Long-term radiological and pulmonary function abnormalities at 3†years after COVID-19 hospitalisation: a longitudinal cohort study.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the longitudinal progression of residual lung abnormalities (ground-glass opacities, reticulation and fibrotic-like changes) and pulmonary function at 3 years following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: This prospective, longitudinal cohort study enrolled COVID-19 survivors who exhibited residual lung abnormalities upon discharge from two hospitals. Follow-up assessments were conducted at 6 months, 12 months, 2 years and 3 years post-discharge, and included pulmonary function tests, 6-min walk distance (6MWD), chest computed tomography (CT) scans and symptom questionnaires. Non-COVID-19 controls were retrospectively recruited for comparative analysis. RESULTS: 728 COVID-19 survivors and 792 controls were included. From 6 months to 3 years, there was a gradual improvement in reduced diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (D LCO <80% predicted: 49% versus 38%; p=0.001), 6MWD (496 versus 510 m; p=0.002) and residual lung abnormalities (46% versus 36%; p<0.001), regardless of disease severity. Patients with residual lung abnormalities at 3 years more commonly had respiratory symptoms (32% versus 16%; p<0.001), lower 6MWD (494 versus 510 m; p=0.003) and abnormal D LCO (57% versus 27%; p<0.001) compared with those with complete resolution. Compared with controls, the proportions of D LCO impairment (38% versus 17%; p<0.001) and respiratory symptoms (23% versus 2.2%; p<0.001) were significantly higher in the matched COVID-19 survivors at the 3-year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Most patients exhibited improvement in radiological abnormalities and pulmonary function over time following COVID-19. However, more than a third continued to have persistent lung abnormalities at the 3-year mark, which were associated with respiratory symptoms and reduced diffusion capacity.

A review of changes at the phenotypic, physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels of plants due to high temperatures.

MAIN CONCLUSION: This review summarizes the physiological, biochemical, and molecular regulatory network changes in plants in response to high temperature. With the continuous rise in temperature, high temperature has become an important issue limiting global plant growth and development, affecting the phenotype and physiological and biochemical processes of plants and seriously restricting crop yield and tree growth speed. As sessile organisms, plants inevitably encounter high temperatures and improve their heat tolerance by activating molecular networks related to heat stress, such as signal transduction, synthesis of metabolites, and gene expression. Heat tolerance is a polygenic trait regulated by a variety of genes, transcription factors, proteins, and metabolites. Therefore, this review summarizes the changes in physiological, biochemical and molecular regulatory networks in plants under high-temperature conditions to lay a foundation for an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms involved in plant heat tolerance responses.

The role of long noncoding RNA MEG3 in fibrosis diseases.

Fibrosis is a prevalent pathological condition observed in various organs and tissues. It primarily arises from the excessive and abnormal accumulation of the extracellular matrix, resulting in the structural and functional impairment of tissues and organs, which can culminate in death. Many forms of fibrosis, including liver, cardiac, pulmonary, and renal fibrosis, are considered irreversible. Maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3) is an imprinted RNA gene. Historically, the downregulation of MEG3 has been linked to tumor pathogenesis. However, recent studies indicate an emerging association of MEG3 with fibrotic diseases. In this review, we delve into the current understanding of MEG3's role in fibrosis, aiming to shed light on the molecular mechanisms of fibrosis and the potential of MEG3 as a novel therapeutic target.

What is already known on this topic ­ Fibrosis, a condition characterized by excess build-up of the extracellular matrix in various organs, can lead to organ failure and is often irreparable. This includes fibrosis of the liver, heart, lungs, and kidneys. MEG3, an RNA gene, which is known to be downregulated in tumors, has recently been linked to fibrosis. What is already known on this topic ­ Our review investigates this new connection between MEG3 and fibrosis. We aim to provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of fibrosis and illuminate the potential role of MEG3 as a promising therapeutic target for fibrosis treatments. What is already known on this topic ­ Our review investigates this new connection between MEG3 and fibrosis. We aim to provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of fibrosis and illuminate the potential role of MEG3 as a promising therapeutic target for fibrosis treatments.

The Importance of Sintering-Induced Grain Boundaries in Copper Catalysis to Improve Carbon-Carbon Coupling.

Syngas conversion serves as a gas-to-liquid technology to produce liquid fuels and valuable chemicals from coal, natural gas, or biomass. During syngas conversion, sintering is known to deactivate the catalyst owing to the loss of active surface area. However, the growth of nanoparticles might induce the formation of new active sites such as grain boundaries (GBs) which perform differently from the original nanoparticles. Herein, we reported a unique Cu-based catalyst, Cu nanoparticles with in situ generated GBs confined in zeolite Y (denoted as activated Cu/Y), which exhibited a high selectivity for C5+ hydrocarbons (65.3 C%) during syngas conversion. Such high selectivity for long-chain products distinguished activated Cu/Y from typical copper-based catalysts which mainly catalyze methanol synthesis. This unique performance was attributed to the GBs, while the zeolite assisted the stabilization through spatial confinement. Specifically, the GBs enabled H-assisted dissociation of CO and subsequent hydrogenation into CHx*. CHx* species not only serve as the initiator but also directly polymerize on Cu GBs, known as the carbide mechanism. Meanwhile, the synergy of GBs and their vicinal low-index facets led to the CO insertion where non-dissociative adsorbed CO on low-index facets migrated to GBs and inserted into the metal-alkyl bond for the chain growth.

Ellagic Acid from Hull Blackberries: Extraction, Purification, and Potential Anticancer Activity.

Ellagic acid (EA) is present at relatively high concentrations in many berries and has many beneficial health effects, including anticancer properties. To improve the development and utilization of blackberry fruit nutrients, we divided Hull blackberry fruits into five growth periods according to color and determined the EA content in the fruits in each period. The EA content in the green fruit stage was the highest at 5.67 mg/g FW. Single-factor tests and response surface methodology were used to optimize the extraction process, while macroporous resin adsorption and alkali dissolution, acid precipitation, and solvent recrystallization were used for purification. The highest purity of the final EA powder was 90%. The anticancer assessment results determined by MTT assay showed that EA inhibited HeLa cells with an IC50 of 35 µg/mL, and the apoptosis rate of the cells increased in a dose-dependent manner, with the highest rate of about 67%. We evaluated the changes in the mRNA levels of genes related to the EA-mediated inhibition of cancer cell growth and initially verified the PI3K/PTEN/AKT/mTOR pathway as the pathway by which EA inhibits HeLa cell growth. We hope to provide a theoretical basis for the deep exploration and utilization of this functional food.

Proteins from Blackberry Seeds: Extraction, Osborne Isolate, Characteristics, Functional Properties, and Bioactivities.

Blackberry fruit contains high levels of nutrients and phenolic compounds. Blackberry pomace accounts for 20~30% of its whole fruit during processing and is generally treated as fertilizer. Blackberry pomace has many seeds that contain carbohydrates, polyphenols, flavonoids, pectin, protein, and other bioactive nutrients. However, its functional properties and seed protein compositions have not been reported. We used a single-factor experiment, response surface, and Osborne isolate method to extract protein isolate, albumin, globulin, glutelin, and prolamin from blackberry seeds for the first time and evaluated their characteristics and functional properties. Glutelin and protein isolate showed good water-holding capacity, emulsification, and foaming capacity, while albumin and globulin showed good oil-holding capacity and thermal stability. They were found to have good antioxidant activities that might be good DPPH free radical scavengers, especially prolamin, which has the lowest IC50 value (15.76 µg/mL). Moreover, globulin had the lowest IC50 value of 5.03 µg/mL against Hela cells, 31.82 µg/mL against HepG2 cells, and 77.81 µg/mL against MCF-7 cells and a high selectivity index (SI), which suggested globulin had better anti-cervical, antihepatoma, and anti-breast activity but relatively low cytotoxicity. These seed proteins may have great prospects for the development and application of food and drugs in the future.

Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Profiling Reveals the Variations in Carbohydrate Metabolism between Two Blueberry Cultivars.

Blueberry is a high-quality fruit tree with significant nutritional and economic value, but the intricate mechanism of sugar accumulation in its fruit remains unclear. In this study, the ripe fruits of blueberry cultivars 'Anna' and 'Misty' were utilized as experimental materials, and physiological and multi-omics methodologies were applied to analyze the regulatory mechanisms of the difference in sugar content between them. The results demonstrated that the 'Anna' fruit was smaller and had less hardness than the 'Misty' fruit, as well as higher sugar content, antioxidant capability, and lower active substance content. A total of 7067 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (3674 up-regulated and 3393 down-regulated) and 140 differentially abundant metabolites (DAMs) (82 up-regulated and 58 down-regulated) were identified between the fruits of the two cultivars. According to KEGG analysis, DEGs were primarily abundant in phenylpropanoid synthesis and hormone signal transduction pathways, whereas DAMs were primarily enriched in ascorbate and aldarate metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and the pentose phosphate pathway. A combined multi-omics study showed that 116 DEGs and 3 DAMs in starch and sucrose metabolism (48 DEGs and 1 DAM), glycolysis and gluconeogenesis (54 DEGs and 1 DAM), and the pentose phosphate pathway (14 DEGs and 1 DAM) were significantly enriched. These findings suggest that blueberries predominantly increase sugar accumulation by activating carbon metabolism network pathways. Moreover, we identified critical transcription factors linked to the sugar response. This study presents new understandings regarding the molecular mechanisms underlying blueberry sugar accumulation and will be helpful in improving blueberry fruit quality through breeding.

The Extraction and High Antiproliferative Effect of Anthocyanin from Gardenblue Blueberry.

Blueberries are rich in flavonoids, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, and other bioactive substances. Anthocyanins are important functional components in blueberries. We collected 65 varieties of blueberries to investigate their nutritional and functional values. Among them, Gardenblue had the highest anthocyanin content, with 2.59 mg/g in fresh fruit. After ultrasound-assisted solvent extraction and macroporous resin absorption, the content was increased to 459.81 mg/g in the dried powder. Biological experiments showed that Gardenblue anthocyanins (L1) had antiproliferative effect on cervical cancer cells (Hela, 51.98 µg/mL), liver cancer cells (HepG2, 23.57 µg/mL), breast cancer cells (MCF-7, 113.39 µg/mL), and lung cancer cells (A549, 76.10 µg/mL), and no apparent toxic effects were indicated by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay, especially against HepG2 cells both in vitro and in vivo. After combining it with DDP (cisplatin) and DOX (doxorubicin), the antiproliferative effects were enhanced, especially when combined with DOX against HepG2 cells; the IC50 value was 0.02 µg/mL. This was further evidence that L1 could inhibit cell proliferation by inducing apoptosis. The detailed mechanism might be L1 interacting with DNA in an intercalation mode that changes or destroys DNA, causing apoptosis and inhibiting cell proliferation. The findings of this study suggest that L1 extract can be used as a functional agent against hepatoma carcinoma cells.

Serum Creatinine/Cystatin C Ratio as a Predictor of In-hospital Mortality in Patients Hospitalized with Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

PURPOSE: Low serum creatinine/cystatin C ratio (CCR) is associated with unfavorable characteristics in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); however, the relationship between CCR and in-hospital mortality of patients with acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) is unexplored. Our objective was to assess the value of CCR for predicting in-hospital mortality of patients hospitalized with AECOPD. METHODS: Patients with AECOPD (n = 597) were retrospectively enrolled. Patient's clinical characteristics and laboratory tests, including serum cystatin C and creatinine, were reviewed. The prediction value of CCR was evaluated using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values. Factors potentially impacting in-hospital mortality were investigated using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Mortality rate during hospitalization was 10.05%. CCR was lower in non-surviving vs. survived patients (41.67 vs. 61.52, P < 0.001). AUC value for CCR for in-hospital mortality prediction was 0.79 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.73-0.85]. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, in-hospital mortality was strongly associated with CCR < 52.27 [odds ratio (OR) 6.23, 95% CI (3.00-12.92), P < 0.001], age ≥ 81 years [OR 2.97, 95% CI (1.20-7.37), P = 0.019], oxygenation index < 300 [OR 3.28, 95% CI (1.27-8.44), P = 0.014], CRP > 8 mg/L [OR 1.84, 95% CI (1.15-2.95), P = 0.012], and D-dimer > 500 ng/L [OR 5.19, 95% CI (1.51-17.79), P = 0.009]. CONCLUSIONS: CCR was significantly lower, and is a potential prognostic indicator, in patients with AECOPD who died during hospitalization.

Overexpression of RuFLS2 Enhances Flavonol-Related Substance Contents and Gene Expression Levels.

As an emerging third-generation fruit, blackberry has high nutritional value and is rich in polyphenols, flavonoids and anthocyanins. Flavonoid biosynthesis and metabolism is a popular research topic, but no related details have been reported for blackberry. Based on previous transcriptome data from this research group, two blackberry flavonol synthase genes were identified in this study, and the encoded proteins were subjected to bioinformatics analysis. RuFLS1 and RuFLS2 are both hydrophobic acidic proteins belonging to the 2OG-Fe(II) dioxygenase superfamily. RuFLS2 was expressed at 27.93-fold higher levels than RuFLS1 in red-purple fruit by RNA-seq analysis. Therefore, RuFLS2-overexpressing tobacco was selected for functional exploration. The identification of metabolites from transgenic tobacco showed significantly increased contents of flavonoids, such as apigenin 7-glucoside, kaempferol 3-O-rutinoside, astragalin, and quercitrin. The high expression of RuFLS2 also upregulated the expression levels of NtF3H and NtFLS in transgenic tobacco. The results indicate that RuFLS2 is an important functional gene regulating flavonoid biosynthesis and provides an important reference for revealing the molecular mechanism of flavonoid accumulation in blackberry fruit.

Identification of key phenolic compounds responsible for antioxidant activities of free and bound fractions of blackberry varieties' extracts by boosted regression trees.

BACKGROUND: Free fractions of different blackberry varieties' extracts are high in phenolic compounds with antioxidant activities. However, the phenolic profiles and antioxidant activities against peroxyl radicals of bound fractions of different blackberry varieties' extracts have not been previously reported. In addition, what the key antioxidant phenolic compounds are in free and bound fractions of blackberry extracts remain unknown. This study aimed to investigate the phenolic profiles and antioxidant activities of free and bound fractions of eight blackberry varieties' extracts and reveal the key antioxidant phenolic compounds by boosted regression trees. RESULTS: Fifteen phenolics (three anthocyanins, four flavonols, three phenolic acids, two proanthocyanidins, and three ellagitannins) were identified in blackberry by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Ferulic acid, ellagic acid, procyanidin C1, kaempferol-O-hexoside, ellagitannins hex, and gallic acid were major bound phenolics. Bound fractions of eight blackberry varieties' extracts were high in phenolics and showed great antioxidant activity. Boosted regression trees analysis showed that cyanidin-3-O-glucoside and chlorogenic acid were the most significant compounds, contributing 48.4% and 15.9% respectively to the antioxidant activity of free fraction. Ferulic acid was the most significant antioxidant compound in bound fraction, with a contribution of 61.5%. Principal component analysis showed that Kiowa was the best among the eight varieties due to its phenolic profile and antioxidant activity. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that blackberry varieties contained high amounts of bound phenolics, which confer health benefits through reducing oxidative stress. Ferulic acid was the key compound to explain the antioxidant activities of bound fractions. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

CO2 Hydrogenation over Copper/ZnO Single-Atom Catalysts: Water-Promoted Transient Synthesis of Methanol.

The hydrogenation of CO2 by renewable power-generated hydrogen offers a promising approach to a sustainable carbon cycle. However, the role of water during CO2 hydrogenation is still under debate. Herein, we demonstrated that either too low or too high contents of water hampered the methanol synthesis over Cu/ZnO based catalysts. For Cu single atoms on ZnO supports, the optimal content of water was 0.11 vol. % under 30 bar (CO2 : H2 =1 : 3) at 170 °C. Upon the introduction of optimal-content water, the methanol selectivity immediately became 99.1 %, meanwhile the conversion of CO2 underwent a volcano-type trend with the maximum of 4.9 %. According to mechanistic studies, water acted as a bridge between H atoms and CO2 /intermediates, facilitating the transformation of COOH* and CH2 O*. The enhanced activity induced the generation of more water to react with CO via water-gas shift reaction, resulting in the increase in methanol selectivity.

Prognostic value of preoperative inflammatory markers in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent curative resection.

BACKGROUND: The prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is not optimistic. Our study focused on present inflammatory markers, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase-to-platelet ratio (GPR), aspartate aminotransferase-to-lymphocyte ratio (ALR) and fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio (FAR), and explored their optimal combination for the prognosis of HCC after resection. METHODS: A total of 347 HCC patients who underwent curative resection were enrolled. The optimal cutoff values of the inflammatory markers were calculated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and used to divide patients into two groups whose differences were compared by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Cox univariate and multivariate analyses were used to analyze the independent prognostic inflammatory markers. The χ2 test was chosen to determine the relationship between independent prognostic inflammatory markers and clinicopathological features. We created combined scoring models and evaluated them by Cox univariate and multivariate methods. The concordance index (C-index), Akaike information criterion (AIC) and likelihood ratio were calculated to compare the models. The selected optimal inflammatory markers and their combinations were tested in different stages of HCC by Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS: The ALR and GPR were independent prognostic factors for disease-free survival (DFS); the ALR, PLR, and GPR were independent prognostic factors for overall survival (OS). The proposed GPR and ALR-GPR-PLR score models were independent predictors for DFS and OS, respectively. CONCLUSION: The preoperative GPR and ALR-GPR-PLR score models were independent predictors for DFS and OS, respectively, and performed well in stratifying patients with HCC. The higher the score in the model was, the worse the prognosis.

Selection and Validation of Candidate Reference Genes for Gene Expression Analysis by RT-qPCR in Rubus.

Due to the lack of effective and stable reference genes, studies on functional genes in Rubus, a genus of economically important small berry crops, have been greatly limited. To select the best internal reference genes of different types, we selected four representative cultivars of blackberry and raspberry (red raspberry, yellow raspberry, and black raspberry) as the research material and used RT-qPCR technology combined with three internal stability analysis software programs (geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper) to analyze 12 candidate reference genes for the stability of their expression. The number of most suitable internal reference genes for different cultivars, tissues, and fruit developmental stages of Rubus was calculated by geNorm software to be two. Based on the results obtained with the three software programs, the most stable genes in the different cultivars were RuEEF1A and Ru18S. Finally, to validate the reliability of selected reference genes, the expression pattern of the RuCYP73A gene was analyzed, and the results highlighted the importance of appropriate reference gene selection. RuEEF1A and Ru18S were screened as reference genes for their relatively stable expression, providing a reference for the further study of key functional genes in blackberry and raspberry and an effective tool for the analysis of differential gene expression.

Bulk/Surface Defects Engineered TiO2 Nanotube Photonic Crystals Coupled with Plasmonic Gold Nanoparticles for Effective in Vivo Near-Infrared Light Photoelectrochemical Detection.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) techniques are of fundamental and practical importance, and they have been widely used for solar energy conversion and experimental protection. Besides these important applications, an emerging and fast developing PEC application of PEC bioanalysis is receiving more attention from both academic and clinic communities. However, the typical PEC biosensing is still limited under illumination of ultraviolet and visible (UV/vis) light, which hampers its in vivo detection in deep tissues. Expanding the optical absorption wavelength of photoelectrodes from the UV/vis light region into the near-infrared (NIR) light region is highly desirable due to its deep tissue penetrability and minimal invasiveness for organisms, but the exploration of a facile strategy to implement efficient NIR absorption with biocompatible materials is still a big challenge. Herein, under the guidance of theorical calculations, we propose a strategy through modulation of bulk/surface defects and decoration of Au nanoparticles on TiO2 nanotube photonic crystals to implement efficient NIR response and thus successfully realize sensitive and selective PEC detection of antibiotics in real bio- and experimental-samples under NIR illumination. In addition, we first implement the in vivo PEC detection under illumination of NIR light. We have faith that this new NIR photoelectric responsive strategy will provide a broad platform for detection of life-related biomolecules in deep tissues or even in vivo for real-time measurement and shed light on the intrinsic connections between biomarkers and clinical diseases.

Synergistic effect of natural antifungal agents for postharvest diseases of blackberry fruits.

BACKGROUND: Blackberry postharvest diseases are caused by fungal pathogens, and treatment of fruits with edible, natural products could reduce the postharvest losses and contribute to food sustainability. Based on the hypothesis that inhibition of fungal pathogens will significantly extend the shelf-life of food products, the effects of natural antifungal agents on fungal pathogens were tested. RESULTS: Two pathogenic fungal isolates, Aspergillus japonicus and Gilbertella persicaria, from infected blackberry fruits were identified morphologically using scanning electron microscopy and confirmed by DNA sequence analysis. The inhibitory effects and synergistic action of natural antifungal agents against the two fungal isolates were investigated. The results obtained demonstrated that the natamycin, chitosan and ferulic acid exhibited significant antifungal activities against the tested strains based on the calculated minimum inhibitory concentration. The best antifungal activity was obtained using a combination of ferulic acid and natamycin, which generated a total synergistic effect on both tested strains with a fractional inhibitory concentration index of 0.281. Application of the selected agents on postharvest blackberry fruits reduced the rot ratio and weight loss and also increased fruit firmness. In addition, the shelf-life of fresh blackberry fruits was extended up to 12-15 days at 4 °C and 90 ± 5% relative humidity. CONCLUSION: The combined utilization of ferulic acid and natamycin showed synergistic antifungal activity against two pathogenic fungal isolates, and extended the shelf life of fresh blackberry fruits up to 12-15 days. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Topotactic Conversion of Copper(I) Phosphide Nanowires for Sensitive Electrochemical Detection of H2O2 Release from Living Cells.

In this work, we clearly demonstrate for the first time the use of transition-metal phosphides to set up a new cathodic analysis platform for sensitive and selective electrochemical nonenzymatic detection of H2O2. With the help of a facile topotactic conversion method, the noble metal-free electrocatalyst of copper(I) phosphide nanowires on three-dimensional porous copper foam (Cu3P NWs/CF) is fabricated with electrochemical anodized Cu(OH)2 NWs as precursor. The Cu3P NWs/CF-based sensor presents excellent electrocatalytic activity for H2O2 reduction with a detection limit of 2 nM, the lowest detection limit achieved by noble-metal free electrocatalyst, which guarantees the possibility of sensitive and reliable detection of H2O2 release from living tumorigenic cells, thus showing the potential application as a sensitive cancer cell detection probe.

Vitamin E and risk of age-related cataract: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between vitamin E and age-related cataract (ARC). DESIGN: The fixed- or random-effect model was selected based on heterogeneity. Meta-regression was used to explore potential sources of between-study heterogeneity. Publication bias was evaluated using Begg's test. The dose-response relationship was assessed by a restricted cubic spline model. SETTING: Relevant studies were identified by a search of PubMed and the Cochrane Library to May 2014, without language restrictions. SUBJECTS: Studies involved samples of people of all ages. RESULTS: Dietary vitamin E intake, dietary and supplemental vitamin E intake, and high serum tocopherol levels were significantly associated with decreased risk of ARC, the pooled relative risk was 0·73 (95% CI 0·58, 0·92), 0·86 (95% CI 0·75, 0·99) and 0·77 (95% CI 0·66, 0·91), respectively. Supplemental vitamin E intake was non-significantly associated with ARC risk (relative risk=0·92; 95% CI 0·78, 1·07). The findings from dose-response analysis showed evidence of a non-linear association between dietary vitamin E intake and ARC. The risk of ARC decreased with dietary vitamin E intake from 7 mg/d (relative risk=0·94; 95% CI 0·90, 0·97). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the meta-analysis indicated that dietary vitamin E intake, dietary and supplemental vitamin E intake, and high level of serum tocopherol might be significantly associated with reduced ARC risk.

Size-controlled synthesis of platinum-copper hierarchical trigonal bipyramid nanoframes.

Mastery over the structure of materials at nanoscale can effectively tailor and control their catalytic properties, enabling enhancement in both activity and durability. We report a size-controlled synthesis of novel Pt-Cu hierarchical trigonal bipyramid nanoframes (HTBNFs). The obtained nanocrystals looked like a trigonal bipyramid on the whole, composed of similar ordered frame structural units. By varying the amount of KI involved in the reaction, HTBNFs with variable sizes from 110 to 250 nm could be obtained. In addition, the structure of HTBNFs could be preserved only in a limited range of the Pt/Cu feeding ratio. Relative to the commercial Pt/C, these Pt-Cu HTBNFs with different Pt/Cu ratio exhibited enhanced electrocatalytic activity toward formic acid oxidation reaction as much as 5.5 times in specific activity and 2.1 times in mass activity. The excellent electrocatalytic activity and better durability are due to the unique structure of HTBNFs and probably synergetic effects between Pt and Cu.

LC-MS and GC-MS Metabolomics Analyses Revealed That Different Exogenous Substances Improved the Quality of Blueberry Fruits under Soil Cadmium Toxicity.

Exogenous substances (ESs) can regulate plant growth and respond to environmental stress, but the effects of different ESs on blueberry fruit quality under soil cadmium (Cd) toxicity and related metabolic mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, four ES treatments [salicylic acid (SA), spermidine (Spd), 2,4-epibrassinolide (EBR), and melatonin (MT)] significantly increased blueberry fruit size, single-fruit weight, sweetness, and anthocyanin content under soil Cd toxicity and effectively reduced fruit Cd content to safe consumption levels by promoting mineral uptake (Ca, Mg, Mn, Cu and Zn). Furthermore, a total of 445, 360, 429, and 554 differentially abundant metabolites (DAMs) (LC-MS) and 63, 48, 79, and 73 DAMs (GC-MS) were identified from four comparison groups (SA/CK, Spd/CK, EBR/CK and MT/CK), respectively. The analyses revealed that ESs improved blueberry fruit quality and tolerance to Cd toxicity mainly by regulating the changes in metabolites related to ABC transporters, the TCA cycle, flavonoid biosynthesis, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis.