"Gear-driven"-type chirality transfer of tetraphenylethene-based supramolecular organic frameworks for peptides in water.

Chirality transfer for natural chiral biomolecules can reveal the indispensable role of chiral structures in life and can be used to develop the chirality-sensing biomolecular recognition. Here, we report the synthesis and characterization of a series of achiral supramolecular organic frameworks (SOF-1, SOF-2, and SOF-3), constructed from cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) and tetraphenylethene (TPE) derivatives (1, 2, and 3), respectively, as chirality-sensing platforms to explore their chirality transfer mechanism for peptides in water. Given the right-handed (P) and left-handed (M) rotational conformation of TPE units and the selective binding of CB[8] to aromatic amino acids, these achiral SOFs can be selectively triggered in water by peptides containing N-terminal tryptophan (W) and phenylalanine (F) residues into their P- or M-rotational conformation, exhibiting significantly different circular dichroism (CD) spectra. Although various peptides have the same l-type chiral configuration, they can induce positive CD signals of SOF-1 and negative CD signals of SOF-2 and SOF-3, respectively. Based on the structural analysis of the linkage units between CB[8] and TPE units in these SOFs, a "gear-driven"-type chirality transfer mechanism has been proposed to visually illustrate the multiple-step chirality transfer process from the recognition site in the CB[8]'s cavity to TPE units. Furthermore, by utilizing the characteristic CD signals generated through the "gear-driven"-type chirality transfer, these SOFs can serve as chiroptical sensor arrays to effectively recognize and distinguish various peptides based on their distinctive CD spectra.

Changes in Household Dietary Diversity in Herder Communities over the Past 20 Years: Evidence from Xilin Gol Grassland of China.

Food security is critical for socioeconomic development. In grassland areas, inappropriate food consumption patterns can cause irreversible damage to vulnerable local ecosystems. This study aims to examine the household dietary diversity status and development trend over the past 20 years in Chinese herder communities. We draw on a cross-sectional dataset of 230 households involving 652 family members from the Xilin Gol Grassland areas in North China. Household dietary diversity was assessed using the household dietary diversity score (HDDS), which was calculated based on 12 food groups. Results show that HDDS increased from 3.74 in 1999 to 5.92 in 2019, with an annual average growth rate of 2.45% during the past 20 years. The increase in plant-based food scores made a major contribution to the HDDS improvement. The variations in household dietary diversity status between pastoral areas and agro-pastoral areas showed differences among different types of grassland in arid and semiarid transitional zones. It is worth paying more attention to monitoring the main impact factors that affect HDDS and how these changes might impact the local ecosystem, which will benefit regional sustainable development.

Changing Food Consumption Pattern and Influencing Factors in Bangladesh.

Food consumption is an important bridge between human beings and the natural ecosystem. The change in food consumption quantity and quality can reflect the relationship between them. This study aims to explore food consumption characteristics and the drivers of food consumption patterns in Bangladesh with a fragile ecology and polluted environment. This research selected food consumption in Bangladesh as the object, food consumption data were obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the data of influencing factors mainly were acquired from the World Bank. The following results were conducted: The total and per capita food consumption showed increase as a whole, but per capita food consumption experienced decline in the middle of the research period. Food consumption patterns were divided into three types: the first type of cereal-sugar-aquatic with low food consumption quantity and few kinds of food from 1961 to 1971, the second type of cereal-sugar-oil-aquatic with increasing food consumption quantity and food kinds from 1972 to 1997, and the third type of cereal-aquatic-tuber-sugar-fruit-vegetable-meat with increasing food consumption quantity and more various kinds of food from 1998 to 2020. The characteristics of food consumption in different periods were influenced by a series of factors. The influence of economic factors was higher than other factors, relatively. According to this study, the characteristics of food consumption patterns and the relationship between food consumption and influencing factors can provide a scientific reference for the adjustment policy makers taking local food demand and natural resources conservation into consideration to achieve a sustainable development.

Association between Diet Quality and Health Outcomes among Children in Rural Areas of Northwest China.

This study aims to examine the relationship between diet quality and health outcomes among children in rural remote areas of China. We draw on a cross-sectional dataset of 1216 children from two counties in the Gansu Province in Northwest China. Child health outcomes were assessed with both anthropometric measurements and reports by primary caregivers of the children. Child diet quality was assessed with the diet quality score (DQS) using information from a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Our data show the prevalence of stunting and underweight among sample children were 12% and 11%, respectively; 27% of children were reported by their caregivers as unhealthy, and 60% of children had at least one of the seventeen selected non-communicable diseases (NCDs) over the past 14 days. Overall, 780 (72%) children have at least one of the four above-mentioned health problems. Results from logistic regression models show that a higher DQS was significantly associated with a lower likelihood of being stunted and a higher likelihood of being reported healthy after adjusting for confounders. These findings imply that improving child diet quality might be an option when designing interventions to improve child health.

Spatial Heterogeneity of Household Food Consumption and Nutritional Characteristics of Grassland Transects in Inner Mongolia, China.

Household food consumption is the associative link between ecosystems and anthropogenic activities. In grassland areas, inappropriate food consumption patterns will cause irreversible damage to vulnerable local ecosystems. For this study, we selected three typical transitional grassland areas of Inner Mongolia, China (i.e., meadow steppe, typical steppe, and desert steppe), to analyze spatial heterogeneity in household food consumption and nutritional characteristics. Results showed that: (a) Food consumption structures exhibited zonal gradients from east to west alongside a reduction in grassland conditions. Additionally, the average food consumption quantity also decreased. Available food supplies altered household preferences for vegetables and fruits, meat, dairy products, and other food consumption category types. (b) The nutritional structure implied that grains provided the main source of energy, proteins, and fat for local rural households, while meat, dairy products, beans (including bean byproducts), and oils caused a fluctuation in the nutritional structure of residents. (c) Local food supplies affect short-term local food consumption patterns, while socioeconomic development affects long-term food consumption patterns. This study is intended to provide a reference for the development of sustainable strategies for regional resource management.