A Structure-Activity Relationship between the Veratrum Alkaloids on the Antihypertension and DNA Damage Activity in Mice.

Veratrum plant contains a family of compounds called steroidal alkaloids which have been previously reported to cause DNA damage and blood pressure decrease in vivo. In this study, the antihypertensive effects and DNA damage in brain cells of 12 steroidal alkaloids separated from Veratrum plant were all evaluated to develop a relationship among chemical structure, antihypertensive activity and neurotoxicity by utilization of chemical principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). Twelve steroidal alkaloids markedly reduced high blood pressure of hypertensive mice and also similarly induced varying degrees of DNA single-strand breaks in mouse cerebellum and cerebral cortex after oral administration. On the basis of the PCA and HCA results, it was suggested that the 3-carboxylic esters and benzene group play a core role in the DNA damage of brain cells, while more hydroxy groups in the A-ring and B-ring structure of jervine-type alkaloid led to stronger antihypertensive activity. The primary structure, activity and neurotoxicity relationship were discussed briefly.

Pricing strategies for shared manufacturing platform considering cooperative advertising based on differential game.

Shared manufacturing is a new business form that focuses on all aspects of production and manufacturing, mainly relying on the shared manufacturing platform to achieve the optimal allocation of idle resources. For enterprises, in the process of deciding to lease idle resources, the pricing and advertising investment efficiency of the shared manufacturing platform is a valuable research issue. The shared manufacturing model in this paper consists of one manufacturer and one shared manufacturing platform, which will invest in cooperative advertising while the shared manufacturing process is completed. The cooperative advertising involves four models: the traditional cooperation model, the cost-sharing contract model, the revenue-sharing contract model, and the bilateral cost-sharing contract model. We investigate the impact of some key parameters on the prices and profits of the manufacturer and the shared manufacturing platform based on the differential game. The numerical examples demonstrate the viability of the model. Finally, we provide suggestions based on the decision-making of the manufacturer and the shared manufacturing platform under different cooperative advertising models.

Acryloyl chitosan as a macro-crosslinker for freezing-resistant, self-healing and self-adhesive ionogels-based multicompetent flexible sensors.

Here, a polysaccharide derivative acryloyl chitosan (AcCS) is exploited as macro-crosslinker to synthesize a novel ionogel poly (acrylic acid-co-1-Vinyl-3-butyl imidazolium chloride) (AA-IL/AcCS) via a one-pot method. AcCS provides abundant physical and chemical crosslinking sites contributing to the high mechanical stretchability (elongation at break 600 %) and strength (tensile strength 137 kPa) of AA-IL/AcCS. The high-density of dynamic bonds (hydrogen bonds and electrostatic interactions) in the network of ionogels enables self-healing and self-adhesive features of AA-IL/AcCS. Meanwhile, AA-IL/AcCS exhibits high ionic conductivity (0.1 mS/cm) at room temperature and excellent antifreeze ability (-58 °C). The AA-IL/AcCS-based sensor shows diverse sensory capabilities towards temperature and humidity, moreover, it could precisely detect human motions and handwritings signals. Furthermore, AA-IL/AcCS exhibits excellent bactericidal properties against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. This work opens the possibility of polysaccharides as a macro-crosslinkers for preparing ionogel-based sensors for wearable electronics.

Semi-IPN ionogel based on poly (ionic liquids)/xanthan gum for highly sensitive pressure sensor.

In this paper, a novel ionogel with semi-interpenetrating poly (ionic liquids)/xanthan gum (PIL/XG) polymer network (semi-IPN) was prepared by using a simple one-pot method. The structure and the pressure sensing performance have been systematically investigated. It was found that introducing a low content (0.3-3.1 wt%) of XG significantly promoted the mechanical performance of ionogels with little effect on the ionic conductivity. The optimized PIL/XG containing 2.2 wt% XG exhibited high compression strength (761.0 kPa) and ionic conductivity (0.63 S/m at 25 °C). Such ionogels showed a liner response (0-100 kPa) and high sensitivity value of 6.86 kPa-1 in a capacitive mode. Meanwhile, as a resistive sensor, PIL/XG exhibited a wide response range to dynamic pressure ranges with stable repeatability. Furthermore, this ionogel exhibited excellent bactericidal properties against both gram-positive bacteria and gram-negative bacteria. This research provides a potential approach for developing ionogels based on semi-IPN with pressure-sensitive and anti-bacterial properties.

A dataset of winter wheat aboveground biomass in China during 2007-2015 based on data assimilation.

As a key variable to characterize the process of crop growth, the aboveground biomass (AGB) plays an important role in crop management and production. Process-based models and remote sensing are two important scientific methods for crop AGB estimation. In this study, we combined observations from agricultural meteorological stations and county-level yield statistics to calibrate a process-based crop growth model for winter wheat. After that, we assimilated a reprocessed temporal-spatial filtered MODIS Leaf Area Index product into the model to derive the 1 km daily AGB dataset of the main winter wheat producing areas in China from 2007 to 2015. The validation using ground measurements also suggests the derived AGB dataset agrees well with the filed observations, i.e., the R2 is above 0.9, and the root mean square error (RMSE) reaches 1,377 kg·ha-1. Compared to county-level statistics during 2007-2015, the ranges of R2, RMSE, and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) are 0.73~0.89, 953~1,503 kg·ha-1, and 8%~12%, respectively. We believe our dataset can be helpful for relevant studies on regional agricultural production management and yield estimation.

Protective effect of Eucommia ulmoides Oliver male flowers on ethanol-induced DNA damage in mouse cerebellum and cerebral cortex.

Ethanol is a principal ingredient of alcoholic beverages with potential neurotoxicity and genotoxicity, and the ethanol-associated oxidative DNA damage in the central nervous system is well documented. Natural product may offer new options to protect the brain against ethanol-induced neurotoxicity. The male flower of Eucommia ulmoides (EUF) Oliver has been extensively utilized as the tea, the healthy hot drink on the market. In this study, 19 constituents in the effective fraction of EUF were identified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). In the single-cell gel electrophoresis assay, EUF was observed to ameliorate DNA damage in mouse cerebellum and cerebral cortex caused by acute ethanol administration, which was further confirmed by the morphological observation. The protective effects of EUF were associated with increasing total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) activities, and a decrease in nitric oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), and kelch-like ECH-associated protein-1 (Keap1) levels. Molecular docking results demonstrated that compounds 4, 7, 9, and 16 from EUF have a strong affinity to the Keap1 Kelch domain to hinder the interaction of nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) with Keap1. These findings suggest that EUF is a potent inhibitor of ethanol-induced brain injury possibly via the inhibition of oxidative stress.

Stilbenes from Veratrum maackii Regel Protect against Ethanol-Induced DNA Damage in Mouse Cerebellum and Cerebral Cortex.

Ethanol is a principle ingredient of alcoholic beverages with potential neurotoxicity and genotoxicity, and the ethanol-associated oxidative DNA damage in the central nervous system is well documented. Natural source compounds may offer new options to protect the brain against ethanol-induced genotoxicity. Veratrum maackii Regel is a toxic rangeland plant linked to teratogenicity which is also used in traditional Chinese medicine as "Lilu" and is reported to contain a family of compounds called stilbenes that can have positive biological activity. In this study, nine stilbenes were isolated from the aerial parts of V. maackii Regel, and their structures were identified as cis-mulberroside A (1), resveratrol-4,3'- O-ß-d-diglucopyranoside (2), mulberroside A (3), gentifolin K (4), resveratrol-3,5- O-ß-d-diglucopyranoside (5), oxyresveratrol- 4'- O-ß-d-glucopyranoside (6), oxyresveratrol-3- O-ß-d-glucopyranoside (7), oxyresveratrol (8), and resveratrol (9) using ESI-MS and NMR techniques. The total concentration of extracted compounds 2-9 was 2.04 mg/g, suggesting that V. maackii Regel is a novel viable source of these compounds. In an in vivo comet assay, compounds 1-9 were observed to decrease DNA damage in mouse cerebellum and cerebral cortex caused by acute ethanol administration. Histological observation also revealed decreased brain injury in mice administered with compounds 1-9 after acute ethanol administration. The protective effects of compound 6 were associated with increasing T-SOD and GSH-PX activities and a decrease in NO and MDA concentrations. These findings suggest that these compounds are potent inhibitors of ethanol-induced brain injury possibly via the inhibition of oxidative stress and may be valuable leads for future therapeutic development.