Advancing kombucha fermentation: Microbial interactions, functional metabolites, and innovative optimization strategies.

Kombucha is a fermented tea beverage that has attracted increasing attention due to its diverse microbial ecosystem and potential health benefits. This review presents a comprehensive and innovative perspective on kombucha fermentation by integrating recent advances in microbial interactions, functional metabolite production, and emerging biotechnological approaches. The synergistic roles of bacteria and yeasts in shaping its physicochemical and bioactive properties are explored, with a focus on how multi-omics techniques, including metagenomics and metabolomics, are redefining microbial dynamics.

Benzofuranyl-pyrazole as a Novel Scaffold for and Potent Anticancer Therapeutics That Directly Disrupt the 'Undruggable' MYC Oncogene and Potentiate Immune Checkpoint Blockage.

Targeting the 'undruggable' MYC oncogene remains a challenging objective. Despite substantial research efforts, a majority of MYC direct inhibitors discovered so far lack efficacy. Herein, benzofuranyl-pyrazole has been identified as a structurally novel scaffold directly disrupting MYC function.

Neuroprotective effects of Yangming-Kaixin-Yizhi formula in Alzheimer's disease: dual regulation of PI3K/Akt and p38 MAPK signaling via network pharmacology and experimental approaches.

As a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive cognitive decline, the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is still poorly understood, and there is no effective cure currently available. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription Yangming-Kaixin-Yizhi formula (YKY) has been clinically applied for the treatment of memory loss related disorders for more than 300 years with remarkable efficacy, but its pharmacological mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of YKY on AD and its molecular mechanisms.

Optimization, analysis, and thermal performance enhancement of the cooling flow channel for a condenser mirror.

Condenser mirrors with the ellipsoidal surface type are widely used in laser illuminating systems. Nonetheless, thermal absorption in optical components is unavoidable because of high-energy lasers, leading to a decline in surface shape accuracy. In extreme instances, this can shorten the operational longevity or impair the system's focusing capabilities.

Haplotype-resolved, gap-free genome assemblies provide insights into the divergence between Asian and European pears.

Pears (Pyrus spp.) are self-incompatible crops with broad genetic diversity. High heterozygosity and technical limitations result in gaps within reference genomes.

Integrating UPLC-Q-TOF-MS, network pharmacology, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulation to reveal the material basis and mechanism of Xiangshao sanjie oral liquid in treating hyperplasia of mammary glands.

Xiangshao sanjie oral liquid (XSSJ), a classical traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has been applied to treat hyperplasia of the mammary gland (HMG) for more than 20 years in China. Whereas its active ingredients and pharmacological mechanisms remained unclear. This paper aims to elucidate the active ingredients in XSSJ and to provide a clear understanding of how these compounds interact with biological pathways and contribute to therapeutic outcomes.

Lipid-mediated photoprotection confers strong light resilience in hyperaccumulator Sedum alfredii.

The heavy metal hyperaccumulator Sedum is limited by sensitivity to intense sunlight. This study compared light-tolerant Sedum alfredii and light-sensitive Sedum plumbizincicola under light intensities (600-1400 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹). Sedum plumbizincicola exhibited complete mortality at 1400 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ after six days, while Sedum alfredii showed minimal to moderate mortality.

Surface Activity, Aggregation Behavior, and Wettability of a Mixture of Perfluorinated Branched Short Chain Sulfonate Surfactants and Hydrocarbon Cationic Surfactants in Dilute Solutions.

Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorohexyl sulfonic acid (PFHxS) cause environmental pollution problems and have gradually been phased out in the market. To this end, a sulfonic acid based fluorinated surfactant, BQSF-SS, was synthesized with the branched C6 perfluorochain as the hydrophobic chain and the benzene ring as the connecting group. The surface activity, interaction parameters, aggregation behavior, and wetting properties of the BQSF-SS/dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) complex system were systematically studied.

Impact of polymerase acidic subunit (PA) substitutions on fever and symptoms in pediatric influenza A patients treated with baloxavir: A pooled four-season analysis.

Background: Baloxavir marboxil is used for influenza treatment in Japan. However, the clinical and virologic significance of baloxavir-associated PA variants in children remains unclear.

Methods: We conducted a four-season, multicenter study from 2018-2019 to 2023-2024 in pediatric patients under 19 years old with influenza A who were treated with baloxavir.

Selective expansion of TCF7-expressing tumor-reactive T cell subpopulations during ovarian tumor-infiltrating T cell production ex vivo.

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy was recently approved for melanoma patients; however, the dynamic changes in T cell subpopulations during TIL production remain poorly understood. Here, we analyzed epithelial ovarian cancer samples at various stages of ex vivo TIL culture using paired single-cell RNA and TCR sequencing. We also assessed the expansion potential and tumor reactivity of the identified TIL subpopulations.

Hybridization-encoded DNA tags with paper-based readout for anti-forgery raw material tracking.

Tracking and tracing raw materials is crucial for securing global supply chains. Conventional methods like barcodes and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are effective but fall short in ensuring raw material traceability and anti-counterfeiting. This work introduces DNA as a powerful tool for source tracking, leveraging its invisibility, safety, and seamless product integration.

Novel Mannich-Type Multicomponent Reactions: Discovery, Mechanism, and Application.

ConspectusThe development of efficient multicomponent reactions (MCRs) represents a vital frontier for the rapid construction of structurally sophisticated molecules from simple precursors in an atom- and step-economic manner. In particular, the Mannich reaction is a prototypical three-component reaction that rapidly assembles a resonance-stabilized carbon nucleophile, an aldehyde (or ketone), and an amine to afford alkylamines and serves as a particularly valuable tool for diversity-oriented synthesis in drug discovery and development. Typically, the nucleophilic components of the Mannich reaction rely on Brønsted-acidic carbonyl C()-H and electron-rich aromatic C()-H.

Integrated multi-omics reveals mechanistic impact of gut microbiota inhibition on lignocellulose biodegradation in Tenebrio molitor.

Tenebrio molitor demonstrates an excellence ability to biodegrade lignocellulosic waste rapidly, though the specific mechanisms behind this process remain largely unknown. Among the eight types of antibiotics, levofloxacin had the most significant inhibitory effect on gut microorganisms of Tenebrio molitor. Following inhibition of gut microorganisms, notable reductions were observed in larval growth, triglyceride content, and lignocellulose degradation efficiency, suggesting a synergistic role between the gut tissue and gut microorganisms in lignocellulose biodegradation.

Boosting peroxymonosulfate activation through Mn/Co redox cycling in sulfur-doped coMn oxide Heterostructures for enhanced pollutant degradation.

Transition metal oxide materials are regarded as efficient catalysts for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation to eliminate persistent pollutants. Nevertheless, the application of the PMS-based system is seriously impeded by the sluggish M/M cycle. Herein, the S-doped CoO/MnO (SCMO) material is prepared to promote the activation of PMS for accelerating tetracycline (TC) degradation.

Surveillance of Respiratory Pathogens Among Rapid Diagnostic Test-Negative Acute Respiratory Infection Patients in Myanmar in 2023, with a Focus on Rhinovirus and Enterovirus Genotyping.

This study explored the distribution and genetic characteristics of respiratory pathogens in outpatients with acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in Yangon, Myanmar, during the 2023 rainy season. Among 267 patients who tested negative for influenza, RSV, and SARS-CoV-2 using rapid diagnostic tests, 84.6% were positive for at least one pathogen according to a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, the BioFire FilmArray Respiratory Panel 2.

Forming an in-situ metal-organic protective layer enables highly stable zinc anode.

Severe dendrite growth, the occurrence of side reactions, and hydrogen evolution can deteriorate the reversibility of Zn plating/stripping. Therefore, we immersed the Zn metal in an alcoholic solution of lauric acid, in-situ generating the zinc laurate layer to alleviate the challenges posed by the above problem. The different alkanoic acids form interfacial layers can effectively regulate the hydrophobicity of the Zn surface and affect the transport of Zn.

Activation of the pentose phosphate pathway mitigates platelet storage lesions and improves platelet preservation quality.

Background: Platelet storage lesions (PSLs) impact platelet lifespan and transfusion quality. This study explores platelet storage metabolism for potential interventions.

Methods: Samples were collected on days 1, 3, and 5 for untargeted metabolomics analysis to identify metabolites that differ with storage time and potential metabolic pathways.

Comprehensive investigation of DNA damage repair genes in children with cancer identifies as novel osteosarcoma predisposition gene.

Background: Recent large-scale genomic sequencing studies reveal that 5-18% of children with cancer harbor pathogenic variants (PV) in known cancer predisposing genes (CPG). However, DNA damage repair (DDR) genes, which are frequently somatically altered in pediatric tumors, have not been systematically examined as a source of novel cancer predisposing signals.

Methods: To address this gap, we interrogated 189 genes across six DDR pathways for the presence of PV among 5,993 childhood cancer cases and 14,477 adult non-cancer controls.

Genetic diversity of H9N2 avian influenza viruses in poultry across China and implications for zoonotic transmission.

Nationwide surveillance of avian influenza viruses (AIVs) in live poultry markets across China has occurred since 2014, providing a resource for AIV prevalence and genetic diversity studies. Here we report that 3,237 of 18,425 samples from poultry were AIV positive (17.57%) between 2019 and 2023, with H9N2 being the dominant subtype.

[Progress in investigating astrocyte heterogeneity after spinal cord injury based on single-cell sequencing technology].

In recent years, the study of single-cell transcriptome sequencing technology in the heterogeneity of astrocytes (astrocytes) after spinal cord injury (SCI) has provided new perspectives on post-traumatic nerve regeneration and repair. To provide a review on the research progress of single-cell sequencing technology in astrocytes after spinal cord injury (SCI), and to more comprehensively and deeply elaborate the application of single-cell sequencing technology in the field of astrocytes after SCI. Single-cell sequencing technology can analyse the transcriptomes of individual cells in a high-throughput manner, thus revealing fine differences in cell types and states.

Enhancing ecological risk assessment of dioxins in aquatic environments: AHR diversity and species sensitivity differences in tiger puffer (Takifugu rubripes).

Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) exert toxicity through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), but species variations in AHR lead to differing sensitivities. Investigating the variation in AHR homolog diversity, expression levels, predominant forms, and AHR sensitivity across species-particularly in fish sensitive to dioxins-is essential for enhancing ecological risk assessment. This study focuses on the tiger puffer (Takifugu rubripes), identifying five AHRs and two ARNTs, with truAHR2a showing the highest expression and the truAHR1 subfamily displaying lower levels.

ReactDiff: Latent Diffusion for Facial Reaction Generation.

Given the audio-visual clip of the speaker, facial reaction generation aims to predict the listener's facial reactions. The challenge lies in capturing the relevance between video and audio while balancing appropriateness, realism, and diversity. While prior works have mostly focused on uni-modal inputs or simplified reaction mappings, recent approaches such as PerFRDiff have explored multi-modal inputs and the one-to-many nature of appropriate reaction mappings.

BGMP: a comprehensive database of human blood group gene mutations and phenotypes.

The BGMP Database (http://bloodgmp.org) serves as a centralized genomic resource for the comprehensive characterization of human blood group systems. Developed to address critical gaps in existing repositories, this platform advances precision in transfusion medicine and compatibility research by integrating classical blood group data with understudied antigen systems, including human neutrophil antigen (HNA), platelet antigens (including human platelet antigens (HPA) and CD36 variants), and immunoglobulin (Ig) allotypes.

Successive structural optimization of Ziritaxestat culminates in the discovery of orally bioavailable and in vivo potent imidazothiadiazole derivative for treating ATX-driven diseases.

Herein, we communicate our medicinal chemistry campaign culminating in the discovery of imidazothiadiazole-based ATX inhibitor with oral bioavailability and potent in vivo efficacy. During our successive structural modification of Ziritaxestat, an ATX inhibitor advanced into phase III clinical trial, a total of 25 analogs have been designed and synthesized for improving its potency. Among them, 9 compounds exhibited single-digit nanomolar ATX inhibitory activity (IC = 2.