A terpenoids database with the chemical content as a novel agronomic trait.

Natural products play a pivotal role in drug discovery, and the richness of natural products, albeit significantly influenced by various environmental factors, is predominantly determined by intrinsic genetics of a series of enzymatic reactions and produced as secondary metabolites of organisms. Heretofore, few natural product-related databases take the chemical content into consideration as a prominent property. To gain unique insights into the quantitative diversity of natural products, we have developed the first TerPenoids database embedded with Content information (TPCN) with features such as compound browsing, structural search, scaffold analysis, similarity analysis and data download. This database can be accessed through a web-based computational toolkit available at http://www.tpcn.pro/. By conducting meticulous manual searches and analyzing over 10 000 reference papers, the TPCN database has successfully integrated 6383 terpenoids obtained from 1254 distinct plant species. The database encompasses exhaustive details including isolation parts, comprehensive molecule structures, chemical abstracts service registry number (CAS number) and 7508 content descriptions. The TPCN database accentuates both the qualitative and quantitative dimensions as invaluable phenotypic characteristics of natural products that have undergone genetic evolution. By acting as an indispensable criterion, the TPCN database facilitates the discovery of drug alternatives with high content and the selection of high-yield medicinal plant species or phylogenetic alternatives, thereby fostering sustainable, cost-effective and environmentally friendly drug discovery in pharmaceutical farming. Database URL: http://www.tpcn.pro/.

High-Protein Diet Induces Hyperuricemia in a New Animal Model for Studying Human Gout.

Hyperuricemia is a central risk factor for gout and increases the risk for other chronic diseases, including cardiometabolic disease, kidney disease, and hypertension. Overproduction of urate is one of the main reasons for hyperuricemia, and dietary factors including seafoods, meats, and drinking are contributed to the development of it. However, the lack of a suitable animal model for urate metabolism is one of the main reasons for the delay and limitations of hyperuricemia research. Combining evolutionary biological studies and clinical studies, we conclude that chicken is a preferred animal model for hyperuricemia. Thus, we provided chickens a high-protein diet (HPD) to evaluate the changes in the serum urate levels in chickens. In our study, the HPD increased the serum urate level and maintained it at a long-term high level in chickens. Long-term high serum urate levels induced an abnormal chicken claw morphology and the precipitation of monosodium urate (MSU) in joint synovial fluid. In addition, a long-term HPD also decreased the glomerular filtration rate and induced mild renal injury. Most importantly, allopurinol and probenecid displayed the positive effects in decreasing serum urate and then attenuated hyperuricemia in chicken model. These findings provide a novel model for hyperuricemia and a new opportunity to further investigate the effects of long-term hyperuricemia on other metabolic diseases.

Design and Development of a Course in Professionalism and Ethics for CDIO Curriculum in China.

At Shantou University (STU) in 2008, a stand-alone engineering ethics course was first included within a Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO) curriculum to address the scarcity of engineering ethics education in China. The philosophy of the course design is to help students to develop an in-depth understanding of social sustainability and to fulfill the obligations of engineers in the twenty-first century within the context of CDIO engineering practices. To guarantee the necessary cooperation of the relevant parties, we have taken advantage of the top-down support from the STU administration. Three themes corresponding to contemporary issues in China were chosen as the course content: engineers' social obligations, intellectual property and engineering safety criteria. Some popular pedagogies are used for ethics instruction such as case studies and group discussions through role-playing. To impart the diverse expertise of the practical professional practice, team teaching is adopted by interdisciplinary instructors with strong qualifications and industrial backgrounds. Although the assessment of the effectiveness of the course in enhancing students' sense of ethics is limited to assignment reports and class discussions, our endeavor is seen as positive and will continue to sustain the CDIO reform initiatives of STU.