Effects of Different Extraction Methods on Vanilla Aroma

To establish the analytic conditions for examining the aroma quality of vanilla pods, we compared different extraction methods and identified a suitable option. We utilized headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME), steam distillation (SD), simultaneous steam distillation (SDE) and alcoholic extraction combined with gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to identify volatile components of vanilla pods. A total of 84 volatile compounds were identified in this experiment, of which SDE could identify the most volatile compounds, with a total of 51 species, followed by HS-SPME, with a total of 28 species. Ten volatile compounds were identified by extraction with a minimum of 35% alcohol. HS-SPME extraction provided the highest total aroma peak areas, and the peak areas of aldehydes, furans, alcohols, monoterpenes and phenols compounds were several times higher than those of the other extraction methods. The results showed that the two technologies, SDE and HS-SPME, could be used together to facilitate analysis of vanilla pod aroma.     

In Vitro and In Vivo Antibacterial Activity,Toxicity and Resistance Analysis of Pleuromutilin Derivative Z33 against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

The novel pleuromutilin derivative, which showed excellent in vitro antibacterial activity against MRSA, 22-(2-(2-(4-((4-(4-nitrophenyl)piperazin-1-yl)methyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)acetamido)phenyl)thioacety-l-yl-22-deoxypleuromutilin (Z33), was synthesized and characterized in our previous work. In this study, the preliminary pharmacodynamics and safety of Z33 were further evaluated. In in vitro antibacterial activity assays, Z33 was found to be a potent bactericidal antibiotic against MRSA that induced dose-dependent growth inhibition and long-term post-antibiotic effect (PAE). The drug-resistance test demonstrated that Z33 possessed a narrow mutant selection window and lower propensities to select resistance than that of tiamulin. Cytochrome P450 (CYP450) inhibition assay determined that the inhibitory effect of Z33 was similar to that of tiamulin against the activity of CYP3A4, and was lower than that of tiamulin on the activity of CYP2E1. Toxicity determination showed that both Z33 and tiamulin displayed low cytotoxicity of RAW264.7 cells. Furthermore, Z33 was found to be a high-security compound with a 50% lethal dose (LD₅₀) above 5000 mg/kg in the acute oral toxicity test in mice. In an in vivo antibacterial activity test, Z33 displayed better therapeutic effectiveness than tiamulin in the neutropenic mouse thigh infection model. In summary, Z33 was worthy of further development as a highly effective and safe antibiotic agent against MRSA infection.     

Antibacterial Activity of Aureonuclemycin Produced by Streptomyces aureus Strain SPRI-371

Actinomycetes play a vital role as one of the most important natural resources for both pharmaceutical and agricultural applications. The actinomycete strain SPRI-371, isolated from soil collected in Jiangsu province, China, was classified as Streptomyces aureus based on its morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular biological characteristics. Its bacterial activity metabolites were identified as aureonuclemycin (ANM), belonging to adenosine derivatives with the molecular formula C₁₆H₁₉N₅O₉ for ANM A and C₁₀H₁₃N₅O₃ for ANM B. Simultaneously, the industrial fermentation process of a mutated S. aureus strain SPRI-371 was optimized in a 20 m³ fermentation tank, featuring a rotation speed of 170 rpm, a pressure of 0.05 MPa, an inoculum age of 36–40 h and a dissolved oxygen level maintained at 1–30% within 40–80 h and at >60% in the later period, resulting in an ANM yield of >3700 mg/L. In the industrial separation of fermentation broth, the sulfuric acid solution was selected to adjust pH and 4# resin was used for adsorption. Then, it was resolved with 20% ethanol solution and concentrated in a vacuum (60–65 °C), with excellent results. Antibacterial experiments showed that ANM was less active or inactive against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola and most bacteria, yeast and fungi in vitro. However, in vivo experiments showed that ANM exhibited extremely significant protective and therapeutic activity against diseases caused by X. oryzae pv. oryzae and X. oryzae pv. oryzicola in rice and X. citri in oranges and lemons. In field trials, ANM A 150 gai/ha + ANM B 75 gai/ha exhibited excellent therapeutic activity against rice bacterial leaf blight, citrus canker and rice bacterial leaf streak. Furthermore, as the dosage and production cost of ANM are lower than those of commercial drugs, it has good application prospects.     

The Relationship between Procyanidin Structure and Their Protective Effect in a Parkinson’s Disease Model

This study evaluated the effect of grape seed-derived monomer, dimeric, and trimeric procyanidins on rat pheochromocytoma cell line (PC12) cells and in a zebrafish Parkinson’s disease (PD) model. PC12 cells were cultured with grape seed-derived procyanidins or deprenyl for 24 h and then exposed to 1.5 mm 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP⁺) for 24 h. Zebrafish larvae (AB strain) 3 days post-fertilization were incubated with deprenyl or grape seed-derived procyanidins in 400 µM 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) for 4 days. The results showed that the procyanidin dimers procyanidin B1 (B1), procyanidin B2 (B2), procyanidin B3 (B3), procyanidin B4 (B4), procyanidin B1-3-O-gallate (B1-G), procyanidin B2-3-O-gallate (B2-G), and the procyanidin trimer procyanidin C1 (C1) had a protective effect on PC12 cells, decreasing the damaged dopaminergic neurons and motor impairment in zebrafish. In PC12 cells and the zebrafish PD model, procyanidin (B1, B2, B3, B4, B1-G, B2-G, C1) treatment decreased the content of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA), increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and upregulated the expression of nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf2), NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). These results suggest that in PC12 cells and the zebrafish PD model, the neuroprotective effects of the procyanidins were positively correlated with their degree of polymerization.     

Adaptive coordination assemblies based on a flexible tetraazacyclododecane ligand for promoting carbon dioxide fixation

Coordination hosts based on flexible ligands have received increasing attention due to their inherent adaptive cavities that often show induced-fit guest binding and catalysis like enzymes. Herein, we report the controlled self-assembly of a series of homo/heterometallic coordination hosts (Me₄enPd)_2n(ML)_n [n = 2/3; M = Zn(ii)/Co(ii)/Ni(ii)/Cu(ii)/Pd(ii)/Ag(i); Me₄en: N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine] with different shapes (tube/cage) from a flexible tetraazacyclododecane-based pyridinyl ligand (L) and cis-blocking Me₄enPd(ii) units. While the Ag(i)-metalated ligand (AgL) gave rise to the formation of a (Me₄enPd)₄(ML)₂-type cage, all other M(ii) ions led to isostructural (Me₄enPd)₆(ML)₃-type tubular complexes. Structural transformations between cages and tubes could be realized through transmetalation of the ligand. The buffering effect on the ML panels endows the coordination tubes with remarkable acid–base resistance, which makes the (Me₄enPd)₆(ZnL)₃ host an effective catalyst for the CO₂ to CO₃²⁻ conversion. Control experiments suggested that the integration of multiple active Zn(ii) sites on the tubular host and the perfect geometry match between CO₃²⁻ and the cavity synergistically promoted such a conversion. Our results provide an important strategy for the design of adaptive coordination hosts to achieve efficient carbon fixation.

A series of coordination hosts were prepared and their applications in CO₂ fixation were studied.     

Promote the conductivity of solid polymer electrolyte at room temperature by constructing a dual range ionic conduction path

Poly(ethylene oxide)(PEO) is a classic matrix model for solid polymer electrolyte which can not only dissociate lithium-ions(Li+),but also can conduct Li+through segmental motion in long-range.However,the crystal aggregation state of PEO restricts the conduction of Li⁺ especially at room temperature.In this work,an amorphous polymer electrolyte with ethylene oxide(EO) and propylene oxide(PO) block structure(B-PEG@DMC) synthesized by the transesterification is firstly obtained,showing ...     

A method for evaluating viscosities of metallic glasses from the rates of thermal transformations

The apparent activation energies E(T) for the glass transition and crystallization in Pd_77.6Cu₆Si_16.5 and Pd₄₈Ni₃₂P₂₀ glass are seen to coincide with those for the viscous flow. This implies that both the rates of glass transition and crystallization in metallic glasses scale as the viscosity. Based on this proposition, the viscosity of a Pt₄₅Ni₃₀P₂₅ glass, for example, has been evaluated, by means of thermal measurements, from the glass transition far into the crystallization temperatures. The viscosity η decreases rapidly from 10¹³ P at 480 K to 10⁷ P at 580 K and is described by a Fulcher's expression as η = 10^?3 exp[5950/(T ? 320)].     

The Antioxidant and Hypolipidemic Effects of Mesona Chinensis Benth Extracts

In this study, the antioxidant and hypolipidemic effects of Mesona Chinensis Benth (MCB) extracts were evaluated. Seven fractions (F0, F10, F20, F30, F40, F50 and MTF) were obtained from the MCB ethanol extracts. Compared to the commercial antioxidants (vitamin C), MTF and F30 exhibited higher antioxidant activities in the antiradical activity test and the FRAP assay. The half-inhibition concentration (IC50) for MTF and F30 were 5.323 µg/mL and 5.278 µg/mL, respectively. MTF at 200 µg/mL significantly decreased the accumulation of TG in oleic acid (OA)-induced HepG2 cells and reversed the inhibitory effect of Compound C on AMPK (MTF and F30 significantly increased the glucose utilization of insulin-induced HepG2 cells). In addition, the components of MTF were identified by HPLC-MS, which were caffeic acid, quercetin 3-O-galactoside, isoquercetin, astragalin, rosmarinic acid, aromadendrin-3-O-rutinoside, rosmarinic acid-3-O-glucoside and kaempferol-7-O-glucoside. Through statistical correlations by Simca P software, it was found that the main antioxidant and hypolipidemic components of MCB might be caffeic acid, kaempferol-7-O-glucoside, rosmarinic acid-3-O-glucoside and aromadendrin-3-O-rutinoside, which may play important roles in the AMPK pathway. MTF and F30 in MCB could be potential health products for the treatment of hyperlipidemia.     

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.