Analysis of Components and Properties of Extractives from Alnus cremastogyne Pods from Different Provenances

Chemical components with anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties extracted from Alnus bark and leaves have been extensively studied. However, less attention has been paid to extractives from Alnus pods, which are mostly treated as waste. Here, extractives of Alnus cremastogyne pods from 12 provenances in Sichuan Province were studied for high value-added utilization of Alnus waste. The extractives were analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS), Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis spectra), and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity. A total of 58, 49, and 51 chemical components were found when the organic solvents of ethanol, petroleum ether, and ethyl acetate were used to collect extractives, respectively. These chemical components including Phytol, CIS-5,8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid, Germacrene D, Lupeol, and β-sitosterol, etc., have wide applications in the fields of pharmacy and cosmetics. Moreover, it was also found that extractives in ethanol and ethyl acetate had impressive UV resistance, especially for UV-C and UV-B blocking. The results showed that the maximum block ratio towards UV-C and UV-B could reach 99%. In addition, the ethanol extract showed good anti-oxidant activity with a maximum free radical scavenging rate of 96.19%. This comprehensive and systematic study on extractives from Alnus cremastogyne pods promotes the development of high-value utilization of Alnus components.     

DAD-Net: Classification of Alzheimer’s Disease Using ADASYN Oversampling Technique and Optimized Neural Network

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurological brain disorder that causes dementia and neurological dysfunction, affecting memory, behavior, and cognition. Deep Learning (DL), a kind of Artificial Intelligence (AI), has paved the way for new AD detection and automation methods. The DL model’s prediction accuracy depends on the dataset’s size. The DL models lose their accuracy when the dataset has an imbalanced class problem. This study aims to use the deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to develop a reliable and efficient method for identifying Alzheimer’s disease using MRI. In this study, we offer a new CNN architecture for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease with a modest number of parameters, making it perfect for training a smaller dataset. This proposed model correctly separates the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and displays class activation patterns on the brain as a heat map. The proposed Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease Network (DAD-Net) is developed from scratch to correctly classify the phases of Alzheimer’s disease while reducing parameters and computation costs. The Kaggle MRI image dataset has a severe problem with class imbalance. Therefore, we used a synthetic oversampling technique to distribute the image throughout the classes and avoid the problem. Precision, recall, F1-score, Area Under the Curve (AUC), and loss are all used to compare the proposed DAD-Net against DEMENET and CNN Model. For accuracy, AUC, F1-score, precision, and recall, the DAD-Net achieved the following values for evaluation metrics: 99.22%, 99.91%, 99.19%, 99.30%, and 99.14%, respectively. The presented DAD-Net outperforms other state-of-the-art models in all evaluation metrics, according to the simulation results.     

Tannin-Derived Hard Carbon for Stable Lithium-Ion Anode

Graphite anodes are well established for commercial use in lithium-ion battery systems. However, the limited capacity of graphite limits the further development of lithium-ion batteries. Hard carbon obtained from biomass is a highly promising anode material, with the advantage of enriched microcrystalline structure characteristics for better lithium storage. Tannin, a secondary product of metabolism during plant growth, has a rich source on earth. But the mechanism of hard carbon obtained from its derivation in lithium-ion batteries has been little studied. This paper successfully applied the hard carbon obtained from tannin as anode and illustrated the relationship between its structure and lithium storage performance. Meanwhile, to further enhance the performance, graphene oxide is skillfully compounded. The contact with the electrolyte and the charge transfer capability are effectively enhanced, then the capacity of PVP-HC is 255.5 mAh g⁻¹ after 200 cycles at a current density of 400 mA g⁻¹, with a capacity retention rate of 91.25%. The present work lays the foundation and opens up ideas for the application of biomass-derived hard carbon in lithium anodes.     

The Amomum tsao-ko Essential Oils Inhibited Inflammation and Apoptosis through p38/JNK MAPK Signaling Pathway and Alleviated Gentamicin-Induced Acute Kidney Injury

The clinical application of gentamicin may lead to acute kidney injury (AKI), and the nephrotoxicity of gentamicin is related to the pathological mechanism of several oxidative and inflammatory cytokines. Plant-derived essential oils have good anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This study aimed to clarify the protective effect of Amomum tsao-ko essential oils (AOs) on gentamicin-induced AKI in rats and its possible mechanism. The rat AKI model was induced by intraperitoneal injection of gentamicin. After 14 days of oral AO treatment, the renal function and pathological changes of the kidney tissues were evaluated, and the level of kidney tissue oxidative stress was detected. The content of inflammatory cytokines was measured by ELISA. The expression of ERK1/2, JNK1/2, p38, NF-κB, caspase-3, and Bax/Bcl-2 proteins were estimated by Western blot analysis. The results showed that taking AO reduced the contents of serum urea and creatinine in AKI rats and improve the pathological changes and oxidative stress of the kidney tissue in rats. At the same time, AO reduced inflammation and apoptosis during AKI by regulating the MAPK pathway. The data show that AO has a protective effect on the kidneys and may be a potential drug for treating kidney injury.     

Radical-Induced Cascade Annulation/Hydrocarbonylation for Construction of 2-Aryl-4H-chromen-4-ones

A robust metal- and solvent-free cascade radical-induced C-N cleavage/intramolecular 6-endo-dig annulation/hydrocarbonylation for the synthesis of the valuable 2-aryl-4H-chromen-4-ones is described. This practical synthesis strategy utilizes propargylamines and air as the oxygen source and green carbonylation reagent, in which propargylamines are activated by the inexpensive and available dimethyl 2,2′-azobis(2-methylpropionate) (AIBME) and (PhSe)₂ as the radical initiators. This simple and green protocol features wide substrate adaptability, good functional group tolerance, and amenability to scaling up and derivatizations.     

Protective Effect of Flavonoids against Methylglyoxal-Induced Oxidative Stress in PC-12 Neuroblastoma Cells and Its Structure–Activity Relationships

Methylglyoxal-induced oxidative stress and cytotoxicity are the main factors causing neuronal death-related, diabetically induced memory impairment. Antioxidant and anti-apoptotic therapy are potential intervention strategies. In this study, 25 flavonoids with different substructures were assayed for protecting PC-12 cells from methylglyoxal-induced damage. A structure–activity relationship (SAR) analysis indicated that the absence of the double bond at C-2 and C-3, substitutions of the gallate group at the 3 position, the pyrogallol group at the B-ring, and the R configuration of the 3 position enhanced the protection of flavan-3-ols, and a hydroxyl substitution at the 4′ and meta-positions were important for the protection of flavonol. These SARs were further confirmed by molecular docking using the active site of the Keap1–Nrf2 complex as the receptor. The mechanistic study demonstrated that EGCG with the lowest EC₅₀ protected the PC-12 cells from methylglyoxal-induced damage by reducing oxidative stress via the Nrf2/Keap1/HO-1 and Bcl-2/Bax signaling pathways. These results suggested that flavan-3-ols might be a potential dietary supplement for protection against diabetic encephalopathy.     

Natural Deep Eutectic Solvent-Assisted Extraction,Structural Characterization,and Immunomodulatory Activity of Polysaccharides from Paecilomyces hepiali

Polysaccharides, which can be affected by different preparations, play a crucial role in the biological function of Paecilomyces hepiali (PHPS) as a health food. To explore high-valued polysaccharides and reduce the negative influence of human involvement, a green tailorable deep eutectic solvent (DES) was applied to optimize the extraction of polysaccharides (PHPS-D), followed by the evaluation of the structural properties and immunomodulation by comparison with the hot-water method (PHPS-W). The results indicated that the best system for PHPS-D was a type of carboxylic acid-based DES consisting of choline chloride and succinic acid in the molar ratio of 1:3, with a 30% water content. The optimal condition was as follows: liquid–solid ratio of 50 mL/g, extraction temperature of 85 °C, and extraction time of 1.7 h. The actual PHPS-D yield was 12.78 ± 0.17%, which was obviously higher than that of PHPS-W. The structural characteristics suggested that PHPS-D contained more uronic acid (22.34 ± 1.38%) and glucose (40.3 ± 0.5%), with a higher molecular weight (3.26 × 10⁵ g/mol) and longer radius of gyration (78.2 ± 3.6 nm), as well as extended chain conformation, compared with PHPS-W, and these results were confirmed by AFM and SEM. Immunomodulatory assays suggested that PHPS-D showed better performance than PHPS-W regarding pinocytic activity and the secretion of NO and pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1β) by activating the corresponding mRNA expression in RAW264.7 cells. This study showed that carboxylic acid-based DES could be a promising tailorable green system for acidic polysaccharide preparation and the valorization of P. hepiali in functional foods.     

Control Efficacy of Salicylic Acid Microcapsules against Postharvest Blue Mold in Apple Fruit

Salicylic acid (SA) is a natural inducer of disease resistance in fruit, but its application in the food industry is limited due to low water solubility. Here, SA was encapsulated in β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) via the host–guest inclusion complexation method, and the efficacy of SA microcapsules (SAM) against blue mold caused by Penicillium expansum in postharvest apple fruit was elucidated. It was observed that SAM was the most effective in inhibiting the mycelial growth of P. expansum in vitro. SAM was also superior to SA for control of blue mold under in vivo conditions. Enzyme activity analysis revealed that both SA and SAM enhanced the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) in apple fruit, whereas SAM led to higher SOD activities than SA. Total phenolic contents in the SAM group were higher than those in the SA group at the early stage of storage. SAM also improved fruit quality by retarding firmness loss and maintaining higher total soluble solids (TSS) contents. These findings indicate that microcapsules can serve as a promising formulation to load SA for increasing P. expansum inhibition activity and improving quality attributes in apple fruit.     

Urea Synthesis from Isocyanides and O-Benzoyl Hydroxylamines Catalyzed by a Copper Salt

In the presence of CuOAc, a series of unsymmetric ureas can be generated in moderate to good yields under mild reaction conditions (10 mol% of CuOAc, 2 equiv t-BuONa or PhONa, 30 °C), using aryl isocyanides and O-benzoyl hydroxylamines as the readily accessible starting materials. The reactions might undergo a cascade process involving isocyanide insertion into the N-O bond and Mumm-type rearrangement. This work represents a rare example of isocyanide insertion into N-O bonds, which would extend isocyanide insertion chemistry.