Identification and Free Radical Scavenging Activity of Oligopeptides from Mixed-Distillate Fermented Baijiu Grains and Soy Sauce Residue.

This study aimed to explore the potential antioxidant activity and mechanism of oligopeptides from sauce-aroma Baijiu. The oligopeptides of Val-Leu-Pro-Phe (VLPF), Pro-Leu-Phe (PLF), Val-Gly-Phe-Cys (VGFC), Leu-Tyr-Pro (LYP), Leu-Pro-Phe (LPF), and Phe-Thr-Phe (FTF) were identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) from the mixed-distillate of Baijiu fermented grains and soy sauce residue (MDFS). The antioxidant mechanism of these oligopeptides on scavenging DPPH•, ABTS•+, and hydroxide radicals was investigated, respectively. Among them, VGFC had the strongest potential antioxidant activity, which was responsible for its hydrogen bonds with these radicals with high affinity. The binding energies between VGFC and these radicals were -1.26 kcal/mol, -1.33 kcal/mol, and -1.93 kcal/mol, respectively. Additionally, free radicals prefer to bind the oligopeptide composed of hydrophobic amino acid residues such as Leu, Val, Phe, and Pro, thus being scavenged for exerting antioxidant activity. It provided a new idea for the development and utilization of bioactive oligopeptides in sauce-aroma Baijiu.

Stable Isotope Tracer Technique and Network Pharmacology to Reveal Antidepressant Targets and Active Components of Xiaoyao San.

In recent years, the research of mitochondrial dysfunction in depression has drawn the focus of researchers. Our research group previously found that Xiaoyao San (XYS) has improved the mitochondrial structure and the blocked tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle) in the hippocampal tissue of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) rats. However, the specific targets and active components of XYS remain unclear, and the potential to improve hippocampal mitochondrial TCA cycle disorder was also unexplored. In this research, a strategy to combine stable isotope-resolved metabolomics (SIRM), network pharmacology and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to explore the potential, targets of action, and active components of XYS to improve hippocampal mitochondrial TCA cycle disorder of CUMS rats. The results of TEM showed that the ultrastructure of hippocampal mitochondria could be improved by XYS. A combination of SIRM and molecular docking showed that pyruvate carboxylase (PC), ATP citrate lyase (ACLK), glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH), glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) and pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) were targets of XYS to improve TCA cycle disorder. In addition, troxerutin was found to be the most potential active component of XYS to improve TCA cycle disorder. The above research results can provide new insights for the development of antidepressant drugs.

Speech emotion analysis using convolutional neural network (CNN) and gamma classifier-based error correcting output codes (ECOC).

Speech emotion analysis is one of the most basic requirements for the evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the field of human-machine interaction. Accurate emotion recognition in speech can be effective in applications such as online support, lie detection systems and customer feedback analysis. However, the existing techniques for this field have not yet met sufficient development. This paper presents a new method to improve the performance of emotion analysis in speech. The proposed method includes the following steps: pre-processing, feature description, feature extraction, and classification. The initial description of speech features in the proposed method is done by using the combination of spectro-temporal modulation (STM) and entropy features. Also, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is utilized to reduce the dimensions of these features and extract the features of each signal. Finally, the combination of gamma classifier (GC) and Error-Correcting Output Codes (ECOC) is applied to classify features and extract emotions in speech. The performance of the proposed method has been evaluated using two datasets, Berlin and ShEMO. The results show that the proposed method can recognize speech emotions in the Berlin and ShEMO datasets with an average accuracy of 93.33 and 85.73%, respectively, which is at least 6.67% better than compared methods.

Influence of Homogenization on Phase Transformations during Isothermal Aging of Inconel 718 Superalloys Fabricated by Additive Manufacturing and Suction Casting.

The attainment of the desired strength of the Inconel 718 superalloy heavily relies on the isothermal aging process, which plays a critical role in achieving the anticipated hardening effect. Surprisingly, there remains a dearth of dedicated studies investigating the influence of homogenization on phase transformations during the isothermal aging process, leaving a gap in the knowledge required to guide the design of post-heat treatment strategies. Addressing this gap, our work investigates the impact of homogenization time on phase transformations during isothermal aging at 730 °C in Inconel 718 alloys produced via additive manufacturing (AM) and suction casting (SC) methods. Intriguingly, we observe contrasting behaviors in the particle size of γ″ and γ' in aged samples, depending on the homogenization time and the alloy processing method. Specifically, in AM alloys, extended homogenization time leads to an increase in the particle size of γ″ and γ', whereas the opposite trend is observed in SC alloys. Furthermore, despite undergoing the same heat treatment, the AM alloys exhibit smaller particle sizes but higher precipitate number densities compared to the SC alloys, resulting in superior hardness. Notably, pronounced grain refinement during aging is evident in 1 h homogenized SC samples under 1180 °C, warranting further investigations into the underlying mechanisms. This study elucidates the crucial role of homogenization in attaining the desired microstructure following subsequent aging processes. Moreover, it offers novel insights for developing post-heat treatment strategies for superalloys.

A novel insight for high-rate and low-efficiency glucose metabolism in depression through stable isotope-resolved metabolomics in CUMS-induced rats.

BACKGROUND: Existing research has suggested that depression results in disorders of glucose metabolism in the organism which causing insufficient energy supply. However, the overall changes in glucose metabolism that arise from depression have not been clarified. METHODS: In this study, the depression-like behavior in chronically unpredictable mild stressed rats was investigated, and the fate of glucose was tracked through isotope tracing and mass spectrometry, with a focus on metabolite changes in cecal contents. RESULTS: As indicated by the results, the isotopic results of cecal contents can indicate the metabolic end of the organism. Moreover, the TCA cycle activity was notably reduced, and the gluconeogenesis pathway was abnormally up-regulated in the CUMS-induced rats. The organism expedited other glucose metabolism pathways to make up for the insufficiency of energy. As a result, the activity of the inefficient glycolysis pathway was increased. LIMITATIONS: Existing research has only investigated the metabolism of 13C-glucose, and lipids and proteins have been rarely explored. CONCLUSIONS: The chronic unpredictable mild stress can inhibit the entry of pyruvate into mitochondria in SD rats, such that the activity of TCA is reduced, and insufficient energy supply is caused. The organism is capable of expediting other glucose metabolism rate pathways to make up for the insufficiency of energy, whereas it still cannot compensate for the loss of energy. As a result, CUMS-induced rats exhibited high-rate and low-efficiency glucose metabolism.

A unique insight for Xiaoyao San exerts antidepressant effects by modulating hippocampal glucose catabolism using stable isotope-resolved metabolomics.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory, depression is an emotional disease, which is thought to be related to stagnation of liver qi and dysfunction of the spleen in transport. Xiaoyao San (XYS) is considered to have the effects of soothing liver-qi stagnation and invigorating the spleen. The spleen has the function to transport and transform nutrients. The liver has also termed the center of energy metabolism in the body. Therefore, exploring the antidepressant effects of XYS from the perspective of energy metabolism may reveal new findings. AIM OF THE STUDY: Glucose catabolism is an important part of energy metabolism. In recent years, several researchers have found that XYS can exert antidepressant effects by modulating abnormalities in glucose catabolism-related metabolites. The previous research of our research group found that the hippocampus glucose catabolism was disordered in depression. However, the antidepressant potential of XYS through modulating the disorders of hippocampal glucose catabolism and the specific metabolic pathways and targets of XYS action were still unknown. The aim of this study was to address the above scientific questions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this research, the CUMS (chronic unpredictable mild stress) model was used as the animal model of depression. The antidepressant effect of XYS was evaluated by behavioral indicators. The specific pathways and targets of XYS modulating the disorders of glucose catabolism in the hippocampus of CUMS rats were obtained by stable isotope-resolved metabolomics. Further, the isotope tracing results were also verified by molecular biology and electron transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that XYS pretreatment could significantly improve the depressive symptoms induced by CUMS. More importantly, it was found that XYS could modulate the disorders of glucose catabolism in the hippocampus of CUMS rats. Stable isotope-resolved metabolomics and enzyme activity tests showed that Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), Pyruvate carboxylase (PC), and Pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) were targets of XYS for modulating the disorders of glucose catabolism in the hippocampus of CUMS rats. The Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) and mitochondrial respiratory chain complex V (MRCC-Ⅴ) were targets of XYS to improve abnormal mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in the hippocampus of CUMS rats. XYS was also found to have the ability to improve the structural damage of mitochondria and nuclei in the hippocampal caused by CUMS. CONCLUSIONS: This study was to explore the antidepressant effect of XYS from the perspective of glucose catabolism based on a strategy combining stable isotope tracing, molecular biology techniques, and transmission electron microscopy. We not only obtained the specific pathways and targets of XYS to improve the disorders of glucose catabolism in the hippocampus of CUMS rats, but also revealed the specific targets of the pathways of XYS compared with VLF.

Nanocarrier system: An emerging strategy for bioactive peptide delivery.

Compared with small-molecule synthetic drugs, bioactive peptides have desirable advantages in efficiency, selectivity, safety, tolerance, and side effects, which are accepted by attracting extensive attention from researchers in food, medicine, and other fields. However, unacceptable barriers, including mucus barrier, digestive enzyme barrier, and epithelial barrier, cause the weakening or the loss of bioavailability and biostability of bioactive peptides. The nanocarrier system for bioactive peptide delivery needs to be further probed. We provide a comprehensive update on the application of versatile delivery systems for embedding bioactive peptides, including liposomes, polymer nanoparticles, polysaccharides, hydrogels, and self-emulsifying delivery systems, and further clarify their structural characterization, advantages, and disadvantages as delivery systems. It aims to provide a reference for the maximum utilization of bioactive peptides. It is expected to be an effective strategy for improving the bioavailability and biostability of bioactive peptides.

Building Polymeric Framework Layer for Stable Solid Electrolyte Interphase on Natural Graphite Anode.

The overall electrochemical performance of natural graphite is intimately associated with the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer developed on its surface. To suppress the interfacial electrolyte decomposition reactions and the high irreversible capacity loss relating to the SEI formation on a natural graphite (NG) surface, we propose a new design of the artificial SEI by the functional molecular cross-linking framework layer, which was synthesized by grafting acrylic acid (AA) and N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBAA) via an in situ polymerization reaction. The functional polymeric framework constructs a robust covalent bonding onto the NG surface with -COOH and facilitates Li+ conduction owing to the effect of the -CONH group, contributing to forming an SEI layer of excellent stability, flexibility, and compactness. From all the benefits, the initial coulombic efficiency, rate performance, and cycling performance of the graphite anode are remarkably improved. In addition, the full cell using the LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 cathode against the modified NG anode exhibits much-prolonged cycle life with a capacity retention of 82.75% after 500 cycles, significantly higher than the cell using the pristine NG anode. The mechanisms relating to the artificial SEI growth on the graphite surface were analyzed. This strategy provides an efficient and feasible approach to the surface optimization for the NG anode in LIBs.

Ultrahigh-temperature melt printing of multi-principal element alloys.

Multi-principal element alloys (MPEA) demonstrate superior synergetic properties compared to single-element predominated traditional alloys. However, the rapid melting and uniform mixing of multi-elements for the fabrication of MPEA structural materials by metallic 3D printing is challenging as it is difficult to achieve both a high temperature and uniform temperature distribution in a sufficient heating source simultaneously. Herein, we report an ultrahigh-temperature melt printing method that can achieve rapid multi-elemental melting and uniform mixing for MPEA fabrication. In a typical fabrication process, multi-elemental metal powders are loaded into a high-temperature column zone that can be heated up to 3000 K via Joule heating, followed by melting on the order of milliseconds and mixing into homogenous alloys, which we attribute to the sufficiently uniform high-temperature heating zone. As proof-of-concept, we successfully fabricated single-phase bulk NiFeCrCo MPEA with uniform grain size. This ultrahigh-temperature rapid melt printing process provides excellent potential toward MPEA 3D printing.

Endogenous Peptides Identified in Soy Sauce Aroma Style Baijiu Which Interacts with the Main Flavor Compounds during the Distillation Process.

Endogenous peptides in Chinese baijiu have been recently reported. However, little information is available on their correlation with the main flavor substances. One hundred and forty-six peptides, consisting of more bitter amino acids and key amino acids responsible for bioactivity, were identified in tail liquor using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Additionally, the content of endogenous peptides increased gradually with distillation time, showing a high negative correlation with total esters (r = -0.929) and total alcohol (r = -0.964) but presented a moderate positive correlation with the total acid content (r = 0.714). The results of the correlation analysis between them were further proved by molecular docking, which showed that these endogenous peptides in baijiu interacted with the main flavor substances via hydrogen bonds. This study clarifies the dynamic changes of endogenous peptides during distillation and provides a theoretical reference for the relationship between these peptides and the main flavor substances.

Fine modulation of the energy band strategy to control the carrier confinement capability of digital alloys.

In this paper, a strategy to finely modulate the energy band structure to control the carrier confinement capability of digital alloys (DA) is proposed. Strain analysis shows that As and Sb atoms are exchanged within the AlAsSb DA. The bottom of the corrected potential well is low on the left and high on the right in the growth direction, resulting in a higher band offset of the AlSb potential barrier layer on the left side of the potential well than on the right side. The modulation of the band leads to a higher probability of electron tunneling in DA under the action of an electric field opposite to the growth direction. Conversely, it is difficult for the electrons to tunnel into the lower energy level potential wells. TheI-Vcurve of DA shows that the current value under positive bias is significantly smaller than the value under negative bias when the voltage is higher. The measured results correspond perfectly with the modified energy band model, which verifies the feasibility of energy band modulation. This is important for the structural design of DA and the reduction of dark current in optoelectronic devices.

Extraction-Dominated Temperature Degradation of Population Inversion in Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers.

Degraded population inversion (PI) at elevated temperature, regarded as an important temperature degradation factor in terahertz quantum cascade lasers (THz QCL), has hindered the widespread use of these devices. Herein, the mechanism of the temperature degradation of PI is investigated microscopically. It is demonstrated that the limited extraction efficiency of the extraction system dominates the decrease of PI at elevated temperatures. To be specific, the increased temperature brings about intense thermally activated longitudinal optical phonon scattering, leading to large amounts of electrons scattering to lower level state. In this case, the resonant-phonon extraction system is incapable of depleting all the electrons from lower level states. So even though the resonant-tunneling injection seems efficient enough to compensate the electron runoff at the upper state, the electron density at lower level state increases and the overall PI turns out lower. In addition, it is found that strong electron-ionized donor separation at high temperature can induce level misalignment, which can stagger the optimal conditions of injection and extraction. Also, the extraction efficiency gets lower as the extraction system requires accurate coupling between several energy levels.

Novel targets for ameliorating energy metabolism disorders in depression through stable isotope-resolved metabolomics.

The severe harm of depression to human health and life has attracted global attention, but the exact mechanism is not yet known due to the complicated pathogenesis. The existing antidepressants are far from ideal, indicating it is urgently needed to seek safe and effective drugs from a unique perspective. Based on the hypothesis of "mitochondrial dysfunction" proposed recently, we attempt to focus on the substrates supply of energy metabolism. We applied stable isotope-resolved metabolomics, and revealed that significantly decreased TCA cycle and abnormally increased gluconeogenesis pathway in CUMS rats. Pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) and pyruvate carboxylase (PC) maybe the key metabolic enzymes. This metabolic reprogramming was confirmed through ELISA assays and Western blot analysis. To explore the causes of substrates supply disorder in depression, we conducted the mitochondrial structure-function evaluation. Interestingly, the levels of the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC) decreased significantly, which is essential for the entry of pyruvic acid into the TCA cycle. Together, MPC, PDH and PC are expected to become potential novel therapeutic targets for treating depressive disorders. This research provides a unique insight for re-cognizing the pathological mechanisms of depression, the novel targets for development of ideal antidepressants, as well as a paradigm for deciphering abnormal metabolic pathways in other metabolic diseases.

Stable Isotope-Resolved Metabolomics Studies on Corticosteroid-Induced PC12 Cells: A Strategy for Evaluating Glucose Catabolism in an in Vitro Model of Depression.

Depression is a common psychopathological state or mood disorder syndrome. The serious risks to human life and the inadequacy of the existing antidepressant drugs have driven us to understand the pathogenesis of depression from a new perspective. Our research group has found disturbances in glucose catabolism in both depression and nephrotic syndrome. What are the specific metabolic pathways and specificities of glucose catabolism disorders caused by depression? To address the above scientific questions, we creatively combined traditional metabolomics technology with stable isotope-resolved metabolomics to research the glucose catabolism of the corticosterone-induced PC12 cell damage model and the adriamycin-induced glomerular podocyte damage model. The results showed an increased flux of pyruvate metabolism in depression. The increased flux of pyruvate metabolism led to an activation of gluconeogenesis in depression. The disturbed upstream metabolism of succinate caused the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle) to be blocked in depression. In addition, there were metabolic disturbances in the purine metabolism and pentose phosphate pathways in depression. Compared with nephrotic syndrome, pyruvate metabolism, the TCA cycle, and gluconeogenesis metabolism in depression were specific. The metabolic pathways researched above are likely to be important targets for the efficacy of antidepressants.

Conductivity optimization via intertwined CNTs between TiNb2O7@C microspheres for a superior performance Li-ion battery anode.

Titanium niobate (TiNb2O7, TNO) possesses attractive discharge voltage and reversibility, which is considered to be an ideal anode material of lithium ion battery (LIB). However, its rate capability is strictly limited by their poor conductivity. To improve this issue faced by traditional TNO electrodes, a hierarchical conductive optimization strategy has been proposed and fabricated by a facile spray drying approach. For the construction, TiNb2O7@ultrathin carbon layer (TNO@C) is entangled into carbon nanotubes network to synthesize a highly conductive porous TNO@C/CNTs microsphere. This ultrathin carbon layer and evenly intertwined carbon nanotubes can ensure the superior charge transfer pathway, facilitating the transportation of electrons and Li ions. Additionally, CNTs can provide robust mechanical strength framework, beneficial to the structural stability of composite microspheres. As expected, the TNO@C/CNTs exhibits elevated conductivity and cyclic durability with charge capacities of 343.3 mAh·g-1 at 0.25 C after 300 cycles and 274.9 mAh·g-1 at 10 C after 1000 cycles. This study intends to explore the effect of the attached carbon materials on the TNO-based electrode conductivity and LIBs performances.

Room-Temperature Response Performance of Coupled Doped-Well Quantum Cascade Detectors with Array Structure.

Energy level interaction and electron concentration are crucial aspects that affect the response performance of quantum cascade detectors (QCDs). In this work, two different-structured array QCDs are prepared, and the detectivity reaches 109 cm·Hz1/2/W at room temperature. The overlap integral (OI) and oscillator strength (OS) between different energy levels under a series of applied biases are fitted and reveal the influence of energy level interaction on the response performance. The redistribution of electrons in the cascade structure at room temperatures is established. The coupled doped-well structure shows a higher electron concentration at room temperature, which represents a high absorption efficiency in the active region. Even better responsivity and detectivity are exhibited in the coupled doped-well QCD. These results offer a novel strategy to understand the mechanisms that affect response performance and expand the application range of QCDs for long-wave infrared (LWIR) detection.

Lattice-matching Ni-based scaffold with a spongy cover for uniform electric field against lithium dendrites.

Herein, carbonized nickel metal organic framework scaffolds at nickel foam (CNS@NF) were fabricated to regulate Li-ion plating/stripping in lithium cells. CNS@NF would contribute to uniform Li nucleation and low overpotential due to the small lattice mismatch ratio and homogenous lithiophilic sites. Moreover, the spongy structure of the carbonized MOF can reduce the local current density by smoothening the sharp edges of NiO. Owing to these advantages, both the symmetric cells and full cells exhibited excellent electrochemical performance.

Insights into Growth-Oriented Interfacial Modulation within Semiconductor Multilayers.

Interfacial engineering plays a crucial role in regulating the quality and property of heterogeneous structures, especially for nanometer-scaled devices. However, traditional methods for interfacial modulation (IFM) generally treat all the interfaces uniformly, neglecting the inherent disparities of interfaces like their growth sequence. Herein, it is found that the growth-oriented characteristic of IFM strongly determines the main regions where the modulation takes effect. Specifically, in a semiconductor quantum well structure, the arsenic atoms modulated at the well-on-barrier (WoB) interface tend to diffuse into and thus affect the next-grown well layer. In contrast, the arsenic atoms introduced at the barrier-on-well (BoW) interface mainly take effect within the next-grown barrier layer. According to theoretical simulations and electron holography (EH) experiments, the depth of quantum wells and the height of potential barriers are extended by introducing arsenic atoms at WoB and BoW interfaces, respectively. Resultantly, while modulating at the BoW interface has little impact on the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum, applying IFM at the WoB interface could dramatically improve the luminescent intensity (about 30%), which demonstrates the impact of the growth-oriented characteristic. Furthermore, in situ bias EH results indicate that IFM at the WoB interface helps to suppress the quantum-confined Stark effect.

A Polarization Boosted Strategy for the Modification of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides as Electrocatalysts for Water-Splitting.

The design and fabrication of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are of paramount significance for water-splitting process. However, the limited active sites and restricted conductivity prevent their further application. Herein, a polarization boosted strategy is put forward for the modification of TMDs to promote the absorption of the intermediates, leading to the improved catalytic performance. By the forced assembly of TMDs (WS2 as the example) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) via spray-drying method, such frameworks can remarkably achieve low overpotentials and superior durability in alkaline media, which is superior to most of the TMDs-based catalysts. The two-electrode cell for water-splitting also exhibits perfect activity and stability. The enhanced catalytic performance of WS2 /CNTs composite is mainly owing to the strong polarized coupling between CNTs and WS2 nanosheets, which significantly promotes the charge redistribution on the interface of CNTs and WS2 . Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that the CNTs enrich the electron content of WS2 , which favors electron transportation and accelerates the catalysis. Moreover, the size of WS2 is restricted caused by the confinement of CNTs, leading to the increased numbers of active sites, further improving the catalysis. This work opens a feasible route to achieve the optimized assembling of TMDs and CNTs for efficient water-splitting process.