Recent Advances on Pharmacology and Chemistry of Pycnanthus angolensis over the last decade (2012-2021)

<i>Pycnanthus angolensis</i>, widely known under its trade name "ilomba", is a medicinal plant from the family Myristicaceae that has occupied a prominent place in African traditional medicine for several decades; its broad application to treat numerous diseases, including malaria, bacterial infections and most recently COVID-19. The various chemical studies undertaken on the plant identified many classes of specialized compounds, including quinone-terpenoids, lignans and isoflavonoids, as the most abundant and bioactive components. The plant is defined as a major asset in developing new potent drugs and deserves further investigation in this regard. This mini-review aims to compile the newly documented findings on the traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of<i> P. angolensis</i> over the last decade from 2012 to 2021. In this regard, a literature search using the keyword <i>Pycnanthus</i> has been done without language restriction in numerous online libraries, including Scifinder, PubMed, Google Scholar, and only papers on <i>Pycnanthus angolensis</i> published after 2011 have been exploited during the writing.

A simple mass oscillator metasurface design with linear phase shift

In this paper, a simple mass oscillator metasurface is designed, which can regulate the phase shift of flexural wave covering 0-2π by adjusting the number of mass oscillators on the connecting bar. Based on the forced vibration theory, there is a simple approximately linear relationship between the number and phase shift of mass oscillators, which can more intuitively and accurately predict the phase of different number of mass oscillators, and then realize the metasurface design of mass oscillators with different requirements. Therefore, arbitrary regulation of flexural waves, such as abnormal refraction, beam focusing, and self-acceleration, can be realized by reasonably arranging the number of mass oscillators. The results show that the proposed metasurface can be greatly simplified both in the establishment of phase shift relation and in the fabrication of structure configuration, and will have broad application potential in the engineering field.

Debiasing FracMinHash and deriving confidence intervals for mutation rates across a wide range of evolutionary distances

Sketching methods offer computational biologists scalable techniques to analyze data sets that continue to grow in size. MinHash is one such technique that has enjoyed recent broad application. However, traditional MinHash has previously been shown to perform poorly when applied to sets of very dissimilar sizes. FracMinHash was recently introduced as a modification of MinHash to compensate for this lack of performance when set sizes differ. While experimental evidence has been encouraging, FracMinHash has not yet been analyzed from a theoretical perspective. In this paper, we perform such an analysis and prove that while FracMinHash is not unbiased, this bias is easily corrected. Next, we detail how a simple mutation model interacts with FracMinHash and are able to derive confidence intervals for evolutionary mutation distances between pairs of sequences as well as hypothesis tests for FracMinHash. We find that FracMinHash estimates the containment of a genome in a large metagenome more accurately and more precisely when compared to traditional MinHash, and the confidence interval performs significantly better in estimating mutation distances. A python-based implementation of the theorems we derive is freely available at https://github.com/KoslickiLab/mutation-rate-ci-calculator. The results presented in this paper can be reproduced using the code at https://github.com/KoslickiLab/ScaledMinHash-reproducibles.

Application of Nanomaterial in Hydrogels Related to Wound Healing

Traditional dressings used for wound repair, such as gauze, have shortcomings; for example, they cannot provide a suitable microenvironment for wound recovery. Therefore, it is necessary to find a better dressing to overcome shortcomings. Hydrogel provides a suitable wet environment, has good biocompatibility, and has a strong swelling rate to absorb exudate. Nanomaterial in hydrogels has been used to improve their performance and overcome the shortcomings of current hydrogel dressings. Hydrogel dressing can also be loaded with nanodrug particles to exert a better therapeutic effect than conventional drugs and to make the dressing more practical. This article reviews the application of nanotechnology in hydrogels related to wound healing and discusses the application prospects of nanohydrogels. After searching for hydrogel articles related to wound healing, we found that nanomaterial can not only enhance the mechanical strength, antibacterial properties, and adhesion of hydrogels but also achieve sustained drug release. From the perspective of clinical application, these characteristics are significant for wound healing. The combination of nanomaterial and hydrogel is an ideal dressing with broad application prospects for wound healing in the future.

Preparation and Characterization of Starch Active Interface Calcium Carbonate for Biodegration

Calcium carbonate is so hard to be further developed in polymer applications because it is difficult to combine with other materials. Starch-coated calcium carbonate was prepared by using starch as the main modifier and sodium stearate and sodium hexametaphosphate as the auxiliary modifiers. Optimal modification conditions were tested by single factor experiment and orthogonal experiment optimization. Manifestation was evaluated with the help of Fourier infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) and laser particle size analyzer and other test instruments. Results showed that a starch film was successfully coated on the surface of calcium carbonate, and the edges and corners of the modified coated calcium carbonate were passivated, and the particles were rounded. The active interface calcium carbonate has a broad application prospect in the field of degradable biomaterials.

Design and tuning of Cr3+-doped near-infrared phosphors for multifunctional applications via crystal field engineering

Nowadays, near-infrared (NIR) -emitting luminescence materials with broad application prospects have drawn great attention. SrGa12O19: Cr3+ is a new type of solid light source material that emits NIR light with...

Application and Development of Noncontact Detection Method of α-Particles Based on Radioluminescence

The detection of α particles is of great significance in military and civil nuclear facility management. At present, the contact method is mainly used to detect α particles, but its shortcomings limit the broad application of this method. In recent years, preliminary research on noncontact α-particle detection methods has been carried out. In this paper, the theory of noncontact α-particles detection methods is introduced and studied. We also review the direct detection and imaging methods of α particles based on the different wavelengths of fluorescence photons, and analyze the application and development of this method, providing an important reference for researchers to carry out related work.

The Impact of Retinal Configuration on the Protein–Chromophore Interactions in Bistable Jumping Spider Rhodopsin-1

Bistable rhodopsins have two stable forms that can be interconverted by light. Due to their ability to act as photoswitches, these proteins are considered as ideal candidates for applications such as optogenetics. In this work, we analyze a recently crystalized bistable rhodopsin, namely the jumping spider rhodopsin-1 (JSR1). This rhodopsin exhibits identical absorption maxima for the parent and the photoproduct form, which impedes its broad application. We performed hybrid QM/MM simulations to study three isomers of the retinal chromophore: the 9-cis, 11-cis and all-trans configurations. The main aim was to gain insight into the specific interactions of each isomer and their impact on the absorption maximum in JSR1. The absorption spectra were computed using sampled snapshots from QM/MM molecular dynamics trajectories and compared to their experimental counterparts. The chromophore–protein interactions were analyzed by visualizing the electrostatic potential of the protein and projecting it onto the chromophore. It was found that the distance between a nearby tyrosine (Y126) residue plays a larger role in the predicted absorption maximum than the primary counterion (E194). Geometric differences between the isomers were also noted, including a structural change in the polyene chain of the chromophore, as well as changes in the nearby hydrogen bonding network.