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(1) Background: Diabetes is a common metabolic disease that seriously endangers human health. In the present study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of the active ingredient Eleutheroside B (EB) from the traditional Chinese medicine Eleutheroside on diabetes mellitus in a zebrafish model. Concomitant hepatic injury was also analysed, along with the study of possible molecular mechanisms using metabolomics technology. This work should provide some theoretical references for future experimental studies. (2) Methods: A zebrafish diabetes model was constructed by soaking in a 1.75% glucose solution and feeding a high-fat diet. The intervention drug groups were metformin (100 μg∙mL−1) and EB (50, 100, and 150 μg∙mL−1) via water-soluble exposure for 30 days. Glucose, TG, TC, LDL-C, and HDL-C were evaluated in different treatment groups. GLUT4 protein expression was also evaluated in each group, and liver injury was observed by HE staining. Metabolomics techniques were used to investigate the mechanism by which EB regulates endogenous markers and metabolic pathways during the development of diabetes. (3) Results: All EB treatment groups in diabetic zebrafish showed significantly reduced body mass index (BMI) and improved blood glucose and lipid profiles. EB was found to upregulate GLUT4 protein expression and ameliorate the liver injury caused by diabetes. Metabolomics studies showed that EB causes changes in the metabolic profile of diabetic zebrafish. These were related to the regulation of purine metabolism, cytochrome P450, caffeine metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, the mTOR signalling pathway, insulin resistance, and glycerophospholipid metabolism. (4) Conclusions: EB has a hypoglycaemic effect in diabetic zebrafish as well as significantly improving disorders of glycolipid metabolism. The mechanism of action of EB may involve regulation of the mTOR signalling pathway, purine metabolism, caffeine metabolism, and glycerophospholipid metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regeneration has been considered as an ideal way for the post-treatment of waste FCC catalyst (ECat). In this work, the degeneration mechanism of ECat was firstly researched and attributed to the increasing of strong acid sites accessibility of ECat in contrast with fresh FCC catalyst by adsorption FTIR. Based on the proposed degeneration mechanism, ECat was successfully regenerated through suitable weakening for strong acid sites by boron modification. Characterization and evaluation results suggested that, the strong acid sites of regenerated ECat (R-ECat) were apparently decreased by boron modification which had significantly improve the heavy oil catalytic cracking performance of R-ECat. Because of the excellent performance, R-ECat in this work could successfully substitute for partial fresh FCC catalyst in FCC unit, which would provide a practicable way for the reutilization of ECat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EWT zeolite belongs to ultra-large pore zeolite with the 10MR and 21MR channels, which has good thermal stability, certain acid strength and good application prospects in petroleum refining and petrochemical reactions. However, EWT zeolite has fewer medium/strong acid sites, especially Brönsted acid sites, which makes it difficult to apply to acid-catalyzed reactions. The regulation of acid amount and distribution was achieved by boron and aluminum substitution into the siliceous framework of EWT. The physico-chemical properties of the samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, N2 adsorption-desorption, XRF, ICP, Py-IR, NH3-TPD and 11B & 27Al & 29Si MAS NMR. The results show that quantities of boron and aluminum elements can occupy the framework of [B,Al]-EWT to increase the density of medium and strong acid centers, with more acidity and Brönsted acid centers than EWT zeolite. In the reaction of glycerol with cyclohexanone, the conversion of the sample (U-90-08-10/U-90-H-HCl) is significantly higher than that of the EWT sample, approaching or exceeding the Beta zeolite. A catalytic activity study revealed a direct correlation between the Brönsted acidic site concentration and the activity of the catalyst. The U-90-08-10-H catalyst was also considerably stable in the catalytic process. This work shows, for the first time, that extra-large pore zeolites can be used in industrial acid-catalytic conversion processes with excellent catalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many dyes and pigments are used in textile and printing industries, and their wastewater has been classed as a top source of pollution. Biodegradation of dyes by fungal laccase has great potential. In this work, the influence of reaction time, pH, temperature, dye concentration, metal ions, and mediators on laccase-catalyzed Remazol Brilliant Blue R dye (RBBR) decolorization were investigated in vitro using crude laccase from the white-rot fungus Ganoderma lucidum. The optimal decolorization percentage (50.3%) was achieved at 35 °C, pH 4.0, and 200 ppm RBBR in 30 min. The mediator effects from syringaldehyde, 1-hydroxybenzotriazole, and vanillin were compared, and 0.1 mM vanillin was found to obviously increase the decolorization percentage of RBBR to 98.7%. Laccase-mediated decolorization percentages significantly increased in the presence of 5 mM Na+ and Cu2+, and decolorization percentages reached 62.4% and 62.2%, respectively. Real-time fluorescence-quantitative PCR (RT-PCR) and protein mass spectrometry results showed that among the 15 laccase isoenzyme genes, Glac1 was the main laccase-contributing gene, contributing the most to the laccase enzyme activity and decolorization process. These results also indicate that under optimal conditions, G. lucidum laccases, especially Glac1, have a strong potential to remove RBBR from reactive dye effluent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report on polyethylene (PE) film modified by atmospheric dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma prior to the deposition of SiOx coating to improve its barrier properties. Three kinds of monomers: allylamine, acrylic acid, and ethanol, are used to modify the PE surface. For comparison, Ar and O2 plasma pre-treatments are also performed. It is found that with the addition of a monomer in the Ar DBD plasma, the grafted active groups on PE surfaces lead to dense, pinhole-free growth of the SiOx film. The oxygen transmission rate (OTR) decreases from 700 cc/m2·day·atm. for the pristine to ca. 70 cc/m2·day·atm. for the pretreatment-coated PE, which is more than a 10-fold reduction. The relationship between the grafted monomer and the great decrease of OTR is then explored via chemical composition by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and via morphology observation by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that the grafted functional groups of -NH2, -COOH and -OH increase the surface energy and promote the nucleation of Si–O radicals on polymeric surfaces, and the formation of network and cage structures in SiOx film contributes to the significant improvement of OTR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]