Anti-bacterial effects, and metabolites derived from bifidobacterial fermentation of an exopolysaccharide of Cs-HK1 medicinal fungus.

This study was to investigate the antibacterial effects and metabolites derived from bifidobacterial fermentation of an exopolysaccharide EPS-LM produced by a medicinal fungus Cordyceps sinensis, Cs-HK1. EPS-LM was a partially purified polysaccharide fraction which was mainly composed of Man, Glc and Gal at 7.31:12.95:1.00 mol ratio with a maximum molecular weight of 360 kDa. After fermentation of EPS-LM in two bifidobacterial cultures, B. breve and B. longum, the culture digesta showed significant antibacterial activities, inhibiting the proliferation and biofilm formation of Escherichia coli. Based on untargeted metabolomic profiling of the digesta, the levels of short chain fatty acids, carboxylic acids, benzenoids and their derivatives were all increased significantly (p < 0.01), which probably contributed to the enhanced antibacterial activity by EPS-LM. Since EPS-LM was only slightly consumed for the bifidobacterial growth, it mainly stimulated the biosynthesis of bioactive metabolites in the bifidobacterial cells. The results also suggested that EPS-LM polysaccharide may have a regulatory function on the bifidobacterial metabolism leading to production of antibacterial metabolites, which may be of significance for further exploration.

Effect of excitation voltage in a magnetically induced electric field on the physicochemical, structural and functional properties of citrus pectin.

Treatment with a magnetic induced electric field (MIEF) under acidic conditions has proven to be an effective method for modifying pectin, enhancing its functional attributes. In this study, the effects of varying excitation voltages of MIEF under acidic conditions on the physicochemical, structural, and functional properties of citrus pectin (CP) were explored. The results demonstrated that compared to CP without MIEF treatment, MIEF-treated CP exhibited enhanced thermal stability, rheological behavior, emulsifying and gel-forming abilities, and antioxidant capacity. These improvements were attributed to higher degrees of esterification, reduced molecular weights, and increased levels of galacturonic acid and homogalacturonan in the structural backbone of the treated CP. Additionally, MIEF treatment under acidic conditions altered the surface morphology and crystalline structure of CP. Therefore, our findings suggest that applying moderate excitation voltages (150-200 V) during MIEF treatment can enhance the functional properties of CP, leading to the production of high-quality modified pectin.

Camp-style lifestyle modification program (CAMP) for diabetes prevention among rural women with prior GDM: study protocol for a three-arm cluster hybrid type 2 randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Intensive lifestyle interventions were effective to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) for women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) history. However, reaching these mothers and maintaining participation in lifestyle interventions is suboptimal in real-world settings. Effective, feasible and sustainable new lifestyle interventions are needed. The objectives of this three-arm trial are to (1) compare diabetes risk outcomes of an evidence-based intensive lifestyle modification (ILSM) intervention, a camp-style lifestyle modification program (CAMP) intervention, and usual care among women with GDM history; and (2) evaluate the comparative efficacy of the CAMP versus ILSM intervention on implementation outcomes. METHODS: A three-arm cluster randomized clinical trial (RCT) using a hybrid type 2 implementation design will be conducted in two counties in Hunan province in China. Six towns from each county will be randomly selected and assigned to CAMP, ILSM, and the usual care group (25 women from each of 12 towns, 100 women in each arm). The ILSM includes six biweekly in-person sessions and 3-month telephone health consultations, while the CAMP consists of a 2-day camp-based session and 3-month health consultations via a popular social media platform. Both interventions share the same session content, including six lifestyle skills. Efficacy (T2DM risk score and behavioral, anthropometric, psychosocial, and glycemic variables) and implementation outcomes (recruitment, acceptability, feasibility, fidelity, and cost-effectiveness) will be collected at baseline, 6-month, and 12-month. Pre-planned ANOVA F-test and generalized estimating equations will be included to test time-by-arm interactions. DISCUSSION: The CAMP intervention is expected to have better reach, better attendance, and comparable effectiveness in reducing the risk of T2DM, thus improving postpartum care for GDM in China. The delivery of a concentrated format supplemented with technology-based support may provide an efficient and effective delivery model for implementing maternal health promotion programs in primary care settings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2200058150) on 31st March 2022.

An Exploratory Study on the Rapid Detection of Volatile Organic Compounds in Gardenia Fruit Using the Heracles NEO Ultra-Fast Gas Phase Electronic Nose.

Gardenia fruit is a popular functional food and raw material for natural pigments. It comes from a wide range of sources, and different products sharing the same name are very common. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are important factors that affect the flavor and quality of gardenia fruit. This study used the Heracles NEO ultra-fast gas phase electronic nose with advanced odor analysis performance and high sensitivity to analyze six batches of gardenia fruit from different sources. This study analyzed the VOCs to find a way to quickly identify gardenia fruit. The results show that this method can accurately distinguish the odor characteristics of various gardenia fruit samples. The VOCs in gardenia fruit are mainly organic acid esters, ketones, and aldehyde compounds. By combining principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant factor analysis (DFA), this study found that the hexanal content varied the most in different gardenia fruit samples. The VOCs allowed for the fruit samples to be grouped into two main categories. One fruit sample was quite different from the fruits of other origins. The results provide theoretical support for feasibility of rapid identification and quality control of gardenia fruit and related products in the future.

Eu3+-functionalized covalent organic framework for ratiometric fluorescence detection and adsorption of tetracycline and information steganography.

Functional materials with organic/inorganic composites as the main matrix and rare earth ion complexes as the guest have shown a very broad application prospect for antibiotic sensors. However, Eu3+-complex often relies on a single fluorescence response signal, which is susceptible to changes in the detection environment and cannot simultaneously detect and remove tetracycline (TC). Herein, green fluorescent covalent two-dimensional organic framework (COF-TD) is synthesized, followed by modification of Eu3+ to synthesize COF-TD@Eu3+. In the ratiometric sensor, Eu3+ serves as the recognition site and specific response probe for TC, while COF-TD is the fluorescence reference and carrier for Eu3+. Due to the antenna effect, TC enhances the red fluorescence of Eu3+, while the green fluorescence of COF-TD remains almost stable. Based on the change of fluorescence intensity and fluorescence color from green to red, the efficient ratiometric sensing can be finished in 1 min. The developed method shows high sensitivity with a detection limit of 0.3 µM and high selectivity to TC which makes the method applicable to detect TC in traditional Chinese medicine preparations. In addition, due to the high specific surface area of COFs and specific adsorption sites, COF-TD@Eu3+ also shows good performance for TC removal. The findings show that the maximum adsorption capacity is 137.3 mg g-1 and the adsorption equilibrium is reached in 30 min. Smartphone assisted COF-TD@Eu3+ for both ratiometric fluorescence detection and detecting the absorption of TC is proposed for the first time. The molecular cryptosteganography that transforms the selective response of COF-TD@Eu3+ to binary strings is anticipated to advance utilization of nanomaterials in logic sensing and information safety.

Abnormal Serum BDNF and p-mTOR in MDD in Adolescents with Childhood Trauma.

Background: Adolescents with major depressive (MDD) episodes associated with childhood trauma have a poorer response to treatment and a higher risk of suicide. The underlying etiology is unclear. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) could improve depressive symptoms by down-regulating mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathways, which was involved in adverse environmental stimuli during neurodevelopment. BDNF and mTOR have not been reported simultaneously in adolescents with major depressive episodes associated with childhood trauma. Methods: Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) and Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised (CDRS-R) were used to evaluate the recruited adolescents with major depression episodes. Serum BDNF and p-mTOR levels were measured by ELISA in 31 adolescents with major depression episodes with childhood trauma and 18 matched healthy control. Results: The serum levels of BDNF were significantly lower (p<0.001); and the serum levels of p-mTOR were high (p=0.003) in the adolescents with the first episode of major depressive episode accompanied by childhood trauma. Of the 31 adolescents with major depressive episodes, 17 had suicide or self-injury. Compared with the healthy control group, the serum levels of BDNF in patients with suicide or self-injury were lower than those without suicide or self-injury(p<0.001); the serum levels of p-mTOR were higher than those without suicide or self-injury (p=0.01). While in patients without suicide or self-injury, only serum p-mTOR was significantly higher than that in healthy group (p=0.028). BDNF was negatively correlated with CDRS-R (r=-0.427, p=0.006), p-mTOR was positively correlated with CDI (r=0.364, p=0.048). According to Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (ROC), the combination of serum BDNF and p-mTOR levels have better diagnostic value. Conclusion: Neurotrophic and signaling pathways, involving BDNF and p-mTOR, may play a role in adolescent MDD with a history of childhood trauma, especially patients with suicide and self-injury tendencies.

A lightweight ground crack rapid detection method based on semantic enhancement.

To address the issue of detecting complex-shaped cracks that rely on manual, which may result in high costs and low efficiency, this paper proposed a lightweight ground crack rapid detection method based on semantic enhancement. Firstly, the introduction of the Context Guided Block module enhanced the YOLOv8 backbone network, improving its feature extraction capability. Next, the incorporation of GSConv and VoV-GSCSP was introduced to construct a lightweight yet efficient neck network, facilitating the effective fusion of information from multiple feature maps. Finally, the detection head achieved more precise target localization by optimizing the probability around the labels. The proposed method was validated through experiments on the public dataset RDD-2022. The experimental results demonstrate that our method effectively detects cracks. Compared to YOLOv8, the model parameters have been reduced by 73.5 %, while accuracy, F1 score, and FPS have improved by 6.6 %, 4.3 %, and 116, respectively. Therefore, our proposed method is more lightweight and holds significant application value.

Phase-Field Model of Electronic Antidoping.

Charge carrier doping usually reduces the resistance of a semiconductor or insulator, but was recently found to dramatically enhance the resistance in certain series of materials. This remarkable antidoping effect has been leveraged to realize synaptic memory trees in nanoscale hydrogenated perovskite nickelates, opening a new direction for neuromorphic computing. To understand these phenomena, we formulate a physical phase-field model of the antidoping effect based on its microscopic mechanism and simulate the voltage-driven resistance change in the prototypical system of hydrogenated perovskite nickelates. Remarkably, the simulations using this model, containing only one adjustable parameter whose magnitude is justified by first-principles calculations, quantitatively reproduce the experimentally observed treelike resistance states, which are shown unambiguously to arise from proton redistribution-induced local band gap enhancement and carrier blockage. Our work lays the foundation for modeling the antidoping phenomenon in strongly correlated materials at the mesoscale, which can provide guidance to the design of novel antidoping-physics-based devices.

Optical Control of Adaptive Nanoscale Domain Networks.

Adaptive networks can sense and adjust to dynamic environments to optimize their performance. Understanding their nanoscale responses to external stimuli is essential for applications in nanodevices and neuromorphic computing. However, it is challenging to image such responses on the nanoscale with crystallographic sensitivity. Here, the evolution of nanodomain networks in (PbTiO3)n/(SrTiO3)n superlattices (SLs) is directly visualized in real space as the system adapts to ultrafast repetitive optical excitations that emulate controlled neural inputs. The adaptive response allows the system to explore a wealth of metastable states that are previously inaccessible. Their reconfiguration and competition are quantitatively measured by scanning x-ray nanodiffraction as a function of the number of applied pulses, in which crystallographic characteristics are quantitatively assessed by assorted diffraction patterns using unsupervised machine-learning methods. The corresponding domain boundaries and their connectivity are drastically altered by light, holding promise for light-programable nanocircuits in analogy to neuroplasticity. Phase-field simulations elucidate that the reconfiguration of the domain networks is a result of the interplay between photocarriers and transient lattice temperature. The demonstrated optical control scheme and the uncovered nanoscopic insights open opportunities for the remote control of adaptive nanoscale domain networks.

Recent advances in dietary polysaccharides from Allium species: Preparation, characterization, and bioactivity.

Allium plants, including garlic, onions, shallots, and leeks, belong to the Alliaceae family and are utilized as vegetable, medicinal, and ornamental plants. These plants are consumed both raw and cooked and are noted in traditional medicine for their antibacterial, antitumor, and diuretic properties. Allium plants are a rich source of polyphenols, organosulfur compounds, flavonoids, alkaloids, and polysaccharides, which contribute to their health benefits. As consumer interest in the association between diet and health grows, there is an increasing market demand for foods that promote health, particularly those rich in dietary fiber or non-starch polysaccharides. Allium polysaccharides (APS) have molecular weights of 1 × 103-1 × 106 Da containing small amounts of pectin, glucofructan, or glycoproteins and large amounts of fructans. APS, despite its complex structure, is one of the principal active components of Allium plants but is often overlooked, which restricts its practical application. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the extraction and purification, structural and functional characteristics, bioactivities, structure-function relationships, and chemical modifications of APS, as well as the effects of APS processing and storage. Additionally, this paper outlines future research directions for APS, which will inform its development and application in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries.

Electrical de-poling and re-poling of relaxor-PbTiO3 piezoelectric single crystals without heat treatment.

Re-poling of unexpected partially depoled piezoelectric materials conventionally needs to be first fully depoled through annealing above their Curie temperature to revive piezoelectric performances. Here, we investigated de-poling and re-poling of Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 single crystals under electric fields at room temperature. We found that alternating current electric fields with amplitudes near the coercive field at low frequencies (<10 Hz) can be employed to successfully depolarize poled crystals at room temperature. We also demonstrated a reversible polarization switching process with a relaxor-PbTiO3 single crystal ultrasound transducer without device performance degradations. This experimental observation is supported by phase-field simulation, showing that alternating current electric fields can readily induce de-poling at room temperature, while direct current electric fields induce a transient depoled state only within an uncontrollable short period of time. The findings suggest new strategies for unprecedented in-device tailoring of the polarization states of ferroelectric materials.

Concurrent manipulation of competitive mechanisms to construct glutathione-stabilized gold nanocluster-based dual-channel molecular classifier for metal ions detection and information steganography.

Understanding charge transport in metal ion-mediated glutathione-stabilized gold nanoclusters (GSH-Au NCs) has proved difficult due to the presence of various competitive mechanisms, such as electron transfer (ET) and aggregation induction effect (AIE). In this paper, we present a dual-channel fluorescence (FL) and second-order Rayleigh scattering (SRS) sensing method for high-throughput classification of metal ions, relying on the competition between ET and AIE using GSH-Au NCs. The SRS signals show significant enhancement when Pb2+, Ag+, Al3+, Cu2+, Fe3+, and Hg2+ are present, as a result of the aggregation of GSH-Au NCs. Notably, the fluorescence signal exhibits the opposite trend. The FL intensities of GSH-Au NCs are enhanced by Pb2+, Ag+, and Al3+ through the AIE mechanism, while they are quenched by Cu2+, Fe3+, and Hg2+, which is dominated by the ET mechanism. By employing principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis, these signals are transformed into unique fingerprints and Euclidean distances, respectively, enabling successful distinction of six metal ions and their mixtures with a low detection limit of 30 nM. This new strategy has successfully addressed interference from impurities in the testing of real water samples, demonstrating its strong ability to detect multiple metal ions. Impressively, we have achieved molecular cryptosteganography, which involves encoding, storing, and concealing information by transforming the selective response of GSH-Au NCs to binary strings. This research is anticipated to advance utilization of nanomaterials in logic sensing and information safety, bridging the gap between molecular sensors and information systems.

BSA-stabilized selenium nanoparticles ameliorate intracerebral hemorrhage's-like pathology by inhibiting ferroptosis-mediated neurotoxicology via Nrf2/GPX4 axis activation.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a prevalent hemorrhagic cerebrovascular emergency. Alleviating neurological damage in the early stages of ICH is critical for enhancing patient prognosis and survival rate. A novel form of cell death called ferroptosis is intimately linked to hemorrhage-induced brain tissue injury. Although studies have demonstrated the significant preventive impact of bovine serum albumin-stabilized selenium nanoparticles (BSA-SeNPs) against disorders connected to the neurological system, the neuroprotective effect on the hemorrhage stroke and the mechanism remain unknown. Therefore, based on the favorable biocompatibility of BSA-SeNPs, h-ICH (hippocampus-intracerebral hemorrhage) model was constructed to perform BSA-SeNPs therapy. As expected, these BSA-SeNPs could effectively improve the cognitive deficits and ameliorate the damage of hippocampal neuron. Furthermore, BSA-SeNPs reverse the morphology of mitochondria and enhanced the mitochondrial function, evidenced by mitochondrial respiration function (OCR) and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). Mechanistically, BSA-SeNPs could efficiently activate the Nrf2 to enhance the expression of antioxidant GPX4 at mRNA and protein levels, and further inhibit lipid peroxidation production in erastin-induced ferroptotic damages. Taken together, this study not only sheds light on the clinical application of BSA-SeNPs, but also provides its newly theoretical support for the strategy of the intervention and treatment of neurological impairment following ICH.

Spontaneous Supercrystal Formation During a Strain-Engineered Metal-Insulator Transition.

Mott metal-insulator transitions possess electronic, magnetic, and structural degrees of freedom promising next-generation energy-efficient electronics. A previously unknown, hierarchically ordered, and anisotropic supercrystal state is reported and its intrinsic formation characterized in-situ during a Mott transition in a Ca2RuO4 thin film. Machine learning-assisted X-ray nanodiffraction together with cryogenic electron microscopy reveal multi-scale periodic domain formation at and below the film transition temperature (TFilm ≈ 200-250 K) and a separate anisotropic spatial structure at and above TFilm. Local resistivity measurements imply an intrinsic coupling of the supercrystal orientation to the material's anisotropic conductivity. These findings add a new degree of complexity to the physical understanding of Mott transitions, opening opportunities for designing materials with tunable electronic properties.

Generative learning facilitated discovery of high-entropy ceramic dielectrics for capacitive energy storage.

Dielectric capacitors offer great potential for advanced electronics due to their high power densities, but their energy density still needs to be further improved. High-entropy strategy has emerged as an effective method for improving energy storage performance, however, discovering new high-entropy systems within a high-dimensional composition space is a daunting challenge for traditional trial-and-error experiments. Here, based on phase-field simulations and limited experimental data, we propose a generative learning approach to accelerate the discovery of high-entropy dielectrics in a practically infinite exploration space of over 1011 combinations. By encoding-decoding latent space regularities to facilitate data sampling and forward inference, we employ inverse design to screen out the most promising combinations via a ranking strategy. Through only 5 sets of targeted experiments, we successfully obtain a Bi(Mg0.5Ti0.5)O3-based high-entropy dielectric film with a significantly improved energy density of 156 J cm-3 at an electric field of 5104 kV cm-1, surpassing the pristine film by more than eight-fold. This work introduces an effective and innovative avenue for designing high-entropy dielectrics with drastically reduced experimental cycles, which could be also extended to expedite the design of other multicomponent material systems with desired properties.

Integrated Eu3+ loaded covalent organic framework with smartphone for ratiometric fluorescence detection of tetracycline.

Developing rapid tetracycline sensing system is of great significance to monitor the illegal addition to drugs and pollution to food and ecosystem. By loading covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with Eu3+, a new hybridized material (COF@Eu3+) was prepared for tetracycline determination. Based on the Schiff base reaction, the COFs were by synthesized through solvent evaporation in 30 min at room temperature. Thereafter, Eu3+ was modified into COFs to develop the COF@Eu3+ sensing platform by adsorption and coordination. In presence of tetracycline, tetracycline can displace water molecules and coordinate with Eu3+ through the antenna effect. As a result, the red fluorescence of Eu3+ was enhanced by tetracycline with green fluorescence of COF as a reference. The developed ratiometric fluorescence sensor exhibits a linear range of 0.1-20 µM for detecting tetracycline with a detection limit of 30 nM. Integrated with a smartphone, the rapid tetracycline detection can be realized in situ, which is potential for high-throughput screening of tetracycline contaminated samples. Furthermore, the COF@Eu3+ fluorescence sensor has been successfully applied to the detection of tetracycline in traditional Chinese medicine compound preparation with satisfied recoveries. Therefore, a smartphone-assisted device was successfully developed based on Eu3+-functionalized COF, which is an attractive candidate for further applications of fluorescence sensing and visual detection.

Mecp2 fine-tunes quiescence exit by targeting nuclear receptors.

Quiescence (G0) maintenance and exit are crucial for tissue homeostasis and regeneration in mammals. Here, we show that methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (Mecp2) expression is cell cycle-dependent and negatively regulates quiescence exit in cultured cells and in an injury-induced liver regeneration mouse model. Specifically, acute reduction of Mecp2 is required for efficient quiescence exit as deletion of Mecp2 accelerates, while overexpression of Mecp2 delays quiescence exit, and forced expression of Mecp2 after Mecp2 conditional knockout rescues cell cycle reentry. The E3 ligase Nedd4 mediates the ubiquitination and degradation of Mecp2, and thus facilitates quiescence exit. A genome-wide study uncovered the dual role of Mecp2 in preventing quiescence exit by transcriptionally activating metabolic genes while repressing proliferation-associated genes. Particularly disruption of two nuclear receptors, Rara or Nr1h3, accelerates quiescence exit, mimicking the Mecp2 depletion phenotype. Our studies unravel a previously unrecognized role for Mecp2 as an essential regulator of quiescence exit and tissue regeneration.

Harnessing the duality of bases toward controlled color and fluorescence.

Bases can promote keto-enol tautomerism, a prevalent form of prototropic tautomerism, and facilitate the ring opening of anhydride ring structures. The intrinsic chemical distinctions between these processes provide an opportunity to modulate these seemingly parallel reactions. However, this potential remains largely unexplored. In this work, we report homophthalic anhydride, the first molecule exhibiting simultaneous halochromism, turn-on fluorescence (halofluorochromism), and subsequent self-destruction. Through comprehensive spectroscopic analysis and theoretical calculations, we unravel the mechanisms underlying these phenomena, revealing that the pivotal roles of the base's basicity and nucleophilicity specifically allow us to achieve controlled durations of color change and turn-on fluorescence. Capitalizing on these intriguing properties, we develop a highly dynamic CMY (cyan-magenta-yellow) palette ideal for entity encryption and anti-counterfeiting applications. Our work reshapes the understanding of the relationship between the basicity and nucleophilicity of bases, enriching the comprehension of keto-enol tautomerism and homophthalic anhydride chemistry, and unveils a spectrum of potential applications.

Tuning Topology Phases by Controlling Effective Screening and Depolarization in Oxide Superlattices.

Polar topological phases in oxide superlattices attracted significant attention due to their unique properties. Previous work revealed that a polar vortex and polar skyrmions exist in (PTO)/(STO) superlattices under different elastic constraints, i.e., on different substrates. Here, our phase-field simulation demonstrates that manipulating the PTO and STO layers' thickness can control the effective screening provided by STO and the depolarization degree in PTO, thus switching the system among the polar skyrmions, vortex labyrinth, or paraelectric phase without changing elastic constraints. Additionally, reducing the STO thickness creates interlayer coupling among PTO layers, generating the long-range order of topological phases within superlattices. Furthermore, we construct a PTO-STO thickness topological phase diagram. These findings offer insights into the polar topological phases' formation in oxide superlattices, elucidating the roles of ferroelectric and paraelectric layers in their formation.