Gengnianchun, a Traditional Chinese Medicine, Enhances Oxidative Stress Resistance and Lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans by Modulating

Objective. Gengnianchun (GNC), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is primarily used to improve declining functions related to aging. In this study, we investigated its prolongevity and stress resistance properties and explored the associated regulatory mechanism using a Caenorhabditis elegans model. Methods. Wild-type C. elegans N2 was used for lifespan analysis and oxidative stress resistance assays. Transgenic animals were used to investigate pathways associated with antioxidative stress activity. The effects of GNC on levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and expression of specific genes were examined. Results. GNC-treated wild-type worms showed an increase in survival time under both normal and oxidative stress conditions. GNC decreased intracellular ROS levels by 67.95%. GNC significantly enhanced the oxidative stress resistance of several mutant strains, suggesting that the protective effect of GNC is independent of the function of these genes. However, the oxidative stress resistance effect of GNC was absent in worms with daf-16 mutation. We also found upregulation of daf-16 downstream targets including sod-3 and mtl-1. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that GNC extends the lifespan of C. elegans and enhances its resistance to oxidative stress via a daf-16/FOXO-dependent pathway. This study also provides a feasible method for screening the biological mechanisms of TCMs

Mesoporous nano Ni-Al2O3 catalyst for CO2 methanation in a continuously stirred tank reactor

Mesoporous nano Ni-Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by using Pluronic P123 (P123) and fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether (AEO-7) as structure directing agents (SDAs), and applied for CO2 methanation in a continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR). Compared with NiAl-A prepared by using AEO-7 as SDA and NiAl-N without SDA, NiAl-P prepared by using P123 as SDA possesses ordered mesopores, high Ni dispersion, large metal surface area and amounts of adsorbed CO2, which benefits CO2 conversion. Under the conditions of 1.0 MPa, 300 °C and H2/CO2 ratio of 4, NiAl-P shows the highest CO2 conversion of 74.0% and CH4 yield of 73.6%

A Chinese Herbal Formula, Gengnianchun, Ameliorates β

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder, and the few drugs that are currently available only treat the symptoms. Traditional medicine or phytotherapy has been shown to protect against AD. In our previous studies, Gengnianchun (GNC), a traditional Chinese medicine formula with a prolongevity effect, protected against Aβ-induced cytotoxicity in pheochromocytoma cells (PC-12 cells) and hippocampal cells. Here, we investigated the effects and possible mechanisms by which GNC protected against Aβ toxicity using transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans CL4176. Our results showed that GNC effectively delayed the Aβ toxicity-triggered body paralysis of CL4176 worms. GNC decreased Aβ by reducing Aβ mRNA levels. Moreover, GNC significantly reduced reactive oxygen species in the AD model worms compared with the controls. In addition, GNC upregulated the daf-16, sod-3, hsp-16.2 genes, and enhanced DAF-16 translocation from the cytoplasm to the nuclei under oxidative stress conditions. GNC treatment of C. elegans strains lacking DAF-16 did not affect the paralysis phenotype. Taken together, these findings suggest that GNC could protect against Aβ-induced toxicity via the DAF-16 pathway in C. elegans. Further studies are required to analyze its effectiveness in more complex animals

Sacrificial carbon strategy toward enhancement of slurry methanation activity and stability over Ni-Zr/SiO2 catalyst

Mesoporous silica-supported Ni-Zr catalysts prepared via the modified impregnation method by applying different solvents and calcination atmospheres were employed for CO methanation in a slurry-bed reactor. The results show that the glycerol-impregnated Ni-Zr/SiO2 catalyst exhibited higher specific surface area and Ni species dispersion and more intensive nickel–support interaction than the water-impregnated one and thus enhanced the catalytic activity and stability. Furthermore, the carbon could be constructed on the surface of the Ni-Zr/SiO2 catalyst from the carbonization of glycerol via calcination under an inert atmosphere and be removed through successive calcination in air. Owing to the improved nickel–support interaction, the carbon-sacrificed Ni-Zr/SiO2 catalyst exhibited higher Ni dispersion and smaller and more uniform Ni particle sizes, leading to catalytic activity for CO methanation that is higher than that of the catalysts without carbonization

Association Between Gut Microbiota and CD4 Recovery in HIV-1 Infected Patients

Composition of the gut microbiota has been linked with human immunedeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Evidence suggests that ART-treated patients with poor CD4+ T-cell recovery have higher levels of microbial translocation and immune activation. However, the association of the gut microbiota and immune recovery remains unclear. We performed a cross-sectional study on 30 healthy controls (HC) and 61 HIV-infected individuals, including 15 immunological ART responders (IRs), 20 immunological ART non-responders (INRs) and 26 untreated individuals (VU). IR and INR groups were classified by CD4+ T-cell counts of ≥350 cells/mm3 and <350 cells/mm3 after 2 years of ART, respectively. Each subject’s gut microbiota composition was analyzed by metagenomics sequencing. Levels of CD4+ T cells, CD8+HLA-DR+ T cells and CD8+CD38+ T cells were measured by flow cytometry. We identified more Prevotella and fewer Bacteroides in HIV-infected individuals than in HC. Patients in INR group were enriched with Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, unclassified Subdoligranulum sp. and Coprococcus comes when compared with those in IR group. F. prausnitzii and unclassified Subdoligranulum sp. were overrepresented in individuals in VU group with CD4+ T-cell counts <350 cells/mm3. Moreover, we found that the relative abundance of unclassified Subdoligranulum sp. and C. comes were positively correlated with CD8+HLA-DR+ T-cell count and CD8+HLA-DR+/CD8+ percentage. Our study has shown that gut microbiota changes were associated with CD4+ T-cell counts and immune activation in HIV-infected subjects. Interventions to reverse gut dysbiosis and inhibit immune activation could be a new strategy for improving immune reconstitution of HIV-1-infected individuals

A Dual-Bed Strategy for Direct Conversion of Syngas to Light Paraffins

The authors studied the direct conversion of syngas to light paraffins in a dual-bed fixed-bed reactor. A dual-bed catalyst composed of three catalysts, a physically mixed methanol synthesis catalyst (CZA), and a methanol dehydration to dimethyl ether (DME) catalyst (Al2O3(C)) were put in the upper bed for direct conversion of syngas to DME, while the SAPO-34 (SP34-C) zeolite was put in the lower bed for methanol and DME conversion. The effects of the mass ratio of CZA to Al2O3(C), the H2/CO molar ratio, and the space velocity on catalytic performance of syngas to DME were studied in the upper bed. Moreover, a feed gas with a CO/CO2/DME/N2/H2 molar ratio of 9/6/4/5 balanced with H2 was simulated and studied in the lower bed over SP34-C; after optimizing the reaction conditions, the selectivity of light paraffins reached 90.8%, and the selectivity of propane was as high as 76.7%. For the direct conversion of syngas to light paraffins in a dual bed, 88.9% light paraffins selectivity in hydrocarbons was obtained at a CO conversion of 33.4%. This dual-bed strategy offers a potential route for the direct conversion of syngas to valuable chemicals

A Dual-Bed Strategy for Direct Conversion of Syngas to Light Paraffins

The authors studied the direct conversion of syngas to light paraffins in a dual-bed fixed-bed reactor. A dual-bed catalyst composed of three catalysts, a physically mixed methanol synthesis catalyst (CZA), and a methanol dehydration to dimethyl ether (DME) catalyst (Al2O3(C)) were put in the upper bed for direct conversion of syngas to DME, while the SAPO-34 (SP34-C) zeolite was put in the lower bed for methanol and DME conversion. The effects of the mass ratio of CZA to Al2O3(C), the H2/CO molar ratio, and the space velocity on catalytic performance of syngas to DME were studied in the upper bed. Moreover, a feed gas with a CO/CO2/DME/N2/H2 molar ratio of 9/6/4/5 balanced with H2 was simulated and studied in the lower bed over SP34-C; after optimizing the reaction conditions, the selectivity of light paraffins reached 90.8%, and the selectivity of propane was as high as 76.7%. For the direct conversion of syngas to light paraffins in a dual bed, 88.9% light paraffins selectivity in hydrocarbons was obtained at a CO conversion of 33.4%. This dual-bed strategy offers a potential route for the direct conversion of syngas to valuable chemicals

Surface Structure and Catalytic Performance of Ni-Fe Catalyst for Low-Temperature CO Hydrogenation

Catalysts 16NixFe/Al2O3 (x is 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8) were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation method and the catalytic performance for the production of synthetic natural gas (SNG) from CO hydrogenation in slurry-bed reactor were studied. The catalysts were characterized by BET, XRD, UV-Vis DRS, H2-TPR, CO-TPD, and XPS, and the results showed that the introduction of iron improved the dispersion of Ni species, weakened the interaction between Ni species and support and decreased the reduction temperature and that catalyst formed Ni-Fe alloy when the content of iron exceeded 2%. Experimental results revealed that the addition of iron to the catalyst can effectively improve the catalytic performance of low-temperature CO methanation. Catalyst 16Ni4Fe/Al2O3 with the iron content of 4% exhibited the best catalytic performance, the conversion of CO and the yield of CH4 reached 97.2% and 84.9%, respectively, and the high catalytic performance of Ni-Fe catalyst was related to the property of formed Ni-Fe alloy. Further increase of iron content led to enhancing the water gas shift reaction

TPE: Lightweight Transformer Photo Enhancement Based on Curve Adjustment

In recent years, learning-based methods have made great progress in the field of photo enhancement. However, the enhancement methods rely on complex network structures and consume excessive amounts of computing resources, which greatly increases the difficulty of their deployment on lightweight devices. Additionally, the methods have poor real-time performance when processing very large resolution images. In contrast to previous works on designing structurally diverse CNN networks, photo enhancement can be achieved through a lightweight self-attentive mechanism for global-local tuning. In this paper, we design a lightweight photo enhancement tool based on Transformer; we dub the tool, TPE. TPE captures long-range dependencies among image patches and can efficiently extract the structural relationships within an image. A multistage curve adjustment strategy overcomes the problem of the limited adjustment capabilities of the global adjustment function, allowing the method to combine both global modifications and local fine-tuning. Experiments on various benchmarks demonstrate the qualitative and quantitative advantages of TPE over state-of-the-art methods in photo retouching and low-light image enhancement tasks