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A known polyoxygenated briarane, briaexcavatolide P (1), was isolated from a Formosan octocoral Briareum stechei. Moreover, the same species B. stechei, collected from Okinawan waters, yielded three chlorine-containing briaranes, including two new compounds, briastecholides B (2) and C (3) as well as a known analogue, briarenol R (4). The structures of 1–4 were established using spectroscopic methods. In addition, briarane 1 demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity in lipo-polysaccharide-induced RAW 264.7 mouse macrophage cells by suppressing the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein.

Sponge-derived scalaranes are remarkable sesterterpenoids previously found to exhibit profound inhibitory effects against neutrophilic inflammation. In our current work, we constructed the metabolomic profile of marine sponge Lendenfeldia sp. for the first time using a tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) molecular networking approach. The results highlighted the rich chemical diversity of these scalaranes, motivating us to conduct further research to discover novel scalaranes targeting neutrophilic inflammation. MS- and NMR-assisted isolation and elucidation led to the discovery of seven new homoscalaranes, lendenfeldaranes K–Q (1–7), characterized by methylation at C-24, together with five known derivatives, lendenfeldarane B (8), 25-nor-24-methyl-12,24-dioxoscalar-16-en-22-oic acid (9), 24-methyl-12,24,25-trioxoscalar-16-en-22-oic acid (10), felixin B (11), and 23-hydroxy-20-methyldeoxoscalarin (12). Scalaranes 1–4 and 6–12 were assayed against superoxide anion generation and elastase release, which represented the neutrophilic inflammatory responses of respiratory burst and degranulation, respectively. The results indicated that 1–3 and 6–12 exhibited potential anti-inflammatory activities (IC50 for superoxide anion scavenging: 0.87~6.57 μM, IC50 for elastase release: 1.12~6.97 μM).

In this review, 170 natural substances, including steroid, diterpenoid, sesquiterpenoid, peptide, prostaglandin, base, chlorolipid, bicyclolactone, amide, piperazine, polyketide, glycerol, benzoic acid, glycyrrhetyl amino acid, hexitol, pentanoic acid, aminoethyl ester, octadecanone, alkaloid, and a 53-kD allergenic component from octocorals belonging to genus Dendronephthya, were listed. Some of these compounds displayed potential bioactivities.

Five 8,17-epoxybriaranes, including three new compounds&mdash, briarenols I&ndash, K (1&ndash, 3), along with two known analogues, briaexcavatolide P (4) and briaexcavatin P (5), were isolated from the octocoral Briareum excavatum. The structures of briaranes 1&ndash, 3 were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, including 1D and 2D NMR studies and (+)-HRESIMS. Briarane 4 exerted inhibition effects on inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) release from RAW 264.7.

Post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms play important roles in the regulation of LC-PUFA biosynthesis. Our previous study revealed that miR-33 could increase the expression of fatty acyl desaturases (fads2) in the rabbitfish Siganus canaliculatus, but the specific mechanism is unknown. Here, we confirmed that miR-33 could target the 3′UTR of insulin-induced gene 1 (insig1), resulting in downregulation of its protein level in the rabbitfish hepatocyte line (SCHL). In vitro overexpression of miR-33 inhibited the mRNA level of insig1 and increased the mRNA levels of Δ6Δ5 fads2 and elovl5, as well as srebp1. In SCHL cells, proteolytic activation of sterol-regulatory-element-binding protein-1 (Srebp1) was blocked by Insig1, with overexpression of insig1 decreasing mature Srebp1 level, while inhibition of insig1 led to the opposite effect. Srebp1 could enhance the promoter activity of Δ6Δ5 fads2 and elovl5, whose expression levels decreased with knockdown of srebp1 in SCHL. Overexpression of miR-33 also resulted in a higher conversion of 18:3n-3 to 18:4n-3 and 20:5n-3 to 22:5n-3, linked to desaturation and elongation via Δ6Δ5 Fads2 and Elovl5, respectively. The results suggested that the mechanism by which miR-33 regulates LC-PUFA biosynthesis in rabbitfish is through enhancing the expression of srebp1 by targeting insig1. The findings here provide more insight to the mechanism of miRNAs involvement in the regulation of LC-PUFA biosynthesis in teleosts., This work was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFD0900400), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31873040 and No. 31702357), Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2018A030313910), China Agriculture Research System (CARS-47) and Guangdong Agriculture Research System (Freshwater Fish).

As chlorpyrifos is used globally to control pests in sugarcane fields, analysis of its residues on food crops is essential to assess product safety for humans. In this study, chlorpyrifos content in sugarcane plants, soil and juice was determined using a gas chromatography with an electron capture detector. The limit of quantification was 0.01 mg/kg for plant and soil, and 0.01 mg/L for juice. The degradation and residual risk in sugarcane fields after applying chlorpyrifos to two sample sites (Changsha and Danzhou, China) were assessed. Chlorpyrifos concentrations in plants and soil decreased rapidly over time, reaching a degradation rate ranging from 98.82 to 99.25% on day 35. The half-life of chlorpyrifos in both plants and soil was only 5.97-6.12 days. Regardless of application dosage (standard or high) at a pre-harvest interval of 60 days, chlorpyrifos was undetectable in the harvested sugarcane. Risk assessment indicated that chlorpyrifos residue in sugarcane did not pose a health risk to humans.

Two new briarane metabolites—fragilides K (1) and L (2)—along with five known analogues—gemmacolide X, praelolide, juncins P and ZI, and gemmacolide V (3–7)—were extracted and purified from Junceella fragilis, a gorgonian coral. Based on data obtained via spectroscopic techniques, the structures of new briaranes 1 and 2 were determined and the cyclohexane rings in 1 and 2 were found to exist in chair and twist boat conformation, respectively. Additionally, anti-inflammatory analysis showed that briaranes 2, 3, and 6 inhibited pro-inflammatory inducible nitric oxide synthase protein expression and briaranes 3 and 7 suppressed the cyclooxygenase-2 level, in LPS-stimulated murine macrophage-like RAW264.7 cells.

Based on the large cross-section single-mode rib waveguide condition, the total internal reflection and the free-carrier plasma dispersion effect, a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) 2 × 2 symmetric optical waveguide switch with a transverse injection structure has been proposed and fabricated, in which the SOI technique utilizes silicon and silicon dioxide thermal bonding and back-polishing. The device performance is measured at the wavelength of 1.3 μm. It shows that the crosstalk and insertion loss are less than - 18.1 and 4.8 dB, respectively, at an injection current of 60 mA, and response time is 110 ns.

Superconducting microbridge has high sensitivity and low noise. We have successfully developed High Tc superconducting detector of microbridge structure with area of 10/spl times/20 /spl mu/m. At 500 K, its responsitivity is R=8.9/spl times/10/sup 4/ v w/sup -1/, the detectivity D* is 4.5/spl times/10/sup 10/ cm H/sub z//sup 1/2/ w/sup -1/. Using such a detector, we have detected submillimeter wave and millimeter wave. For wavelength of 3 mm, the achieved responsitivity R is 6.01/spl times/10/sup 2/ v w/sup -1/ and detectivity D* is 6.1/spl times/10/sup 8/ cm H/sub z//sup 1/2/ w/sup -1/. Our work has opened a new way to use this kind of detector.

Semiconductor optical switches utilizing carrier-induced refractive index change have tremendous potential for the application of optical processing because of their small size , single-mode operation , polarizationindependence and wavelength-insensitivity. These switches are generally based on total internal reflection , and have a requirement of precise control of reflection interface1, 2. The requirement causes a difficulty in developing silicon switches of the same kind. Because silicon is an indirect-gap semiconductor , the injected carriers in it diffuse a long distance due to their long lifetime. They can not be restricted within a specific region in the normal structure like what has been taken in InGaAsP or A1GaAs. Although some authors have reported that attempt to make use of the free-carrier effect in silicon for optical switching, the developed switches are all based on mode-interference other than internal reflection3, 4. These switches are devoid of the advantages mentioned above. From the viewpoint of practical application , a kind of silicon switch with these advantages is more essential.

Mechanism of irradiation effects is analyzed for floating gate read only memorie s (ROMs). Phenomena in experiments are reasonably explained. It is proposed that failures in devices result from oxide trapped charge and interface trapped char ge generated by radiation in memory cells and peripheral circuitry. The neutron, proton and 60Co γ irradiation effects in FLASH ROM and EEPROM a re total dose effects.