Study on the Molecular Basis of Huanglian Jiedu Decoction Against Atopic Dermatitis Integrating Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Metabolomics Strategies

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common chronic relapsing skin inflammation, which severely affect the quality of life of patients. Inhibiting itching and enhancing immunity to mitigate scratching are key elements in the fight against AD. Huanglian Jiedu decoction (HLJDD) has multiple pharmacological effects in the treatment of AD. However, the effective ingredients and underlying molecular mechanisms have not yet been fully explored. Thus, this study integrates chemistry, biochemistry, and metabolomics strategies to evaluate the active substance basis of HLJDD against AD. First, HLJDD was split to five fractions (CPF, 40AEF, 90AEF, PEF and WEF) and 72 chemical components were identified. NSD (Non-similarity degree) among the different fractions showed significant chemical differences (>81%). Interleukin IL-13, IL-17A, IL-3, IL-31, IL-33, IL4, IL-5, TSLP, IgE, and histamine in the serum, and IL-4Rα, JAK1, and HRH4 levels in skin, participating in inhibiting itching and regulating immunity signaling, were found to be restored to varying degrees in AD treating with HLJDD and its fractions, especially 40AEF and CPF. Untargeted metabolomics analysis demonstrated that forty metabolites were differential metabolites in plasma between the HLJDD-treated group and the AD group, involving in histidine metabolism, arginine biosynthesis, pyrimidine metabolism, and so on. Further, targeted metabolomics analysis revealed that eleven differential metabolites, associating with physiological and biochemical indices, were significant improved in the HLJDD and its fractions groups. In conclusion, HLJDD exhibited anti-AD effects by inhibiting itching and enhancing immunity, which in turn regulating the levels of relative metabolites, and CPF and 40AEF were considered the most important components of HLJDD.

VDB Analysis for Zeolites LTA Structures

A distinct number used to characterize a molecular graph's chemical structure and significant chemical properties is a topological index. Quite a number of Vertex degree-based (VDB) indices have been introduced to investigate the structure of molecular compounds. Zeolites are a widely used family of aluminosilicates that have applications in chemistry, medicine, and commercial production due to their advantageous chemical properties. To aid in their creation, computer simulations have found millions of possible specific structures for zeolites. However, only a small percentage of these structures have been created. To aid in this discovery process, we extend the literature by computing the analytical expressions of VDB indices, VDB entropy measures, and VDB irregularity indices.

Occupational risks and their implications for the health of poultry farmers

BACKGROUND: Poultry activity exposes workers to accidents and unhealthy conditions with physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic and psychological risks. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to list risk factors in poultry farms in operational, behavioral, and environmental aspects. METHODS: We evaluated poultry farm workers through quantitative and qualitative analysis applying a semi-structured online questionnaire containing 58 questions to identify risks in the workplace and health implications. RESULTS: Most facilities were air-conditioned, workers performed their activities in a totally closed environment, with low light (1 to 10 lux), for more than 40 h/wk. Regarding accidents, 61%of workers claimed to have suffered some type of accident, 34%claimed to not use personal protection equipment, and 41%felt unable to perform their activities at some time due to health problems; handling animals and animal waste were the most significant biological risks; dust and ammonia corresponded to the most significant chemical risks; and electric shock, burns, and heat exposure were the most significant physical/accident risks. CONCLUSIONS: Workers expose themselves daily to physical, chemical, biological, psychosocial, and ergonomic risks. These exposures often lead to symptoms such as stress, headache, eye and mucous membrane disorders, respiratory diseases, back and muscle pain, depression, and symptoms often associated with Sick Building Syndrome.

Metabolomics Reveals Heterogeneity in the Chemical Composition of Green and White Spears of Asparagus (A. officinalis)

Green and white asparagus are quite different crops but can be harvested from the same plant. They have distinct morphological differences due to their mode of cultivation and they are characterised by having contrasting appearance and flavour. Significant chemical differences are therefore expected. Spears from three varieties of both green and white forms, harvested in two consecutive seasons were analysed using headspace GC-MS and LC-MS with an untargeted metabolomic workflow. Mainly C5 and C8 alcohols and aldehydes, and phenolic compounds were more abundant in green spears, whereas benzenoids, monoterpenes, unsaturated aldehydes and steroidal saponins were more abundant in white ones. Previously reported key asparagus volatiles and non-volatiles were detected at similar or not significantly different levels in the two asparagus types. Spatial metabolomics revealed also that many volatiles with known positive aroma attributes were significantly more abundant in the upper parts of the spears and showed a decreasing trend towards the base. These findings provide valuable insights into the metabolome of raw asparagus, the contrasts between green and white spears as well as the different chemical distributions along the stem.

Impact of Digestion on Surface Microstructures of Microplastics

Recently, there have been more reports and concerns about microplastics from various media and journals in the world. Except for land and water pollutions, much attention has been given to the impact of microplastics on animal and human health. However, previous studies have shown that digestion could not affect the particles of various microplastics due to their stable behavior. This work focuses on the impact of artificial digestion on the surface microstructures of microplastics from well recognized popular sources such as PP, PE, PET, PS and PVC. SEM and AFM were used to study the impact of artificial digestion on the surface morphologies of microplastics; while ATR-FTIR and XPS were used to investigate the impact of artificial digestion on the chemical properties of the surface of the microplastics. There were no physical differences observed by both SEM and AFM. There were no significant chemical differences detected by both FTIR and XPS after treatment. The slight differences of resolved C1s spectra for PS and PET samples detected by XPS should be further investigated. The study results show that the digestion system could not decompose the microplastics. Generally, plastic particles are widely considered to be inert due to their low chemical reactivity.

Lithostratigraphy of the Naros Granite (Komsberg Suite), South Africa and Namibia

The Naros Granite occurs as a large, northwest-trending ovoid batholith roughly 30 km long and 15 km wide straddling the Orange River border between South Africa and Namibia, 25 km northeast of Onseepkans. It consists mainly of a leucocratic to mesocratic grey, coarse-grained equigranular hornblende-biotite granite-granodiorite that is locally mildly feldspar porphyritic. Small, ovoid mafic autoliths are common and characteristic of the Naros Granite. The composition of the unit varies from granite to granodiorite with a minor leucogranitic phase observed along the southern margin of the batholith. Hornblende and biotite are ubiquitous mafic minerals but small amounts of orthopyroxene occur locally. The Naros Granite has yielded tightly-constrained U-Pb zircon ages between 1 114 Ma and 1 101 Ma. The Naros Granite is generally unfoliated to weakly deformed with only localised shearing along contacts with the surrounding country rocks giving rise to orthogneissic fabrics. It has an intermediate to felsic composition (mean SiO2: 63.9 ± 2.2 wt.%) and is strongly metaluminous. This, together with its biotite-hornblende ± orthopyroxene mineral assemblage and the abundance of mafic autoliths, suggests it is an I-type granitoid, with the source magma produced by partial melting of older igneous rocks that had not undergone any significant chemical weathering. The Naros Granite is the youngest and most evolved member of the ~1.11 Ga Komsberg Suite, a collection of late- to post-tectonic I-type metaluminous, intermediate to felsic, biotite ± hornblende granitoids and their charnockitic equivalents that have intruded the older pre-tectonic gneisses of the Kakamas Domain of the Namaqua Metamorphic Sector.

Diborides of transition metals: Properties, application and production. review. Part 2. Chromium and zirconium diborides

The second part of the review considers properties, application and methods for producing chromium and zirconium diborides. These diborides are oxygen-free refractory metal-like compounds. As a result, they are characterized by high values of thermal and electrical conductivity. Their hardness is relatively high. Chromium and zirconium diborides exhibit significant chemical resistance in aggressive environments. They have found application in modern technology because of these reasons. Chromium diboride is used as a sintering additive to improve the properties of ceramics based on boron carbide and titanium diboride. Zirconium diboride is a component of advanced ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTC) ZrB2 –SiC used in supersonic aircrafts and in gas turbine assemblies. Ceramics B4C–CrB2 and B4C–ZrB2 have high-quality performance characteristics, in particular, increased crack resistance. The properties of refractory compounds depend on the content of impurities and dispersion. Therefore, to solve a specific problem associated with the use of refractory compounds, it is important to choose the method of their preparation correctly, to determine the admissible content of impurities in the starting components. This leads to the presence of different methods for the borides synthesis. The main methods for their preparation are: a) synthesis from elements; b) borothermal reduction of oxides; c) carbothermal reduction (reduction of mixtures of metal oxides and boron with carbon; d) metallothermal reduction of metal oxides and boron mixtures; e) boron-carbide reduction. Plasma-chemical synthesis (deposition from the vapor-gas phase) is also used to obtain diboride nanopowders. Each of these methods is described.

Identification of Chemotypic Markers in Three Chemotype Categories of Cannabis Using Secondary Metabolites Profiled in Inflorescences, Leaves, Stem Bark, and Roots

Previous chemotaxonomic studies of cannabis only focused on tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) dominant strains while excluded the cannabidiol (CBD) dominant strains and intermediate strains (THC ≈ CBD). This study investigated the utility of the full spectrum of secondary metabolites in different plant parts in three cannabis chemotypes (THC dominant, intermediate, and CBD dominant) for chemotaxonomic discrimination. Hierarchical clustering, principal component analysis (PCA), and canonical correlation analysis assigned 21 cannabis varieties into three chemotypes using the content and ratio of cannabinoids, terpenoids, flavonoids, sterols, and triterpenoids across inflorescences, leaves, stem bark, and roots. The same clustering results were obtained using secondary metabolites, omitting THC and CBD. Significant chemical differences were identified in these three chemotypes. Cannabinoids, terpenoids, flavonoids had differentiation power while sterols and triterpenoids had none. CBD dominant strains had higher amounts of total CBD, cannabidivarin (CBDV), cannabichromene (CBC), α-pinene, β-myrcene, (−)-guaiol, β-eudesmol, α-eudesmol, α-bisabolol, orientin, vitexin, and isovitexin, while THC dominant strains had higher total THC, total tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), total cannabigerol (CBG), camphene, limonene, ocimene, sabinene hydrate, terpinolene, linalool, fenchol, α-terpineol, β-caryophyllene, trans-β-farnesene, α-humulene, trans-nerolidol, quercetin, and kaempferol. Compound levels in intermediate strains were generally equal to or in between those in CBD dominant and THC dominant strains. Overall, with higher amounts of β-myrcene, (−)-guaiol, β-eudesmol, α-eudesmol, and α-bisabolol, intermediate strains more resemble CBD dominant strains than THC dominant strains. The results of this study provide a comprehensive profile of bioactive compounds in three chemotypes for medical purposes. The simultaneous presence of a predominant number of identified chemotype markers (with or without THC and CBD) could be used as chemical fingerprints for quality standardization or strain identification for research, clinical studies, and cannabis product manufacturing.

196 A Rare Case of Chemical Burn: Dithranol With Salicylic Acid

A 16-year-old female with psoriasis was admitted to our Plastic Surgery department with a significant chemical burn to the neck, upper torso, and left cheek (TBSA 6%). She applied a concoction of cream prescribed by her dermatologist in her native country, Poland when she returned to the United Kingdom. A few hours after application she developed a burn with pH of 5. A review of the cream revealed a mixture of 19% Dithranol and 5% Salicylic acid. This combination is recognized for managing psoriasis, however the strength of dithranol in the combination given is of a high concentration (normally <3%). This alone can cause a burn to the skin if left for a prolonged period of time. Salicylic acid is an enhancer which augments the stability of dithranol and increases its penetration and efficacy. The concentration of 5% is also on the higher end. Our patient was admitted for pain relief and further irrigation till normalization of the pH which was achieved after 3 days. A worrying aspect in our patients’ case is that she was given the cream to commence at home. High concentration preparation is normally commenced in a controlled setting under medical supervision.

Diborides of transition metals: Properties, application and production. Review. Part 1. Titanium and vanadium diborides

The properties, applications and methods for producing titanium and vanadium diborides are considered. These diborides are oxygen-free refractory metal-like compounds. As a result, they are characterized by high values of thermal and electrical conductivity. Their hardness is relatively high. Titanium and vanadium diborides exhibit significant chemical resistance in aggressive environments. For these reasons, they have found application in modern technics. So, they are used as surfacing materials when applying wear-resistant coatings on steel products. It is also possible to use vanadium diboride as a catalyst in organic synthesis and the anode in renewable electrochemical current sources. Perspective are ceramics B4C – TiB2 and B4C – VB2 , which make it possible to obtain products based on boron carbide with high-quality performance characteristics, in particular, with increased crack resistance. Such composite ceramics are obtained by means of hot pressing, spark plasma sintering and pressureless sintering. The properties of refractory compounds depend on the content of impurities and dispersion. Therefore, to solve a specific problem associated with the use of refractory compounds, it is important to choose the method of their preparation correctly, to determine the admissible content of impurities in the starting components. This leads to the presence of different methods for the synthesis of borides. The main methods for their preparation are: synthesis from simple substances (metals and boron); borothermal reduction of oxides; carbothermal reduction (reduction of mixtures of metal oxides and boron with carbon; metallothermal reduction of mixtures of metal oxides and boron; carbide-boron reduction. Plasma-chemical synthesis (deposition from the vapor-gas phase) is also used to obtain diboride nanopowders. Each of these methods is characterized in the article.