Modulation of gut microbiota by crude mulberry polysaccharide attenuates knee osteoarthritis progression in rats.

Mulberry (Morus alba L.), a kind of common fruits widely cultivated worldwide, has been proven various biological activities. However, its potential role in the progression of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the potential protective effects of crude polysaccharide extracted from mulberry fruit, referred to as a complex blend of polysaccharides and other unidentified extracted impurities, on KOA progression. The KOA rats were established by injection of 1 mg sodium monoiodoacetate into knee, and administrated with crude mulberry polysaccharide (Mup) by gastric gavage for 4 weeks. Furthermore, intestinal bacteria clearance assay (IBCA) and fecal microbiota transplantation were conducted for the evaluation of the effect of gut microbiota (GM) on KOA. Our findings demonstrated that Mup, particularly at a dosage of 200 mg/kg, effectively improved abnormal gait patterns, reduced the level of inflammation, mitigated subchondral bone loss, restored compromised joint surfaces, alleviated cartilage destruction, and positively modulated the dysregulated profile of GM in KOA rats. Moreover, IBCA compromised the protective effects of Mup, while transplantation of fecal bacteria from Mup-treated rats facilitated KOA recovery. Collectively, our study suggested that Mup had the potential to ameliorate the progression of KOA, potentially through its modulation of GM profile.

Children with severe neurological symptoms associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection during Omicron pandemic in China.

BACKGROUND: To analyze the clinical characteristics and outcomes of children with severe neurological symptoms associated with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection during the Omicron pandemic in China. METHODS: This study used a questionnaire to obtain data from pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) centers in seven tertiary hospitals in Northeast China from December 1, 2022, to January 31, 2023. RESULTS: A total of 255 patients were confirmed to have SARS-CoV-2 infection, and 45 patients (17.65 %) were included in this study. Of these, seven (15.6%) patients died, and the median time from admission to death was 35 h (IQR, 14-120 h). Twenty (52.6%) survivors experienced neurological sequelae. Patients with platelet counts lower than 100 × 109/L had a higher incidence of complications such as multiple organ dysfunction, mechanical ventilation rate, and mortality. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) always reveals cerebral tissue edema, with some severe lesions forming a softening site. CONCLUSION: Children infected with SARS-CoV-2 often exhibit severe neurological symptoms, and in some cases, they may rapidly develop malignant cerebral edema or herniation, leading to a fatal outcome. An early decrease in platelet count may associated with an unfavorable prognosis. IMPACT: Since early December 2022, China has gradually adjusted its prevention and control policy of SARS-CoV-2; Omicron outbreaks have occurred in some areas for a relatively short period. Due to the differences in ethnicity, endemic strains and vaccination status, there was a little difference from what has been reported about children with SARS-CoV-2 infection with severe neurological symptoms in abroad. This is the first multicenter clinical study in children with nervous system involvement after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection in China, and helpful for pediatricians to have a more comprehensive understanding of the clinical symptoms and prognosis of such disease.

Cooperative Catalysis Mechanism of Brønsted and Lewis Acids from Al(OTf)3 with Methanol for ß-Cellobiose-to-Fructose Conversion: An Experimental and Theoretical Study.

Al-containing catalysts, e.g., Al(OTf)3, show good catalytic performance toward the conversion of cellulose to fructose in methanol solution. Here, we report the catalytic isomerization and alcoholysis mechanisms for the conversion of cellobiose to fructose at the PBE0/6-311++G(d,p), aug-cc-pVTZ theoretical level, combining the relevant experimental verifications of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and the attenuated total reflection-infrared (ATR-IR) spectra. From the alcoholysis of Al(OTf)3 in methanol solution, the catalytically active species involves both the [CH3OH2]+ Brønsted acid and the [Al(CH3O)(OTf)(CH3OH)4]+ Lewis acid. There are two reaction pathways, i.e., one through glucose (glycosidic bond cleavage followed by isomerization, w-G) and another through cellobiulose (isomerization followed by glycosidic bond cleavage, w-L). The Lewis acid ([Al(CH3O)(OTf)(CH3OH)4]+) is responsible for the aldose-ketose tautomerization, while the Brønsted acid ([CH3OH2]+) is in charge of ring-opening, ring-closure, and glycosidic bond cleavage. For both w-G and w-L, the rate-determining steps are related to the intramolecular [1,2]-H shift between C1-C2 for the aldose-ketose tautomerization catalyzed by the [Al(CH3O)(OTf)(CH3OH)4]+ species. The Lewis acid ([Al(CH3O)(OTf)(CH3OH)4]+) exhibits higher catalytic activity toward the aldose-ketose tautomerization of glycosyl-chain-glucose to glycosyl-chain-fructose than that of chain-glucose to chain-fructose. Besides, the Brønsted acid ([CH3OH2]+) shows higher catalytic activity toward the glycosidic bond cleavage of cellobiulose than that of cellobiose. Kinetically, the w-L pathway is predominant, whereas the w-G pathway is minor. The theoretically proposed mechanism has been experimentally testified. These insights may advance on the novel design of the catalytic system toward the conversion of cellulose to fructose.

A Lossless-Recovery Secret Distribution Scheme Based on QR Codes.

The visual cryptography scheme (VCS) distributes a secret to several images that can enhance the secure transmission of that secret. Quick response (QR) codes are widespread. VCS can be used to improve their secure transmission. Some schemes recover QR codes with many errors. This paper uses a distribution mechanism to achieve the error-free recovery of QR codes. An error-correction codeword (ECC) is used to divide the QR code into different areas. Every area is a key, and they are distributed to n shares. The loss of any share will make the reconstructed QR code impossible to decode normally. Stacking all shares can recover the secret QR code losslessly. Based on some experiments, the proposed scheme is relatively safe. The proposed scheme can restore a secret QR code without errors, and it is effective and feasible.

Innovative minimally invasive implants for osteoporosis vertebral compression fractures.

With increasing population aging, osteoporosis vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs), resulting in severe back pain and functional impairment, have become progressively common. Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) and percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) as minimally invasive procedures have revolutionized OVCFs treatment. However, PVP- and PKP-related complications, such as symptomatic cement leakage and adjacent vertebral fractures, continue to plague physicians. Consequently, progressively more implants for OVCFs have been developed recently to overcome the shortcomings of traditional procedures. Therefore, we conducted a literature review on several new implants for OVCFs, including StaXx FX, Vertebral Body Stenting, Vesselplasty, Sky Bone Expander, Kiva, Spine Jack, Osseofix, Optimesh, Jack, and V-strut. Additionally, this review highlights the individualized applications of these implants for OVCFs. Nevertheless, current clinical studies on these innovative implants remain limited. Future prospective, randomized, and controlled studies are needed to elucidate the effectiveness and indications of these new implants for OVCFs.

Willow Catkin Optimization Algorithm Applied in the TDOA-FDOA Joint Location Problem.

The heuristic optimization algorithm is a popular optimization method for solving optimization problems. A novel meta-heuristic algorithm was proposed in this paper, which is called the Willow Catkin Optimization (WCO) algorithm. It mainly consists of two processes: spreading seeds and aggregating seeds. In the first process, WCO tries to make the seeds explore the solution space to find the local optimal solutions. In the second process, it works to develop each optimal local solution and find the optimal global solution. In the experimental section, the performance of WCO is tested with 30 test functions from CEC 2017. WCO was applied in the Time Difference of Arrival and Frequency Difference of Arrival (TDOA-FDOA) co-localization problem of moving nodes in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Experimental results show the performance and applicability of the WCO algorithm.

Blockchain-based medical health record access control scheme with efficient protection mechanism and patient control.

The patient's medical health record (PMHR) has always provided a large amount of research data to medical institutions and pharmaceutical companies, etc., and has contributed to the development in medical research. However, such PMHR data contains the patient's personal privacy and should be shared under the control of the patients, not the hospital where this data is acquired. In order to protect the privacy of PMHR data while realizing efficient data sharing, this paper proposes a blockchain-based sharing and protection scheme. In this solution, the PMHR data are encrypted and stored in a cloud server, which is equipped with an access control scheme implemented as a smart contract on a blockchain. Different from previous works, in order to ensure efficient access and reduce the workload of patients, the types of users who can apply for access are limited to hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. In order to resist the potential Man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack, we have introduced an improved proxy re-encryption scheme to ensure the secrecy of PMHR data while reducing the computational complexity. The whole system is implemented using Solidity and tested on 10 nodes for function verification. Experimental result shows that the proposed system is more efficient than previous systems. Security under the MITM attack is also ensured by security analysis.

The effects of virtual reality technology on reducing pain in wound care: A meta-analysis and systematic review.

Virtual reality (VR) technology has been widely used in clinical nursing care in recent years. We aimed to systematically evaluate the effect and safety of VR technology on pain control in wound care, to provide evidence and support for clinical wound care. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL, China Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform, and Chinese Science and Technology Journal databases for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on the application of VR technology in wound care up to December 20, 2021. Two researchers independently assessed the quality of the included RCTs and extracted associated data. RevMan5.3 statistical software was used for data analysis. 13 RCTs involving 1258 adult patients were included, of whom 588 patients underwent VR intervention. VR technology intervention could reduce the VAS score(MD = -1.13, 95%CI:-2.01~-0.26, P < .001), pain cognition score(MD = -3.94, 95%CI:-4.59 ~ -3.30, P < .001), pain emotion score(MD = -5.21, 95%CI: -10.46 ~ -0.04, P < .001), pain sensation score (MD = -4.94, 95%CI: -9.46 ~ -0.42, P = .03) and blood pressure(MD = -4.66, 95%CI: -8.63 ~ -0.69, P = .02) during would care. There were no significant differences on the heart rate (MD = -1.85, 95%CI: -5.71 ~ -2.01, P = .45) and VR interestingness (MD = 28.96, 95%CI: -22.10 ~ 80.02, P = .27) of the VR group and control group. No publication biases among the synthesised outcomes were found (all P > .001). VR technology can effectively reduce the pain degree and sensation of patients during wound care, which may be an effective auxiliary non-drug method used for pain relief during wound care.

Identification of Methylation-Regulated Differentially Expressed Genes and Related Pathways in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Study Based on TCGA Database and Bioinformatics Analysis.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, DNA methylation modification has been shown to be a critical mechanism in the field of epigenetics. METHODS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) data were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas project, including RNA expression profiles, Illumina Human Methylation 450K BeadChip data, clinical information, and pathological features. Then, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially methylated genes were identified using R software. Methylation-regulated DEGs (MeDEGs) were further analyzed using Spearman's correlation analysis. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were performed using the DAVID database and ClueGO in Cytoscape software. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis explored the relationship between methylation, expression of MeDEGs, and survival time. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted to predict the function of prognosis-related MeDEGs. RESULTS: A total of nine up-regulated and 72 down-regulated MeDEGs were identified. GO and KEGG pathway analyses results indicated that multiple cancer-related terms were enriched. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the methylation status of four MeDEGs (CTF1, FZD8, PDK4, and ZNF334) was negatively associated with overall survival. Moreover, the methylation status of CDF1 and PDK4 was identified as an independent prognostic factor. According to GSEA, hypermethylation of prognosis-related MeDEGs was enriched in pathways that included "Spliceosome", "Cell cycle", "RNA degradation", "RNA polymerase", "DNA replication", "Mismatch repair", "Base excision repair", "Nucleotide excision repair", "Homologous recombination", "Protein export", and "Pyrimidine metabolism". CONCLUSIONS: Aberrant DNA methylation plays a critical role in malignant progression of HCC. Prognosis-related MeDEGs identified in this research may be potential biomarkers and targets in diagnosis and treatment.

Low Molecular Weight Oligosaccharide from Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer against UV-Mediated Apoptosis and Inhibits Tyrosinase Activity In Vitro and In Vivo.

To find new anti-UV and whitening agents, 21 fractions isolated from three preparations of ginseng (white, red, and black ginseng) were screened, and their antioxidant effects on AAPH- or H2O2-induced damage were investigated. Furthermore, the protective effect against UV-mediated apoptosis and the tyrosinase inhibitory activity of the targeted fractions were evaluated in vitro and in a zebrafish model. Among all fractions, F10 from white ginseng was selected as having the strongest anti-UV and antimelanogenesis activities. This fraction exhibited excellent inhibitory effects on the pigmentation of zebrafish, which may be due to its potential tyrosinase inhibitory activity. Additionally, the chemical composition of F10 was evaluated by UPLC-MS and NMR instruments. The results indicated that F10 had a carbohydrate content of more than 76%, and the weight-average molecular weight was approximately 239 Da. Disaccharide sucrose was the main active compound in F10. These results suggest that F10 could be used as an ingredient for whitening cosmetics and regarded as an anti-UV filter in the future.

Congenital fiber-type disproportion presenting with type II respiratory failure after delivery: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Congenital fiber-type disproportion (CFTD) is a form of congenital myopathy. CFTD is rare, especially when presenting in patients with critical illnesses. Here, we report a case of CFTD presenting with type II respiratory failure after delivery and provide a review of the literature on CFTD. CASE SUMMARY: A 30-year-old woman was admitted to the obstetrics department of our hospital with premature rupture of the fetal membrane and with 7 h of regular contractions. After delivery, the patient experienced a refractory type II respiratory failure. Physical examination along with diagnostic procedures such as electromyography and biopsy confirmed CFTD. Use of invasive ventilator followed by intermittent use of noninvasive ventilator attenuated her symptoms. The patient recovered after ventilator-assisted respiration and was weaned off the noninvasive ventilator on the seventh day postpartum. CONCLUSION: Congenital myopathy should be considered a differential diagnosis for type II respiratory failures that cannot be attributed to other diseases.

Hypoxia-induced FOXO4/LDHA axis modulates gastric cancer cell glycolysis and progression.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: We previously identified forkhead box (FOX) O4 mRNA as a predictor in gastric cancer (GC). However, the underlying mechanism has yet to be elucidated. We aimed to illustrate the mechanism by which FOXO4 regulated glycolysis under hypoxia in GC. METHODS: FOXO4 protein expression was investigated by immunohistochemical staining of 252 GC and their normal adjacent tissues. We restored or silenced FOXO4 expression in GC cell lines to explore the underlying mechanisms. RESULTS: FOXO4 was downregulated in GC. Loss of FOXO4 expression was validated in univariate and multivariate survival analysis as an independent prognostic predictor for overall survival (P < 0.05) and disease-free survival (P<0.05). Restored FOXO4 expression significantly impaired the glycolysis rate in GC cells, while silencing FOXO4 expression enhanced glycolysis rate. FOXO4 expression was inversely associated with maximum standardized uptake value in mice models and patient samples. Mechanistically, FOXO4 bound to the glycolytic enzyme lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)A promoter and inactivated its activity in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.05). Finally, we determined that FOXO4 was a transcriptional target of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) -1α, which is central in response to hypoxia. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggested that FOXO4 plays a key role in the regulation of glycolysis in GC, and disrupting the HIF-1α-FOXO4-LDHA axis might be a promising therapeutic strategy for GC.

Theoretical study on molecular mechanism of aerobic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-diformyfuran catalyzed by VO2 + with counterpart anion in N,N-dimethylacetamide solution.

Vanadium-containing catalysts exhibit good catalytic activity toward the aerobic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-diformyfuran (DFF). The aerobic oxidation mechanism of HMF to DFF catalyzed by VO2 + with counterpart anion in N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA) solution have been theoretically investigated. In DMA solution, the stable VO2 +-containing complex is the four-coordinated [V(O)2(DMA)2]+ species. For the gross reaction of 2HMF + O2 → 2DFF + 2H2O, there are three main reaction stages, i.e., the oxidation of the first HMF to DFF with the reduction of [V(O)2(DMA)2]+ to [V(OH)2(DMA)]+, the aerobic oxidation of [V(OH)2(DMA)]+ to the peroxide [V(O)3(DMA)]+, and the oxidation of the second HMF to DFF with the reduction of [V(O)3(DMA)]+ to [V(O)2(DMA)2]+. The rate-determining reaction step is associated with the C-H bond cleavage of -CH2 group of the first HMF molecule. The peroxide [V(O)3(DMA)]+ species exhibits better oxidative activity than the initial [V(O)2(DMA)2]+ species, which originates from its narrower HOMO-LUMO gap. The counteranion Cl- exerts promotive effect on the aerobic oxidation of HMF to DFF catalyzed by [V(O)2(DMA)2]+ species.

Impact of proton pump inhibitors on clinical outcomes in patients after acute myocardial infarction: a propensity score analysis from China Acute Myocardial Infarction (CAMI) registry.

BACKGROUND: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are recommended by the latest guidelines to reduce the risk of bleeding in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients treated with dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT). However, previous pharmacodynamic and clinical studies have reported controversial results on the interaction between PPI and the P2Y12 inhibitor clopidogrel. We investigated the impact of PPIs use on in-hospital outcomes in AMI patients, aiming to provide a new insight on the value of PPIs. METHODS: A total of 23, 380 consecutive AMI patients who received clopidogrel with or without PPIs in the China Acute Myocardial Infarction (CAMI) registry were analyzed. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) defined as a composite of in-hospital cardiac death, re-infarction and stroke. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to control potential baseline confounders. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of PPIs use on MACCE and gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB). RESULTS: Among the whole AMI population, a large majority received DAPT and 67.5% were co-medicated with PPIs. PPIs use was associated with a decreased risk of MACCE (Before PSM OR: 0.857, 95% CI: 0.742-0.990, P = 0.0359; after PSM OR: 0.862, 95% CI: 0.768-0.949, P = 0.0245) after multivariate adjustment. Patients receiving PPIs also had a lower risk of cardiac death but a higher risk of complicating with stroke. When GIB occurred, an alleviating trend of GIB severity was observed in PPIs group. CONCLUSIONS: Our study is the first nation-wide large-scale study to show evidence on PPIs use in AMI patients treated with DAPT. We found that PPIs in combination with clopidogrel was associated with decreased risk for MACCE in AMI patients, and it might have a trend to mitigate GIB severity. Therefore, PPIs could become an available choice for AMI patients during hospitalization.

Neisseria meningitidis carriage and risk factors among teenagers in Suizhou city in China.

Teenagers are important carriers of Neisseria meningitidis, which is a leading cause of invasive meningococcal disease. In China, the carriage rate and risk factors among teenagers are unclear. The present study presents a retrospective analysis of epidemiological data for N. meningitidis carriage from 2013 to 2017 in Suizhou city, China. The carriage rates were 3.26%, 2.22%, 3.33%, 3.53% and 9.88% for 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively. From 2014 to 2017, the carriage rate in the 15- to 19-year-old age group (teenagers) was the highest and significantly higher than that in remain age groups. Subsequently, a larger scale survey (December 2017) for carriage rate and relative risk factors (population density, time spent in the classroom, gender and antibiotics use) were investigated on the teenagers (15- to 19-year-old age) at the same school. The carriage rate was still high at 33.48% (223/663) and varied greatly from 6.56% to 52.94% in a different class. Population density of the classroom was found to be a significant risk factor for carriage, and 1.4 persons/m2 is recommended as the maximum classroom density. Further, higher male gender ratio and more time spent in the classroom were also significantly associated with higher carriage. Finally, antibiotic use was associated with a significantly lower carriage rate. All the results imply that attention should be paid to the teenagers and various measures can be taken to reduce the N. meningitidis carriage, to prevent and control the outbreak of IMD.

A chalcone inhibits the growth and metastasis of KYSE-4 esophageal cancer cells.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the in vitro and in vivo anticancer effects of a chalcone against KYSE-4 esophageal cancer cells. METHODS: A chalcone was synthesized via the molecular hybridization strategy based on the anticancer activity of chalcone and dithiocarbamate scaffolds. The anticancer effects of different concentrations of the chalcone derivative were compared in esophageal cancer cells. RESULTS: This chalcone displayed strong inhibitory effects on esophageal cancer cell growth with an IC50 of 1.06 µM in KYSE-4 cells. Analysis of the mechanism revealed that the derivative obviously inhibited KYSE-4 cell growth, migration, and invasion in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, the compound regulated migration-related biomarkers (E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and Slug) and inhibited the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway. According to western blotting, this chalcone suppressed the expression of proline-rich protein 11 (PRR11) in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. CONCLUSIONS: This chalcone might be a leading candidate for suppressing the growth and metastasis of esophageal cancer by downregulating PRR11 expression and inhibiting Wnt/ß-catenin signaling.

PRR11 and SKA2 promote the proliferation, migration and invasion of esophageal carcinoma cells.

Proline-rich protein 11 (PRR11) together with its upstream adjacent gene, spindle and kinetochore associated 2 (SKA2), represent a classic, head-to-head gene pair. The role of the PRR11 and SKA2 gene pair has been described in various types of cancer, including breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma and ovarian carcinoma. However, its role in esophageal carcinoma (ESCC) remains unclear. The mRNA expression levels of PRR11 and SKA2 were examined in ESCC surgical specimens. In addition, the role of PRR11 and SKA2 in the proliferation and migratory and invasive capacities of EC9706 and EC109 cell lines was examined. The results from the present study demonstrated that PRR11 and SKA2 expression levels were upregulated in ESCC tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues. Furthermore, PRRl1 and SKA2 knockdown significantly inhibited the proliferation and migratory and invasive capacities of ESCC cells. Conversely, PRRl1 and SKA2 overexpression significantly promoted the proliferation and migratory and invasive capacities of ESCC cell lines via activation of the AKT signaling pathway and certain markers of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, including Snail and N-cadherin. The results from the present study suggested that the PRR11 and SKA2 gene pair may represent a potential target in the diagnosis and treatment of ESCC.

Mechanistic study of cellobiose conversion to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural catalyzed by a Brønsted acid with counteranions in an aqueous solution.

The fundamental understanding of the cooperativity of a Brønsted acid together with its anion for cellulose conversion in an aqueous solution is limited at present, in which cellobiose has usually been regarded as a bridge that connects monosaccharides and cellulose. The mechanism of ß-cellobiose conversion to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) catalyzed by a Brønsted acid (H3O+) accompanied by counteranions in an aqueous solution has been studied using quantum chemical calculations at the M06-2X/6-311++G(d,p) level under a polarized continuum model (PCM-SMD). For the formation of the first HMF from cellobiose, there are three reaction pathways, i.e., through cellobiulose and glycosyl-HMF (C/H), through cellobiulose and fructose (C/F/H), and through glucose (C/G/H). For these three reaction pathways, the rate-determining steps are associated with the intramolecular [1,2]-H shift in the aldose-ketose tautomerization. C/H is the thermodynamically predominant pathway, while C/G/H is the kinetically dominant pathway. From cellobiose, the origin of the first HMF results kinetically from a small proportion of both C/H and C/F/H and from a large proportion of C/G/H. For the role of the counteranion in the catalytic activity of H3O+, the halide anions (Cl- and Br-) act as promoters, whereas both NO3- anions and carboxylate-containing anions behave as inhibitors. The roles of these anions in ß-cellobiose conversion to HMF can be correlated with their electrostatic potential and atomic number, which may cause a decrease in the relative enthalpy energy and the value of entropy on interacting with the cation moiety. These insights may advance the novel design of sustainable conversion systems for cellulose conversion into HMF.