Simultaneous separation and determination of seven biphenyl cyclooctene lignans in Schisandra chinensis and its preparations by micellar electrokinetic chromatography with dual organic solvent system.

INTRODUCTION: Gomisin is a natural dibenzo cyclooctene lignan, which is mainly derived from the family Magnoliaceae. It has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-tumor, anti-aging, and hypoglycemic effects. Gomisins play important roles as medicines, nutraceuticals, food additives, and cosmetics. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to establish a micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) method for simultaneous separation and determination of seven biphenyl cyclooctene lignans (Gomisin D, E, G, H, J, N, and O) in Schisandra chinensis and its preparations. METHODS: The method was optimized by studying the effects of the main parameters on the separation. The method has been validated and successfully applied to the determination of seven Gomisins in S. chinensis and its preparations. RESULTS: In the separation system, the running buffer was composed of 20 mM Na2HPO4, 8.0 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), 11% (v/v) methanol, and 6.0% (v/v) ethanol. A diode array detector was used with a detection wavelength of 230 nm, a separation voltage of 17 kV, and an operating temperature of 25°C. Under this condition, the seven analytes were separated at baseline within 20 min, and a good linear relationship was obtained with correlation coefficient ranging from 0.9919 to 0.9992. The limit of detection (LOD, S/N = 3) and the limit of quantification (LOQ, S/N = 10) ranged from 0.8 to 0.9 µg/mL and from 2.6 to 3.0 µg/mL, respectively. The recovery rate was between 99.1% and 102.5%. CONCLUSION: The experimental results indicated that this method is suitable for the separation and determination of seven Schisandra biphenyl cyclooctene lignan compounds in real samples. At the same time, it provides an effective reference for the quality control of S. chinensis and its preparations.

Autophagy plays a pro-apoptotic role in arsenic trioxide-induced cell death of liver cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The effects of arsenic trioxide (As2O3) on hepatocellular carcinoma have been documented widely. Autophagy plays dual roles in the survival and death of cancer cells. Therefore, we investigated the exact role of autophagy in As2O3-induced apoptosis in liver cancer cells. METHODS: The viability of hepatoma cells was determined using the MTT assay with or without fetal bovine serum. The rate of apoptosis in liver cancer cells treated with As2O3 was evaluated using flow cytometry, Hoechst 33258 staining, and TUNEL assays. The rate of autophagy among liver cancer cells treated with As2O3 was detected using immunofluorescence, Western blot assay and transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: Upon treatment with As2O3, the viability of HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cells was decreased in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The apoptosis rates of both liver cancer cell lines increased with the concentration of As2O3, as shown by flow cytometry. Apoptosis in liver cancer cells treated with As2O3 was also shown by the activation of the caspase cascade and the regulation of Bcl-2/Bax expression. Furthermore, As2O3 treatment induced autophagy in liver cancer cells; this finding was supported by Western blot, immunofluorescence of LC3-II and beclin 1, and transmission electron microscopy. In liver cancer cells, As2O3 inhibited the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K/AKT/mTOR) signal pathway that plays a vital role in both apoptosis and autophagy. The PI3K activator SC-79 partially reversed As2O3-induced autophagy and apoptosis. Furthermore, inhibiting autophagy with 3-methyladenine partially reversed the negative effects of As2O3 on cell viability. Serum starvation increased autophagy and amplified the effect of As2O3 on cell death. CONCLUSION: As2O3 induces apoptosis and autophagy in liver cancer cells. Autophagy induced by As2O3 may have a proapoptotic effect that helps to reduce the viability of liver cancer cells. This study provides novel insights into the effects of As2O3 against liver cancer. Please cite this article as: Deng ZT, Liang SF, Huang GK, Wang YQ, Tu XY, Zhang YN, Li S, Liu T, Cheng BB. Autophagy plays a pro-apoptotic role in arsenic trioxide-induced cell death of liver cancer. J Integr Med. 2024; Epub ahead of print.

High conductivity characteristics of phosphorus-doped nanocrystalline silicon thin films by KrF pulsed excimer laser irradiation method.

The microstructure and high conductivity properties of phosphorus-doped nanocrystalline silicon films were investigated on samples prepared by a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique and the KrF pulsed excimer laser irradiation method. The results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy show that Si nanocrystallites with an average diameter of 2 nm to 3 nm are formed in the film. The degree of crystallinity increases with the increase of laser radiation intensity, while the content of hydrogen decreases gradually. More phosphorus atoms are substitutionally incorporated into the nc-Si dots under higher laser irradiation fluence, which is responsible for the high dark conductivity. By controlling the laser fluence at 1.0 J cm-2, the dark conductivity as high as 25.7 S cm-1 can be obtained. Based on the measurements of temperature-dependent conductivity, the carrier transport processes are discussed. The phosphorus doping and the increase of electron concentration are considered to be the reason for high dark conductivity and extremely low conductivity activation energy.

Telomerase-related advances in hepatocellular carcinoma: A bibliometric and visual analysis.

BACKGROUND: As a critical early event in hepatocellular carcinogenesis, telomerase activation might be a promising and critical biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, and its function in the genesis and treatment of HCC has gained much attention over the past two decades. AIM: To perform a bibliometric analysis to systematically assess the current state of research on HCC-related telomerase. METHODS: The Web of Science Core Collection and PubMed were systematically searched to retrieve publications pertaining to HCC/telomerase limited to "articles" and "reviews" published in English. A total of 873 relevant publications related to HCC and telomerase were identified. We employed the Bibliometrix package in R to extract and analyze the fundamental information of the publications, such as the trends in the publications, citation counts, most prolific or influential writers, and most popular journals; to screen for keywords occurring at high frequency; and to draw collaboration and cluster analysis charts on the basis of coauthorship and co-occurrences. VOSviewer was utilized to compile and visualize the bibliometric data. RESULTS: A surge of 51 publications on HCC/telomerase research occurred in 2016, the most productive year from 1996 to 2023, accompanied by the peak citation count recorded in 2016. Up to December 2023, 35226 citations were made to all publications, an average of 46.6 citations to each paper. The United States received the most citations (n = 13531), followed by China (n = 7427) and Japan (n = 5754). In terms of national cooperation, China presented the highest centrality, its strongest bonds being to the United States and Japan. Among the 20 academic institutions with the most publications, ten came from China and the rest of Asia, though the University of Paris Cité, Public Assistance-Hospitals of Paris, and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) were the most prolific. As for individual contributions, Hisatomi H, Kaneko S, and Ide T were the three most prolific authors. Kaneko S ranked first by H-index, G-index, and overall publication count, while Zucman-Rossi J ranked first in citation count. The five most popular journals were the World Journal of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Journal of Hepatology, Oncotarget, and Oncogene, while Nature Genetics, Hepatology, and Nature Reviews Disease Primers had the most citations. We extracted 2293 keywords from the publications, 120 of which appeared more than ten times. The most frequent were HCC, telomerase and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT). Keywords such as mutational landscape, TERT promoter mutations, landscape, risk, and prognosis were among the most common issues in this field in the last three years and may be topics for research in the coming years. CONCLUSION: Our bibliometric analysis provides a comprehensive overview of HCC/telomerase research and insights into promising upcoming research.

Clinical practice guideline for acupuncture and moxibustion: Allergic rhinitis.

Acupuncture is one of the most effective complementary therapies for allergic rhinitis (AR) and has been recommended by several clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for AR. However, these CPGs mentioned acupuncture without making recommendations for clinical implementation and therapeutic protocols, therefore limiting the applicability of acupuncture therapies for AR. Hence, for the benefit of acupuncture practitioners around the world, the World Federation of Acupuncture-moxibustion Societies have initiated a project to develop the CPG for the use of acupuncture and moxibustion to treat AR. This CPG was developed according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology, referring to the principles of the World Health Organization Handbook for Guideline Development. During the development of the CPG, the guideline development group (GDG) played an important role. The clinical questions, recommendations and therapeutic protocols were all formulated by the GDG using the modified Delphi method. The CPG contains recommendations for 15 clinical questions about the use of acupuncture and moxibustion interventions. These include one strong recommendation for the intervention based on high-quality evidence, three conditional recommendations for either the intervention or standard care, and 11 conditional recommendations for the intervention based on very low quality of evidence. The CPG also provides one filiform needle acupuncture protocol and five moxibustion protocols extracted based on the protocols presented in randomized controlled trials reviewed by the GDG. Please cite this article as: Du SH, Chen S, Wang SZ, Wang GQ, Du S, Guo W, Xie XL, Peng BH, Yang C, Zhao JP. Clinical practice guideline for acupuncture and moxibustion: Allergic rhinitis. J Integr Med. 2024; Epub ahead of print.

Associations of short-term ambient temperature exposure with lung function in middle-aged and elderly people: A longitudinal study in China.

The short-term associations of ambient temperature exposure with lung function in middle-aged and elderly Chinese remain obscure. The study included 19,128 participants from the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort's first (2013) and second (2018) follow-ups. The lung function for each subject was determined between April and December 2013 and re-assessed in 2018, with three parameters (forced vital capacity [FVC], forced expiratory volume in 1 s [FEV1], and peak expiratory flow [PEF]) selected. The China Meteorological Data Sharing Service Center provided temperature data during the study period. In the two follow-ups, a total of 25,511 records (average age: first, 64.57; second, 65.80) were evaluated, including 10,604 males (41.57%). The inversely J-shaped associations between moving average temperatures (lag01-lag07) and FVC, FEV1, and PEF were observed, and the optimum temperatures at lag04 were 16.5 °C, 18.7 °C, and 16.2 °C, respectively. At lag04, every 1 °C increase in temperature was associated with 14.07 mL, 9.78 mL, and 62.72 mL/s increase in FVC, FEV1, and PEF in the low-temperature zone (

J-Aggregate Promoting NIR-II Emission for Fluorescence/ Photoacoustic Imaging-Guided Phototherapy.

J-aggregate is a promising strategy to enhance second near-infrared window (NIR-II) emission, while the controlled synthesis of J-aggregated NIR-II dyes is a huge challenge because of the lack of molecular design principle. Herein, bulk spiro[fluorene-9,9'-xanthene] functionalized benzobisthiadiazole-based NIR-II dyes (named BSFX-BBT and OSFX-BBT) were synthesized with different alkyl chains. The weak repulsion interaction between the donor and acceptor units and the S…N secondary interactions make the dyes to adopt a co-planar molecular conformation and display a peak absorption > 880 nm in solution. Importantly, BSFX-BBT can form a desiring J-aggregate in the condensed state, and femtosecond transient absorption spectra reveal that the excited states of J-aggregate are the radiative states, and J-aggregate can facilitate stimulated emission. Consequently, the J-aggregated nanoparticles (NPs) display a peak emission at 1124 nm with a high relative quantum yield of 0.81%. The efficient NIR-II emission, good photothermal effect and biocompatibility make the J-aggregated NPs demonstrate efficient antitumor efficacy via fluorescence/photoacoustic imaging-guided phototherapy. The paradigm illustrates that tuning the aggregate states of NIR-II dye via spiro-functionalized strategy is an effective approach to enhance photo-theranostic performance. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Interferon-γ+ Th1 activates intrahepatic resident memory T cells to promote HBsAg loss by inducing M1 macrophage polarization.

The immune mechanism underlying hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss, particularly type I inflammatory response, during pegylated interferon-α (PEG-IFN) therapy remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to elucidate such immune mechanisms. Overall, 82 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), including 41 with HBsAg loss (cured group) and 41 uncured patients, received nucleos(t)ide analogue and PEG-IFN treatments. Blood samples from all patients, liver tissues from 14 patients with CHB, and hepatic perfusate from 8 liver donors were collected for immune analysis. Jurkat, THP-1 and HepG2.2.15 cell lines were used in cell experiments. The proportion of IFN-γ+ Th1 cells was higher in the cured group than in the uncured group, which was linearly correlated with HBsAg decline and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels during treatment. However, CD8+ T cells were weakly associated with HBsAg loss. Serum and intrahepatic levels of Th1 cell-associated chemokines (C-X-C motif chemokine ligand [CXCL] 9, CXCL10, CXCL11, IFN-γ) were significantly lower in the cured patients than in patients with a higher HBsAg quantification during therapy. Serum from cured patients induced more M1 (CD68+CD86+ macrophage) cells than that from uncured patients. Patients with chronic HBV infection had significantly lower proportions of CD86+ M1 and CD206+ M2 macrophages in their livers than healthy controls. M1 polarization of intrahepatic Kupffer cells promoted HBsAg loss by upregulating the effector function of tissue-resident memory T cells with increased ALT levels. IFN-γ+ Th1 activates intrahepatic resident memory T cells to promote HBsAg loss by inducing M1 macrophage polarization.

A Fast Online Elastic-Spine-Based Stiffness Adjusting Mechanism for Fishlike Swimming.

Fish tunes fishtail stiffness by coordinating its tendons, muscles, and other tissues to improve swimming performance. For robotic fish, achieving a fast and online fishlike stiffness adjustment over a large-scale range is of great significance for performance improvement. This article proposes an elastic-spine-based variable stiffness robotic fish, which adopts spring steel to emulate the fish spine, and its stiffness is adjusted by tuning the effective length of the elastic spine. The stiffness can be switched in the maximum adjustable range within 0.26 s. To optimize the motion performance of robotic fish by adjusting fishtail stiffness, a Kane-based dynamic model is proposed, based on which the stiffness adjustment strategy for multistage swimming is constructed. Simulations and experiments are conducted, including performance measurements and analyses in terms of swimming speed, thrust, and so on, and online stiffness adjustment-based multistage swimming, which verifies the feasibility of the proposed variable stiffness robotic fish. The maximum speed and lowest cost of transport for robotic fish are 0.43 m/s (equivalent to 0.81 BL/s) and 7.14 J/(kg·m), respectively.

Simultaneous transapical transcatheter aortic and mitral valve replacement in patients with severe valve dysfunction: initial experience.

BACKGROUND: Simultaneous transcatheter mitral valve in valve (VIV) replacement and aortic valve replacement experience is limited. We report our initial experience with simultaneous transapical transcatheter aortic and mitral valve replacement in patients with severe valve dysfunction. METHODS: A total of 8 patients had simultaneous transcatheter heart valve implants for severe mitral bioprosthesis failure (VIV), with a second valve procedure that included native aortic regurgitation (n = 3) or degenerated bioprostheses in the aortic position (n = 5). All patients were treated with a self-expandable J-valve transcatheter valve, using the transapical approach. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 73.1 ± 6.2 years. The mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons score was 13.8 ± 6.3%. Device success was 100% according to Valve Academic Research Consortium-2 criteria. No other procedure-associated complications occurred, including left ventricular outflow tract obstruction and valve migration. The mean hospital lengths of stay after the procedure were 11.5 ± 8.0 days. No deaths occurred at 30 days. At a median follow-up period of 28.7 ± 22.3 months, no patients died. All patients were in New York Heart Association functional classes I-II. Echocardiographic parameters at follow-up showed a normofunctioning J valve in the mitral position and a mean max mitral flow velocity of 2.0 ± 0.5 m/s; the J valve in the aortic position was also normofunctioning, and the mean max aortic flow velocity was 2.3 ± 0.5 m/s. CONCLUSION: Simultaneous transapical transcatheter aortic and mitral valve replacement using the self-expandable J valve appears to be a feasible and effective alternative to redo surgery.

Effects of Several Auxiliary Acceptors and Anchoring Groups on Charge Transfer and Photophysical Properties of D-A-π-A Type DSSCs: A DFT Study.

In this paper, we performed theoretical studies on the twelve D-A-π-A type organic dyes (G-1 ~ G-3, M-1 ~ M-3, J-1 ~ J-3, and S-1 ~ S-3) with 9-phenylcarbazole as the electron donor in anticipation of the application of these dyes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). DFT and TD-DFT methods are applied to investigate in detail the molecular geometries, frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs), absorption spectra, charge density difference (CDD), and transition density matrix (TDM) of several dyes. The results show that the M-series (M-1 ~ M-3) dyes have the largest dihedral angles between the electron donor and the auxiliary acceptor and also has the largest energy gaps in HOMO-LUMO orbitals, which greatly reduces the charge transfer efficiency. Finally, the UV-Vis absorption spectra inferred that the anchoring groups modified with o-nitrobenzoic acid (G-3, M-3, J-3, S-3) can red-shift the absorption peaks of the dyes, which results in higher light-harvesting efficiency and improves the power conversion efficiency of DSSCs. Overall, all of these dyes contribute to the improvement of photovoltaic power conversion efficiency and have potential for application in DSSCs devices.

Effects of different oil additives on water resistance of corn starch straws.

To investigate the effect of oil additives on improving the water resistance of corn starch straws, corn oil (CO), soybean oil (SO), rapeseed oil (RO), peanut oil (PO), lard (LD) and coconut oil (CCO) were chosen and compared the structure and properties of starch straws with different oil additives. Corn starch straws (CS), and starch straws supplemented with CO, SO, RO, PO, LD and CCO were prepared by thermoplastic extrusion. The results showed that the incorporation of oils effectively enhanced the water resistance of starch straws such as water absorption, water solubility and water swelling performance. Meanwhile, the flexural strength of starch straws significantly increased. There was no significant linear relationship among starch chain length, oil unsaturation and straw performance. Among seven starch straws, S-SO had the strongest hydrogen bond interaction (3289 cm-1) and relaxation time (0.96 ms). The S-CO had the highest relative crystallinity (16.82 %) and degree of double helix (1.535), hence resulting in the lowest water absorption and solubility values, the highest flexural strength (23.43 MPa), the highest ΔT value (9.93 °C) and ΔH value (4.79 J/g). S-RO had the highest thermal transition temperatures.

[Retracted] Sulforaphane regulates apoptosis­ and proliferation­related signaling pathways and synergizes with cisplatin to suppress human ovarian cancer.

Following the publication of this paper, the authors realized that they had made an error in assembling the data shown in Fig. 6B on p. 2455, and requested the publication of a corrigendum to rectify this error. However, following an independent investigation of the data published in this paper made by the Editorial Office, it was noted that one set of the immunofluorescence assay images shown in Fig. 4A appeared to be strikingly similar to data appearing in different form in a paper published previously in the journal BMC Medicine by different authors at different research institutes [Jing Y­Y, Han Z­P, Sun K, Zhang S­S, Hou J, Liu Y, Li R, Gao L, Zhao X, Zhao Q­D et al: Tanshinone IIA reduces SW837 colorectal cancer cell viability via the promotion of mitochondrial fission by activating JNK­Mff signaling pathways. BMC Medicine 10: 98, 2012]. Owing to the fact that the abovementioned data in Fig. 4A had already been published prior to its submission to International Journal of Molecular Medicine, the Editor has chosen to decline the authors' request to publish a corrigendum, and decided that this paper should be retracted from the Journal instead. After having been in contact with the authors, they accepted the decision to retract the paper. The Editor apologizes to the readership for any inconvenience caused. [International Journal of Molecular Medicine 42: 2447­2458, 2018; DOI: 10.3892/ijmm.2018.3860].

Pregnane X receptor knockout mitigates weight gain and hepatic metabolic dysregulation in female C57BL/6 J mice on a long-term high-fat diet.

Obesity is a significant risk factor for several chronic diseases. However, pre-menopausal females are protected against high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and its adverse effects. The pregnane X receptor (PXR, NR1I2), a xenobiotic-sensing nuclear receptor, promotes short-term obesity-associated liver disease only in male mice but not in females. Therefore, the current study investigated the metabolic and pathophysiological effects of a long-term 52-week HFD in female wild-type (WT) and PXR-KO mice and characterized the PXR-dependent molecular pathways involved. After 52 weeks of HFD ingestion, the body and liver weights and several markers of hepatotoxicity were significantly higher in WT mice than in their PXR-KO counterparts. The HFD-induced liver injury in WT female mice was also associated with upregulation of the hepatic mRNA levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (Pparg), its target genes, fat-specific protein 27 (Fsp27), and the liver-specific Fsp27b involved in lipid accumulation, apoptosis, and inflammation. Notably, PXR-KO mice displayed elevated hepatic Cyp2a5 (anti-obesity gene), aldo-keto reductase 1b7 (Akr1b7), glutathione-S-transferase M3 (Gstm3) (antioxidant gene), and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) levels, contributing to protection against long-term HFD-induced obesity and inflammation. RNA sequencing analysis revealed a general blunting of the transcriptomic response to HFD in PXR-KO compared to WT mice. Pathway enrichment analysis demonstrated enrichment by HFD for several pathways, including oxidative stress and redox pathway, cholesterol biosynthesis, and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis in WT but not PXR-KO mice. In conclusion, this study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms by which PXR deficiency protects against long-term HFD-induced severe obesity and its adverse effects in female mice.

A multidimensional strategy for characterization, distinction, and quality control of two Clinopodium medicinal plants.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Clinopodium chinense Kuntze (CC) and Clinopodium polycephalum (Vaniot) C. Y. Wu & S. J. Hsuan (CP) are both included in the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (edition 2020) as the legitimate source of "Duan Xue Liu" (DXL), which is a crucial traditional Chinese medicine used as a clinical remedy for bleeding diseases. However, the differences in plant endogenous metabolites and bioactivities between CC and CP are still unclear. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study aims to provide a scientific basis to investigate the differences between CC and CP ensuring the efficient and safe use of DXL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A multidimensional strategy including plant metabolomics, digital reference standard (DRS) analyzer, and biological activities assay was creatively constructed for the characterization, distinction, and quality control of CC and CP. RESULTS: There were apparent differences in the metabolites between CC and CP. 7 compounds contributing to the differences were successfully identified. On that basis, linear calibration using two reference substances (LCTRS) methods was proved as a more accurate and specific quality analysis method for CC and CP. In addition, bioactivity assays showed that both CC and CP exhibited obvious hemostatic activity, while CC showed greater potential to resist inflammation and free radicals. CONCLUSION: In summary, it was the first time to investigate the chemical constituents and bioactivities differences between CC and CP with the help of plant metabolomics, DRS study, and biological activity assays. These two plants were significantly separated in the integrated analysis, suggesting that we should pay attention to the distinction to prevent unexpected risks caused by medicinal materials.

Urban airborne PM2.5 induces pulmonary fibrosis through triggering glycolysis and subsequent modification of histone lactylation in macrophages.

Airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5) can cause pulmonary inflammation and even fibrosis, however, the underlying molecular mechanisms of the pathogenesis of PM2.5 exposure have not been fully appreciated. In the present study, we explored the dynamics of glycolysis and modification of histone lactylation in macrophages induced by PM2.5-exposure in both in vivo and in vitro models. Male C57BL/6 J mice were anesthetized and administrated with PM2.5 by intratracheal instillation once every other day for 4 weeks. Mouse RAW264.7 macrophages and alveolar epithelial MLE-12 cells were treated with PM2.5 for 24 h. We found that PM2.5 significantly increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities and lactate contents, and up-regulated the mRNA expression of key glycolytic enzymes in the lungs and bronchoalveolar lavage fluids of mice. Moreover, PM2.5 increased the levels of histone lactylation in both PM2.5-exposed lungs and RAW264.7 cells. The pro-fibrotic cytokines secreted from PM2.5-treated RAW264.7 cells triggered epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in MLE-12 cells through activating transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß)/Smad2/3 and VEGFA/ERK pathways. In contrast, LDHA inhibitor (GNE-140) pretreatment effectively alleviated PM2.5-induced pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis via inhibiting glycolysis and subsequent modification of histone lactylation in mice. Thus, our findings suggest that PM2.5-induced glycolysis and subsequent modification of histone lactylation play critical role in the PM2.5-associated pulmonary fibrosis.

Genome-Based Identification and Characterization of Bacteriocins Selectively Inhibiting Staphylococcus aureus in Fermented Sausages.

The bacteriocin-producing Lactiplantibacillus plantarum SL47 was isolated from conventional fermented sausages, and the bacteriocin SL47 was purified using ethyl acetate, Sephadex G-25 gel chromatography, and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Bacteriocin SL47 was identified by HPLC-MS/MS combined with whole-genome sequencing, and the results showed it consisted of plantaricin A, J, K, and N. Further characterization analysis showed that the bacteriocin SL47 was highly thermostable (30 min, 121 °C), pH stable (2-10), sensitive to protease and exhibited broad-spectrum antibacterial ability against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The mechanism of action showed that the bacteriocin SL47 increased cell membrane permeability, and 2 × minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) treatment for 40 min caused apoptosis of Staphylococcus aureus F2. The count of S. aureus in the sausage that was inoculated with L. plantarum SL47 and bacteriocin SL47 decreased by about 64% and 53% of that in the initial stage, respectively. These results indicated the potential of L. plantarum SL47 and bacteriocin SL47 as a bio-preservative in meat products.

Addressing the long-standing limitations of double exponential and non-rectangular hyperbolic models in quantifying light-response of electron transport rates in different photosynthetic organisms under various conditions.

The models used to describe the light response of electron transport rate in photosynthesis play a crucial role in determining two key parameters i.e., the maximum electron transport rate (J max) and the saturation light intensity (I sat). However, not all models accurately fit J-I curves, and determine the values of J max and I sat. Here, three models, namely the double exponential (DE) model, the non-rectangular hyperbolic (NRH) model, and a mechanistic model developed by one of the coauthors (Z-P Ye) and his coworkers (referred to as the mechanistic model), were compared in terms of their ability to fit J-I curves and estimate J max and I sat. Here, we apply these three models to a series of previously collected Chl a fluorescence data from seven photosynthetic organisms, grown under different conditions. Our results show that the mechanistic model performed well in describing the J-I curves, regardless of whether photoinhibition/dynamic down-regulation of photosystem II (PSII) occurs. Moreover, both J max and I sat estimated by this model are in very good agreement with the measured data. On the contrary, although the DE model simulates quite well the J-I curve for the species studied, it significantly overestimates both the J max of Amaranthus hypochondriacus and the I sat of Microcystis aeruginosa grown under NH4 +-N supply. More importantly, the light intensity required to achieve the potential maximum of J (J s) estimated by this model exceeds the unexpected high value of 105 µmol photons m-2 s-1 for Triticum aestivum and A. hypochondriacus. The NRH model fails to characterize the J-I curves with dynamic down-regulation/photoinhibition for Abies alba, Oryza sativa and M. aeruginosa. In addition, this model also significantly overestimates the values of J max for T. aestivum at 21% O2 and A. hypochondriacus grown under normal condition, and significantly underestimates the values of J max for M. aeruginosa grown under NO3 -N supply. Our study provides evidence that the 'mechanistic model' is much more suitable than both the DE and NRH models in fitting the J-I curves and in estimating the photosynthetic parameters. This is a powerful tool for studying light harvesting properties and the dynamic down-regulation of PSII/photoinhibition.

Ferried Albumin-Inspired Bioadhesive With Dynamic Interfacial Bonds for Emergency Rescue.

Emergency prehospital wound closure and hemorrhage control are the first priorities for life-saving. Majority of bioadhesives form bonds with tissues through irreversible cross-linking, and the remobilization of misalignment may cause severe secondary damage to tissues. Therefore, developing an adhesive that can quickly and tolerably adhere to traumatized dynamic tissue or organ surfaces in emergency situations is a major challenge. Inspired by the structure of human serum albumin (HSA), a branched polymer with multitentacled sulfhydryl is synthesized, then, an instant and fault-tolerant tough wet-tissue adhesion (IFA) hydrogel is prepared. Adhesive application time is just 5 s (interfacial toughness of ≈580 J m-2), and favorable tissue-adhesion is maintained after ten cycles. IFA hydrogel shows unchangeable adhesive performance after 1 month of storage based on the internal oxidation-reduction mechanism. It not only can efficiently seal various organs but also achieves effective hemostasis in models of the rat femoral artery and rabbit-ear artery. This work also proposes an effective strategy for controllable adhesion, enabling the production of asymmetric adhesives with on-demand detachment. Importantly, IFA hydrogel has sound antioxidation, antibacterial property, hemocompatibility, and cytocompatibility. Hence, the HSA-inspired bioadhesive emerges as a promising first-aid supply for human-machine interface-based health management and non-invasive wound closure.

Unidirectionally Structured Magnetic Phase-Change Composite Based on Carbonized Polyimide/Kevlar Nanofiber Complex Aerogel for Boosting Solar-Thermo-Electric Energy Conversion.

To realize highly efficient solar-thermo-electric energy conversion for clean electricity power generation, we have developed a new type of unidirectionally structured magnetic phase-change composite comprising a carbonized polyimide (C-PI)/Kevlar nanofiber (KNF) complex aerogel as a 3D carbon skeleton porous supporting material, CoFe2O4 nanoparticles as a magnetic additive, polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a phase-change material, and polypyrrole as a photothermal absorption coating layer. The as-fabricated C-PI/KNF complex aerogel exhibits a unidirectional microstructure, high porosity, robust skeleton frame, ultralight weight, and high thermal conductance. Featured with such unique structure and characteristics, the complex aerogel can offer an effective heat and electron transfer method to ensure highly efficient solar-thermal conversion and photothermal energy storage of the developed composite. The developed composite exhibits a high latent heat capacity of over 150 J g-1, outstanding shape stability along with a low leakage of 0.2 wt %, good thermal cycling stability, and high photothermal conversion efficiency of 84.8%. Based on the Seebeck effect, a solar thermoelectric generation system (STEGS) was constructed with the hot side coupled with the developed composite and the cold side immersed in air and ice water. Under 2.0 kW m-2 solar irradiation, the developed STEGS in ice water obtained maximum output voltage and current of 259.7 mV and 27.1 mA, respectively, which are significantly higher than those in air. The output power of the developed STEGS in an ice water environment is 50.6% higher than that in air under 4.0 kW m-2 solar irradiation. More importantly, the developed STEGS in ice water continuously generated output voltage and current for about 810 s without solar irradiation thanks to the latent heat release by the PEG component within the developed composite. In addition, the introduction of magnetic CoFe2O4 can accelerate solar-thermal conversion through periodic electron motion by the Néel relaxation or Brownian relaxation. This resulted in an increase in the maximum output voltage and current by 13.7 and 11.5%, respectively, under an alternating magnetic field as a result of the magnetism-accelerated solar-thermo-electric conversion. This study offers an innovative approach for developing PCM-based advanced functional materials for solar energy utilization in clean and sustainable electricity generation.