A Docosahexaenoic Acid Derivative (N-Benzyl Docosahexaenamide) as a Potential Therapeutic Candidate for Treatment of Ovarian Injury in the Mouse Model

Commonly used clinical chemotherapy drugs, such as cyclophosphamide (CTX), may cause injury to the ovaries. Hormone therapies can reduce the ovarian injury risk; however, they do not achieve the desired effect and have obvious side effects. Therefore, it is necessary to find a potential therapeutic candidate for ovarian injury after chemotherapy. N-Benzyl docosahexaenamide (NB-DHA) is a docosahexaenoic acid derivative. It was recently identified as the specific macamide with a high degree of unsaturation in maca (Lepidium meyenii). In this study, the purified NB-DHA was administered intragastrically to the mice with CTX-induced ovarian injury at three dose levels. Blood and tissue samples were collected to assess the regulation of NB-DHA on ovarian function. The results indicated that NB-DHA was effective in improving the disorder of estrous cycle, and the CTX+NB-H group can be recovered to normal levels. NB-DHA also significantly increased the number of primordial follicles, especially in the CTX+NB-M and CTX+NB-H groups. Follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone levels in all treatment groups and estradiol levels in the CTX+NB-H group returned to normal. mRNA expression of ovarian development-related genes was positive regulated. The proportion of granulosa cell apoptosis decreased significantly, especially in the CTX+NB-H group. The expression of anti-Müllerian hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone receptor significantly increased in ovarian tissues after NB-DHA treatment. NB-DHA may be a promising agent for treating ovarian injury.     

Computational Insight into Biotransformation Profiles of Organophosphorus Flame Retardants to Their Diester Metabolites by Cytochrome P450

Biotransformation of organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) mediated by cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) has a potential correlation with their toxicological effects on humans. In this work, we employed five typical OPFRs including tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP), tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCIPP), tri(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), triethyl phosphate (TEP), and 2-ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate (EHDPHP), and performed density functional theory (DFT) calculations to clarify the CYP-catalyzed biotransformation of five OPFRs to their diester metabolites. The DFT results show that the reaction mechanism consists of Cα-hydroxylation and O-dealkylation steps, and the biotransformation activities of five OPFRs may follow the order of TCEP ≈ TEP ≈ EHDPHP > TCIPP > TDCIPP. We further performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to unravel the binding interactions of five OPFRs in the CYP3A4 isoform. Binding mode analyses demonstrate that CYP3A4-mediated metabolism of TDCIPP, TCIPP, TCEP, and TEP can produce the diester metabolites, while EHDPHP metabolism may generate para-hydroxyEHDPHP as the primary metabolite. Moreover, the EHDPHP and TDCIPP have higher binding potential to CYP3A4 than TCIPP, TCEP, and TEP. This work reports the biotransformation profiles and binding features of five OPFRs in CYP, which can provide meaningful clues for the further studies of the metabolic fates of OPFRs and toxicological effects associated with the relevant metabolites.     

Promising Chemotherapy for Malignant Pediatric Brain Tumor in Recent Biological Insights

Brain tumors are the most widespread malignancies in children around the world. Chemotherapy plays a critical role in the treatment of these tumors. Although the current chemotherapy process has a remarkable outcome for a certain subtype of brain tumor, improving patient survival is still a major challenge. Further intensive treatment with conventional non-specific chemotherapy could cause additional adverse reactions without significant advancement in survival. Recently, patient derived brain tumor, xenograft, and whole genome analysis using deep sequencing technology has made a significant contribution to our understanding of cancer treatment. This realization has changed the focus to new agents, targeting the molecular pathways that are critical to tumor survival or proliferation. Thus, many novel drugs targeting epigenetic regulators or tyrosine kinase have been developed. These selective drugs may have less toxicity in normal cells and are expected to be more effective than non-specific chemotherapeutics. This review will summarize the latest novel targets and corresponding candidate drugs, which are promising chemotherapy for brain tumors according to the biological insights.     

Rapid Detection of Five Estrogens Added Illegally to Dietary Supplements by Combining TLC with Raman Imaging Microscope

Estrogens added illegally to dietary supplements are hazardous to human health. Traditional detection and analysis methods have many limitations, and we have developed an assay that combines thin-layer chromatography with Raman imaging microscopy (TLC-RIM). The five estrogens (estrone, estradiol, estriol, ethinyl estradiol, and diethylstilbestrol) were initially separated by TLC, then detected by area scanning Raman imaging with a 532 nm laser under a microscope. Raman spectra were obtained for each estrogen, which were used for detecting estrogen illegally added to botanical dietary supplements. The LOD of each estrogen was 0.4, 1.0, 0.8, 0.2, and 0.2 mg/mL, respectively. The matrix in the real sample did not interfere with the detection of estrogens. The method was fast, sensitive, stable, specific, and reliable.     

高导电性ZAO陶瓷靶材及薄膜的制备

用热等静压法烧结制备了高导电性ZAO(铝掺杂氧化锌)陶瓷靶材,并用直流磁控溅射法制备出ZAO透明导电薄膜。靶材的致密度达98.7%,电阻率为2.2?03·cm;制得薄膜的最低电阻率为9.3?04·cm,可见光平均透射率大于85%。浅析了靶材的组织结构及靶材的电学、力学性能和薄膜制备的主要实验参数对其光、电性能的影响。     

非线性噪声放大器频谱畸变分析

本文研究了噪声放大器非线性特性造成的频谱畸变失真,讨论了随机过程通过非线性系统前后的二阶矩特性变化及其关系,导出了通用的非线性系统的输出随机过程相关函数及功率谱的求解公式,并结合具体例子计算了不同噪声强度情况下的输出功率谱,实测结果验证了理论分析的正确性,最后是文章的结论。     

美国米勒公民科学素养测评指标体系的形成与演变

美国学者J.D.米勒教授首创了公民科学素养测评指标体系,为科学评估公众科学素养水平提供了有效工具.本文论述了米勒公民科学素养测评指标体系的产生背景、形成过程与演变历程及其国际应用,并揭示了其对我国当前公民科学素质测评指标建设所具有的借鉴意义.     

光折变晶体中双光束耦合时间响应特性的研究

从描述双光束耦合规律的动态方程组出发．在考虑了光栅调制度变化后，给出了包含晶体固有参数、入射总光强、入射夹角、光强比等变量在内的写入响应时间解析表达式，实验结果与理论分析定性符合很好。     

Effect of biaxial strain and hydrostatic pressure on the magnetic properties of bilayer CrI3

Two-dimensional van der Waals magnetic materials are intriguing for applications in the future spintronics devices, so it is crucial to explore strategy to control the magnetic properties. Here, we carried out first-principles calculations and Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the effect of biaxial strain and hydrostatic pressure on the magnetic properties of the bilayer CrI₃. We found that the magnetic anisotropy, intralayer and interlayer exchange interactions, and Curie temperature can be tuned by biaxial strain and hydrostatic pressure. Large compressive biaxial strain may induce a ferromagneticto-antiferromagnetic transition of both CrI₃ layers. The hydrostatic pressure could enhance the intralayer exchange interaction significantly and hence largely boost the Curie temperature. The effect of the biaxial strain and hydrostatic pressure revealed in the bilayer CrI₃ may be generalized to other two-dimensional magnetic materials.     

基于溶液温度差谱分析的ATR-FTIR原位测量方法

作为一种原位、快速、无损坏的中红外光谱分析技术,ATR-FTIR已在很多工程领域得到越来越多的应用,尤其是针对结晶过程溶液浓度的原位实时测量。水是一种常用的结晶溶剂,在中红外波段具有强吸收峰,并且在不同温度下具有光谱吸收差异性,因而不能忽略溶剂水和温度对溶液浓度的中红外光谱测量带来的影响。以朗伯-比尔定律为基础,提出采用溶液光谱减去相应温度下的溶剂光谱的方法,从而能准确地测量溶液浓度。以L-谷氨酸溶液结晶过程为例,对L-谷氨酸水溶液的原始光谱数据、溶液光谱扣除常温(25℃)溶剂水的光谱数据以及溶液光谱对应温度扣除溶剂水的光谱数据分别进行建模。结果表明,提出的对应温度差谱法能有效消除溶剂水峰对溶质光谱测量的干扰,明显地降低了溶液浓度光谱标定模型的预测误差。该方法对提高原位ATR-FTIR光谱检测精度的实际应用具有一定的参考价值。