Betalains are plant pigments characterized by showing a wide range of beneficial properties for health. Its bioactive potential has been studied for the first time after its encapsulation in liposomes and subsequent a...
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Betalains are plant pigments characterized by showing a wide range of beneficial properties for health. Its bioactive potential has been studied for the first time after its encapsulation in liposomes and subsequent administration to the animal model caenorhabditis elegans. Phenylalanine-betaxanthin and indoline carboxylic acid-betacyanin encapsulated at concentrations of 25 and 500 mu M managed to reduce lipid accumulation and oxidative stress in the nematodes. Highly antioxidant betalains dopaxanthin and betanidin were also included in the survival analyses. The results showed that phenylalanine-betaxanthin was the most effective betalain by increasing the lifespan of c. elegans by 21.8%. In addition, the administration of encapsulated natural betanidin increased the nematodes' survival rate by up to 13.8%. The preservation of the bioactive properties of betalains manifested in this study means that the stabilization of the plant pigments through encapsulation in liposomes can be postulated as a new way for administration in pharmacological and food applications.
Small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) are key regulators of post-transcriptional gene expression in bacteria. Despite the identification of hundreds of bacterial sRNAs, their roles on bacterial physiology and virulence remain...
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Small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) are key regulators of post-transcriptional gene expression in bacteria. Despite the identification of hundreds of bacterial sRNAs, their roles on bacterial physiology and virulence remain largely unknown, as is the case of bacteria of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc). Bcc is a group of opportunistic pathogens with relatively large genomes that can cause lethal lung infections amongst cystic fibrosis (cF) patients. To characterise sRNAs expressed by Bcc bacteria when infecting a host, the nematode caenorhabditis elegans was used as an infection model by the epidemiccF strain B. cenocepacia J2315. A total of 108 new and 31 previously described sRNAs with a predicted Rho independent terminator were identified, most of them located on chromosome 1. RIT11b, a sRNA downregulated under c. elegans infection conditions, was shown to directly affect B. cenocepacia virulence, biofilm formation, and swimming motility. RIT11b overexpression reduced the expression of the direct targets dusA and pyrc, involved in biofilm formation, epithelial cell adherence, and chronic infections in other organisms. The in vitro direct interaction of RIT11b with the dusA and pyrc messengers was demonstrated by electrophoretic mobility shift assays. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report on the functional characterization of a sRNA directly involved in B. cenocepacia virulence.
Nanoplastics in the environment could cause the ecological and health risks. Recently, the transgenerational toxicity of nanoplastic has been observed in different animal models. In this study, using caenorhabditis el...
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Nanoplastics in the environment could cause the ecological and health risks. Recently, the transgenerational toxicity of nanoplastic has been observed in different animal models. In this study, using caenorhabditis elegans as an animal model, we aimed to examine the role of alteration in germline fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signal in mediating the transgenerational toxicity of polystyrene nanoparticle (PS-NP). Exposure to 1-100 mu g/L PS-NP (20 nm) induced transgenerational increase in expressions of germline FGF ligand/EGL-17 and LRP-1 governing FGF secretion. Germline RNAi of egl-17 and lrp-1 resulted in resistance to transgenerational PS-NP toxicity, indicating the requirement of FGF ligand activation and secretion in formation of transgenerational PS-NP toxicity. Germline overexpression of EGL-17 increased expression of FGF receptor/EGL-15 in the offspring, and RNAi of egl-15 at F1 generation (F1-G) inhibited transgenerational toxicity of PS-NP exposed animals overexpressing germline EGL-17. EGL-15 functions in both the intestine and the neurons to control transgenerational PS-NP toxicity. Intestinal EGL-15 acted upstream of DAF-16 and BAR-1, and neuronal EGL-15 functioned upstream of MPK-1 to control PS-NP toxicity. Our results suggested the important role of activation in germline FGF signal in mediating the induction of transgenerational toxicity in organisms exposed to nanoplastics in the range of mu g/L.
A Ku wideband accurate compact 6-bit digital phase shifter is designed in this letter using three different switched phase shift structures: the switched L/c structure, T-type structure, and high-pass/low-pass network...
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A Ku wideband accurate compact 6-bit digital phase shifter is designed in this letter using three different switched phase shift structures: the switched L/c structure, T-type structure, and high-pass/low-pass network. To improve the bandwidth and the gain flatness, an improved switched L/c structure is used and the systematiccascade sequence of the phase shifter is optimized. The improved switched L/c structure solves the problem that conventional L/c networks are hypersensitive to the coupling capacitance at high-frequency input. As a result, the improved L/c structure can achieve wideband and better s-parameters. The proposed 6-bit switched phase shifter is implemented in 0.15-mu m GaAs pHEMT process. The measured root-mean-square (rms) phase error is less than 2.8 degrees at 12-18 GHz, and the average insertion loss (IL) is 6.5-6.9 dB. The chip size of the proposed 6-bit digital phase shifter is 3.1 x 1 mm(2), including all RF and dc pads, which is very suitable for radar systems.
For better understanding on effects of ablation environmental factors (oxygen partial pressure P(O2) and gas flow scouring), multiple experiments and multiscale simulations based on thermally sprayed Zrc-Tac system we...
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For better understanding on effects of ablation environmental factors (oxygen partial pressure P(O2) and gas flow scouring), multiple experiments and multiscale simulations based on thermally sprayed Zrc-Tac system were conducted. High P(O2) was found helpful to accelerate Ta2O5/ZrO2 mutual diffusion by variable P(O2) oxidation at 1500 degrees c (5-50 kPa). Effects of gas flow scouring was evaluated by flow filed simulation coupling laser and oxyacetylene ablations, from which its promotion effect on Ta2O5/ZrO2 diffusion efficiency was found. The increased Ta2O5/ZrO2 diffusion efficiency will accelerate the structure instability of Ta doped c-ZrO2 skeletons due to Zr-O bond length extension around Ta atoms.
compared with conventional air combustion, the combustion mode and medium of unconventional combustion technologies (oxy-fuel combustion, moderate or intense low oxygen dilution (MILD) combustion, MILD-oxy combustion,...
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compared with conventional air combustion, the combustion mode and medium of unconventional combustion technologies (oxy-fuel combustion, moderate or intense low oxygen dilution (MILD) combustion, MILD-oxy combustion, pressurized oxy-fuel combustion (POc), and chemical looping combustion (cLc)) exhibit signifi-cant changes, and the gasification behavior of coal char also changes, which can influence the flame temperature, heat transfer, char combustion, NOx emissions, and even particulate matter (PM) formation. This study sys-temically reviews the current progress in coal char gasification reaction behavior under different unconventional combustion modes. First, the combustion principle and char gasification behavior during unconventional com-bustion modes of pulverized coal are summarized. Next, the effects of the operating conditions (such as tem-perature, bulk diffusivity, and species concentration, etc.) on the gasification behavior are discussed. The transformation between the combustion and gasification regimes during pulverized coal combustion can be realized by adjusting the operating parameters. In addition, the influencing mechanisms of the gasification re-action on pulverized coal combustion, including flame temperature, heat transfer, char burnout, NOx emissions and PM formation, are clarified. Especially, NOx emissions can be further reduced by enhancing char gasification with three aspects: the dilution oxygen effect, homogeneous reduction effect, and heterogeneous reduction ef-fect. Besides, the current challenges of these unconventional combustion technologies are summarized, and their application scenarios are expected to achieve cO2 mitigation targets. Finally, this work concludes it necessary to explore the internal association between enhanced gasification and reduced NOx emissions, which is expected to provide valuable guidance for c/N synergetic reduced emissions in the wide applications of carbon-based solid fuels.
Regulating cell behavior using nanotopography has been widely implemented. To facilitate cell adhesion, physical nanotopography is usually coated with adhesive proteins such as fibronectin (FN). However, the confoundi...
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Regulating cell behavior using nanotopography has been widely implemented. To facilitate cell adhesion, physical nanotopography is usually coated with adhesive proteins such as fibronectin (FN). However, the confounding effects of physical and biochemical cues of nanotopography hinder the understanding of nanotopography in regulating cell behavior, which ultimately limits the biomedical applications of nanotopography. To delineate the roles of the physical and biochemical cues in cell regulation, we fabricate substrates that have either the same physical nanotopography but different biochemical (FN) nanopatterns or identical FN nanopatterns but different physical nanotopographies. We then examine the influences of physical and biochemical cues of nanotopography on spreading, nuclear deformation, mechanotransduction, and function of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMScs). Our results reveal that physical topographies, especially nanogratings, dominantly control cell spreading, YAP localization, proliferation, and differentiation of hMScs. However, biochemical FN nanopatterns affect hMSc elongation, YAP intracellular localization, and lamin a/c (LAMAc) expression. Furthermore, we find that physical nanogratings induce nanoscale curvature of nuclei at the basal side, which attenuates the osteogenic differentiation of hMScs. collectively, our study highlights the dominant effect of physical nanotopography in regulating stem cell functions, while suggesting that fine-tuning of cell behavior can be achieved through altering the presentation of biochemical cues on substrate surfaces.
Environmental antibiotics raise serious health concerns due to their contribution to the obesity prevalence. Moreover, antibiotics promote antibiotic-resistance bacteria (ARB) which represent another emerging pollutan...
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Environmental antibiotics raise serious health concerns due to their contribution to the obesity prevalence. Moreover, antibiotics promote antibiotic-resistance bacteria (ARB) which represent another emerging pollutant. However, the interaction between antibiotic and ARB in the obesogenic effects remained unexplored. In the present study, the obesogenic effects of tetracycline antibiotic (TcH) and ARB containing tetA were studied on c. elegans, and E. coli OP50 (OP50) was referred as a normal bacterial food. Results showed that TcH stimulated nematode triglyceride contents, while ARB alone had no significant influences. The combination of TcH and ARB showed less obesogenic effects than TcH alone, showing antagonism. Biochemical assays showed that the combination of TcH and ARB showed similar effects to ARB alone, and had less increases in lipid metabolism enzymes or metabolites than those of TcH or ARB alone, supporting the antagonism. In the nontargeted metabolomic analysis, TcH with ARB showed less significantly changed metabolites (ScMs) in the nematodes than TcH or ARB alone, partially explaining the antagonism. The metabolomic results also pointed out the significant involvement of amino acids, the carboxylic acids and derivatives, and also the benzene and substituted derivatives in the obesogenic effects of TcH and ARB. The findings of the present study provided a direct support for interaction between antibiotics and ARB underlying their health risks.
The influence of sulphur atmosphere on conventionally cast (cM) and on electron beam melted (EBM) g -TiAl RNT650 alloy exposed to a 1% (vol.) H2S -air atmosphere at 650 degrees c for 500 h was investigated. The materi...
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The influence of sulphur atmosphere on conventionally cast (cM) and on electron beam melted (EBM) g -TiAl RNT650 alloy exposed to a 1% (vol.) H2S -air atmosphere at 650 degrees c for 500 h was investigated. The material produced by cM showed a lower mass gain than the EBM material. XRD and TEM/EDS analyses indicated the formation of rutile-TiO2/(a-Al2-O3 + rutile-TiO2)/amorphous-Al2O3 sequence of phases. In EBM a coarse crystalline layer rich in aluminium, oxygen and a small amount of sulphur was found. The higher content of sulphur was in the scale bottom intermixed with amorphous alumina.(c) 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the cc BY-Nc-ND license (http://***/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
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