Structural Variances in Curcumin Degradants: Impact on Obesity in Mice.

Some thermal degradants of curcuminoids have demonstrated moderate health benefits in previous studies. Feruloyl acetone (FER), recently identified as a thermal degradant of curcumin, has been previously associated with anticancer and antioxidative effects, yet its other capabilities remain unexplored. Moreover, earlier reports suggest that methoxy groups on the aromatic ring may influence the functionality of the curcuminoids. To address these gaps, an animal study was conducted to investigate the antiobesity effects of both FER and its demethoxy counterpart (DFER) on mice subjected to a high-fat diet. The results demonstrated the significant prevention of weight gain and enlargement of the liver and various adipose tissues by both samples. Furthermore, these supplements exhibited a lipid regulatory effect in the liver through the adiponectin/AMPK/SIRT1 pathway, promoted thermogenesis via AMPK/PGC-1α activation, and positively influenced gut-microbial-produced short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) levels. Notably, DFER demonstrated superior overall efficacy in combating obesity, while FER displayed a significant effect in modulating inflammatory responses. It is considered that SCFA may be responsible for the distinct effects of FER and DFER in the animal study. Future studies are anticipated to delve into the efficacy of curcuminoid degradants, encompassing toxicity and pharmacokinetic evaluations.

High Performance Transparent Transistor Memory Devices Using Nano-Floating Gate of Polymer/ZnO Nanocomposites.

Nano-floating gate memory devices (NFGM) using metal nanoparticles (NPs) covered with an insulating polymer have been considered as a promising electronic device for the next-generation nonvolatile organic memory applications NPs. However, the transparency of the device with metal NPs is restricted to 60~70% due to the light absorption in the visible region caused by the surface plasmon resonance effects of metal NPs. To address this issue, we demonstrate a novel NFGM using the blends of hole-trapping poly (9-(4-vinylphenyl) carbazole) (PVPK) and electron-trapping ZnO NPs as the charge storage element. The memory devices exhibited a remarkably programmable memory window up to 60 V during the program/erase operations, which was attributed to the trapping/detrapping of charge carriers in ZnO NPs/PVPK composite. Furthermore, the devices showed the long-term retention time (>10(5) s) and WRER test (>200 cycles), indicating excellent electrical reliability and stability. Additionally, the fabricated transistor memory devices exhibited a relatively high transparency of 90% at the wavelength of 500 nm based on the spray-coated PEDOT: PSS as electrode, suggesting high potential for transparent organic electronic memory devices.

Nonvolatile organic field-effect transistors memory devices using supramolecular block copolymer/functional small molecule nanocomposite electret.

Organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) memory devices based on hybrid nanocomposite electret were fabricated by cooperative supramolecular polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) with two different block compositions (asymmetric L1 and symmetric L2) that contain hydroxyl-functionalized ferrocene small molecules (FMs). Because of the selective hydrogen interaction between the hydroxyl groups of FM and pyridine groups in P4VP block, the small FMs can preferentially disperse in the P4VP nanodomain, which can be used as nanostructured charge-trapping nanocomposite electret (L1-FMX and L2-FMX) under solvent-annealing process. The charge-storage functionalities can be easily tailored by morphologies of the hybrid nanocomposite thin film and spatial distribution of the FM molecules in which the relative molecular mass of block copolymers and the FM loading ratio can further control both of them. These block copolymer nanocomposite thin film electrets with charge-controlling guest FM for OFETs memory devices exhibit significant features including the ternary bits storage, high-density trapping sites, charge-carrier trapping of both polarities (ambipolar trapping), and solution processing that can make important progress for future advanced storage and memory technology.