Direct conversion of apricot seeds into biodiesel.

Using edible lipids for biodiesel production has been criticized, causing biodiesel production from inedible food resources to be desirable. Lipid extraction must be prioritized to produce biodiesel using an acid/base-catalyzed transesterification process, but this conversion process suffers from technical reliability. Therefore, this study introduced non-catalytic conversion of oil-bearing biomass into biodiesel. Apricot seeds were used as a model compound (oil content 44.3 wt%). The non-catalytic transesterification of apricot seed oil recovered 98.28 wt% biodiesel at 360 °C for 1 min, while alkali-catalysis of apricot seed oil recovered 91.84 wt% at 63 °C for 60 min. The direct conversion of apricot seeds into biodiesel was attempted. The trends in the yields of biodiesel from apricot seeds and seed oil obtained by non-catalytic transesterification as a function of reaction temperature were similar. The yield of biodiesel from apricot seed was 43.06 wt%, suggesting that 97.20 wt% of lipids were converted into biodiesel.

Fractional condensation of bio-oil vapors from pyrolysis of various sawdust wastes in a bench-scale bubbling fluidized bed reactor.

The use of lignocellulosic waste as an energy source for substituting fossil fuels has attracted lots of attention, and pyrolysis has been established as an effective technology for this purpose. However, the utilization of bio-oil derived from non-catalytic pyrolysis faces certain constraints, making it impractical for direct application in advanced sectors. This study has focused on overcoming these challenges by employing fractional condensation of pyrolytic vapors at distinct temperatures. The potential of five types of sawdust for producing high-quality bio-oil through pyrolysis conducted with a bench-scale bubbling fluidized bed reactor was investigated for the first time. The highest yield of bio-oil (61.94 wt%) was produced using sample 3 (damaged timber). Remarkably, phenolic compounds were majorly gathered in the 1st and 2nd condensers at temperatures of 200 °C and 150 °C, respectively, attributing to their higher boiling points. Whereas, carboxylic acid, ketones, and furans were mainly collected in the 3rd (-5 °C) and 4th (-20 °C) condensers, having high water content in the range of 35.33%-65.09%. The separation of acidic nature compounds such as acetic acid in the 3rd and 4th was evidenced by its low pH in the range of 4-5, while the pH of liquid collected in the 1st and 2nd condensers exhibited higher pH (6-7). The well-separated bio-oil derived from biomass pyrolysis facilitates its wide usage in various applications, proposing a unique approach toward carbon neutrality. In particular, achieving efficient separation of phenolic compounds in bio-oil is important, as these compounds can undergo further upgrading to generate hydrocarbons and diesel fuel.

Spatially varying relationships of soil Se concentration and rice Se concentration in Guangxi, China: A geographically weighted regression approach.

In recent years, the biogeochemical behavior and environmental impact of Selenium (Se) on soil-plant systems have received widespread attention, and traditional statistical methods reveal generally positive correlations between rice Se and soil Se. However, that initial positive relationship may have been obscured by local external factors. Using local scale data from the geochemical evaluation of land quality project, this work employed geographically weighted regression (GWR) to examine the spatial variation of rice Se (as the dependent variable) and soil Se (as the independent variable) in Guangxi. Strong and weak correlation coefficients occur between rice Se and soil Se, thereby indicating that their relationships are spatially varying. Guangxi is characterized by significantly positive correlations in most areas, with weak correlations mostly found in the south-western and central-eastern regions. Areas with weak correlation can be divided into two patterns: high soil Se with low rice Se and high rice Se with low soil Se. The unique patterns are correlated with distinct natural factors, particularly the abundance of Fe-rich soils in the carbonate area; by contrast, sandstone areas in central Guangxi may have been affected by anthropogenic activities. To reveal the spatially varying relationships at the local scale, we employed GWR, an effective tool that allowed us to identify the association between environmental variables and influencing factors and explore spatially varying relationships between them. This study breaks through the existing understanding that soil Se is completely positively correlated with rice Se for the first time, and concludes that their correlation is spatially variable, providing an effective approach for the study of complex relationships.

Soil selenium enrichment in the Loess Plateau of China: Geogenic evidence, spatial distribution, and it's influence factors.

The selenium (Se)-deficient soil belt in China has gained widespread attention. During large-scale soil surveys in China, Se-rich soils within low-Se belts have been identified. However, the sources of Se in those soils and the controlling factors for their enrichment remain unclear. Here we summarize Se concentrations and spatial distributions in the Yuanzhou district of the Loess Plateau. We evaluated Se variations in soil profiles, Se migration into water bodies, and considered soil indicators, topographic characteristics and the influence of land-use types on soil Se concentrations. The average Se concentration in the topsoil of the Yuanzhou district was 0.164 µg/g. High-Se soils (>0.222 µg/g) were found in the western valley plain and the southern red bed hilly area, as well as sporadically in higher elevation forestland and grassland areas in the east. Enrichment of Se in the topsoil in the eastern and southern areas was primarily due to Se adsorption and accumulation by soil organic matter as well as enrichment in gypsum, berlinite, and clay minerals during soil formation. Widespread enrichment in the southern area was linked to high Se concentrations in red Tertiary sedimentary rocks. In the western area, enrichment of Se in topsoil was found on both sides of the Qingshui River at low elevations with gentle slopes, with river water being the primary carrier of Se enrichment. These findings provide valuable insights into the epigenetic geochemical behavior of soil Se in China's low-Se belt that accounts for development of Se-rich soils in the region.

Identification of the spatial patterns and controlling factors of Se in soil and rice in Guangxi through hot spot analysis.

Selenium (Se) is essential to human health, anti-cancer, possessing antioxidant, and antiviral properties. In this study, the spatial patterns of rice Se and their varying relationship with soil Se on a regional scale were studied using hot spot analysis for the agricultural soils in Guangxi. According to the hot and cold spot maps, rice Se correlates positively with soil Se in Guangxi agricultural soils. High rice Se accompanies high soil Se in the central part of Guangxi (e.g., Liuzhou, Laibin), and low rice Se is in line with low soil Se in the western part (e.g., Baise). However, the hot spot analysis maps indicate that southwestern Guangxi exhibits a special characteristic of low rice Se with high soil Se (e.g., Chongzuo). This special pattern is strongly associated with the high concentrations of Fe2O3 (ferromanganese nodules) in the carbonate rock area. The hot spot analysis proves useful in revealing the spatial patterns of rice Se in Guangxi and identifying the hidden patterns.

Synergic Effect of Combined Therapy of Hyperbaric Oxygen and Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Improving Locomotor Recovery After Acute Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury in Rat Mainly Through Downregulating Inflammatory and Cell-Stress Signalings.

This study tested whether combined hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) and allogenic adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) would be superior to either one for improving the locomotor recovery in rat after acute traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) in rat. Adult-male Sprague-Dawley rats were equally categorized into group 1 (sham-operated control), group 2 (TSCI), group 3 (TSCI + HBO for 1.5 h/day for 14 consecutive days after TSCI), group 4 (TSCI + ADMSCs/1.2 × 106 cells by intravenous injection at 3 h and days 1/2 after TSCI), and group 5 (TSCI + HBO + ADMSCs), euthanized, and spinal cord tissue was harvested by day 49 after TSCI. The protein expressions of oxidative-stress (NOX-1/NOX-2), inflammatory-signaling (TLR-4/MyD88/IL-1ß/TNF-α/substance-p), cell-stress signaling (PI3K/p-AKT/p-mTOR), and the voltage-gated sodium channel (Nav1.3/1.8/1.9) biomarkers were highest in group 2, lowest in group 1, and significantly lower in group 5 than in groups 3/4 (all P <0.0001), but they did not differ between groups 3 and 4. The spinal cord damaged area, the cellular levels of inflammatory/DNA-damaged biomarkers (CD68+/GFAP+/γ-H2AX+ cells), mitogen-activated protein kinase family biomarkers (p-P38/p-JNK/p-ERK1/2), and cellular expressions of voltage-gated sodium channel (Nav.1.3, Nav.1.8, and Nav.1.9 in NF200+ cells) as well as the pain-facilitated cellular expressions (p-P38+/peripherin+ cells, p-JNK+/peripherin+ cells, p-ERK/NF200+ cells) exhibited an identical pattern of inflammation, whereas the locomotor recovery displayed an opposite pattern of inflammation among the groups (all P < 0.0001). Combined HBO-ADMSCs therapy offered additional benefits for preserving the neurological architecture and facilitated the locomotor recovery against acute TSCI.

Dual pretreatment of mixing H2O2 followed by torrefaction to upgrade spent coffee grounds for fuel production and upgrade level identification of H2O2 pretreatment.

Biochar is a carbon-neutral solid fuel and has emerged as a potential candidate to replace coal. Meanwhile, spent coffee grounds (SCGs) are an abundant and promising biomass waste that could be used for biochar production. This study develops a biochar valorization strategy by mixing SCGs with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) at a weight ratio of 1:0.75 to upgrade SCG biochar. In this dual pretreatment method, the H2O2 oxidative ability at a pretreatment temperature of 105 °C contributes to an increase in the higher heating value (HHV) and carbon content of the SCG biochars. The HHV and carbon content of biochar increase by about 6.5% and 7.8%, respectively, when compared to the unpretreated one under the same conditions. Maximized biochar's HHV derived via the Taguchi method is 30.33 MJkg-1, a 46.9% increase compared to the raw SCG, and a 6.5% increase compared to the unpretreated SCG biochar. The H2O2 concentration is 18% for the maximized HHV. A quantitative identification index of intensity of difference (IOD) is adopted to evaluate the contributive level of H2O2 pretreatment in terms of the HHV and carbon content. IOD increases with increasing H2O2 pretreatment temperature. Before torrefaction, SCGs' IOD pretreated at 50 °C is 1.94%, while that pretreated at 105 °C is 8.06%. This is because, before torrefaction, H2O2 pretreatment sufficiently weakens SCGs' molecular structure, resulting in a higher IOD value. The IOD value of torrefied SCGs (TSCG) pretreated at 105 °C is 10.71%, accounting for a 4.59% increase compared to that pretreated at 50 °C. This implies that TSCG pretreated by H2O2 at 105 °C has better thermal stability. For every 1% increase in IOD of TSCG, the carbon content of the biochar increases 0.726%, and the HHV increases 0.529%. Overall, it is demonstrated that H2O2 is a green and promising pretreatment additive for upgrading SCG biochar's calorific value, and torrefied SCGs can be used as a potential solid fuel to approach carbon neutrality.

Detection of Fe3+ and Hg2+ ions through photoluminescence quenching of carbon dots derived from urea and bitter tea oil residue.

In this study, we prepared nitrogen-doped carbon dots (xNCDs) using hydrothermally-treated bitter tea oil residue with urea for the detection of metal ions by monitoring the photoluminescence quenching. The quantum yields of the xNCDs increased from approximately 3.85% (CDs) to 5.5% (3NCDs) and 7.2% (1NCDs), revealing that nitrogen doping effectively increases the fluorescence emission. The increased emission of the xNCDs can be attributed to radiative recombination resulting from the π-π* transition of the C=C or the n-π* transition between the C=O or N=O of sp3 units. Moreover, the CDs have abundant surface-attached phenolic and hydroxyl groups that coordinate with Fe3+ ions and quench the fluorescence. Conversely, Hg2+ ions preferentially adsorb on nitrogen-containing groups, such as amide-carbonyl groups (O=C-NH2) and pyridinic and pyrrolic functionalities, on the surface of the NCDs owing to their strong affinity, quenching the substantial photoluminescence emissions. Our results suggest that bitter tea oil residue-derived carbon dots can be used to selectively detect metal ions, such as Fe3+ and Hg2+, by doping with nitrogen using urea as a nitrogen precursor.

Network Pharmacology to Explore the Molecular Mechanisms of Prunella vulgaris for Treating Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.

Purpose: Prunella vulgaris (PV), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been used to treat patients with thyroid disease for centuries in China. The purpose of the present study was to investigate its bioactive ingredients and mechanisms against Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) using network pharmacology and molecular docking technology to provide some basis for experimental research. Methods: Ingredients of the PV formula were retrieved from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database. Additionally, HT-related genes were retrieved from the UniProt and GeneCards databases. Cytoscape constructed networks for visualization. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis was constructed, and a PPI network was built using the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING) database. These key targets of PV were enriched and analyzed by molecular docking verification, Gene Ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment. Results: The compound-target network included 11 compounds and 66 target genes. Key targets contained Jun proto-oncogene (JUN), hsp90aa1.1 (AKI), mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1), and tumor protein p53 (TP53). The main pathways included the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway, the TNF signaling pathway, the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway. The molecular docking results revealed that the main compound identified in the Prunella vulgaris was luteolin, followed by kaempferol, which had a strong affinity for HT. Conclusion: Molecular docking studies indicated that luteolin and kaempferol were bioactive compounds of PV and might play an essential role in treating HT by regulating multiple signaling pathways.

[Dynamic comparisons of epicardial electrograms between the left atrium and pulmonary veins in atrial fibrillation in goat model].

Objective: To compare epicardial electrograms between the left atrium (LA) and pulmonary veins (PVs) dynamically at development of persistent atrial fibrillation(AF) in goats PVs. Methods: Ten female goats were instrumented with electrodes at the LA and left side PV. Sustained AF (＞24 h) was induced in the goat by rapid intermittent left atrial pacing for(9.5±2.3)days at a pacing interval of 20 ms for 1 s with a maximum output of 6.0 V, followed by a 2-s period without pacing. Characteristics of PVs and LA epicardial electrograms were analyzed in the development of AF. Results: With prolonged stimulation, the duration of AF was prolonged, complex fractionated atrial electrograms(CFAEs) in LA and was increased gradually, PVs had more CFAEs than LA all the time. When induced AF lasted for more than 24 h, CFAEs in PVs became sustained approximately (2.7%±3.6% vs 92.6%±6.4%, at onset of AF vs AF lasted for more than 24 h, P＜0.05), and the ratio of CFAEs in PVs was more than that in LA (92.6%±6.4% vs 72.8%±5.3%, P＜0.05). Conclusion: The epicardial CFAEs are in specific area, which increase along with electrical remodeling. The epicardial CFAEs may play an important role in the maintenance of AF in this model.

Robustadial A and B from Eucalyptus globulus Labill. and their anticancer activity as selective tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 2 inhibitors.

Tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 2 (TDP2) is a recently discovered DNA repair enzyme that can repair topoisomerase 2-mediated DNA damage, resulting in cancer cell resistance. In this study, two compounds, robustadial A and B, were isolated from a fraction of the ethyl acetate extract of Eucalyptus globulus Labill. fruits based on TDP2 inhibition screening. The biological experiments indicated that robustadial A and B have TDP2 inhibitory activity with EC50 values of 17 and 42 µM, respectively, but no tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 1 inhibition at 100 µM. Robustadial A showed significant synergistic effects with the anticancer drug etoposide in four human cancer cell lines, non-small cell lung cancer cell line (A549), prostate cancer cell line (DU145), breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line (HCT-116), and chicken lymphoma cell line (DT40), and chicken lymphoma cell line complementation with human TDP2 (DT40 hTDP2) with combination index values ranging from 0.21 to 0.74. This work will facilitate future efforts for the development of robustadial A-based TDP2 selective inhibitors.

Umbilical cord-derived MSC and hyperbaric oxygen therapy effectively protected the brain in rat after acute intracerebral haemorrhage.

This study tested the hypothesis that combined therapy with human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (HUCDMSCs) and hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) was superior to either one on preserving neurological function and reducing brain haemorrhagic volume (BHV) in rat after acute intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) induced by intracranial injection of collagenase. Adult male SD rats (n = 30) were equally divided into group 1 (sham-operated control), group 2 (ICH), group 3 (ICH +HUCDMSCs/1.2 × 106 cells/intravenous injection at 3h and days 1 and 2 after ICH), group 4 (ICH +HBO/at 3 hours and days 1 and 2 after ICH) and group 5 (ICH +HUCDMSCs-HBO), and killed by day 28 after ICH. By day 1, the neurological function was significantly impaired in groups 2-5 than in group 1 (P < .001), but it did not differ among groups 2 to 5. By days 7, 14 and 28, the integrity of neurological function was highest in group 1, lowest in group 2 and significantly progressively improved from groups 3 to 5 (all P < .001). By day 28, the BHV was lowest in group 1, highest in group 2 and significantly lower in group 5 than in groups 3/4 (all P < .0001). The protein expressions of inflammation (HMGB1/TLR-2/TLR-4/MyD88/TRAF6/p-NF-κB/IFN-γ/IL-1ß/TNF-α), oxidative stress/autophagy (NOX-1/NOX-2/oxidized protein/ratio of LC3B-II/LC3B-I) and apoptosis (cleaved-capspase3/PARP), and cellular expressions of inflammation (CD14+, F4/80+) in brain tissues exhibited an identical pattern, whereas cellular levels of angiogenesis (CD31+/vWF+/small-vessel number) and number of neurons (NeuN+) exhibited an opposite pattern of BHV among the groups (all P < .0001). These results indicate that combined HUCDMSC-HBO therapy offered better outcomes after rat ICH.

A novel flavonoid from Fissistigma cupreonitens, 5­hydroxy­7,8­dimethoxyflavanone, competitively inhibited the efflux function of human P-glycoprotein and reversed cancer multi-drug resistance.

BACKGROUND: P-glycoprotein (P-gp) over-expression plays a vital role in not only systemic drug bioavailability but also cancer multi-drug resistance (MDR). Develop functional inhibitors of P-gp can conquer both problems. PURPOSE AND STUDY DESIGN: The aim of the present study was to research the P-gp modulating effects and MDR reversing ability of a novel flavonoid from Fissistigma cupreonitens, the underlying inhibitory mechanisms were further elucidated as well. METHODS: Calcein-AM, rhodamine 123, and doxorubicin were fluorescent substrates for the evaluation of P-gp inhibitory function and detailed drug binding modes. Docking simulation was performed to reveal the in silico molecular bonding. ATPase assay and MDR1 shift assay were adopted to reveal the ATP consumption and conformational change of P-gp. The MDR reversing effects were demonstrated through cytotoxicity, cell cycle, and apoptosis analyses. RESULTS: 5­hydroxy­7,8­dimethoxyflavanone inhibited the efflux of rhodamine 123 and doxorubicin in a competitive manner, and increased the intracellular fluorescence of calcein at a concentration as low as 2.5 µg/ml. 5­hydroxy­7,8­dimethoxyflavanone slightly changed P-gp's conformation and only stimulated ATPase at very high concentration (100 µg/ml). The docking results showed that 5­hydroxy­7,8­dimethoxyflavanone and verapamil exhibited similar binding affinity to P-gp. The MDR reversing effects were prominent in the vincristine group, the reversal folds were 23.01 and 13.03 when combined with 10 µg/ml 5­hydroxy­7,8­dimethoxyflavanone in the P-gp over-expressing cell line (ABCB1/Flp-In™-293) and MDR cancer cell line (KB/VIN), respectively. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated that 5­hydroxy­7,8­dimethoxyflavanone was a novel effective flavonoid in the P-gp efflux inhibition and in vitro cancer MDR reversion.

2D LDH-MoS2 clay nanosheets: synthesis, catalase-mimic capacity, and imaging-guided tumor photo-therapy.

Owing to the hypoxia status of the tumor, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) production during photodynamic therapy (PDT) of the tumor is less efficient. Herein, a facile method which involves the synthesis of Mg-Mn-Al layered double hydroxides (LDH) clay with MoS2 doping in the surface and anionic layer space of LDH was presented, to integrate the photo-thermal effect of MoS2 and imaging and catalytic functions of Mg-Mn-Al LDH. The designed LDH-MoS2 (LMM) clay composite was further surface-coated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) to maintain the colloidal stability of LMM in physiological environment. A photosensitizer, chlorin e6 (Ce6), was absorbed at the surface and anionic layer space of LMM@BSA. In the LMM formulation, the magnetic resonance imaging of Mg-Mn-Al LDH was enhanced thanks to the reduced and acid microenvironment of the tumor. Notably, the ROS production and PDT efficiency of Ce6 were significantly improved, because LMM@BSA could catalyze the decomposing of the overexpressed H2O2 in tumors to produce oxygen. The biocompatible LMM@BSA that played the synergism with tumor microenvironment is a promising candidate for the effective treatment of cancer.

The Treatment of Topical Drugs for Postherpetic Neuralgia: A Network Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a neuropathic pain that causes a reduction in patients' quality of life. There are many topical drugs for PHN, including topical lidocaine patch, topical application of capsaicin, and others. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to compare the efficacy and safety of topical drugs for PHN. STUDY DESIGN: Relevant studies were found by systemically searching for terms including "topical" and "Postherpetic neuralgia" in PubMed, Cochrane library, MEDLINE, and EMBASE databases (inception through June 12, 2019). The primary outcome was the percentage of change in the Numeric Rating Scale or the Visual Analog Scale scores from baseline. The secondary outcome was the number of adverse events. METHODS: The efficacy and safety of topical drugs for PHN was investigated by the pairwise meta-analysis and Bayesian network meta-analysis, applying Revman 5.3, the Stata 14.0 software, and GeMTC 0.14.3. RESULTS: Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria, and eligible studies were selected for the ultimate meta-analysis. Our meta-analysis displayed 6 topical drugs for PHN. Lidocaine, high-concentration capsaicin, and aspirin/diethyl ether (ADE) had a higher possibility of bringing pain relief than placebo. Among them, lidocaine had the highest possibility of being the most effective drug for PHN and had the statistical significances compared with diclofenac, high-concentration capsaicin, indomethacin, low-concentration capsaicin, and placebo, and lidocaine was significantly preferable than other effective drugs in the aspect of safety. LIMITATIONS: (1) The small number of included studies; (2) a small number of patients and short-term trials in progress, including lidocaine and ADE; (3) both randomized controlled trial and crossover randomized trial were included in our network meta-analysis; (4) only studies published in English were evaluated; (5) lack of head-to-head comparisons of some treatments; (6) different measurement methods were used in different trial, which may cause deviation; and (7) with the lack of cycles in the included trials, the inconsistency factors cannot be calculated, and node-splitting method cannot be performed in our network meta-analysis to check the inconsistency. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with other topical drugs, lidocaine was the most effective and most tolerable drug to be recommended for PHN.

Dopamine-Modified Zero-Valent Iron Nanoparticles for Dual-Modality Photothermal and Photodynamic Breast Cancer Therapy.

Phototherapy has the advantages of minimal invasion, few side effects, and improved accuracy for cancer therapy. The application of a polydopamine (PDA)-modified nano zero-valent iron (nZVI@PDA) as a new synergistic agent in combination with photodynamic/photothermal (PD/PT) therapy to kill cancer cells is discussed here. The nZVI@PDA offered high light-to-heat conversion and ROS generation efficiency under near-infrared (NIR) irradiation (808 nm), thus leading to irreversible damage to nZVI@PDA-treated MCF-7 cells at low concentration, without inducing apoptosis in normal cells. Irradiation of nZVI@PDA using an NIR laser converted the energy of the photons to heat and ROS. Our results showed that modification of the PDA on the surface of nZVI can improve the biocompatibility of the nZVI@PDA. This work integrated the PD and PT effects into a single nanodevice to afford a highly efficient cancer treatment. Meanwhile, nZVI@PDA, which combines the advantages of PDA and nZVI, displayed excellent biocompatibility and tumoricidal ability, thus suggesting its huge potential for future clinical research in cancer therapy.

Sesquiterpenoids from the aerial parts of Conyza japonica and their inhibitory activity against nitric oxide production.

Four new sesquiterpenoids, conyterpenols A - D (1-4), along with nineteen known analogues (5-23) were isolated from the aerial parts of Conyza japonica. The structures of 1-4 were determined through spectroscopic analysis, while their absolute configurations were determined by comparison of calculated and experimental electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. Conyterpenol D (4) was a new type of sesquiterpenoid with a seven-membered lactone ring. Compounds 1-23 were evaluated for their inhibitory activity against LPS-induced nitric oxide production in RAW264.7 macrophages and cytotoxicity against human hepatoma cell line (HepG2) and human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7). Compounds 3, 4, and 12 displayed moderate inhibition against NO production with IC50 values in the range of 26.4-33.6 µM. And all compounds showed no obvious cytotoxicity against these two cancer cell lines at 100 µM.

Tailoring acidity and porosity of alumina catalysts via transition metal doping for glucose conversion in biorefinery.

Efficient conversion of food waste to value-added products necessitates the development of high-performance heterogeneous catalysts. This study evaluated the use of Al2O3 as a low-cost and abundant support material for fabricating Lewis acid catalysts, i.e., through the in-situ doping of Cu, Ni, Co, and Zr into Al2O3 followed by calcination. The characterisation results show that all catalysts were mainly amorphous. In particular, adding the transition metals to the Al2O3 matrix resulted in the increase of acidity and meso-/micro-pores. The catalysts were evaluated in the conversion of glucose, which can be easily derived from starch-rich food waste (e.g., bread waste) via hydrolysis, to fructose in biorefinery. The results indicate that the Ni-doped Al2O3 (Al-Ni-C) achieved the highest fructose yield (19 mol%) and selectivity (59 mol%) under heating at 170 °C for 20 min, of which the performance falls into the range reported in literature. In contrast, the Zr-doped Al2O3 (Al-Zr-C) presented the lowest fructose selectivity despite the highest glucose conversion, meaning that the catalyst was relatively active towards the side reactions of glucose and intermediates. The porosity and acidity, modified via metal impregnation, were deduced as the determinants of the catalytic performance. It is noteworthy that the importance of these parameters may vary in a relative sense and the limiting factor could shift from one parameter to another. Therefore, evaluating physicochemical properties as a whole, instead of the unilateral improvement of a single parameter, is encouraged to leverage each functionality for cost-effectiveness. This study provides insights into the structure-performance relationships to promote advance in catalyst design serving a sustainable food waste biorefinery.

Waste-derived compost and biochar amendments for stormwater treatment in bioretention column: Co-transport of metals and colloids.

Bioretention systems, as one of the most practical management operations for low impact development of water recovery, utilize different soil amendments to remove contaminants from stormwater. For the sake of urban sustainability, the utilization of amendments derived from waste materials has a potential to reduce waste disposal at landfill while improving the quality of stormwater discharge. This study investigated the efficiency of food waste compost and wood waste biochar for metal removal from synthetic stormwater runoff under intermittent flow and co-presence of colloids. Throughout intermittent infiltration of 84 pore volumes of stormwater, columns amended with compost and biochar removed more than 50-70% of influent metals, whereas iron-oxide coated sand was much less effective. Only a small portion of metals adsorbed on the compost (< 0.74%) was reactivated during the drainage of urban pipelines that do not flow frequently, owing to abundant oxygen-containing functional groups in compost. In comparison, co-existing kaolinite enhanced metal removal by biochar owing to the abundance of active sites, whereas co-existing humic acid facilitated mobilization via metal-humate complexation. The results suggest that both waste-derived compost and biochar show promising potential for stormwater harvesting, while biochar is expected to be more recalcitrant and desirable in field-scale bioretention systems.