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Chain-like peptides and DNA share obvious similarities in terms of chain hybridization; thus, replacing DNA with peptides to create bioactivities not only has high theoretical feasibility but also provides a new bottom-up synthetic strategy.

DNA origami has created complex structures of various spatial dimensions. However, their versatility in terms of function is limited due to the lower number of the intrinsic building blocks

The lung microbiota have been found to be substantially altered in numerous pulmonary disorders, and crosstalk between the host pathophysiology and lung microbiota plays critical roles in the regulation of disease states. The aim of this study was to investigate dynamic changes in the lung microbiota during different stages of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS). Rats receiving an intraperitoneal administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were sacrificed at 12 and 48 h after injection, and the hematological parameters, serum cytokine levels, and histological characteristics of the lung tissue and lung microbiota were assessed. After LPS injection, along with fluctuations of systemic cytokine levels and the onset and regression of pulmonary edema, the diversity, components, and functionalities of the pulmonary microbiota underwent significant dynamic changes. The volatility of the α-diversity indices narrowed after LPS injection, and the indices significantly decreased 48 h later. The abundance of 18 genera and functionality of adenosine triphosphate–binding cassette (ABC) transporters, pentose phosphate, and bacterial chemotaxis pathways were found to significantly differ between specified time points. Several significant correlations between the components and functionalities of the lung microbiota and indicative symptoms of ALI/ARDS were also observed. Brevibacterium was correlated with cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-10, and IL-6 and with hematological percentage of neutrophils (NEU%); Wnt, Notch, and chronic myeloid leukemia signaling pathways were correlated with IL-1β; mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway–yeast was correlated with IL-10; and the pathways of ascorbate and aldarate metabolism and basal transcription factors were correlated with platelet-related indicators. The correlations between the lung microbiota and indicative symptoms of ALI/ARDS identified in this study support further investigation into the underlying mechanism of host–microbiota interactions during lung injury and repair.

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) were used to identify five active components in the modified herbal decoction Bo-Yang-Hwan-O-Tang (mBHT), i.e., amygdalin, decursin, paeoniflorin, salvianolic acid B, and calycosin-7-O-β-D-glycoside. These components were identified by comparing their retention times and mass spectra with those of reference compounds. The conditions of both analytical methods were optimized and validated. Sufficient separation of target analytes was achieved using a buffer consisting of 40 mM sodium borate and 60 mM sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) containing 10% methanol (pH 9.5) at 250 nm for CE analysis and gradient elution with a water-methanol mobile phase and ultraviolet (UV) photodiode array detector (DAD) at 250 nm for HPLC analysis. The mBHT components were determined within 65 min by HPLC and 16 min by CE. All calibration curves showed high linearity (R > 0.999) within the ranges tested. Intra-day and inter-day precision were less than 1.6% and 1.8% for HPLC and 2.5% and 4.8% for CE, respectively. The accuracy of the methods ranged from 98.8% to 102.3% for HPLC and from 95.9% to 108.2% for CE.

Sibutramine enantiomers were separated successfully by capillary zone electrophoresis using substituted cyclodextrins as chiral selectors. The effects of cyclodextrin concentration, pH, voltage, buffer type, and electrolyte concentration on the migration time and resolution of enantiomers were examined. Separation of sibutramine enantiomers on an unmodified fused silica capillary (total length, 54 cm; effective length, 45 cm) was achieved using a mixed buffer of 20 mM phosphate/10 mM citrate containing either 5 mM methyl-β-cyclodextrin (pH 4.3) or 5 mM carboxymethyl-β-cyclodextrin (pH 6.5). Samples were injected with a pressure of 50 mbar for 5 s and were detected at a wavelength of 223 nm. The established method showed good precision and accuracy, with intra- and inter-day variations of less than 2.9 and 4.7%, respectively, and recoveries of 95.7 - 103.8%. The stability constants of (R)- and (S)-sibutramine demonstrated that the resolution of sibutramine enantiomers was attributable primarily to the difference in stability constants. When this optimized method was applied to the determination of sibutramine enantiomers in commercial drug formulations, it proved to be economical and convenient, affording sufficient accuracy, precision, and reproducibility as well as sensitivity and selectivity.

A simple high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed to evaluate the quality of Moutan Cortex Radicis based on chromatographic fingerprints that characterize eight pharmacological compounds, namely, gallic acid, paeoniflorin, galloyl paeoniflorin, benzoic acid, quercetin, benzoylpaeoniflorin, paeoniflorigenone, and paeonol. These compounds were identified by their characteristic UV profiles and the mass spectroscopy data, and their contents were determined by HPLC. The chromatographic separation was performed on a C18 column by gradient elution with 0.05% formic acid in water and acetonitrile. The methodological validation gave acceptable linearities (r = 0.9996) and recoveries (ranging from 99.4∼103.1%). The limits of detection (LOD) of these compounds ranged from 10 to 30 µg/mL. The representative chromatographic fingerprints of Moutan Cortex Radicis were obtained by analyzing 20 batches of samples collected from markets in Korea and China. For the efficient evaluation of quality for the commercial Moutan Cortex Radicis it is recommended that the total content of the six characteristic compounds should contain more than a minimum of 2% and that the content of total paeoniflorin and paeonol should exceed a minimum of 1.5% of dry weight of Moutan Cortex Radicis.

A new noncontact laser-inspection technique based on a position-sensitive detector (PSD) to inspect the inner surface of minidiameter pipes is proposed, and the corresponding sensor is developed. A light spot is projected onto the pipe inner wall after the laser beam is reflected by two mirrors. At the same time, four current signals are produced when the light spot is read by the 2-D PSD. According to the magnitude of the current signals and the structure parameters of the sensor, the spot position on the inner wall can be calculated in a local 3-D coordinate system. With a micromotor, the surface of the whole inner wall can be scanned by the laser beam. This way, the coordinates of all the sample points in the section are obtained. After that, several reasonable data-processing methods are used, such as data segmentation and least squares fitting. Finally, the section curve can be reconstructed. The radius and defects of the section can also be obtained. Driven by a micropipe robot, the sensor can inspect a long curved pipe. The inspection system based on this technique can detect the inner surface of minidiameter pipes, which has an inner diameter of 9.5-10.5 mm and a curvature radius of more than 100 mm. The measurement accuracy of this inspection system for the inner diameter and surface defect reaches plusmn0.1 mm.

Focus on the deficiency of model handling in the virtual training; it puts forward a method of the model dynamic importing. Through the establishment of virtual prototype and definition of model precision, this paper establishes the geometric model and details bases. And according to the corresponding relation between the information of the model and the precision in the post information base, it realizes the importing of the model dynamically. And the necessity and feasibility of the technology is illuminated taking tunnel boring machine (TBM) for example.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.7150/ijms.29322.]., (© The author(s).)