Abstract Anthocyanin/polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan composite membrane was prepared by solution casting method using chitosan (CS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as matrix and natural pigment anthocyanin as filler. The structures of the composite films were characterized by Uv-visible reflectance spectrum (UV-VIS), Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effects of adding anthocyanins on the physical properties, water resistance, degradation, antibacterial properties and pH responsiveness of the films were investigated. The experimental results showed that the prepared anthocyanin/polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan composite indicator films show color changes from pink to purple to blue and then to yellow-green when the pH value ranges from 2 to 14. The total color difference ΔE value is greater than 12. The antibacterial properties and other properties of the composite film can enhance by adding anthocyanin. The tensile strength of anthocyanin/polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan film is more than 70 MPa, which is larger than that of polyvinyl film and polyvinyl alcohol/chitosanfilm. The film has excellent physical, antibacterial properties and obvious pH response performance, making it ideal for food packaging.

Abstract Background: Demethylzeylasteral (T-96) is a pharmacologically active triterpenoid monomer extracted from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TWHF) that has been reported to exhibit anti-neoplastic effects against several types of cancer cells. However, the potential anti-tumour effects of T-96 against human Prostate cancer (CaP) cells and the possible underlying mechanisms have not been well studied. Results: In the current study, T-96 exerted significant cytotoxicity to CaP cells in vitro and induced cell cycle arrest at S-phase in a dose-dependent manner. Mechanistically, T-96 promoted the initiation of autophagy but inhibited autophagic flux by inducing ROS-mediated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress which subsequently activated the extrinsic apoptosis pathway in CaP cells. These findings implied that T-96-induced ER stress activated the caspase-dependent apoptosis pathway to inhibit proliferation of CaP cells. Moreover, we observed that T-96 enhances the sensitivity of CaP cells to the chemotherapeutic drug, cisplatin. Conclusions: Taken together, our data demonstrated that T-96 is a novel modulator of ER stress and autophagy, and has potential therapeutic applications against CaP in the clinic.

Abstract: In this study, three-layer low-density (about 400 kg/m3) particleboards consisting of a mixture of wood particles and expanded polystyrene (EPS) were manufactured. EPS bead was incorporated in the core layer as a light filler. The influence of EPS content (0 %, 2,5 %, 5 %, 7,5 %, 10 %, and 12,5 %) and press temperature (110 °C and 140 °C) on the microstructure, density profile, bending properties, internal bond and thickness swelling of the panels were investigated. Results showed that incorporation of EPS beads filled in the voids between wood particles improved the core layer integrity, and generated a more pronounced density profile. Consequently, the bending properties and internal bond of panels adding EPS were remarkably improved, and the thickness swelling was decreased. However, the variation of the number of EPS from 2,5 % to 12,5 % had no significant effect on the bending properties and thickness swelling. Comparing the two press temperatures, higher temperature (140 °C) was more favourable in control panels without EPS as filler. For panels adding EPS filler, 140 °C had a negative effect on the properties of panels, especially at high EPS contents (10% and 12,5%), attributing to the shrinkage of EPS bead under press temperature that is much higher than its glass transition temperature (104 °C).

We presented a theoretical study on the detailed reaction mechanism and kinetics of the HNCS molecule with the OH-. The barrierless minimum energy path and the most favorable entrance channel have been determined by study the thermodynamic and kinetic characters of the channel with low energy barrier. The B3LYP/6-311++G** method was employed for all the geometrical optimizations and a multi-level extrapolation method based on the G3 energies was employed for further energy refinements. In addition, the analysis of the combining interaction between hydroxide ion and HNCS was performed by natural bond orbitals (NBO) analysis. The calculation results indicated that the reaction of OH- with HNCS had four channels, and the channel of H-atom in HNCS direct extraction to OH- (OH-+HNCS→IM1→TS3→IM4→P2(SCN- +H2O)) in singlet state was the main channel with the low potential energy and high equilibrium constant and reaction rate constant. SCN- and H2O were main products.

ABSTRACT Two new flavonoids (1 and 2), named 4',7-dihydroxy-5-hydroxymethyl-8-prenylflavonoid and 4',7-dihydroxy-5-hydroxymethyl-6,8-diprenylflavonoid, together with seven known flavonoids (3–9) were isolated from the aerial parts of Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik., Brassicaceae, for the first time. The chemical structures of the purified compounds (1–9) were identified by their spectroscopic data and references. Moreover, compounds (1–9) were evaluated for their hepatoprotective activities against D-galactosamine induced toxicity in WB-F344 cells by using a MTT colorimetric method. As a result, compounds 2, 3, 6, and 9 (10 µM) exhibited moderate hepatoprotective activities.

Abstract Dunaliella salina, a single-celled marine alga with extreme salt tolerance, is an important model organism for studying fundamental extremophile survival mechanisms and their potential practical applications. In this study, two-dimensional differential in-gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) was used to investigate the expression of halotolerant proteins under high (3 M NaCl) and low (0.75 M NaCl) salt concentrations. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF MS) and bioinformatics were used to identify and characterize the differences among proteins. 2D-DIGE analysis revealed 141 protein spots that were significantly differentially expressed between the two salinities. Twenty-four differentially expressed protein spots were successfully identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF MS, including proteins in the following important categories: molecular chaperones, proteins involved in photosynthesis, proteins involved in respiration and proteins involved in amino acid synthesis. Expression levels of these proteins changed in response to the stress conditions, which suggests that they may be involved in the maintenance of intracellular osmotic pressure, cellular stress responses, physiological changes in metabolism, continuation of photosynthetic activity and other aspects of salt stress. The findings of this study enhance our understanding of the function and mechanisms of various proteins in salt stress.

Biomass yields and sporulation of Beauveria bassiana was concerned on culture conditions, environmental factors and cultivation method. We optimized the best culture conditions for biomass yields of B. bassiana IBC1201 with the novel "two-stage" cultivation method as well as orthogonal matrix method. Firstly, we cultured spore suspension on the basal medium (sucrose 19.00 g, soy peptone 4.06 g, K2HPO4 1.00 g, KCl 0.50 g, MgSO4 0.50 g, FeSO4 0.10 g and 17.00 g Bactor) for the first stage culture of 4 days under room condition. Then, we transferred them to another defined medium (Cellobiose 9.52 g, urea 1.70 g, ZnSO4•7H2O 0.05 g/L, MnSO4•H2O 0.005 g/L, CaCl2 1.00 g/L, CuSO4•5H2O 0.05 g/L and 17.00 g Bactor) for more 4 days cultivation with the environmental factors combination of water potential -1.2 MPa /pH 3 /12 h light cycle/ 23 ℃ for biomass yields, and with the environmental factors combination of water potential -0.8 MPa /pH 3 /24 h light cycle/ 23 ℃ for spore yields. These results provided important information for mass production (including biomass and spore yields) of this great potential biocontrol fungus.

Derivados de óleo pesado (temperatura de destilação: 320-340 ºC), obtidos a partir do processo de liquefação direta do carvão, usando carvão Shengli foram tratados com hidrogênio usando catalisadores sulfetados Ni-Mo/Al2O3, Ni-W/Al2O3 e Ni-W/SiO2 respectivamente. Os catalisadores sulfetados foram caracterizados por BET, XRD, H2-TPR e NH3-TPD, respectivamente. As avaliações das propriedades de hidrodenitrogenação (HDN) e hidrodearomatização (HDA) do óleo pesado nos três catalisadores foram realizadas a 400 ºC e 5,0 MPa de pressão inicial de H2. Os catalisadores contendo W mostraram melhores desempenhos do que os catalisadores de Mo para as reações de HDN e HDA. Os catalisadores suportados em Al2O3 apresentaram maior atividade catalítica do que aqueles suportados em SiO2. As atividades dos catalisadores sulfetados foram associadas principalmente à natureza dos sítios ativos, acidez, tamanho do cristalito e da quantidade de espécies redutíveis de enxofre do sulfeto metálico

Heavy oil (distillation temperature: 320-340 ºC) derived from the direct coal liquefaction process using Shengli coal were hydrotreated using sulfided Ni-Mo/Al2O3, Ni-W/Al2O3, and Ni-W/SiO2 catalysts respectively. The sulfided catalysts were characterized by BET, XRD, H2-TPR and NH3-TPD respectively. The evaluations of the hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) and hydrodearomatization (HDA) properties of heavy oil on the three catalysts were carried out at 400 ºC and 5.0 MPa initial H2 pressure. The W-based catalysts displayed better performances than Mo-based catalysts for the HDN and HDA reactions. Al2O3 supported catalysts were found to have higher catalytic activities than on SiO2 supported ones. The activities of sulfided catalysts were associated mainly with the nature of active sites, acidity, metal sulfide crystallite size and the amount of the reducible sulfur species of metal sulfide.