Review of the lethal mechanism of insulin poisoning and the characteristic of forensic identification.

Insulin, as the only hypoglycemic hormone in the body, plays a key role in blood sugar control. However, excessive insulin intake can lead to insulin poisoning and even death, which often occurs in clinical and forensic work. At present, some researches on insulin poisoning have been carried out at home and abroad, however, it seems that the mechanism and forensic characteristics of insulin poisoning are not clear and complete. Therefore, in this paper, we reviewed the potential mechanism of insulin poisoning, the methods of insulin detection and the forensic identification of poisoning cases, aiming at providing services for the forensic identification of insulin poisoning.

Association of Body Mass Index and Central Obesity with Spinopelvic Alignment Parameters in a Chinese Population: A Prospective Study.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of central obesity on spinal sagittal balance in adults aged 18 and older by examining correlations between waist circumference (WC) and abdominal circumference (AC) and spinopelvic alignment parameters. METHODS: This prospective cohort study included 350 adults aged 18 and older. Participants underwent whole-body biplanar radiography using the EOS imaging system. Spinal and pelvic parameters were measured and correlated with body mass index, WC, and AC. Statistical analyses included one-way analysis of variance, Wilcoxon rank-sum tests for data with nonhomogeneous variances, and chi-squared tests for categorical data. Intra-rater and inter-rater reliability were assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients, with subsequent analyses to explore correlations between body measurements and spinal parameters. RESULTS: The study found significant correlations between increased WC and AC and changes in spinopelvic parameters. However, obesity did not uniformly influence all sagittal alignment parameters. Significant variations in spinal measurements indicate that central obesity plays a role in altering spinal stability and alignment. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the impact of central obesity on spinal alignment and emphasize the importance of considering central obesity in clinical assessments of spinal pathologies. Further research is essential to better understand the relationship between obesity, spinal sagittal balance, and related health conditions.

Recent Advances in and Challenges with Fe-Based Metallic Glasses for Catalytic Efficiency: Environment and Energy Fields.

Metallic glass is being gradually recognized for its unique disordered atomic configuration and excellent catalytic activity, so is of great significance in the field of catalysis. Recent reports have demonstrated that Fe-based metallic glass, as a competitive new catalyst, has good catalytic activity for the fields of environment and energy, including high catalytic efficiency and stability. This review introduces the latest developments in metallic glasses with various atomic components and their excellent catalytic properties as catalysts. In this article, the influence of Fe-based metallic glass catalysts on the catalytic activity of dye wastewater treatment and water-splitting is discussed. The catalytic performance in different atomic composition systems and different water environment systems, and the preparation parameters to improve the surface activity of catalysts, are reviewed. This review also describes several prospects in the future development and practical application of Fe-based metallic glass catalysts and provides a new reference for the synthesis of novel catalysts.

Role of Cr Element in Highly Dense Passivation of Fe-Based Amorphous Alloy.

The effect of the Cr element on the corrosion behavior of as-spun Fe72-xCrxB19.2Si4.8Nb4 ribbons with x = 0, 7.2, 21.6, and 36 in 3.5% NaCl solution were investigated in this work. The results show that the glass formability of the alloys can be increased as Cr content (cCr) is added up to 21.6 at.%. When cCr reaches 36 at.%, some nanocrystals appear in the as-spun ribbon. With increasing cCr content, the corrosion resistances of as-spun Fe-based ribbons are continually improved as well as their hardness properties; during the polarization test, their passive film shows an increase first and then a decrease, with the highest pitting potential as cCr = 7.2 at.%, which is confirmed by an XPS test. The dense passivation film, composed of Cr2O3 and [CrOx(OH)3-2x, nH2O], can reduce the number of corrosion pits on the sample surface due to chloride corrosion and possibly be deteriorated by the overdosed CrFeB phase. This work can help us to design and prepare the highly corrosion-resistant Fe-based alloys.

A new anti-inflammatory thujane monoterpenoid glycoside ester from Pittosporum heterophyllum Franch.

Phytochemical investigation of EtOH extract of Pittosporum heterophyllum led to one new esterified thujane monoterpenoid glycoside, pitheteroside A (1), together with one eudesmane sesquiterpenoid (2) and twelve lignans (3－14). Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis, including 1D and 2D NMR, ECD calculation and HRESIMS spectra. Pitheteroside A is an unreported and highly esterified monoterpenoid glycoside. All isolates were evaluated for their nitric oxide production inhibition against LPS-induced BV-2 microglial cells. Among them, compounds 1, 6 and 8 showed significant activities with IC50 values less than 10 µM. The results indicated the metabolisms from P. heterophyllum possess potential anti-inflammatory effects.

Nanoscale Oxygenous Heterogeneity in FePC Glass for Highly Efficient and Reusable Catalytic Performance.

Metallic glass, with its unique disordered atomic structure and high density of low-coordination sites, is regarded as the most competitive new catalyst for environmental catalysis. However, the efficiency and stability of metallic glass catalysts are often affected by their atomic configuration. Thus, the design and regulation of the nanoscale structure of metallic glasses to improve their catalytic efficiency and stability remains a challenge. Herein, a non-noble component, Fe75 P15 C10 amorphous ribbon, is used as a precursor to fabricate a hierarchical gradient catalyst with nanoscale heterogeneous and oxygenous amorphous structure by simple annealing and acid-immersing. The resulting catalyst offers an ultrahigh catalytic ability of kSA• C0 = 3101 mg m-2  min-1 and excellent reusability of 39 times without efficiency decay in dye wastewater degradation. Theoretical calculations indicate that the excellent catalytic performance of the catalyst can be attributed to its unique heterogeneous nanoglass structure, which induces oxygen atoms. Compared to the FePC structure, the FeP/FePCO structure exhibits strong charge transferability, and the energy barrier of the rate-determining steps of the conversion of S2 O8 2- to SO4 -• is reduced from 2.52 to 0.97 eV. This study reveals that a heterogeneous nanoglass structure is a new strategy for obtaining high catalytic performance.

Is Intervertebral Disc Degeneration a Compensatory Mechanism in Adult Tethered Cord Syndrome?

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the influence of high nerve tension on lumbar disc degeneration and sagittal morphologies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 50 young and middle-aged patients (mean age 32.1 ± 7.4 years, 22 men and 28 women) who suffered from tethered cord syndrome (TCS) were retrospectively assessed by two observers. Demographic and radiological data were recorded, including lumbar disc degeneration, disc height index and lumbar spine angle, and were compared with 50 patients (mean age 29.7 ± 5.4 years, 22 men and 28 women) without spinal cord abnormalities. Statistical associations were assessed by student's t-test and chi-square test. RESULTS: Our results showed patients with TCS had a significantly higher rate of lumbar disc degeneration in L1/2, L2/3, L4/5 and L5/S1 than in those without TCS (P < 0.05). Moreover, the rates of multilevel disc degeneration and severe disc degeneration in TCS group were significantly higher than those in control group (P < 0.01). The mean disc height index of L3/4 and L4/5 in TCS group was significantly lower than that in control group (P < 0.05). The mean lumbosacral angle of TCS patients was significantly higher than that of patients without TCS (38.4 ± 3.5°vs. 33.7 ± 5.9°, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: We found a certain correlation between TCS and lumbar disc degeneration and lumbosacral angle enlargement, suggesting that the spine reduces the high tension of the spinal cord through disc degeneration. Therefore, it is speculated that there is a "compromised regulation" mechanism in the body under the condition of neurological abnormalities.

Allelic variation of terpene synthases drives terpene diversity in the wild species of the Freesia genus.

Terpene synthases (TPSs) play pivotal roles in conferring the structural diversity of terpenoids, which are mainly emitted from flowers, whereas the genetic basis of the release of floral volatile terpenes remains largely elusive. Though quite similar in sequence, TPS allelic variants still function divergently, and how they drive floral terpene diversity in closely related species remains unknown. Here, TPSs responsible for the floral scent of wild Freesia species were characterized, and the functions of their natural allelic variants, as well as the causal amino acid residues, were investigated in depth. Besides the 8 TPSs previously reported in modern cultivars, 7 additional TPSs were functionally evaluated to contribute to the major volatiles emitted from wild Freesia species. Functional characterization of allelic natural variants demonstrated that allelic TPS2 and TPS10 variants changed the enzymatic capacity while allelic TPS6 variants drove the diversity of floral terpene products. Further residue substitution analysis revealed the minor residues determining the enzyme catalytic activity and product specificity. The clarification of TPSs in wild Freesia species reveals that allelic TPS variants evolved differently to determine the interspecific floral volatile terpenes in the genus and might be used for modern cultivar improvement.

Lyoprotectant Formulation and Optimization of the J-Aggregates Astaxanthin/BSA/Chitosan Nanosuspension.

Astaxanthin is a carotenoid with excellent antioxidant activity. However, this small lipid-soluble molecule is insoluble in water and has low stability. Although this situation can be improved when astaxanthin is prepared as a nanosuspension, the aqueous form is still not as convenient and safe as the dry powder form for storage, transport, and use. The lyophilization process provides better protection for thermosensitive materials, but this leads to collapse and agglomeration between nanoparticles. To improve this situation, appropriate lyophilization protectants are needed to offer support between the nanoparticles, such as sugars, amino acids, and hydroxy alcohols. The purpose of this work is to screen lyophilization protectants by single-factor experiments and response surface optimization experiments and then explore the optimal ratio of compound lyophilization protectants, and finally, make excellent astaxanthin/BSA/chitosan nanosuspension (ABC-NPs) lyophilized powder. The work shows that the optimal ratio of the compounding lyophilization protectant is 0.46% oligomeric mannose, 0.44% maltose, and 0.05% sorbitol (w/v). The ABC-NPs lyophilized powder prepared under the above conditions had a re-soluble particle size of 472 nm, with a ratio of 1.32 to the particle size of the sample before lyophilization. The lyophilized powder was all in the form of a pink layer. The sample was fluffy and dissolved entirely within 10 s by shaking with water. Consequently, it is expected to solve the problem of inconvenient storage and transportation of aqueous drugs and to expand the application of nanomedicine powders and tablets.

An approach to detecting diphenylamine content and assessing chemical stability of single-base propellants by near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy.

Diphenylamine (DPA) as a stabilizer component plays an important role in maintaining the chemical stability of single-base propellants (SBPs). This work investigated the feasibility of rapidly detecting the content of DPA in SBP by near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS). The quantitative NIR model was developed by intervals selection, spectral pretreatment and factor number optimization. The optimal spectral intervals were determined to be 1081 nm âˆ¼ 1280 nm and 1378 nm âˆ¼ 1602 nm based on the characteristic spectral peaks of DPA. By comparing the performance of the developed models with different preprocessing methods, the best preprocessing method was standard normal variate transformation (SNV) + de-trending (Dr) + Smoothing. The optimal number of factors was 6 for DPA model. Partial least squares (PLS) regression was used to establish the calibration models of DPA. For the developed model, the determination coefficients of calibration and prediction (Rc2, Rp2) were 0.9907 and 0.9884, respectively. The root mean square errors of calibration and prediction (RMSEC, RMSEP) were 0.0310 and 0.0342, respectively. The samples in the prediction set were predicted by the developed model, and the average absolute error of the proposed and reference method was only 0.0265. The developed model can be applied in rapid monitor the content of DPA in SBP. In addition, vieille test have demonstrated that the chemical stability of SBP became worse with the decrease of DPA content. The content of DPA contained in the SBP with qualified chemical stability is not less than 0.8753%. Thus, the developed model can be used to judge whether the chemical stability of SBP is qualified or unqualified.

Establishment of a NIR-based methodology for tracking the blend homogeneity of HTPB propellant slurry in the mixing process.

The hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) propellants with high level of solid loadings from 80 wt% to 90 wt% consist of aluminum (Al) powder, ammonium perchlorate (AP) and HTPB. The Al/AP/HTPB adhesive system full of solid grains appears high viscosity against flow. Therefore, the mixing is a crucial procedure in the production as it directly affects the structural integrity of the finished product. This work focused on the feasibility of tracking the blend homogeneity of Al/AP/HTPB adhesive system in the mixing process through using the near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and orthogonal partial least squares discrimination analysis (OPLS-DA). The OPLS-DA classification models were created by variable selection, spectral pretreatment and latent variables (LVs) optimization. It had been demonstrated that the developed models presented an excellent predictability with the root mean square error of cross-validation (RMSECV) for slurries in Ⅰ, Ⅱ groups of 0.1261 and 0.0789, respectively. Meanwhile, the well-fitted models for slurries in Ⅰ, Ⅱ groups with the squared correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.806 and 0.980, exhibited separately an acceptable predictive capability with the predictive squared correlation coefficient (Q2) > 0.5. Furthermore, Euclidean distance and move block standard deviation (MBSD) as reference methods were used to validate the predictive performance of the developed models with respect to the blend homogeneity of HTPB propellant slurry. The experimental results showed that the terminal time for each batch of slurry reaching to ideal uniformity predicted by Euclidean distance/MBSD and OPLS-DA were both at 26-30 min. Therefore, it had been proved that the method we proposed was a potential tool to monitor the variation of the uniform state of HTPB propellant slurry in the mixing process.

Fabrication and characterization of the H/J-type aggregates astaxanthin/bovine serum albumin/chitosan nanoparticles.

Astaxanthin is a natural liposoluble ketocarotenoid with various biological activities. Hydrophobic astaxanthin with C2h symmetry can self-assembly form H-type aggregates and J-type aggregates in hydrated polar solvents. However, astaxanthin and its aggregates are limited by its water insolubility and chemical instability. Here, the biological macromolecules bovine serum albumin (BSA) and chitosan were chosen as protein-polysaccharides based delivery systems for astaxanthin aggregates by molecular self-assembly method. The precise prepared H-ABC-NPs and J-ABC-NPs suspensions were both near spheres with hydrodynamic size around 281 ± 9 nm and 368 ± 5 nm and zeta potentials around +26 mV and +30 mV, respectively. Two types of astaxanthin aggregates were distinguished, water-dispersible, and stable in nanocarriers through UV-vis spectra observation. The encapsulation efficiency of the astaxanthin in ABC-NPs was above 90 %. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and circular dichroism (CD) analyses indicated that the dominant driving forces of ABC-NPs formation mainly included electrostatic, hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonding. These results offer an elegant opportunity for the protein-polysaccharides delivery systems, and provide an important perspective for applying novel water-dispersed astaxanthin aggregates products in nutrition and medicine industry.

Engineering Yarrowia lipolytica for the sustainable production of ß-farnesene from waste oil feedstock.

BACKGROUND: ß-Farnesene is a sesquiterpene with versatile industrial applications. The production of ß-farnesene from waste lipid feedstock is an attractive method for sustainable production and recycling waste oil. Yarrowia lipolytica is an unconventional oleaginous yeast, which can use lipid feedstock and has great potential to synthesize acetyl-CoA-derived chemicals. RESULTS: In this study, we engineered Y. lipolytica to produce ß-farnesene from lipid feedstock. To direct the flux of acetyl-CoA, which is generated from lipid ß-oxidation, to ß-farnesene synthesis, the mevalonate synthesis pathway was compartmentalized into peroxisomes. ß-Farnesene production was then engineered by the protein engineering of ß-farnesene synthase and pathway engineering. The regulation of lipid metabolism by enhancing ß-oxidation and eliminating intracellular lipid synthesis was further performed to improve the ß-farnesene synthesis. As a result, the final ß-farnesene production with bio-engineering reached 35.2 g/L and 31.9 g/L using oleic acid and waste cooking oil, respectively, which are the highest ß-farnesene titers reported in Y. lipolytica. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that engineered Y. lipolytica could realize the sustainable production of value-added acetyl-CoA-derived chemicals from waste lipid feedstock.

Microvirga puerhi sp. nov., isolated from Puerh tea garden soil.

Strain WGZ8T was isolated from a soil sample of Puerh tea garden in Pu'er city, Southwest China. The isolate was rod-shaped, Gram-stain negative, facultative anaerobic, non-motile. Growth occurred within 0-3.0% (w/v) NaCl (optimal concentration, 0-1.0%), pH 5.0-11.0 (optimal pH, 7.0) and 10-40 °C (optimal temperature, 28 °C). 16S rRNA gene sequence-based phylogenetic and phylogenomic analysis revealed that WGZ8T belonged to the genus Microvirga. Its major cellular fatty acids were C19:0 cyclo ω8c, C16:0, C18:1ω7c and/or C18:1ω6c. The profile of polar lipids included phosphatidyldimethylethanolamine, phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylglycerol. The only respiratory quinone was detected as ubiquinone 10 (Q-10). The genome size of strain WGZ8T was 5.17 MB, and the content of DNA G + C was 61 mol%. Based on the results of digital DNA-DNA hybridization and phenotypic results, strain WGZ8T could be concluded as a novel species of the genus Microvirga, for which the name Microvirga puerhi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is WGZ8T (= CGMCC 1.19171 T = JCM 35317 T).

Brevibacillus dissolubilis sp. nov., Isolated from Fresh Water.

A Gram-positive-staining, strictly aerobic, motile, ellipsoidal endospore-forming bacterial strain, designated CHY01T, was isolated from the Chishui river in a section of Maotai Town, Guizhou Province, Southwest China. Strain CHY01T was found to grow optimally at pH 8.0 and 28 °C. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain CHY01T belonged to the genus Brevibacillus and clustered with the type strain of Brevibacillus panacihumi, with which it exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 97.8%. The predominant respiratory quinone was MK-7, and the major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol. The major fatty acids were C14:0, iso-C15:0, anteiso-C15:0, C16:0, C15:1iso-H and/or C13:0 3-OH, and C16:1ω7c and/or C16:1ω6c. Genome sequencing revealed a genome size of 6.1 Mbp and a G + C content of 50.6%. The results of physiological and biochemical tests allowed strain CHY01T to be distinguished genotypically and phenotypically from Brevibacillus species with validly published names. Pairwise determined whole-genome average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values suggested that strain CHY01T represents a new species, for which we propose the name Brevibacillus dissolubilis sp. nov. with the type strain CHY01T (= CGMCC 1.15916 T = KCTC 33863 T).

SubPhaser: a robust allopolyploid subgenome phasing method based on subgenome-specific k-mers.

With advanced sequencing technology, dozens of complex polyploid plant genomes have been characterized. However, for many polyploid species, their diploid ancestors are unknown or extinct, making it impossible to unravel the subgenomes and genome evolution directly. We developed a novel subgenome-phasing algorithm, SubPhaser, specifically designed for a neoallopolyploid or a homoploid hybrid. SubPhaser first searches for the subgenome-specific sequence (k-mer), then assigns homoeologous chromosomes into subgenomes, and further provides tools to annotate and investigate specific sequences. SubPhaser works well on neoallopolyploids and homoploid hybrids containing subgenome-specific sequences like wheat, but fails on autopolyploids lacking subgenome-specific sequences like alfalfa, indicating that SubPhaser can phase neoallopolyploid/homoploid hybrids with high accuracy, sensitivity and performance. This highly accurate, highly sensitive, ancestral data free chromosome phasing algorithm, SubPhaser, offers significant application value for subgenome phasing in neoallopolyploids and homoploid hybrids, and for the subsequent exploration of genome evolution and related genetic/epigenetic mechanisms.