The S2 Pocket Governs the Genus-Specific Substrate Selectivity of Coronavirus 3C-Like Protease.

Coronavirus 3C-like protease (CoV 3CL) is essential for viral replication, providing an attractive target for monitoring the evolution of CoV and developing anti-CoV drugs. Here, the substrate-binding modes of 3CLs from four CoV genera are analyzed and found that the S2 pocket in 3CL is highly conserved within each genus but differs between genera. Functionally, the S2 pocket, in conjunction with S4 and S1' pockets, governs the genus-specific substrate selectivity of 3CL.

Hydrogen-Bond-Assisted Electrocatalytic Semi-Oxidation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural into 2,5-Diformylfuran by Operando Dissociated N-Oxyl Mediator.

The conversion of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF) is a promising approach for enhancing biomass utilization. Nevertheless, traditional methods using noble metal catalysts face challenges due to high costs and poor selectivity towards DFF. Herein, we developed a novel catalytic electrode integrating N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) into a metal-organic framework on a hydrophilic carbon cloth.

Dual Metallosalen-Based Covalent Organic Frameworks for Artificial Photosynthetic Diluted CO Reduction.

Directly converting CO in flue gas using artificial photosynthetic technology represents a promising green approach for CO resource utilization. However, it remains a great challenge to achieve efficient reduction of CO from flue gas due to the decreased activity of photocatalysts in diluted CO atmosphere. Herein, we designed and synthesized a series of dual metallosalen-based covalent organic frameworks (MM-Salen-COFs, M: Zn, Ni, Cu) for artificial photosynthetic diluted CO reduction and confirmed their advantage in comparison to that of single metal M-Salen-COFs.

Bacterial consortium amendment effectively reduces Pb/Cd bioavailability in soil and their accumulation in wheat.

Microbial remediation can maintain the sustainability of farmlands contaminated with heavy metals (HMs). However, the effects of bacterial consortium on crop growth and potential risks under HM stress, as well as its mechanisms, are still unclear compared with a single microorganism. Here, we investigated the effect of a bacterial consortium consisting of some HMs-resistant bacteria, including Bacillus cereus, Bacillus thuringiensis, and Herbaspirillum huttiense, on plant growth promotion and inhibition of Pb/Cd accumulation within different contaminated soil-wheat systems through pot experiments.

A finasteride patch for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia: A study of promoting permeability strategy using synthetic novel O-acylmenthols combined with ion-pair.

Currently, finasteride (FIN) is approved to treat androgenetic alopecia only orally, and the application of FIN in transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) has introduced a new approach for treating the disease. This study was aimed to develop a FIN transdermal patch for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia（AGA） by combing ion-pair and O-acylmenthols (AM) as chemical permeation enhancers (CPEs). The formulation of patch was optimized though single-factor investigation and Box-Behnken design.

Quantitatively Tracking the Speciation and Dynamics of Selenium Nanoparticles in Rice Plants.

The uptake, translocation, and transformation of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) in plants present significant challenges due to the lack of effective determination methods. This is especially true for selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs), which hold promise for Se-biofortified agriculture and exhibit dynamic behaviors within plant system. Herein, we proposed a novel approach that incorporates enzymic digestion and membrane filtration to selectively extract SeNPs and dissolved Se from plant tissues, employing rice () plant as a model.

PDCdb: the biological activity and pharmaceutical information of peptide-drug conjugate (PDC).

Peptide-drug conjugates (PDCs) have emerged as a promising class of targeted therapeutics with substantial pharmaceutical advantages and market potentials, which is a combination of a peptide (selective to the disease-relevant target), a linker (stable in circulation but cleavable at target site) and a cytotoxic/radioactive drug (efficacious/traceable for disease). Among existing PDCs, those based on radiopharmaceuticals (a.k.

Unlocking the potential of extracellular vesicle circRNAs in breast cancer: From molecular mechanisms to therapeutic horizons.

Breast cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality among women worldwide, underscoring the urgent need for novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. This review explores the emerging roles of circular RNAs (circRNAs) within extracellular vesicles (exosomes) in breast cancer. circRNAs, known for their stability and tissue-specific expression, are aberrantly expressed in breast cancer and regulate critical cellular processes such as proliferation, migration, and apoptosis, positioning them as promising biomarkers.

W-band photonic-aided reconfigurable multichannel vector mm-wave transmission enabled by the digital subcarrier multiplexing technique.

As multimedia service demands rise, radio-over-fiber (RoF) systems necessitate a flexible wireless resource allocation in multi-user scenarios. Optical wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) can meet multi-user application scenarios but has the problems of high hardware cost and complexity. In this Letter, we propose a photonic-aided reconfigurable multichannel vector millimeter-wave (mm-wave) transmission scheme in the RoF system enabled by the digital subcarrier multiplexing (DSCM) technique.

Inhibition of BCAT1 expression improves recurrent miscarriage by regulating cellular dysfunction and inflammation of trophoblasts.

Sustained or chronic inflammation in the placenta can result in placental insufficiency, leading to adverse reproductive outcomes such as pregnancy loss. Branched-chain amino acid transaminase 1 (BCAT1) expresses in the placenta and is involved in the pathological inflammatory response, but its role in recurrent miscarriage (RM) has not been fully investigated. In the present study, we delved into the effects of BCAT1 on trophoblast inflammation induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and a mouse model of pregnancy loss induced by LPS.

PBBM Considerations for Base Models, Model Validation, and Application Steps: Workshop Summary Report.

The proceedings from the 30th August 2023 (Day 2) of the workshop "Physiologically Based Biopharmaceutics Models (PBBM) Best Practices for Drug Product Quality: Regulatory and Industry Perspectives" are provided herein. Day 2 covered PBBM case studies from six regulatory authorities which provided considerations for model verification, validation, and application based on the context of use (COU) of the model. PBBM case studies to define critical material attribute (CMA) specification settings, such as active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) particle size distributions (PSDs) were shared.

Association between weight-adjusted-waist index and gynecologic cancers: a population-based study.

Objective: This study aims to analyze the association between the weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) and the risk of gynecologic cancers, using data collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2011 to 2016.

Methods: We employed multiple logistic regression analysis to investigate the relationship between WWI and risk of gynecologic cancers. Subsequent subgroup analyses were performed on specific populations of interest.

The Characteristic of Biofilm Formation in ESBL-Producing Isolates.

is a pathogen that commonly causes hospital-acquired infections. Bacterial biofilms are structured bacterial communities that adhere to the surface of objects or biological tissues. In this study, we investigated the genome homology and biofilm formation capacity of ESBL-producing .

Accurate determination of alcohol-based diesels using optimal chemical factors.

Sustainable environmental policies and energy crises have led to a trend of blending different alcohols into diesel to partly replace the decreasing fossil fuels. To improve the rapidity and accuracy of determining alcohols exist in methanol and ethanol diesel, optimal chemical factors (OCF) feature selection schemes were presented based on different near infrared (NIR) characteristic absorption bands generated by different chemical structure information utilizing support vector machine (SVM). Through comparative analysis with SVM based on entire spectra, Monte Carlo uninformative variable elimination (MC-UVE) spectra and competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) spectra, the proposed OCF-SVM not only achieved 100 % accuracy, precision, recall and F-score in classification, but also exhibited the best performance in prediction analysis with the smallest sum of squares due to error (SSE), root mean squared error (RMSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and the highest R-square.

Preparation and Performance of Leather-Finished Plywood.

In order to achieve batch production, we propose a simple and fast method to prepare leather-finished plywood. In this study, ethylene-vinyl acetate was selected as the intermediate layer to prepare EVA/polyurethane (PU) leather composites. ESEM, tensile property test and compressive property test were used to characterize the microstructure and physical-mechanical properties of the composites.

Propylene Glycol Alleviates Oxidative Stress and Enhances Immunity in Ketotic Cows through Modulating Amino Acid and Lipid Metabolism.

This study investigates the impact of propylene glycol (PRG) on ketotic cows, focusing on alleviating oxidative stress and enhancing immunity through modulating amino acid and lipid metabolism. Ketosis, a prevalent metabolic disease in dairy cows, negatively affects productivity and health. PRG, known for its gluconeogenic properties, was administered to cows with ketosis daily for three days and compared to an untreated group.

Molecular interaction mechanisms on (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate improving activities of inhibited acetylcholinesterase by selected organophosphorus pesticides in vitro & vivo.

(-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is reported to have benefits for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease by binding with acetylcholinesterase (AChE) to enhance the cholinergic neurotransmission. Organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) inhibited AChE and damaged the nervous system. This study investigated the combined effects of EGCG and OPs on AChE activities in vitro & vivo.

Thioredoxin C of Streptococcus suis serotype 2 contributes to virulence by inducing antioxidative stress and inhibiting autophagy via the MSR1/PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway in macrophages.

The thioredoxin (Trx) system plays a vital role in protecting against oxidative stress and ensures correct disulfide bonding to maintain protein function. Our previous research demonstrated that TrxA of Streptococcus suis Serotype 2 (SS2), a clinical strain from the lung of a diseased pig, contributes to virulence but is not involved in antioxidative stress. In this study, we identified another gene in the Trx family, TrxC, which encodes a protein of 104 amino acids with a CGDC active motif and 22.

Arbitrarily Configurable Nonlinear Topological Modes.

Topological modes (TMs) are typically localized at boundaries, interfaces and dislocations, and exponentially decay into the bulk of a large enough lattice. Recently, the non-Hermitian skin effect has been leveraged to delocalize the wave functions of TMs from the boundary and thus to increase the capacity of TMs dramatically. Here, we explore the capability of nonlinearity in designing and configuring the wave functions of TMs.