K+, Ca2+, Zn2+, Mg2+, and sodium chloride. The results suggested bacteriocin Lac-B23 to have potential application prospects in the food industry

Activated mouse CD4+Foxp3−CD4^+Foxp3^− T cells facilitate melanoma metastasis via Qa-1-dependent suppression of NK-cell cytotoxicity

The regulatory activities of mouse $CD^4+Foxp3^+$ T cells on various immune cells, including NK cells, have been well documented. Under some conditions, conventional $CD4^+Foxp3^−$ T cells in the periphery are able to acquire inhibitory function on other T cells, but their roles in controlling innate immune cells are poorly defined. As a potential cellular therapy for cancer, ex vivo activated $CD4^+Foxp3^−$ effector T cells are often infused back in vivo to suppress tumor growth and metastasis. Whether such activated T cells could affect NK-cell control of tumorigenesis is unclear. In the present study, we found that mitogen-activated $CD4^+Foxp3^−$ T cells exhibited potent suppressor function on NK-cell proliferation and cytotoxicity in vitro, and notably facilitated B16 melanoma metastasis in vivo. Suppression of NK cells by activated $CD4^+Foxp3^−$ T cells is cell-cell contact dependent and is mediated by Qa-1:NKG2A interaction, as administration of antibodies blocking either Qa-1 or NKG2A could completely reverse this suppression, and significantly inhibited otherwise facilitated melanoma metastasis. Moreover, activated $CD4^+Foxp3^−$ cells from Qa-1 knockout mice completely lost the suppressor activity on NK cells, and failed to facilitate melanoma metastasis when transferred in vivo. Taken together, our findings indicate that innate anti-tumor response is counter regulated by the activation of adaptive immunity, a phenomenon we term as “activation-induced inhibition”. Thus, the regulatory role of activated $CD4^+Foxp3^−$ T cells in NK-cell activity must be taken into consideration in the future design of cancer therapies

High-entropy rare earth stannate ceramics: Acid corrosion resistant radiative cooling materials with high atmospheric transparency window emissivity and high near-infrared solar reflectivity

In response to the development of the concepts of “carbon neutrality” and “carbon peak”, it is critical to developing materials with high near-infrared (NIR) solar reflectivity and high emissivity in the atmospheric transparency window (ATW; 8–13 μm) to advance zero energy consumption radiative cooling technology. To regulate emission and reflection properties, a series of high-entropy rare earth stannate ceramics (HE-RE2Sn2O7: (Y0.2La0.2Nd0.2Eu0.2Gd0.2)2Sn2O7, (Y0.2La0.2Sm0.2Eu0.2Lu0.2)2Sn2O7, and (Y0.2La0.2Gd0.2Yb0.2Lu0.2)2Sn2O7) with severe lattice distortion were prepared using a solid phase reaction followed by a pressureless sintering method for the first time. Lattice distortion is accomplished by introducing rare earth elements with different cation radii and mass. The as-synthesized HE-RE2Sn2O7 ceramics possess high ATW emissivity (91.38%–95.41%), high NIR solar reflectivity (92.74%–97.62%), low thermal conductivity (1.080–1.619 W·m−1·K−1), and excellent chemical stability. On the one hand, the lattice distortion intensifies the asymmetry of the structural unit to cause a notable alteration in the electric dipole moment, ultimately enlarging the ATW emissivity. On the other hand, by selecting difficult excitation elements, HE-RE2Sn2O7, which has a wide band gap (Eg), exhibits high NIR solar reflectivity. Hence, the multi-component design can effectively enhance radiative cooling ability of HE-RE2Sn2O7 and provide a novel strategy for developing radiative cooling materials