Unleashing the potential of water-insoluble Cu-crosslinked chitosan nanocomposite film for enhanced antibacterial and flame-retardant properties.

Chitosan (CS) has received widespread attention in various fields due to its excellent antimicrobial properties, inherent biodegradability and biocompatibility. However, the water swelling property of chitosan films reduces their performance and becomes a major obstacle for their practical application. Herein, we develop a water-insoluble montmorillonite/chitosan nanocomposite film (CS/MMT-Cu) with anti-bacterial and fire-retardant properties via Cu-crosslinking technique.

Palladium-catalyzed cascade cyclization of α,β-unsaturated -tosylhydrazones with iodoarenes: access to 2-chromenes and 2-quinolines.

A palladium-catalyzed cascade reaction of α,β-unsaturated -tosylhydrazones with iodoarene derivatives containing a nucleophilic group has been developed, which provides facile access to 2-chromenes and 2-quinolines, respectively. Additionally, the double Pd-carbene migratory insertion/nucleophilic substitution processes for the synthesis of a ternary heterocyclic skeleton were possible in the developed catalytic system.

Acetylation of TIR domains in the TLR4-Mal-MyD88 complex regulates immune responses in sepsis.

Activation of the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) by bacterial endotoxins in macrophages plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of sepsis. However, the mechanism underlying TLR4 activation in macrophages is still not fully understood. Here, we reveal that upon lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation, lysine acetyltransferase CBP is recruited to the TLR4 signalosome complex leading to increased acetylation of the TIR domains of the TLR4 signalosome.

Tunning the hydrophobic performance and thermal stability of pectin film by acetic anhydride esterification.

Pectin, a polysaccharide found in plant cell walls, is characterized by a high abundance of hydroxyl groups and carboxylic acid groups, which results in a strong affinity for water and limits its suitability as a film material. This study aimed to modulate the esterification degree of PEC films by adjusting the concentration of acetic anhydride, and assess the impact of acetic anhydride esterification modification on the properties of the resultant PEC films. The results demonstrated successful grafting of acetic anhydride onto the galacturonic acid ring in the PEC molecule through the esterification process.

Three-component cascade carbopalladation/Heck cyclization/borylation: facile access to boryl-functionalized indenes.

A mild Pd-catalyzed three-component cascade cyclization functionalization of -iodostyrenes, internal alkynes and boron reagents is presented. The transformation is driven by a controlled reaction sequence of intermolecular carbopalladation, intramolecular Heck-type cyclization, and a borylation process to give versatile boryl-functionalized indene skeletons in a selective fashion. Significantly, (Bpin), (Bneop) and CH(Bpin) as boron sources are all tolerated.

Temporal Dynamics of Fungal Communities in Alkali-Treated Round Bamboo Deterioration under Natural Weathering.

Microbes naturally inhabit bamboo-based materials in outdoor environments, sequentially contributing to their deterioration. Fungi play a significant role in deterioration, especially in environments with abundant water and favorable temperatures. Alkali treatment is often employed in the pretreatment of round bamboo to change its natural elastic and aesthetic behaviors.

Evaluating the mechanism of soybean meal protein for boosting the laccase-catalyzed of thymol onto lignosulfonate via restraining non-specific adsorption.

The control of laccase-catalyzed efficiency often relies on the utilization of modifying enzyme molecules and shielding agents. However, their elevated costs or carcinogenicity led to the inability for large-scale application. To address this concern, we found that a low-cost protein from soybean meal can reduce lignin's ineffective adsorption onto enzymes for improving the efficiency of thymol grafting to lignosulfonate.

Pd-Catalyzed Cascade Cyclization/Thiocarbonylation with Thioformates: Synthesis of Thioester-Functionalized Oxindoles.

A Pd-catalyzed thiocarbonylative cyclization of N-(-iodoaryl)acrylamides with easily accessible thioformates has been developed. The reaction has a wide substrate scope with good yields and represents a powerful route to the synthesis of thioester-functionalized oxindoles. Both -aryl and alkyl thioformates as the thioester sources were well tolerated.

Sequential -Formed Kukhtin-Ramirez Adduct and P(NMe)-Catalyzed -Phosphination of α-Dicarbonyls with P(O)-H.

-Phosphination of α-dicarbonyls via sequential formation of a Kukhtin-Ramirez adduct and a P(NMe)-catalyzed process has been exploited for the synthesis of α-phosphoryloxy carbonyls. A range of P(O)-H derivatives, including diarylphosphine oxides, arylphosphinates, and phosphinates, are competent candidates to be introduced into the α-dicarbonyls in this transformation, and various α-phosphoryloxy carbonyls are obtained. This approach possesses advantages of mild conditions, simple operations, atom economy, high efficiency, and gram-scale synthesis, which make it promising in the synthesis toolbox.

Nonlinear strict distance and similarity measures for intuitionistic fuzzy sets with applications to pattern classification and medical diagnosis.

In this paper, we propose a new type of nonlinear strict distance and similarity measures for intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs). Our proposed methods not only have good properties, but also improve the drawbacks proposed by Mahanta and Panda (Int J Intell Syst 36(2):615-627, 2021) in which, for example, their distance value of [Formula: see text] is always equal to the maximum value 1 for any intuitionistic fuzzy number [Formula: see text]. To resolve these problems in Mahanta and Panda (Int J Intell Syst 36(2):615-627, 2021), we establish a nonlinear parametric distance measure for IFSs and prove that it satisfies the axiomatic definition of strict intuitionistic fuzzy distances and preserves all advantages of distance measures.

Mechanistic insights into the cinnamaldehyde modification of lignin for sustainable anti-fungal reagent.

The limited anti-fungal activity of enzymatic hydrolysis lignin (EHL) has been a challenge in its direct application as a bamboo preservative. To address this issue, the cinnamaldehyde modification of EHL was carried out to introduce anti-fungal structures into the lignin matrix, effectively enhancing its anti-fungal activity. The results demonstrated that the minimal inhibitory concentrations of the modified lignin (EHL-DC) against Aspergillus niger significantly improved from 16 mg/mL to 1 mg/mL, with comparable enhancements in anti-fungal activity against other fungi.

Palladium-Catalyzed Allylation of P(O)H Compounds: Access to 2-Fluoroallylic Phosphorus Compounds.

An efficient palladium-catalyzed 2-fluoroallylation of P(O)H compounds with -difluorocyclopropanes is presented. The reaction provides a variety of 2-fluoroallylic phosphorus compounds in good yields with high selectivity through the sequential C-C bond activation, C-F bond cleavage, and C-P coupling process. Various H-phosphonates, H-phosphinates, and secondary phosphine oxides are all tolerated.

Palladium-Catalyzed Heck Cyclization with P(O)H Compounds to Construct Phosphinonyl-Azaindoline and -Azaoxindole Derivatives.

We report herein a concise method for the construction of phosphinonyl-azaindoline and -azaoxindole derivatives via a palladium-catalyzed cascade cyclization with P(O)H compounds. Various -phosphonates, -phosphinates, and aromatic secondary phosphine oxides are all tolerated under the reaction conditions. Furthermore, the phosphinonyl-azaindoline isomer families such as 7-, 5-, and 4-azaindolines could be synthesized in moderate to good yields.

Exploration of Optimal Reaction Conditions for Constructing Hydrophobic Polymers with Low Deformation to Facilitate the Dimensional Stability of Laminated Bamboo Lumber.

The environmental moisture changes would result in the deformation and cracking of laminated bamboo lumber (LBL) easily due to the unreleased internal stress, leading to poor durability. In this study, a hydrophobic cross-linking polymer with low deformation was successfully fabricated and introduced in the LBL by polymerization and esterification to improve its dimensional stability. In an aqueous solution, the 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and Maleic anhydride (MAh) were employed as the base compounds for synthesizing the copolymer of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate and maleic acid (PHM).

Succession of Fungal Community during Outdoor Deterioration of Round Bamboo.

Bamboo's mechanical and aesthetic properties are significantly influenced by fungi. However, few studies have been conducted to investigate the structure and dynamics of fungal communities in bamboo during its natural deterioration. In this study, fungal community succession and characteristic variations of round bamboo in roofed and unroofed environments over a period of 13 weeks of deterioration were deciphered using high-throughput sequencing and multiple characterization methods.

Highly regioselective and stereoselective cascade reductive cyclization of δ-ketoamide: practical access to oxa-bridged benzazepines.

A highly regioselective and stereoselective cascade reduction cyclization of -ketoamide is realized under LiAlH-assisted conditions, providing an atom-economical and straightforward approach to access oxa-bridged benzazepines in moderate to good yields. This method overcomes the limitations of aldehydes or other precursors of primary alcohols and realizes the cascade reduction cyclization of secondary alcohol anions generated from ketones. The reaction proceeds with broad substrate scope and good functional group compatibility.

Palladium-Catalyzed Cyclization Coupling with Cyclobutanone-Derived -Tosylhydrazones: Synthesis of Benzofuran-3-Cyclobutylidenes and Spirocyclobutanes.

A palladium-catalyzed cyclization coupling of iodoarene-tethered alkynes with cyclobutanone-derived -tosylhydrazones is reported, providing a convenient and efficient approach to benzofuran-3-cyclobutylidenes. On this basis, spirocyclobutanes can be generated smoothly in an efficient cascade manner by the addition of dienophiles. Good yields and scalability are demonstrated.

Stabilizing and Enhancing Link Prediction through Deepened Graph Auto-Encoders.

Graph neural networks have been widely used for a variety of learning tasks. Link prediction is a relatively under-studied graph learning task, with current state-of-the-art models based on one- or two-layer shallow graph auto-encoder (GAE) architectures. In this paper, we overcome the limitation of current methods for link prediction of non-Euclidean network data, which can only use shallow GAEs and variational GAEs.

Deep learning algorithm reveals probabilities of stage-specific time to conversion in individuals with neurodegenerative disease LATE.

Introduction: Limbic-predominant age-related TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) encephalopathy (LATE) is a recently defined neurodegenerative disease. Currently, there is no effective way to make a prognosis of time to stage-specific future conversions at an individual level.

Methods: After using the Kaplan-Meier estimation and log-rank test to confirm the heterogeneity of LATE progression, we developed a deep learning-based approach to assess the stage-specific probabilities of time to LATE conversions for different subjects.

Machine Learning Approach Predicts Probability of Time to Stage-Specific Conversion of Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: The progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) varies in different patients at different stages, which makes predicting the time of disease conversions challenging.

Objective: We established an algorithm by leveraging machine learning techniques to predict the probability of the conversion time to next stage for different subjects during a given period.

Methods: Firstly, we used Kaplan-Meier (KM) estimation to get the transition curves of different AD stages, and calculated Log-rank statistics to test whether the progression rate between different stages was identical.

Algorithmic Stability and Generalization of an Unsupervised Feature Selection Algorithm.

Feature selection, as a vital dimension reduction technique, reduces data dimension by identifying an essential subset of input features, which can facilitate interpretable insights into learning and inference processes. Algorithmic stability is a key characteristic of an algorithm regarding its sensitivity to perturbations of input samples. In this paper, we propose an innovative unsupervised feature selection algorithm attaining this stability with provable guarantees.

Simultaneously reinforcing and toughening of shape-memory epoxy resin with carboxylated lignosulfonate: Facile preparation and effect mechanism.

To improve the compatibility and reactivity of lignosulfonate (LS) with epoxy oligomers, the LS was firstly functionalized with anhydride via the carboxylation reaction. The carboxylated lignosulfonate (CLS) reinforced epoxy resin with excellent mechanical and shape memory performance was prepared facilely via distributing the CLS into the combined epoxy monomers of DGEBA and PEGDGE with the aid of water, rather than using the normal organic solvents. The incorporated CLS promoted the curing reaction of epoxy resin.

In Situ Construction of Thermotropic Shape Memory Polymer in Wood for Enhancing Its Dimensional Stability.

The extension of wood to a wider field has been restrained significantly due to its dimensional instability that arises from variation in moisture content, which in turn brings about the risk of cracking, warping or distortion. This work proposed a novel strategy to stabilize wood by means of the in situ construction of a thermotropic shape memory polymer (SMP) inside wood. The cross-linked copolymer network (PMP) with good shape memory behavior was first investigated based on the reaction of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) in a water/ethanol solution; then, the PMP was constructed inside wood via vacuum-pressure impregnation and in situ polymerization.