1H NMR Metabolomics of Chinese Human Milk at Different Stages of Lactation among Secretors and Non-Secretors

Human milk is an intricate, bioactive food promoting infant health. We studied the composition of human milk samples collected over an 8-month lactation using ¹H NMR metabolomics. A total of 72 human breast milk samples were collected from ten Chinese mothers at eight different time points. The concentrations of ten human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), fucose and lactose were quantified. Six of the mothers were classified as Lewis-positive secretors (Se⁺Le⁺) and four as Lewis-positive non-secretors (Se⁻Le⁺) based on the levels of 2′-fucosyllactose (2′-FL), lacto-N-fucopentaose (LNFP) II, lactodifucotetraose (LDFT) and lacto-N-neotetraose (LNnT). Acetate, citrate, short/medium-chain fatty acids, glutamine and urea showed a time-dependent trend in relation to the stage of lactation. The concentrations of 2′-FL, 3-FL (3-fucosyllactose), 3′-SL (3′-sialyllactose), LDFT, LNFP I, LNFP II, LNFP III, LNnT, LNT (lacto-N-tetraose), and fucose were statistically different between secretors and non-secretors. A temporal difference of approximately 1–2 months between the development of non-secretor and secretor HMO profiles was shown. The results highlighted the importance of long-term breastfeeding, especially among non-secretors.     

Nano-Based Co-Delivery System for Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

A systemic autoimmune condition known as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has a significant impact on patients’ quality of life. Given the complexity of RA’s biology, no single treatment can totally block the disease’s progression. The combined use of co-delivery regimens integrating various diverse mechanisms has been widely acknowledged as a way to make up for the drawbacks of single therapy. These days, co-delivery systems have been frequently utilized for co-treatment, getting over drug limitations, imaging of inflammatory areas, and inducing reactions. Various small molecules, nucleic acid drugs, and enzyme-like agents intended for co-delivery are frequently capable of producing the ability to require positive outcomes. In addition, the excellent response effect of phototherapeutic agents has led to their frequent use for delivery together with chemotherapeutics. In this review, we discuss different types of nano-based co-delivery systems and their advantages, limitations, and future directions. In addition, we review the prospects and predicted challenges for the combining of phototherapeutic agents with conventional drugs, hoping to provide some theoretical support for future in-depth studies of nano-based co-delivery systems and phototherapeutic agents.     

Oxidative Desulfurization Activity of NIT Nitroxide Radical Modified Metallophthalocyanine

In the present study, metallophthalocyanines were modified with NIT nitroxide radicals through chemical bonds to prepare a series of metallophthalocyanines–NIT catalysts (MPcTcCl₈-NIT, M=Mn²⁺, Fe²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺) applied for oxidative desulfurization of thiophene (T) in model fuel. The MPcTcCl₈-NIT catalysts were characterized by FTIR, UV-Vis, ESR, and XPS spectra. The oxidative desulfurization activity of MPcTcCl₈-NIT catalysts was studied in a biomimetic catalytic system using molecular O₂ as the oxidant. The MPcTcCl₈-NIT catalysts exhibited high catalytic activities for the oxidation of thiophene in model fuel. The desulfurization rate of ZnPcTcCl₈-NIT for thiophene reached to 99.61%, which was 20.53% higher than that of pure ZnPcTcCl₈ (79.08%) under room temperature and natural light. The results demonstrated that MPcTcCl₈-NIT catalysts could achieve more effective desulfurization rate under milder conditions than that of the metallophthalocyanines. The NIT nitroxide radicals also could improve the catalytic activity of metallophthalocyanine based on the synergistic oxidation effect. The stability experiments for ZnPcTcCl₈-NIT showed that the catalyst still had a high desulfurization rate of 92.37% after five times recycling. All these findings indicate that the application of MPcTcCl₈-NIT catalysts provides a potential new way for the desulfurization performance of thiophene in fuel.     

Design,Synthesis and Bioactivity of Novel Low Bee-Toxicity Compounds Based on Flupyrimin

Neonicotinoids are important insecticides for controlling aphids in agriculture. Growing research suggested that neonicotinoid insecticides are a key factor causing the decline of global pollinator insects, such as bees. Flupyrimin (FLP) is a novel nicotinic insecticide with unique biological properties and no cross-resistance, and is safe for pollinators. Using FLP as the lead compound, a series of novel compounds were designed and synthesized by replacing the amide fragment with a sulfonamideone. Their structures were confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and HRMS spectra. Bioassay results showed that compound 2j had good insecticidal activity against Aphis glycines with an LC₅₀ value of 20.93 mg/L. Meanwhile, compound 2j showed significantly lower acute oral and contact toxicity to Apis mellifera. In addition, compound 2j interacted well with the protein in insect acetylcholine binding protein (AChBP). The molecular docking on honeybee nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) indicated that the sulfonamide group of compound 2j did not form a hydrogen bond with Arg173 of the β subunit, which conforms to the reported low bee-toxicity conformation. In general, target compound 2j can be regarded as a bee-friendly insecticide candidate.     

Improving Catalytic Activity of “Janus” MoSSe Based on Surface Interface Regulation

The monolayer Janus MoSSe is considered to be a promising catalytic material due to its unique asymmetric structure. In order to improve its catalytic performance for hydrogen evolution reactions (HERs) and oxygen evolution reactions (OERs), many attempts have been made. In this work, a series of transition metal (TM) atoms were anchored on the Janus MoSSe surface to screen effective TM single-atom catalysts for HERs and OERs through density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Fe@MoSSe presents excellent HERs performance and Ni@MoSSe presents excellent catalytic performance for OERs with extremely low over-potential of 0.32 V. The enhanced activity is attributed to the modest energy level of the d band center of the transition metal atom, and the transition metal atom improves the conductivity of the original MoSSe and offers unoccupied states near the Fermi level. At the same time, the anchoring of transition metal atoms redistributes the charge in the MoSSe system, which effectively regulates the electronic structure of the material itself. The strain calculation shows that the activity of the catalyst can be improved by reasonably adjusting the value of the applied strain.     

Analyze the Effect of Steaming on the Chemical Constituents,Defecation and Liver Injury of Polygonum Multiflorum Radix (Heshouwu) by Multiple Analysis Techniques Combined with Multivariate Statistics

Steaming is a characteristic pharmaceutical skill in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Polygonum multiflorum radix (PM) and its steamed products have been used in Asia for centuries. Raw Polygonum multiflorum radix (RPM) is commonly used to promote defecation but can exert toxicity, especially in liver injury. However, RPM can be made converted into Polygoni multiflori radix praeparata (PMP) by steaming; this is considered a good method to reduce defecation and liver injury caused by PM in Asia. The chemical constituents of TCM are the key to its action. We systematically analyzed the effect of steaming on PM constituents, defecation, and liver injury. We identified 13 main constituents from PM and PMP; the results showed that after being steamed, two constituents (TSG, catechin) had decreased, six constituents (such as procyanidin B1 or B2) had disappeared, four constituents (such as emodin, physcion) had increased, emodin-8-O-β-D-glucoside remained unchanged in PMP. Pharmacological experiments showed that PM could promote defecation; however, there were no obvious effects in response to PMP. Only a high dose of PM for 14 days caused some degree of liver injury, although this injury disappeared after 14 days of drug withdrawal. Network pharmacology and molecular docking studies showed that TSG, emodin and physcion were the most effective in promoting defecation and causing liver injury. Collectively, our findings show that steaming can reduce the effect of PM on promoting defecation and reducing liver injury. TSG may be one of the important constituents in PM that can promote defecation and cause liver injury.     

Preparation and Characterization of an Ancient Aminopeptidase Obtained from Ancestral Sequence Reconstruction for L-Carnosine Synthesis

As a biologically active peptide, L-carnosine has been widely used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and health care industries due to its various physiological properties. However, relatively little research is available regarding L-carnosine’s enzymatic synthesis function. In this study, a potential enzyme sequence with the function of carnosine synthesizing was screened out using the ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) technique. Identified with L-carnosine synthesis activity, this enzyme was further confirmed using autoproteolytic phenomenon via Western blot and N-terminal sequencing. After purification, the enzymatic properties of LUCA–DmpA were characterized. The melting temperature (T_m) and denaturation enthalpy (ΔH) of LUCA–DmpA were 60.27 ± 1.24 °C and 1306.00 ± 26.73 kJ·mol⁻¹, respectively. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy results showed that this ancestral enzyme was composed of α-helix (35.23 ± 0.06%), β-sheet (11.06 ± 0.06%), β-turn (23.67 ± 0.06%) and random coil (32.03 ± 0.06%). The enzyme was characterized with the optimal temperature and pH of 45 °C and 9.0, respectively. Notably, LUCA–DmpA was also characterized with remarkable pH tolerance based on the observation of more than 85% remaining enzymatic activity after incubation at different pH buffers (pH = 6–11) for 12 h. Additionally, rather than being improved or inhibited by metal ions, its enzymatic activity was found to be promoted by introducing organic solvent with a larger log P value. Based on these homology modeling results, the screened LUCA–DmpA is suggested to have further optimization potential, and thereafter to be offered as a promising candidate for real industrial applications.     

H-Bonding Room Temperature Phosphorescence Materials via Facile Preparation for Water-Stimulated Photoluminescent Ink

Pure organic room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials built upon noncovalent interactions have attracted much attention because of their high efficiency, long lifetime, and stimulus-responsive behavior. However, there are limited reports of noncovalent RTP materials because of the lack of specific design principles and clear mechanisms. Here, we report on a noncovalent material prepared via facile grinding that can emit fluorescence and RTP emission differing from their components’ photoluminescent behavior. Exciplex can be formed during the preparation process to act as the minimum emission unit. We found that H-bonds in the RTP system provide restriction to nonradiative transition but also enhance energy transformation and energy level degeneracy in the system. Moreover, water-stimulated photoluminescent ink is produced from the materials to achieve double-encryption application with good resolution.     

Cold Sintering of Li6.4La3Zr1.4Ta0.6O12/PEO Composite Solid Electrolytes

Ceramic/polymer composite solid electrolytes integrate the high ionic conductivity of in ceramics and the flexibility of organic polymers. In practice, ceramic/polymer composite solid electrolytes are generally made into thin films rather than sintered into bulk due to processing temperature limitations. In this work, Li_6.4La₃Zr_1.4Ta_0.6O₁₂ (LLZTO)/polyethylene-oxide (PEO) electrolyte containing bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) as the lithium salt was successfully fabricated into bulk pellets via the cold sintering process (CSP). Using CSP, above 80% dense composite electrolyte pellets were obtained, and a high Li-ion conductivity of 2.4 × 10⁻⁴ S cm^–1 was achieved at room temperature. This work focuses on the conductivity contributions and microstructural development within the CSP process of composite solid electrolytes. Cold sintering provides an approach for bridging the gap in processing temperatures of ceramics and polymers, thereby enabling high-performance composites for electrochemical systems.