Chemical Constituents from the Flowers of Carthamus tinctorius L. and Their Lung Protective Activity

A new flavonoid, saffloflavanside (1), a new sesquiterpene, safflomegastigside (2), and a new amide, saffloamide (3), together with twenty-two known compounds (4–25), were isolated from the flowers of Carthamus tinctorius L. Their structures were determined based on interpretation of their spectroscopic data and comparison with those reported in the literature. The protective effects against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated damage on human normal lung epithelial (BEAS-2B) cells of the compounds were evaluated using MTT assay and cellular immunofluorescence assay. The results showed that compounds 2–3, 8–11, and 15–19 exhibited protective effects against LPS-induced damage to BEAS-2B cells. Moreover, compounds 2–3, 8–11, and 15–19 can significantly downregulate the level of nuclear translocation of NF-κB p-p65. In summary, this study revealed chemical constituents with lung protective activity from C. tinctorius, which may be developed as a drug for the treatment of lung injury.     

双间隙输出腔开放腔的高频特性分析

 建立了S波段相对论速调管放大器双间隙输出腔开放腔的3维模型。采用时域有限差分法,通过监测激励电流源的响应计算了该双间隙输出腔的谐振频率、有载Q值、场分布以及特性阻抗,并分析了腔体结构尺寸对谐振频率、有载Q值和特性阻抗的影响。研究表明：腔体半径对开放腔的谐振频率影响很大,耦合孔尺寸对腔体谐振频率的影响较小;随着耦合孔张角增加,有载Q值逐渐减小;随着腔体半径增大、间隙的减小,腔体特性阻抗降低。研究结果可为S波段强流相对论速调管放大器双间隙输出腔的设计提供理论依据。     

Applications of Titanium Dioxide Nanostructure in Stomatology

Breakthroughs in the field of nanotechnology, especially in nanochemistry and nanofabrication technologies, have been attracting much attention, and various nanomaterials have recently been developed for biomedical applications. Among these nanomaterials, nanoscale titanium dioxide (nano-TiO₂) has been widely valued in stomatology due to the fact of its excellent biocompatibility, antibacterial activity, and photocatalytic activity as well as its potential use for applications such as dental implant surface modification, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, drug delivery carrier, dental material additives, and oral tumor diagnosis and treatment. However, the biosafety of nano-TiO₂ is controversial and has become a key constraint in the development of nano-TiO₂ applications in stomatology. Therefore, in this review, we summarize recent research regarding the applications of nano-TiO₂ in stomatology, with an emphasis on its performance characteristics in different fields, and evaluations of the biological security of nano-TiO₂ applications. In addition, we discuss the challenges, prospects, and future research directions regarding applications of nano-TiO₂ in stomatology that are significant and worthy of further exploration.     

Benzamides Substituted with Quinoline-Linked 1,2,4-Oxadiazole: Synthesis,Biological Activity and Toxicity to Zebrafish Embryo

To develop new compounds with high activity, broad spectrum and low-toxicity, 17 benzamides substituted with quinoline-linked 1,2,4-oxadiazole were designed using the splicing principle of active substructures and were synthesized. The biological activities were evaluated against 10 fungi, indicating that some of the synthetic compounds showed excellent fungicidal activities. For example, at 50 mg/L, the inhibitory activity of 13p (3-Cl-4-Cl substituted, 86.1%) against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum was superior to that of quinoxyfen (77.8%), and the inhibitory activity of 13f (3-CF₃ substituted, 77.8%) was comparable to that of quinoxyfen. The fungicidal activities of 13f and 13p to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum were better than that of quinoxyfen (14.19 mg/L), with EC₅₀ of 6.67 mg/L and 5.17 mg/L, respectively. Furthermore, the acute toxicity of 13p was 19.42 mg/L, classifying it as a low-toxic compound.     

The Intervention of Prebiotics on Depression via the Gut–Brain Axis

The imbalance of intestinal microbiota can cause the accumulation of endotoxin in the main circulation system of the human body, which has a great impact on human health. Increased work and life pressure have led to a rise in the number of people falling into depression, which has also reduced their quality of life. The gut–brain axis (GBA) is closely related to the pathological basis of depression, and intestinal microbiota can improve depressive symptoms through GBA. Previous studies have proven that prebiotics can modulate intestinal microbiota and thus participate in human health regulation. We reviewed the regulatory mechanism of intestinal microbiota on depression through GBA, and discussed the effects of prebiotics, including plant polysaccharides and polyphenols on the regulation of intestinal microbiota, providing new clues for the prevention and treatment of depression.     

Linker engineering in metal–organic frameworks for dark photocatalysis

Dark reactions featuring continuous activity under light off conditions play a critical role in natural photosynthesis. However, most artificial photocatalysts are inactive upon the removal of the light source, and the artificial photocatalysts with dark photocatalysis abilities have been rarely explored. Herein, we report a Ti-based metal–organic framework (MOF), MIL-125, exhibiting the capability of dark photocatalytic hydrogen production. Remarkably, the introduction of different functional groups onto the linkers enables distinctly different activities of the resulting MOFs (MIL-125-X, X = NH₂, NO₂, Br). Dynamic and thermodynamic investigations indicate that the production and lifetime of the Ti³⁺ intermediate are the key factors, due to the electron-donating/-withdrawing effect of the functional groups. As far as we know, this is the first report on dark photocatalysis over MOFs, providing new insights into the storage of irradiation energy and demonstrating their great potential in dark photocatalysis due to the great MOF diversity.

A Ti-based MOF with long-lived Ti³⁺ can achieve dark photocatalysis. The different groups on the organic linker modulate electron storage ability and the lifetime of Ti³⁺, significantly regulating dark photocatalytic activity in H₂ production.     

ON THE EXISTENCE WITH EXPONENTIAL DECAY AND THE BLOW-UP OF SOLUTIONS FOR COUPLED SYSTEMS OF SEMI-LINEAR CORNER-DEGENERATE PARABOLIC EQUATIONS WITH SINGULAR POTENTIALS

In this article,we study the initial boundary value problem of coupled semi-linear degenerate parabolic equations with a singular potential term on manifolds with corner singularities.Firstly,we introduce the corner type weighted p-Sobolev spaces and the weighted corner type Sobolev inequality,the Poincare′inequality,and the Hardy inequality.Then,by using the potential well method and the inequality mentioned above,we obtain an existence theorem of global solutions with exponential decay and show the blow-up in finite time of solutions for both cases with low initial energy and critical initial energy.Significantly,the relation between the above two phenomena is derived as a sharp condition.Moreover,we show that the global existence also holds for the case of a potential well family.     

Dynamic Variation of Amino Acid Contents and Identification of Sterols in Xinyang Mao Jian Green Tea

As important biomolecules in Camellia sinensis L., amino acids (AAs) are considered to contribute to the overall green tea sensory quality and undergo dynamic changes during growth. However, limited by analytical capacity, detailed AAs composition in different growth stages remains unclear. To address this question, we analyzed the dynamic changes of 23 AAs during leaf growth in Xinyang Mao Jian (XYMJ) green tea. Using amino acid analyzer, we demonstrated that most AAs are abundant on Pure Brightness Day and Grain Rain Day. After Grain Rain, 23 AAs decreased significantly. Further analysis shows that theanine has a high level on the day before Spring Equinox and Grain Rain, accounting for 44–61% of the total free AAs content in tea leaves. Glu, Pro, and Asp are the second most abundant AAs. Additionally, spinasterol and 22,23-dihydrospinasterol are first purified and identified in ethanol extract of XYMJ by silica gel column chromatography method. This study reveals the relationship between plucking days and the dynamic changes of AAs during the growth stage and proves the rationality of the traditional plucking days of XYMJ green tea.