Doganhuynh7541

Great efforts have been made recently to understand the effect(s) of urban environments on the circadian and seasonal physiology of wild animals, but the mechanisms involved remain largely unknown. Most laboratory studies and a few studies on animals in the wild suggest alterations occur in the physiological functions of organisms in urban habitats. Here, we addressed the effects of the interaction of seasons and urban environments on clock gene expression in three tissues of tree sparrows (Passer montanus). Tree sparrows (N = 30 per site per time of year) were procured from rural and urban habitats during periods corresponding to their three physiological states, i.e., June (longest photoperiod; reproductive phase), September (equinox photoperiod; refractory phase), and December (shortest photoperiod; sensitive phase). Birds (N = 5 per time per site per month) were sampled at six time points; ZT1, ZT5, ZT9, ZT13, ZT17, and ZT21 (ZT0 = sunrise time) and clock gene expression in the hypothalamus, pineal gland, and retina was studied. Our results show that there is persistence of the circadian clock in both rural and urban birds throughout the year. In urban birds Bmal1, Npas2, Per2, and Cry1 acrophases were advanced, compared to rural birds, while Clock acrophase was delayed, depending on the tissue and time of year. This difference could be because of changes in the availability, duration, and intensity of sunlight during different times of the year and/or differential photoreceptor sensitivities, differential physiological states, or a combination of all these factors. These important results reveal, for the first time in any species, season-dependent effects of an urban environment on the molecular machinery of the circadian clock.Three-dimensional (3D) tissue models such as epithelial spheroids or organoids have become popular for pre-clinical drug studies. In contrast to 2D monolayer culture, the characterization of 3D tissue models from non-invasive brightfield images is a significant challenge. To address this issue, here we report a deep-learning uncovered measurement of epithelial networks (Deep-LUMEN) assay. Deep-LUMEN is an object detection algorithm that has been fine-tuned to automatically uncover subtle differences in epithelial spheroid morphology from brightfield images. This algorithm can track changes in the luminal structure of tissue spheroids and distinguish between polarized and non-polarized lung epithelial spheroids. The Deep-LUMEN assay was validated by screening for changes in spheroid epithelial architecture in response to different extracellular matrices and drug treatments. Specifically, we found the dose-dependent toxicity of cyclosporin can be underestimated if the effect of the drug on tissue morphology is not considered. Hence, Deep-LUMEN could be used to assess drug effects and capture morphological changes in 3D spheroid models in a non-invasive manner.When designing molecular functional materials, the properties of the active specie, the dye, must be optimized fully accounting for the presence of a surrounding medium (a solvent, a polymeric matrix, etc.) that may largely alter the dye behavior. Here we present an effective model to account for the effects of the medium electronic polarizability on the spectral properties of charge-transfer dyes. Different classes of molecules are considered and the proposed antiadiabatic approach to solvation is contrasted with the adiabatic approach, currently adopted in all quantum chemical approaches to solvation. check details Transition frequencies and band-shapes are addressed, and the role of the medium polarizability on symmetry-breaking phenomena is also discussed.The objective of this study is to assess the potential anti-obesity effects of black garlic melanoidins (MLDs) and gut microbiota changes in an animal model, hypothesizing that the effects of oral administration of MLDs can be partially mediated by the modulation of intestinal microbiota via inhibiting the formation of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and promoting the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). The effects of MLDs in C57BL/6J mice with high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity were investigated for 12 weeks with low (50 mg kg-1 day-1), medium (100 mg kg-1 day-1) and high (200 mg kg-1 day-1) doses. The results indicated that oral administration of MLDs markedly reduced high fat diet-induced weight gain and white adipose tissue weights and reversed glucose tolerance, especially at high doses. Besides, MLDs could alleviate dyslipidaemia, significantly suppress hepatic lipid accumulation and steatosis and effectively ameliorate lipid metabolism. The plasma LPS reduced significantly and the SCFAs increasedand might be used as potential agents against obesity.Fucoxanthin is a xanthophyll carotenoid abundant in marine brown algae. The potential therapeutic effects of fucoxanthin on tumor intervention have been well documented, which have aroused great interests in utilizing fucoxanthin in functional foods and nutraceuticals. link2 However, the utilization of fucoxanthin as a nutraceutical in food and nutrient supplements is currently limited due to its low water solubility, poor stability, and limited bioaccessibility. Nano/micro-encapsulation is a technology that can overcome these challenges. A systematic review on the recent progresses in nano/micro-delivery systems to encapsulate fucoxanthin in foods or nutraceuticals is warranted. This article starts with a brief introduction of fucoxanthin and the challenges of oral delivery of fucoxanthin. Nano/micro-encapsulation technology is then covered, including materials and strategies for constructing the delivery system. Finally, future prospective has been discussed on properly designed oral delivery systems of fucoxanthin for managing cancer. Natural edible materials such as whey protein, casein, zein, gelatin, and starch have been successfully utilized to fabricate lipid-based, gel-based, or emulsion-based delivery systems, molecular nanocomplexes, and biopolymer nanoparticles with the aid of advanced processing techniques, such as freeze-drying, high pressure homogenization, sonication, anti-solvent precipitation, coacervation, ion crosslinking, ionic gelation, emulsification, and enzymatic conjugation. These formulated nano/micro-capsules have proven to be effective in stabilizing and enhancing the bioaccessibility of fucoxanthin. This review will inspire a surge of multidisciplinary research in a broader community of foods and motivate material scientists and researchers to focus on nano/micro-encapsulated fucoxanthin in order to facilitate the commercialization of orally-deliverable tumor intervention products.A well-defined PNN-Ru catalyst was revisited to self-condense 2-aminobenzyl alcohol in forming a series of novel aza-crown compounds [aza-12-crown-3 (1), aza-16-crown-4 (2) and aza-20-crown-5 (3)]. All aza-crown compounds are separated and determined by NMR, IR, and ESI-MS spectroscopy as well as X-ray crystallography, indicating the saddle structure of 1 and the twisted 1,3-alternate conformation structure of 3. These aza-crown compounds have been explored to study ferric initiation of transfer hydrogenation (TH) of ketones into their corresponding secondary alcohols in the presence of 2-propanol with a basic t-BuOK solution, achieving a high conversion (up to 95%) by a ferric complex with 2 in a low loading (0.05 mol%).Cisplatin and oxaliplatin are widely used anti-tumour chemotherapeutic agents with different spectra of activity. The therapeutic efficacy of such platinum-based drug is believed to, at least in part, result from formation of Pt-DNA adducts, followed by DNA damage response and ultimately apoptosis. However, it remains unclear whether these DNA lesions caused by cisplatin and oxaliplatin elicit distinct reactions in cellular signaling pathways. Here, a label-free comparative proteomic study was performed to profile the protein phosphorylation patterns using Pt-DNA probes with different ligand identities and geometries. Phosphorylated proteins recognizing different cisplatin- and oxaliplatin-DNA lesions were enriched and analyzed on LC-MS/MS. Proteomic analysis revealed that cisplatin mainly affected proteins involved in mRNA processing, while chromatin organization and rRNA processing are two major biological processes influenced by oxaliplatin. Changes to site-specific phosphorylation levels of two proteins YBX1 and UBF1 were also validated by Western blotting. In particular, platinum drug treatment in colon and liver cancer cell lines down-regulated S484 phosphorylation of UBF1, which is an essential transcription factor responsible for ribosomal DNA transcription activation, implying that inhibition of ribosome biogenesis might be involved in the cytotoxic mechanism of platinum drugs. Collectively, these results directly reflected distinct protein phosphorylation patterns triggered by cisplatin and oxaliplatin, and could also provide valuable resources for future mechanistic studies of platinum-based anti-tumour agents.Coordination polymers (CPs) have been extensively investigated for a variety of applications because of their tunable structures and properties. In this work, we demonstrated the potential of catalytic CPs in the fabrication of an integrated multifunctional composite for establishing a cascade amplified immunoassay. For this purpose, an Fe(iii)-based CP (FeCP) with peroxidase-like activity was employed as a model of catalytic CPs to simultaneously integrate glucose oxidase (GOx) and the anti-prostate specific antigen (anti-PSA) antibody through a self-adaptive inclusion process. This leads to the formation of a dual-functional anti-PSA/GOx@FeCP composite with cascade catalytic activity and capture ability to target the antigen. Benefiting from the shielding effect of FeCPs as a host, a significantly improved stability against harsh environments can be achieved for the loaded GOx and anti-PSA antibody in the composite. On this basis, by utilizing anti-PSA/GOx@FeCPs as a detection antibody, a colorimetric immunoassay based on the cascade catalysis of GOx and FeCPs as a signal amplified enhancer was developed for the detection of PSA. Under optimal conditions, satisfactory detection results have been achieved in both buffered aqueous solutions and serum samples. We believe that this study will open up a new avenue for the rational design and fabrication of multifunctional composites while offering a new cascade amplification strategy for PSA detection.Interface engineering is the most direct and efficient way to enhance the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity of transition-metal sulfides (TMSs). link3 However, present methods of engineering nano-interfaces remain to be improved. Here, we present a nitrate-pyrolysis method to create a sulfide-oxide interface on Cu2S for the first time. Specifically, a CoOx decorated Cu2S nanowire array on Cu foam (Cu2S-CoOx/CF) is prepared successfully, and the XPS result demonstrates the interfacial connection between Cu2S and CoOx. To afford a current density of 25 mA cm-2, Cu2S-CoOx/CF needs an overpotential of 255 mV, lower than that of Cu2S/CF (354 mV) and CoOx/CC (378 mV). These results indicate that the introduction of the sulfide-oxide interface is an efficient means to enhance the OER activity of Cu2S. And this paper should provide a novel route for more explorations in interface engineering for TMSs.