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The nutritional components of Spirulina residue were determined and evaluated. The insoluble dietary fiber was prepared by alkaline acid treatment from algae residue. The swelling capacity, water holding capacity and grease holding capacity were determined. Insoluble dietary fiber was obtained from Spirulina residue after extraction of phycobiliprotein by alkali acid treatment. Its swelling capacity, water retention capacity and oil retention capacity were measured. The adsorption capacity of dietary fiber for sodium cholate and NO2– was studied. The adsorption capacity of sodium cholic acid and NO2- by dietary fiber was researched. The results indicated that algae residue was rich in nutrients, mainly including protein, carbohydrate and water. The content of phosphorus, magnesium and calcium in minerals was the highest. Algae residue was rich in essential amino acids (lysine, valine, leucine and isoleucine) and non essential amino acids (arginine, glutamine and glutamate). The insoluble dietary fiber had a certain water holding capacity, grease holding capacity and swelling capacity, and the adsorption capacity of sodium cholic acid was relatively obvious. In the simulated human gastric fluid environment of pH=2, it had better adsorption on NO2–. This study results will provide a basis for the high value utilization of Spirulina residue.

Purpose: The implementation of the universal two-child policy contributes to adverse pregnancy outcomes, but how the policy change leads to adverse pregnancy outcomes is not well elaborated. In this study, we aimed to compare maternal characteristics and complications, accessed the change in the proportion of maternal characteristics and maternal complications, and evaluated the mediation of maternal characteristics on maternal complications. Methods: Demographic and clinical data of three-level sample facilities were extracted from China's National Maternity Near Miss Obstetrics Surveillance System from Jan 1, 2012 to May 31, 2021. The associations between the universal two-child policy and maternal risk factors, the universal two-child policy and maternal complications, and maternal risk factors and maternal complications were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analyses, with odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Mediation analysis was used to estimate the potential mediation effects on the associations between the policy and maternal complications. Population-attributable fractions (PAF) were conducted to quantify the maternal complications burden attributable to the implementation of the universal two-child policy. Results: In the context of the universal two-child policy, the incidence of maternal near miss, antepartum or intrapartum complication, and post-partum complication increased at municipal- and county-level sample facilities. After adjusting for covariables, there were significant associations between the universal two-child policy and maternal risk factors (P < 0.001), the universal two-child policy and an increased risk of maternal complications (P < 0.001), and maternal risk factors and maternal complications(P < 0.001). The effects of the universal two-child policy on maternal near miss and medical disease were significantly mediated by maternal risk factors with mediation proportions of 19.77% and 4.07% at the municipal-level sample facility, and mediation proportions for 2.72% at the county-level sample facility on medical disease. The universal two-child policy contributed 19.34%, 5.82%, 8.29%, and 46.19% in the incidence of the maternal near miss, antepartum or intrapartum complication, post-partum complication, and medical disease at municipal-level sample facility, respectively. The corresponding PAF% at county-level sample facility was 40.49% for maternal near miss, 32.39% for the antepartum or intrapartum complication, 61.44% for post-partum complication, and 77.72% for medical disease. For provincial-level sample facility, the incidence of maternal near miss, antepartum or intrapartum complications, and medical diseases decreased (P < 0.05) and no statistically significant difference occurred in the incidence of post-partum complications. Conclusions: In the context of the universal two-child policy, the incidence of maternal near miss, antepartum or intrapartum complication, and post-partum complication increased at municipal- and county-level sample facility. Maternal risk factors may play a mediating role in the effect of policy change and maternal complications. Provincial hospitals have been able to improve the quality of perinatal health care and reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes by adjusting their obstetric service strategies in the context of the new birth policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revealing the structure–property relationships is crucial for promoting the development of photochromic materials and achieving the desired function in practical applications. Herein, a series of triphenylethylene photochromic materials (TP, TP-F, TP-Cl and TP-Br) have been synthesized and their photochromic properties were investigated. Monohalogenated TP-F, TP-Cl and TP-Br display obvious photochromic behaviors in solution, the solid state and polymer film. It is found that the halogen atoms with weak electron withdrawing ability can dramatically enhance the photocolorabilities of triphenylethylene. Moreover, TP-Cl and TP-Br exhibit different fatigue processes from TP-F. The further characterization reveals that the key factor leading to the diverse photochromic properties is cis/trans isomerization of triphenylethylene. The coloration of triphenylethylene mainly comes from the photo-triggered cyclization of cis-isomers. The initial attenuation of TP-Cl and TP-Br under UV irradiation is mostly caused by cis–trans photoisomerization, rather than the oxygen-involved photooxidation reactions. Based on the controllable "turn-on" and "turn-off" photobehaviors, TP-Cl and TP-Br were applied in the photoswitchable patterns, showing an enhanced signal-to-background ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Collagen was extracted from the skin of Micropterus salmoides and used to explore the effect of enzyme types on the antioxidant activity of collagen peptides. Methods: Four kinds of enzymes were used, namely alkaline protease, neutral protease, papain and trypsin. The enzymatic hydrolysis of collagen Alkaline protease enzymatically hydrolyze collagen peptide （APP）, Neutral protease enzymatically hydrolyze collagen peptide （NPP）, Papain enzymatically hydrolyze collagen peptide（PP）, Trypsin hydrolysis of collagen peptide（TP）, were obtained and compared their total antioxidant activity, including reducing activity, DPPH, ·OH and O-2·free radical scavenging ability, ferrous ion chelating ability and lipid Oxidation inhibitory activity. Results: Four kinds of proteases enzymatically hydrolyze collagen peptides all have antioxidant activity, and the antioxidant capacity was positively correlated with the concentration of collagen peptides. Among them, APP has the best antioxidant activity. The total antioxidant activity and reducing activity respectively were 1.725 and 0.958, and the scavenging rates for DPPH and O-2·radical respectively were 56.35% and 38.41%, respectively. Conclusion: The collagen peptides hydrolyzed by alkaline protease have better antioxidant activity.

Summary: Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common malignant haematological disease with a poor prognosis. The limit therapeutic progress has been made in MM patients with cancer relapse, necessitating deeper research into the molecular mechanisms underlying its occurrence and development. A genome‐wide CRISPR‐Cas9 loss‐of‐function screening was utilized to identify potential therapeutic targets in our research. We revealed that COQ2 plays a crucial role in regulating MM cell proliferation and lipid peroxidation (LPO). Knockout of COQ2 inhibited cell proliferation, induced cell cycle arrest and reduced tumour growth in vivo. Mechanistically, COQ2 promoted the activation of the MEK/ERK cascade, which in turn stabilized and activated MYC protein. Moreover, we found that COQ2‐deficient MM cells increased sensitivity to the LPO activator, RSL3. Using an inhibitor targeting COQ2 by 4‐CBA enhanced the sensitivity to RSL3 in primary CD138+ myeloma cells and in a xenograft mouse model. Nevertheless, co‐treatment of 4‐CBA and RSL3 induced cell death in bortezomib‐resistant MM cells. Together, our findings suggest that COQ2 promotes cell proliferation and tumour growth through the activation of the MEK/ERK/MYC axis and targeting COQ2 could enhance the sensitivity to ferroptosis in MM cells, which may be a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of MM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Establishing specific reference intervals (RIs) of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D] for children is essential for improving the accuracy of diagnosis and prognosis monitoring of diseases such as rickets and growth retardation. The study including 6,627 healthy children was conducted to establish specific RIs of 25(OH)D for children in Nanning area of China. The results showed that there were statistically significant differences among age, season, and gender of serum 25(OH)D levels, and the age-specific RIs of serum 25(OH)D were 20.3 ~ 53.6 ng/mL for 0 ~ ≤ 1 year and 18.9 ~ 49.6 ng/mL for 2 ~ ≤ 3 years. The age-, season-specific RIs of serum 25(OH)D for 4 ~ ≤ 6 years in spring–summer and autumn–winter were 15.8 ~ 42.6 ng/mL and 15.2 ~ 37.7 ng/mL, respectively. The age-, gender-specific RIs of serum 25(OH)D for 7 ~ ≤ 18 years for males and females were 12.1 ~ 36.1 ng/mL and 10.8 ~ 35.3 ng/mL, respectively. This study successfully established the RIs of serum 25(OH)D, which may help to improve disease diagnosis and monitoring for children in the Nanning area of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND The black shale of the Longmaxi Formation in the Upper Yangtze region is rich in graptolites. Most of them were preserved as a carbonaceous film, and enriched in organic-rich layers. Previous research focuses mainly on the graptolite morphology and evolution process after diagenesis, but the direct evidence for the fossil formation is still lacking. OBJECTIVES To explore the formation mechanism of graptolite in the Longmaxi Formation and its geological significance on organic matter enrichment. METHODS Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was used for the in situ multi-element imaging of graptolites and surrounding rocks from the Longmaxi Formation of the N203 well. RESULTS Analysis of the distribution and enrichment degree of major ore-forming elements indicates that Mg, Al, Si, Fe were rich in the carbonaceous film surface of graptolite, with a enrichment degree ranging from 1.5 to 10. However, Sr/Ba values (1.4-2.3) of the carbonaceous film type graptolite were lower than that of the surrounding rocks (>5.0). This indicated that embedding by clay minerals was the main process of graptolite preservation. The sulfidic micro-environment caused by embedding of clay minerals benefited the pyritization of the graptolite organism. Combing with the vertical variation and correlation analysis of the cross-section graptolite ratio, organic matter, pyrite, clay mineral content and δ13Corg value, it can be concluded that the flourishing of the microbial mat in early stage and sulfate-reducing bacteria in later stage consumed oxygen in the pore water and caused anoxic bottom water, and should be the main reason of massive burial of graptolite and organic matter. CONCLUSIONS The result revealed the burial and mineralization mechanism of graptolite in the Longmaxi Formation, and also provided a new method for studying the controlling factors of organic matter enrichment and black shale formation.