Spectral entropy as a measure of the metaproteome complexity.

The diversity and complexity of the microbiome's genomic landscape are not always mirrored in its proteomic profile. Despite the anticipated proteomic diversity, observed complexities of microbiome samples are often lower than expected. Two main factors contribute to this discrepancy: limitations in mass spectrometry's detection sensitivity and bioinformatics challenges in metaproteomics identification.

Zr modulated N doping composites for CO conversion into carbonates.

Acidic and basic sites of catalysts are essential for CO capture and activation. In this work, Zr, N-ZnO/ZnAl-LDH-IL composites in ionic liquid and methanol systems were fabricated, and applied to catalyze the synthesis of ethylene carbonate (EC) from ethylene glycol (EG) and CO with about 4.76 mmol g h.

Glycomacropeptide as an Efficient Agent to Fight Pathophysiological Mechanisms of Metabolic Syndrome.

There is currently a growing interest in the use of nutraceuticals as a means of preventing the development of complex diseases. Given the considerable health potential of milk-derived peptides, the aim of this study was to investigate the protective effects of glycomacropeptide (GMP) on metabolic syndrome. Particular emphasis was placed on the potential mechanisms mitigating cardiometabolic disorders in high-fat, high-fructose diet-fed mice in the presence of GMP or Bipro, an isocaloric control.

Facilitate the preparation of naturally modified and self-healing superhydrophobic/superoleophilic biochar-based foams for efficient oil-water separation.

Oil spills are sudden, complex, and long-term hazardous, and the existing adsorption materials still have the disadvantages of small selective adsorption capacity, easy secondary contamination, and difficult to repair after breakage in practical applications. Herein, melamine foam (MF) coated by ball milled biochar (BMBC) and natural beeswax (Wax@BMBC@MF) was prepared by a bio-inspired functionalization method and further added with self-healing function (SH-Wax@BMBC@MF) to cope with complex environments, and applied to oil-water separation for oil adsorption. SEM and FTIR results showed that BMBC and natural beeswax nanoparticles successfully encapsulated the smooth surface of the melamine foam skeleton.

MetaPep: A core peptide database for faster human gut metaproteomics database searches.

Metaproteomics has increasingly been applied to study functional changes in the human gut microbiome. Peptide identification is an important step in metaproteomics research, with sequence database search (SDS) and spectral library search (SLS) as the two main methods to identify peptides. However, the large search space in metaproteomics studies causes significant challenges for both identification methods.

Magnesium lithospermate B ameliorates diabetic nephropathy by suppressing the uremic toxin formation mediated by gut microbiota.

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a major cause of renal failure and urgently necessitates new therapeutic strategies. Magnesium lithospermate B (MLB) showed a good protective effect on kidney injure by oral administration, despite its extremely low bioavailability. The current study aimed to investigate its gut microbiota-targeted mechanism to explain the paradoxical properties of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics.

Assessing the Dark Field of Metaproteome.

The human gut microbiome is a complex system composed of hundreds of species, and metaproteomics can be used to explore their expressed functions. However, many lower abundance species are not detected by current metaproteomic techniques and represent the dark field of metaproteomics. We do not know the minimal abundance of a bacterium in a microbiome(depth) that can be detected by shotgun metaproteomics.

An emerging field: Post-translational modification in microbiome.

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) play an essential role in most biological processes. PTMs on human proteins have been extensively studied. Studies on bacterial PTMs are emerging, which demonstrate that bacterial PTMs are different from human PTMs in their types, mechanisms and functions.

Diagnostic performance of combined use of automated breast volume scanning & hand-held ultrasound for breast lesions.

Background & Objectives: Breast cancer being one of the most common malignant tumours among women, diagnostic modalities for early detection of the same become of paramount importance. In this context, the hand-held ultrasound (HHUS) and automated breast volume scanner (ABVS) could provide valuable information for clinicians to diagnose breast diseases. This study aimed to compare and evaluate the diagnostic performance of combined use of HHUS and ABVS for the differentiation of benign and malignant breast lesions.

Template Guiding for the Encapsulation of Uniformly Subnanometric Platinum Clusters in Beta-Zeolites Enabling High Catalytic Activity and Stability.

Subnanometric metal clusters have attracted extensive attention because of their unique properties as heterogeneous catalysts. However, it is challenging to obtain uniformly distributed metal clusters under synthesis and reaction conditions. Herein, we report a template-guidance protocol to synthesize subnanometric metal clusters uniformly encapsulated in beta-zeolite, with the metal ions anchored to the internal channels of the zeolite template via electrostatic interactions.

Robotics Dexterous Grasping: The Methods Based on Point Cloud and Deep Learning.

Dexterous manipulation, especially dexterous grasping, is a primitive and crucial ability of robots that allows the implementation of performing human-like behaviors. Deploying the ability on robots enables them to assist and substitute human to accomplish more complex tasks in daily life and industrial production. A comprehensive review of the methods based on point cloud and deep learning for robotics dexterous grasping from three perspectives is given in this paper.

Superhydrophobic-superoleophilic biochar-based foam for high-efficiency and repeatable oil-water separation.

Leakage accidents occurring during oil production and transportation are currently one of the most serious environmental problems worldwide. Developing efficient and environmentally friendly oil-water separation methods is the key to solve this problem. In this work, a facile method to fabricate a high-performance oil absorbent through the loading of ball-milled biochar (BMBC) and octadecylamine on the skeleton of melamine foam (MF) is reported.

Effects of Crystallite Sizes of Pt/HZSM-5 Zeolite Catalysts on the Hydrodeoxygenation of Guaiacol.

Herein, Pt/HZSM-5 zeolite catalysts with different crystallite sizes ranging from nanosheet (~2 nm) to bulk crystals (~1.5 μm) have been prepared for the hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol, and their effects on the reaction pathway and product selectivity were explored. HZSM-5 zeolites prepared by seeding (Pt/Z-40: ~40 nm) or templating (Pt/NS-2: ~2 nm) fabricated intra-crystalline mesopores and thus enhanced the reaction rate by promoting the diffusion of various molecules, especially the bulky ones such as guaiacol and 2-methoxycyclohexanol, leading to a higher cyclohexane selectivity of up to 80 wt % (both for Pt/Z-40 and Pt/NS-2) compared to 70 wt % for bulky HZSM-5 (Pt/CZ: ~1.

Differential distribution of characteristic constituents in root, stem and leaf tissues of Salvia miltiorrhiza using MALDI mass spectrometry imaging.

Segmentation-quantification is the most commonly used method for studying the tissue distribution of bioactive constituents in plant, but this method would bring uncontrollable pollution, compound migration and denaturation. Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI), as a new method developed in the past 20 years, has high sensitivity, high spatial resolution, high degree of visualization, and low risk of contamination and degeneration when studying tissue distribution of compounds. For the first time we applied matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) to tissue distribution of characteristic constituents of the medicinal plant Salvia miltiorrhiza.

Quantification of microbiota-related phenols and aromatic acids in mouse feces of a diabetic nephropathy model by simultaneous BDAPE derivatization using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

In the intestine, several phenols and aromatic acids are generated by microbiota and are highly related to the formation of uremic toxins. Herein, we developed a new derivatization reagent, 2-bromo-1-[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl] ethyl ketone (BDAPE), that reacted simultaneously with phenols and aromatic acids. Following a reaction within 2 h at 60 °C in the presence of 200 mM potassium carbonate (KCO), the obtained BDAPE derivatives were separated on a reversed-phase C18 column and quantified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) in positive electrospray ionization mode.

A rapid and convenient derivatization method for quantitation of short-chain fatty acids in human feces by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry.

Rationale: Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are associated with intestinal microbiota and diseases in humans. SCFAs have a low response in mass spectrometry, and in order to increase sensitivity, reduce sample consumption, shorten analysis time, and simplify sample preparation steps, a derivatization method was developed.

Methods: We converted seven SCFAs into amide derivatives with 4-aminomethylquinoline.