Electrocatalytic Reforming of Polylactic Acid Plastic Hydrolysate over Dynamically Formed γ-NiOOH.

Upcycling plastic waste into valuable commodity chemicals with clean energy is an appealing strategy for mitigating environmental issues. Polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable plastic that is produced annually in millions of tons, can be chemically recycled to valuable products instead of being degraded to carbon dioxide. Here, we demonstrate an electrochemical reforming of PLA hydrolysate to acetate and acetonate using nickel phosphide nanosheets on nickel foam (Ni2P/NF) as the catalyst. The Ni2P/NF catalyst was synthesized by electrochemical deposition and phosphide treatment and showed excellent catalytic activity and ∼100% Faraday efficiency for electroreforming PLA to acetate and acetonate in an H-cell. Moreover, a stable performance of more than 90% Faraday efficiency for value-added organics was achieved for a duration of 100 h in a flow cell at a current density of 100 mA cm-2 and a potential below 1.5 V vs. RHE. In situ characterization revealed that the catalyst underwent electrochemical reforming during the reaction to produce γ-phase NiOOH with high electrochemical activity. This work introduces a new and green solution for the treatment of waste PLA, presenting a low-cost and highly efficient strategy for electrically reforming plastics.

Analysing pharmacodynamic interactions of traditional Chinese medicine in treating acute pancreatitis based on OPLS method.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a surgical abdominal disease for which the Dachengqi Decoction (DCQD) of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used in China. This study aims to analyse the pharmacodynamic interactions and quantitative relationship of DCQD in the treatment of AP based on orthogonal partial least squares (OPLS) analysis. The experimental data show organic chemical components as candidate pharmacodynamic substances (PS) in the blood and include pharmacodynamic indicators (PIs). Taking each PI as the target and using OPLS method to construct three types of mathematical equations, including the mathematical relationship between the pharmacodynamic substances and each target pharmacodynamic indicator (PS-TPI); the mathematical relationship between the pharmacodynamic substances, the pharmacodynamics indicators and each target pharmacodynamic indicator (PS, PI-TPI); and the mathematical relationship between the pharmacodynamic indicators and each target pharmacodynamic indicator (PI-TPI). Through analysis, we find that the R2Y(cum) values and VIP values indicate that PS and PI are the follow-up factors of TPI; the coefficient value indicates that there is a quantitative relationship between the PS and the TPI; and there also is a quantitative relationship between PI and TPI. The results demonstrated that PS and other PIs are the important influencing factors of TPI, and that there are interactions and quantitative relationships among the PIs.

Acute and subacute hepatotoxicity of genipin in mice and its potential mechanism.

Gardenia, as a medicinal and edible herb, has the pharmacological activity of protecting the liver and cholagogue, but the hepatotoxicity induced by the chemical component genipin (GP) limits its application. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acute and subacute hepatotoxicity of genipin in normal mice and mice with α-naphthalene isothiocyanate (ANIT)-induced liver injury. The results of the acute study showed that the LD50 of genipin was 510 mg/kg. Genipin exhibited hepatotoxicity in normal and jaundiced mice at doses of 125 mg/kg, 250 mg/kg, and 500 mg/kg, which increased with dose. In a 28-day subacute study, the 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg dose groups showed some pharmacodynamic effects at 7 days but exhibited hepatotoxicity that increased with time and improved after drug withdrawal. In addition, based on proteomics, the mechanism of liver injury induced by genipin may be related to the disruption of the UDP-glucuronosyltransferase system and cytochrome P450 enzyme activity. In conclusion, this study showed that genipin hepatotoxicity was time- and dose dependent, but it is worth mentioning that hepatotoxicity was reversible. It is hoped that this study will provide a scientific basis for circumventing the adverse effects of genipin.

Photonic-assisted multi-format dual-band microwave signal generator without background noise.

We report a photonic approach to generate background-free multi-format dual-band microwave signals based on a single modulator, which is suitable for high-precision and fast detection of radars in complex electromagnetic environments. By applying different radio-frequency signals and electrical coding signals to the polarization-division multiplexing Mach-Zehnder modulator (PDM-MZM), the generation of dual-band dual-chirp signals or dual-band phase-coded pulse signals centered at 10 and 15.5 GHz is experimentally demonstrated. Furthermore, by choosing an appropriate fiber length, we verified that the generated dual-band dual-chirp signals are not affected by chromatic-dispersion induced-power fading (CDIP); meanwhile, by autocorrelation calculations, we got high pulse compression ratios (PCRs) of 13 of the generated dual-band phase-encoded signals, showing that the generated phase-encoded signals can be emitted directly without extra pulse truncation operation. The proposed system features a compact structure, reconfigurability and polarization independence, which is promising for multi-functional dual-band radar systems.

Synthesis of Methylgenipin and Evaluation of Its Anti-Hepatic Injury Activity.

Genipin has been the focus of research as a multifunctional compound for the treatment of pathogenic diseases. However, hepatotoxicity caused by oral genipin raises concerns about its safety. To obtain novel derivatives with low toxicity and efficacy, we synthesized methylgenipin (MG), a new compound, using structural modification, and investigated the safety of MG administration. The results showed that the LD50 of oral MG was higher than 1000 mg/kg, no mice died or were poisoned during the experiment in the treatment group, and there was no significant difference in biochemical parameters and liver pathological sections compared with the control. Importantly, MG (100 mg/kg/d) treatment for 7 days reduced alpha-naphthylisothiocyanate (ANIT)-induced increases in liver index, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (AKP), and total bilirubin (TBIL) levels. Histopathology demonstrated that MG could treat ANIT-induced cholestasis. In addition, using proteomics to investigate the molecular mechanism of MG in the treatment of a liver injury may be related to enhancing antioxidant function. Kit validation showed that ANIT induced an increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) and a decrease in superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione (GSH) levels, while the MG pretreatments, both of which were significantly reversed to some extent, suggested that MG may alleviate ANIT-induced hepatotoxicity by enhancing endogenous antioxidant enzymes and inhibiting oxidative stress injury. In this study, we demonstrate that the treatment of mice with MG does not cause impaired liver function and provide an investigation of the efficacy of MG against ANIT-induced hepatotoxicity, laying the foundation for the safety evaluation and clinical application of MG.

Photonic-assisted frequency downconverter with self-interference cancellation and fiber dispersion elimination based on stimulated Brillouin scattering.

A photonic-assisted frequency downconverter with self-interference cancellation and fiber dispersion elimination is proposed for in-band full-duplex (IBFD) radio-over-fiber (ROF) systems based on stimulated Brillouin scattering. In this work, a dual-polarization Mach-Zehnder modulator (DPol-MZM) is employed to cancel the self-interference signal in the optical domain, thus the proposed system has a large operation bandwidth without the limitation of the electrical bottleneck. Meanwhile, a widely tunable microwave photonic filter (MPF) based on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) is constructed to perform carrier-suppressed single-sideband modulation of LO. Therefore, the proposed photonic frequency downconverter is naturally free from fiber dispersion. Furthermore, thanks to the characteristics of the SBS-based MPF, such as large out-of-band rejection ratio, high resolution and wideband tunability, the proposed system has a high flexibility and downconversion efficiency, which is of great significance for IBFD ROF systems.

Secure fiber-optic communication system based on Internet-accessible multipath transmission of ciphertext fragments.

A secure fiber-optic communication system based on Internet-accessible multipath transmission of ciphertext fragment (MTCF) technology is proposed and demonstrated in this paper. By performing algorithm encryption on the transmitted data before randomly assigning them to multiple channels corresponding to different wavelengths or Internet protocols (IPs), the secure and long-distance transmission can be realized. A field trial experiment over 125 km between Beijing and Xiongan has been successfully undertaken, and the results show that the maximum throughput can reach 60 Mb/s, which demonstrates the feasibility of the scheme. We also established a theoretical model to analyze the security performance of the proposed system. As far as we know, this is the first time that MTCF, an optical physical layer and application layer integrated security technology, has been enjoyed the capacity to access the public network, which provides an exciting opportunity to advance our knowledge of long-distance secure communication.

[Study on time-toxicity relationship and mechanism of Gardeniae Fructus extract on hepatoxicity in rats based on proteomics].

To study the time-toxicity relationship and mechanism of Gardeniae Fructus extract on the hepatoxicity in rats. Rats were randomly divided into C group(0 day), D5 group(5 days), D12 group(12 days), D19 group(19 days), and D26 group(7 days recovery after 19 days of administration). The rats in normal group received normal saline through intragastric administration, and the rats in other groups received 10 g·kg~(-1 )Gardeniae Fructus extract through intragastric administration. After the final administration, the livers were collected. Hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to observe the histopathological changes in the liver tissue. Total liver proteins were extracted for proteomic analysis, detected by the Nano-ESI liquid-mass spectrometry system and identified by Protein Disco-very software. SIEVE software was used for relative quantitative and qualitative analysis of proteins. The protein-protein interaction network was constructed based on STRING. Cytoscape software was used for cluster analysis of differential proteins. Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes(KEGG) database was used to perform enrichment signal pathway analysis. Pearson correlation analysis was performed for the screened differential protein expression and liver pathology degree score. The results showed that the severity of liver injury in D5, D12 and D19 groups was significantly higher than that in group C. The degree of liver damage in D5 group was slightly higher than that in D12 and D19 groups, with no significant difference between group D26 and group C. Totally 147 key differential proteins have been screened out by proteomics and mainly formed 6 clusters, involving in drug metabolism pathways, retinol metabolism pathways, proteasomes, amino acid biosynthesis pathways, and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis pathways. The results of Pearson correlation analysis indicated that differential protein expressions had a certain temporal relationship with the change of liver pathological degree. The above results indicated that the severity of liver damage caused by Gardeniae Fructus extract did not increase with time and would recover after drug with drawal. The above pathways may be related to the mechanism of liver injury induced by Gardeniae Fructus extract.

A Comprehensive and Rapid Quality Evaluation Method of Traditional Chinese Medicine Decoction by Integrating UPLC-QTOF-MS and UFLC-QQQ-MS and its Application.

Decoction is one of the oldest forms of traditional Chinese medicine and it is widely used in clinical practice. However, the quality evaluation and control of traditional decoction is a challenge due to the characteristics of complicated constituents, water as solvent, and temporary preparation. ShenFu Prescription Decoction (SFPD) is a classical prescription for preventing and treating many types of cardiovascular disease. In this article, a comprehensive and rapid method for quality evaluation and control of SFPD was developed, via qualitative and quantitative analysis of the major components by integrating ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and ultra-fast-performance liquid chromatography equipped with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. Consequently, a total of 39 constituents were tentatively identified in qualitative analysis, of which 21 compounds were unambiguously confirmed by comparing with reference substances. We determined 13 important constituents within 7 min by multiple reaction monitoring. The validated method was applied for determining five different proportion SFPDs. It was found that different proportions generated great influence on the dissolution of constituents. This may be one of the mechanisms for which different proportions play different synergistic effects. Therefore, the developed method is a fast and useful approach for quality evaluation of SFPD.

Secure free-space optical communication system based on data fragmentation multipath transmission technology.

A secure free-space optical (S-FSO) communication system based on data fragmentation multipath transmission (DFMT) scheme is proposed and demonstrated for enhancing the security of FSO communications. By fragmenting the transmitted data and simultaneously distributing data fragments into different atmospheric channels, the S-FSO communication system can protect confidential messages from being eavesdropped effectively. A field experiment of S-FSO communication between two buildings has been successfully undertaken, and the experiment results demonstrate the feasibility of the scheme. The transmission distance is 50m and the maximum throughput is 1 Gb/s. We also established a theoretical model to analysis the security performance of the S-FSO communication system. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first application of DFMT scheme in FSO communication system.

[Effect of Er-xian decoction on femur proteomics in ovariectomized osteoporosis rats].

This experiment was mainly aimed to investigate the effect of Er-xian decoction on osteoporosis and the femur proteomics in ovariectomized rats with osteoporosis. The female SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation group, model group, Alendronate group (1 mg•kg⁻¹), Er-xian decoction group (in dose of 8 g•kg⁻¹) according to their weight. The rats in sham operation group and model group were gavaged with normal saline; the rats in Alendronate group were gavaged with the Alendronate at the dose of 1 mg•kg⁻¹ and the rats in Er-xian decoction group were gavaged with Er-xian decoction at the dose of 8 g•kg⁻¹, once a day for continuous 90 days. Then the femoral bone mineral density (BMD) was detected. The femoral bone proteins were detected by NanoLC-LTQ-Orbitrap system, identified by Protein Discovery software, and the intensity of differentially expressed proteins were quantitated by SIEVE software. The results showed that Er-xian decoction could significantly improve femoral BMD in ovariectomized rats. As compared with model group, 41 differentially expressed proteins whose variation trend was consistent with the sham operation group, were found in Er-xian decoction group, mainly including biological oxidation related protein, signal transduction pathway related protein, proteins involved in aliphatic acid metabolism, cytoskeleton related protein, proteins involved in energy metabolism, and proteins involved in glucose metabolism etc. The osteoporosis could be prevented and cured by Er-xian decoction. The differentially expressed proteins such as carbonic anhydrase 2 and integrin ß1 may be the action targets for Er-xian decoction.

[Effects of extractionfrom raspberry on hippocampus proteomics of mice suffered from ovariectomized-induced AD].

This paper was aimed to investigate the impact of the extraction from raspberry on the Alzheimer disease model protein expression. According to weight, the ovariectomized mice were randomly divided into shame operation group, model group, estrogen positive control group(0.1 g•L⁻¹) and ethyl acetate extraction part control group(in dose of 18 g•kg⁻¹). Each mouse in positive control group was subcutaneous injected of estradiol with 0.2 mL every two days. Raspberry effective parts group were given 0.01 mL•g⁻¹ raspberry ethylacetate extracts, model group and control group were given 0.01 mL•g⁻¹ saline once a day. The drug administration lasted for 32 days. Proteins from mice's hippocampus were extracted, then Nanol-ESI liquid-mass spectrometry system was used for detection and ProteinDiscovery software was used for identification to qualitative analysis different groups of hippocampal proteins by using the software of SIEVE. The results showed that model group compared with the mice of ethyl acetate extraction part control group have 66 differentially expressed proteins including heat shock protein, microtubule protein, protein involved in energy metabolism and protein of brain protection related proteins associated with AD. Those differences protein may be the target that Raspberry prevention and treatment of AD.

[Proteomics research of intervention effect of "Qi enriching" herbs on "Qi deficiency" rats based on technology of NanoLC-LTQ-Orbitrap].

Proteomics method, based on NanoLC-LTQ-Orbitrap technology, was applied to explore the biological basis of intervention effect of "Qi enriching" herbs on "Qi deficiency" rats. The "Qi deficiency" rat model was established with caloric restriction combined with excessive swimming. Muscle proteins of vastus lateralis from the blank group, the model group and the ginseng group were detected by NanoLC-LTQ-Orbitrap system. The data were imported into Protein Discovery software to identify the proteins and all the raw datum were analyzed by SIEVE software. Compared with model group, 26 significant difference proteins were found in ginseng group, which the variation trend was consistent with the blank group. Through the biological function analysis, the found proteins could be classified into proteins involved in energy metabolism, proteins involved in glucose metabolism, electrolyte balance and material transfer related proteins, inflammation related protein and cytoskeleton protein. The above target proteins and their regulation pathways may be the biological basis which ginseng played a role of tonifying "Qi" of "Qi deficiency" symptom.

Complementary coding optical stealth transmission based on amplified spontaneous emission light source.

Complementary encoder of stealth signal is proposed and demonstrated for coding, modulating and enhancing the privacy of optical stealth transmission. With complementary encoding, the stealth signal carried by amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) light keeps the same characteristic to ASE noise and can be concealed well under public channel. The experiment results demonstrate the feasibility of the scheme and show the stealth signal has the same impact on public channel in transmission performance, compared to the ASE noise.

A novel approach to photonic generation of RF binary digital modulation signals.

A novel approach to photonically generate binary digital modulation radio frequency (RF) signals is proposed. In the proposed system, the short optical pulses are converted into high frequency RF signals based on optical pulse shaping followed by dispersion induced frequency-to-time mapping technique. And the generated signals are coded using a fast electro-optical switch based on polarization modulation. By properly configuring the system, binary digital modulation signals, including amplitude-shift keying (ASK), frequency-shift keying (FSK) and phase-shift keying (PSK) with required bit pattern are generated in the optical domain. A model describing the signal generation system is derived, which is verified via both simulations and a proof-of-concept experiment.

Purification, cloning, and functional characterization of a novel immunomodulatory protein from Antrodia camphorata (bitter mushroom) that exhibits TLR2-dependent NF-κB activation and M1 polarization within murine macrophages.

A new immunomodulatory protein, designated ACA, was purified from the mycelium extract of Antrodia camphorata , a well-known folk medicine bitter mushroom in Taiwan, and N-terminally sequenced. By taking advantage of its N-terminal amino acid sequence, the full-length ACA gene was cloned using rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) approach. This gene encodes a 136 amino acid protein that is homologous to the phytotoxic proteins from fungi. On the basis of the data of N-terminal sequencing and N-glycosidase F treatment, the native ACA was confirmed to be a glycoprotein. The similarity in activation of TLR4-deficient macrophages by both the native ACA and recombinant ACA (rACA) suggested that the glycosyl group(s) of the native ACA was insignificant in macrophage activation. Moreover, the failure of rACA to induce TLR2-deficient macrophages and to activate the RAW 264.7 macrophages transfected with the dominate-negative MyD88 (dnMyD88) indicated that the ACA-mediated macrophage activation was TLR2/MyD88 dependent. Microarray assay of the ACA-activated NFκB-related gene expression showed that rACA demonstrated a LPS-mimetic proinflammatory response toward RAW 264.7 macrophages. Furthermore, rACA enhanced phagocytosis activity and CD86 (B7-2) expression as well as induced TNF-α and IL-1ß production within murine peritoneal macrophages. A time-dependent induction of mRNA expression of cytokines TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6, and IL-12 as well as chemokines CCL3, CCL4, CCL5, and CCL10, but not IL-10, CCL17, CCL22, and CCL24, was observed after the ACA treatment of the macrophages. These results proposed that ACA exhibited M1 polarization and differentiation in macrophages. Thus, ACA is an important immunomodulatory protein of A. camphorata.

[Advances in studies compatibility applied toattenuation and synergy of Tripterygium wilfordii].

Review the research and development status that Chinese medicine are compatible with Tripterygium wilfordii for attenuation and synergy for recent year. From modern medicine view and Chinese medicine dialectical perspective explain the mechanisms and methods of compatibility applied to attenuation and synergy of T. wilfordii. Provide a reference for reasonable application of other toxic Chinese medicine. Prefer the suggestion that Chinese medicinal formulae can be developed into Chinese medicine compound preparation.