Efficient Biosynthesis of Furanocoumarin Intermediate Marmesin by Engineered .

Marmesin, a plant dihydrofuranocoumarin, is an important intermediate in the synthesis of linear furanocoumarins and exhibits a variety of pharmacological activities. However, due to the lack of efficient prenyltransferases, the incompatibility of redox partners for P450 enzymes, and the insufficient supply of precursor (DMAPP), the microbial synthesis of marmesin remained at an extremely low level. Here, we report the efficient biosynthesis of marmesin in by screening the robust 6-prenyltransferase PpPT1 and marmesin synthase PpDCΔ from .

Hydroxychavicol derivatives from Piper betle Linn. as natural PDE4 inhibitors with anti-inflammatory effects.

PDE4 inhibitors have been developed as anti-inflammatory medications primarily used in the clinical treatment of pulmonary inflammations such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. However, the application of these drugs is usually restricted by obvious side effects, such as nausea and vomiting. Our previous study found that several natural PDE4 inhibitors or their modified derivatives showed minimal side effects, particularly reduced incidence of nausea and vomiting, which aroused our interest in searching for natural PDE4 inhibitors.

An exploratory study on the development of a sensory wheel affiliated with the emotional lexicon for chrysanthemum infusion.

Chrysanthemum infusion has gained popularity outside of the East Asian market in recent years. However, despite the growing international demand, standardized methods to evaluate the sensory attributes of chrysanthemum tea, which are essential for guiding consumers and ensuring quality control, remain underdeveloped. In this study, a trained panel conducted a quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA®) of eight chrysanthemum samples, successfully distinguishing between them.

Effect of Whey Protein Changes on Milk Flavor and Sensory Characteristics During Heating.

The flavor of dairy products crucially affects consumer purchase preference. Although the flavor and sensory perception of milk can be influenced by heat treatment during processing, the exact mechanism remains unclear. Therefore, this study analyzed the whey protein content and structural changes of milk heated at different time and temperature combinations and evaluated the flavor compounds and sensory characteristics of milk.

Combination of spatial transcriptomics analysis and retrospective study reveals liver infection of SARS-COV-2 is associated with clinical outcomes of COVID-19.

Background: Liver involvement is a common complication of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially in hospitalized patients. However, the underlying mechanisms involved are not fully understood.

Methods: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining of SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins was conducted on liver tissues from six patients with COVID-19.

RTN1A mediates diabetes-induced AKI-to-CKD transition.

Diabetic patients have increased susceptibility to acute kidney injury (AKI), and AKI could progress to chronic tubulointerstitial injury and fibrosis, referred to as AKI-to-chronic kidney disease (AKI-to-CKD) transition. However, whether diabetes directly promotes AKI-to-CKD transition is not known. We previously showed that reticulon-1A (RTN1A), a gene highly upregulated in injured renal tubular epithelial cells (RTECs), promotes AKI-to-CKD transition in nondiabetic settings.

Dynamic Hydration and Viscosity Control of Konjac Glucomannan Enhance Long-Term Antiobesity Effects by Reducing Food Intake in High-Fat-Diet-Fed Mice.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the necessity and importance of dynamic hydration rate and ultimate viscosity control of konjac glucomannan (KGM) for long-term antiobesity effects in C57BL/6J mice on high-fat (HF) diets. KGM supplementation effectively attenuated HF-diet-induced increases in body and tissue weights. The hydration rate and viscosity changes of KGM in the digestive tract were found to have marked impacts on antiobesity effects.

Role and Mechanisms of Tyro3 in Podocyte Biology and Glomerular Disease.

Background: Podocyte loss occurs in both primary and secondary glomerular diseases, leading to the progression of kidney disease. A large body of evidence suggests that apoptosis and detachment are the mechanisms mediating the reduction in podocyte numbers in glomerular diseases. Recent studies demonstrate a renal protective effect of protein S (PS) through the activation of Tyro3, one of the TAM receptors.

Photodegradation of ciprofloxacin and its interaction with Cu(II) in different water matrices: Insight into degradation pathways.

Co-contamination of ciprofloxacin (CIP) and Cu(II) is common in marine aquaculture water. However, the transmission and transformation of these substances in natural water matrices are often overlooked. This study sought to assess the impact of Cu(II) on CIP degradation in distilled (DI) and simulated (SI) mariculture water, as well as to develop a relationship between Cu(II), CIP, and its degradation products.

Tailoring Fumaric Acid Delivery: The Role of Surfactant-Enhanced Solid Lipid Microparticles via Spray-Congealing.

Fumaric acid, a naturally occurring preservative with antimicrobial properties, has been widely used in the baking industry. However, its direct addition interferes with yeast activity and negatively impacts the gluten structure. This study investigates the potential of spray-congealing as a method for encapsulating fumaric acid within solid lipid microparticles.

Targeting Krüppel-Like Factor 2 as a Novel Therapy for Glomerular Endothelial Cell Injury in Diabetic Kidney Disease.

Key Points: Krüppel-like factor 2 (KLF2) has emerged as a key endoprotective regulator by suppressing inflammatory and oxidative pathways, thrombotic activation, and angiogenesis. Our study now demonstrates that KLF2 protects against glomerular endothelial injury and attenuates diabetic kidney disease progression in mice. Compound 6 is a novel KLF2 activator that can potentially confer dual cardiorenal protection against diabetic complications.

Giant infrared bulk photovoltaic effect in tellurene for broad-spectrum neuromodulation.

Given the surpassing of the Shockley-Quiesser efficiency limit in conventional p-n junction photovoltaic effect, bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE) has garnered significant research interest. However, the BPVE primarily focuses on a narrow wavelength range, limiting its potential applications. Here we report a giant infrared bulk photovoltaic effect in tellurene (Te) for broad-spectrum neuromodulation.

Compressible effect on the mutual interaction of two cavitation bubbles in radial oscillations and translational motion.

In this study, we considered the compressible effect on the mutual interaction of two cavitation bubbles by correcting the sound field emitted by one bubble in the radial equations of the other bubble to first order in the Mach number of the flow, and the effect is represented by the incident wave acting on bubbles. The results illustrates that the incident wave can enhance the resonance response at the redistributed resonance frequency, which leads to an increase in radial acceleration and the secondary Bjerknes force, and rapid approach of bubbles. Furthermore, the influence of incident wave on the interaction of bubbles driven at lower frequencies is more significant, due to resonance enhancement caused by the proximity of natural frequencies and frequency multiplications of the external sound field.

Establishment and validation of a clinical risk scoring model to predict fatal risk in SFTS hospitalized patients.

Background: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging tick-borne infection with a high case fatality rate. Significant gaps remain in studies analyzing the clinical characteristics of fatal cases.

Methods: From January 2017 to June 2023, 427 SFTS cases were included in this study.

Hepatitis B surface antigen impairs TLR4 signaling by upregulating A20 expression in monocytes.

Unlabelled: Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a crucial role in eliminating viral infection. Conversely, viruses have evolved various strategies to disrupt TLR signaling during chronic infection. In the case of hepatitis B virus (HBV), we previously reported that plasma hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is closely associated with impaired TLR responses in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, but the reasons remain unclear.

Research on food security issues considering changes in rainfall.

Ensuring food security is not only vital to the adequate supply of food in the world, but also the key to the economic development and social stability of various countries. Based on the panel data of 29 provinces in China from 2016 to 2020, this paper selects the number of foodborne diseases patients and iodine deficiency disease patients as reference objects, uses stunting rate of children under 5 years old, malnutrition rate of children under 5 years old, obesity rate of children under 5 years old, and newborn visit rate to measure improving nutrition, proposes Meta Entropy Two-Stage Dynamic Direction Distance Function (DDF) Under an exogenous Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model to measure the efficiency of hunger eradication, food security, and improving nutrition under the influence of exogenous variable rainfall. The research results indicate that the sustainability of China's agricultural economy is insufficient, and the focus of attention should be different in different stages.

Molecular investigation of soybean protein for improving the stability of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa willd.) milk substitute.

Soybean could greatly improve stability of quinoa milk substitute. However, the key compound and underlying mechanisms remained unclear. Here we showed that soybean protein was the key component for improving quinoa milk substitute stability but not oil or okara.

Valorization of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) brans from the sustainable perspective: A comprehensive review of bioactive compounds and health benefits with emphasis on their potential applications.

Barley is an important source of sustainable diets for humans, while its brans is commonly disposed as wastes. The recycling of barley brans has become a key for facilitating the valorization of barley as a whole to achieve its sustainable development. This review summarized the value of barley brans as an excellent source of multiple functional components (phenolic compounds, β-glucan, and arabinoxylan), which conferred extensive health benefits to barley brans mainly including antioxidant, anti-obesity and lipid-lowering, anti-diabetic, and hepatoprotective properties.

Supercritical CO and Subcritical HO Analysis Instrument: Automated Lipid Analysis for In Situ Planetary Life Detection.

The search for extraterrestrial extant or extinct life in our Solar System will require highly capable instrumentation and methods for detecting low concentrations of biosignatures. This paper introduces the Supercritical CO and Subcritical HO Analysis (SCHAN) instrument, a portable and automated system that integrates supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC), and subcritical water extraction coupled with liquid chromatography. The instrument is compact and weighs 6.

Prognostic value of left ventricular structure and strain in chronic kidney disease patients by cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging: a retrospective study.

Background: Individuals suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD) frequently face a heightened likelihood of experiencing cardiovascular complications, including heart failure and cardiac mortality. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance feature tracking (CMR-FT) is utilized to assess the micro-contraction function of the myocardium. The objective of this research is to explore the relationship between the left ventricular anatomy, myocardial strain, and the clinical outcomes in patients with CKD.

Van der Waals mid-wavelength infrared detector linear array for room temperature passive imaging.

Passive imaging for mid-wave infrared (MWIR) is resistant to atmospheric pollutants, guaranteeing image clarity and accuracy. Arrayed photodetectors can simultaneously perform radiation sensing to improve efficiency. Room temperature van der Waals (vdWs) photodetectors without lattice matching have evolved rapidly with optimized stacking methods, primarily for single-pixel devices.

A comparative study to determine the key aroma components of yogurt aroma types based on Sensomics and Flavoromics.

This study used Sensomics to examine four previously obtained yogurt aroma type profiles. 14 key aroma-active compounds were identified as significant contributors (p ≤ 0.05) in the four aroma types using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry (GC-MS/O), aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA), odor activity values (OAV), and aroma recombination and omission experiments.

In-Situ Formation of a LiF-Rich Interphase for Graphite Anode Operated at Low Temperatures.

Inorganic LiF is generally a desirable component in solid electrolyte interface (SEI) for graphite anode due to its electronic insulation, low Li diffusion barrier, high modulus and good chemical stability. Herein, fluorinated carbon (CF) was incorporated into graphite material, which exhibited a high discharge potential prior to electrolyte decomposition and in-situ formed a crystalline LiF-based SEI with improved Li diffusion rate. The optimized graphite anode therefore demonstrated a fast-charging capability with 124 mAh g at high rate of 8 C and a remarkable capacity retention of 83.

Krüppel-like factor 2 is an endoprotective transcription factor in diabetic kidney disease.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a microvascular complication of diabetes, and glomerular endothelial cell (GEC) dysfunction is a key driver of DKD pathogenesis. Krüppel-like factor 2 (KLF2), a shear stress-induced transcription factor, is among the highly regulated genes in early DKD. In the kidney, KLF2 expression is mostly restricted to endothelial cells, but its expression is also found in immune cell subsets.