Search Results (888)

Bisphenol AF (BPAF), a highly persistent fluorinated substitute for bisphenol A with endocrine-disrupting risks, resists conventional water treatment. To simultaneously address recalcitrant fluorinated pollutant removal and phosphogypsum (PG) valorization, we synthesized a CoFe₂O₄@PG composite catalyst via sol-gel using industrial PG as support, and applied it to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for BPAF degradation. CoFe₂O₄ was successfully loaded onto PG, forming densely packed quasi-spherical aggregates. Under optimal conditions, the 10% CoFe₂O₄@PG/PMS system removed 99.17% of BPAF within 60 min, outperforming CoFe₂O₄/PMS and confirming that PG loading enhances catalytic activity. The system tolerated pH variations; Cl⁻ had some interference, while CO₃²⁻, SO₄²⁻, and HPO₄²⁻ showed limited effects. The Co(II)/Co(III) and Fe(II)/Fe(III) redox cycles play a key role in the activation of PMS to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), with the sulfate radical (SO₄•⁻) and singlet oxygen (¹O₂) being the primary reactive species. The catalyst exhibited broad pH adaptability, anti-interference, and cycling stability; after five cycles, removal decreased by only 15.48%, and metal leaching complied with Chinese national standards. This work offers a new strategy for fluorinated-pollutant remediation and PG valorization. Full article

Forecasting hourly electricity consumption across distributed building portfolios is critical for grid management and demand response, yet the sensitivity of granular energy data constrains centralised aggregation. Federated learning (FL) trains models in situ, but the cost of layering formal differential privacy (DP) guarantees atop FL remains underexplored for building-energy workloads. We train a CNN-LSTM forecasting model under three FL aggregation strategies (FedAvg, FedProx, FedBN) across four cumulative privacy budgets (ε ∈ {0.5, 1, 3, 6.5}, δ = 10⁻⁵) over a federation of 50 commercial buildings from the Building Data Genome Project 2. Counter-intuitively, all twelve DP-FL configurations achieve lower validation mean squared error (MSE) than the FedAvg-without-DP baseline, by 17% to 37%. We advance per-sample gradient clipping in differentially private stochastic gradient descent (DP-SGD), which constrains heterogeneous client updates, as the most plausible mechanism, while noting that the DP-compatible architecture it requires is an uncontrolled confound. Within the DP regime, FedAvg exhibits the expected monotonic privacy–utility frontier, FedBN displays weakly anti-monotonic behaviour, and FedProx (μ = 0.01) fails to converge at all but the tightest budget, so aggregation-strategy choice can rival the privacy budget in its effect on accuracy. These are single-seed results from one site, offered as a preliminary characterisation that motivates the multi-seed replication and ablation we specify. Full article

Commercially available caprine dairy matrices are rich sources of lipid-associated bioactive constituents; however, comparative evaluations of their polarity-separated fractions remain limited. This study aimed to characterize and compare the chemical composition, antioxidant capacity, and inhibitory effects on thrombo-inflammatory agonist-induced platelet aggregation of amphiphilic (total amphiphilic content, TAC) and lipophilic (total lipophilic content, TLC) fractions isolated from three independently produced commercial goat milk and three independently produced commercial kefir-based goat yogurt-type fermented products, with different LOT numbers. Total lipid (lipophilic and amphiphilic) extracts were obtained by Bligh and Dyer extraction and then fractionated to TAC and TLC by counter-current separation using a green hexane/ethanol–water solvent system. Analytical determinations included spectrophotometric quantification of total carotenoid and phenolic contents, attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared (ATR–FTIR) structural profiling, and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) relative fatty-acid profiling. Antioxidant capacity was assessed using DPPH and ABTS radical-scavenging assays, while ex vivo light-transmission aggregometry in human platelet-rich plasma, obtained from six independent healthy donors (n = 6) for each fraction, was employed to evaluate potential inhibitory effects against platelet-activating factor (PAF) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP). Across both matrices, TAC fractions exhibited markedly higher radical-scavenging responses than the corresponding TLC fractions, particularly in the ABTS assay. In platelet aggregometry, TAC fractions showed significantly stronger inhibition of both PAF- and ADP-induced aggregation than their corresponding TLC fractions. Specifically, the TAC fraction from the kefir-based yogurt product exhibited the lowest IC₅₀ value against PAF-induced aggregation, whereas the two TAC fractions showed comparable inhibitory potency against ADP-induced aggregation. ATR–FTIR spectroscopy revealed spectral features consistent with lipid-associated, hydroxyl-containing, and phosphate-containing amphiphilic structures, while LC–MS profiling identified palmitic, stearic, oleic, and α-linolenic acids among the predominant fatty acids in the free and esterified fatty-acid pools. Overall, the TAC fractions exhibited substantial in vitro radical-scavenging activity and ex vivo inhibition of agonist-induced platelet aggregation, suggesting potential anti-inflammatory and antithrombotic relevance for these activities. Further in vivo studies are required to determine their physiological relevance. Full article

Background and Objectives: Drug repurposing provides an opportunity to identify anticancer activities among established pharmacological agents. Labetalol (LB), an α₁- and non-selective β-adrenergic receptor antagonist, has been insufficiently investigated in melanoma. This study evaluated the potential anti-melanoma activity of LB in A375 human melanoma cells, compared its effects with those observed in HaCaT immortalized non-tumoral keratinocytes, and investigated the cellular mechanisms associated with LB-induced cytotoxicity. Materials and Methods: A375 and HaCaT cells were exposed to 75–500 μM LB for 24 h. Cell viability and lysosomal dye retention were assessed using MTT and NRU assays. A DMSO-only concentration series (0.075–0.50% v/v) was additionally evaluated by MTT in both cell lines. Mitochondrial membrane potential, mitochondrial staining patterns, nuclear morphology, cytoskeletal organization, caspase-3/7 and caspase-9 activities, and plasma membrane integrity were evaluated using JC-1, MitoTracker Red CMXRos, immunofluorescence, luminescence-based caspase assays, and AO/PI staining. The acute irritation potential of 500 μM LB was assessed using the HET-CAM assay. Results: DMSO alone did not significantly reduce viability over the investigated concentration range in either cell line. LB reduced A375 cell viability in a concentration-dependent manner, with a 24 h IC₅₀ of 422.5 μM and a viability of 33.61% at 500 μM. Under the same experimental conditions, HaCaT viability remained at 89.01% at 500 μM, and an IC₅₀ was not reached within the investigated concentration range. At the highest concentration, neutral red uptake and the JC-1 aggregate/monomer ratio decreased to approximately 33% and 24% of the corresponding control values, respectively. The apoptotic index increased from approximately 3% in control cells to 31%, while caspase-3/7 and caspase-9 activities increased to approximately 482% and 324% of the control. Qualitative imaging demonstrated mitochondrial staining redistribution, cytoskeletal disorganization, apoptosis-associated morphology, and loss of plasma membrane integrity at higher concentrations. In the HET-CAM assay, 500 μM LB produced a mean irritation score of 0.71 ± 0.27, within the non-irritant range. Conclusions: LB displayed concentration-dependent in vitro cytotoxicity in A375 melanoma cells, whereas HaCaT keratinocytes showed limited changes under the investigated conditions. LB treatment was also associated with mitochondria-associated apoptotic signaling in A375 cells. These findings provide preliminary evidence supporting further investigation of LB within a melanoma-directed drug-repurposing strategy. Additional studies are required to establish receptor dependence, achievable local exposure, safety, and translational relevance. Full article

This study investigates the effectiveness of using an interpolymer complex based on a synthetic polycation—Metacid (polyhexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride) and a natural biopolymer—chitosan for anti-erosion soil structuring in the Maktaaral district of the Turkestan region. Using the conical plastometry method, the critical concentration of structure formation in the soil suspension was determined to be 67.5%; for subsequent studies, the solid phase content was taken to be 70%. Rheological studies have revealed a pronounced synergistic effect of the combined use of Metacid and chitosan. If the initial soil–water system is characterized by low elastic moduli (E1, E2 ~ 10⁴ Pa), then the introduction of the “Metacid–chitosan” interpolymer complex leads to a sharp strengthening of the structure: The values of E1 and E2 increase to 3.26·10⁶–7.49·10⁶ Pa and 1.04·10⁶–1.46·10⁶ Pa, respectively. The mechanical stability limit increases by more than twofold, reaching 2000–2500 Pa. Analysis of the ζ-potential and electrical conductivity showed that the Metacid ensures a high positive charge of the complex (+21.76 … 28.69 mV), and chitosan acts as a spatial matrix. Experiments in a wind tunnel have confirmed that the “Metacid–chitosan” formulation, at an optimal concentration of 0.4%, provides effective protection of soil aggregates against wind erosion. The results obtained open up new prospects for using ecologically balanced interpolymer complexes to stabilize arable lands. Full article

Addressing the dual threats of malicious jamming and time-varying fading faced by wireless communication links in complex dynamic electromagnetic adversarial environments, existing intelligent anti-jamming methods predominantly focus on single-dimensional resource optimization under quasi-static channels. This focus neglects the nonlinear superposition effects of multi-path deep fading and dynamic strong jamming in the time-frequency domain, making it challenging for systems to balance transmission reliability and system energy efficiency in physical environments where fading and suppression coexist. To address this issue, this study proposes a joint intelligent anti-jamming method for channel switching and transmit power control based on a Deep Q-Network (DQN). Initially, a composite communication environment model incorporating Markov time-varying fading and jamming is constructed. Subsequently, the joint resource scheduling problem is formulated as a Markov Decision Process. The environment state space is reconstructed by integrating continuous channel state estimation and jamming observation features, accompanied by the design of a highly aggregated two-dimensional discrete action space for both channel and power. Finally, a composite reward function evaluating both communication success rates and power consumption costs is proposed to guide the agent in multi-dimensional resource joint optimization. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm effectively extracts implicit features under the composite state of fading and jamming. When encountering extreme deep fading or full-band blocking, the agent strategically triggers a silent mechanism to avoid exorbitant invalid energy consumption penalties, while precisely matching interference-free channels with the minimum effective transmit power during favorable communication windows. Simulation results show that compared with traditional xx algorithms, the proposed method significantly improves the dynamic successful transmission rate and system energy efficiency in complex, highly dynamic scenarios, achieving an effective optimization of anti-jamming reliability and low power overhead. Full article

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) are characterized by the progressive loss of specific neuronal cell populations and are associated with protein aggregates. Current therapeutic approaches are still limited due to the complexity and heterogeneity of these diseases, which points toward an urgent need to discover and develop new therapeutic agents. Natural compounds are a promising source of novel bioactive agents targeting multiple mechanisms of action implicated in neurodegeneration. Andrographolide (ANDRO) is a natural compound extracted from Andrographis paniculata, a traditional Chinese herb known for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, which has emerged as a potential neuroprotective agent due to its ability to cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB). ANDRO can exert neuroprotective effects by modulating numerous transcription factors and signaling pathways across different cell types in the central nervous system (CNS). It has been described that ANDRO reverses cognitive and/or motor impairments in AD and PD study models. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind these protective effects are still being elucidated. In this review, we analyze the most recent findings on ANDRO, a neuroprotective agent with multiple biological targets that could reduce the progression of the most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases, AD and PD. Full article

Copper nanoparticles possess broad-spectrum antibacterial activity, and aerogels with 3D interconnected porous networks can trap bacteria and sustain metal ion release to boost bactericidal effects. Zinc is another low-toxicity antibacterial metal, and the Cu–Zn combination is predicted to generate synergistic inhibition. Herein, monometallic Cu aerogel and CuZn alloy aerogel were fabricated by a one-step method, and comparative experiments were performed to verify whether Zn alloying improves the antibacterial performance of Cu aerogel. TEM and XRD suggest the probable formation of Cu–Zn substitutional solid solution; Zn addition refined nanoparticles and relieved particle aggregation. Quantitative viability tests, agar diffusion and biofilm inhibition assays proved that CuZn alloy aerogel exhibited superior bactericidal and anti-biofilm activity against E. coli and S. aureus. Mechanistic investigations revealed that the bimetallic alloy induced strain-dependent intracellular ROS accumulation and disrupted bacterial membrane potential to cause irreversible bacterial death. DC2.4 cell tests validated its good cytocompatibility, with cell viability over 70% at 100 ppm, the concentration delivering excellent antibacterial capacity. This work explores the combined antibacterial advantages of Cu-Zn bimetallic alloy aerogel and offers a facile strategy to fabricate biocompatible metal aerogels for biomedical antibacterial applications. Full article

The failure of current therapeutics to elicit a durable response in metastatic ovarian cancer patients highlights the urgent need to develop more effective treatment strategies. In this study, we demonstrate that the anti-diabetic drug metformin exerts cytotoxic effects across a broad panel of ovarian cancer cell lines. Transcriptomic analyses revealed that, in addition to reducing cell viability and proliferation, metformin modulates pathways associated with metastatic progression, including cell migration, extracellular matrix remodeling, and cellular responses to chemotherapeutic agents. Consistent with these molecular changes, metformin significantly impaired ovarian cancer cell migration and invasion through Matrigel. Furthermore, metformin diminished the ability of ovarian cancer cells to form multicellular aggregates, a key property that facilitates successful metastatic dissemination within the peritoneal cavity. Although metformin produced only a modest increase in carboplatin sensitivity, systematic screening of FDA-approved drugs identified several agents whose efficacy was enhanced by metformin, including drugs not currently used to treat ovarian cancer. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that metformin suppresses metastatic phenotypes and enhances therapeutic vulnerability in ovarian cancer cells, supporting its potential repurposing as a combination therapy to improve treatment outcomes in ovarian cancer. Full article

This study investigates how lithological origin influences the engineering performance, stripping resistance, and multi-scale material characteristics of aggregates used in asphalt pavement applications. Three representative aggregate systems—carbonate limestone from Cebeci (Istanbul), siliciclastic sandstone from Arnavutköy (Istanbul), and mafic volcanic basalt from the Karatepe Formation (Çorlu, Tekirdağ)—were comparatively evaluated. The experimental program included physical and mechanical tests, X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, thin-section petrography, and stripping resistance testing. Physical, mechanical, and durability test results were evaluated using replicate measurements and are reported as mean ± standard deviation where applicable. Basalt showed the best mechanical and durability performance, with the lowest flakiness index, Los Angeles abrasion value, and magnesium sulfate soundness loss, but exhibited the lowest unmodified retained coating. Limestone showed a higher inferred binder-affinity potential, interpreted from its calcite-dominated mineralogy, whereas sandstone displayed higher sensitivity related to particle shape, mineralogical heterogeneity, phyllosilicate-bearing components, and petrographic pore/microvoid characteristics. The addition of 0.5% CL 90 S hydrated lime produced an intermediate improvement in stripping resistance, increasing retained coating values to 75–80% for all aggregates, whereas 1.0% hydrated lime further improved retained coating to 80–85%. Higher lime contents of 1.5% and 2.0% did not provide additional improvement under the applied laboratory conditions. These results indicate that 1.0% CL 90 S hydrated lime represents the most effective dosage among the tested conditions. Overall, the results demonstrate that aggregate performance is governed by coupled lithological controls involving mineralogy, petrography, geochemistry, inferred surface-related interaction potential, mechanical durability, stripping resistance, and anti-stripping additive response. The proposed framework should therefore be interpreted as a comparative multi-scale assessment rather than a direct predictive model. Full article

A multifunctional self-aggregation modified quartz sand support agent (MRQS) was prepared by a simple dry coating method for coal seam gas fracturing channels. The organic coating is composed of KH550, OTMS, H-PDMS and microcrystalline wax, which transforms the surface of the raw sand from super hydrophilic to hydrophobic (contact angle is 91.8°), thus providing a driving force for the spontaneous aggregation of particles in aqueous fluids. MRQS shows excellent anti-reflow stability, which does not dissipate after ultrasonic oscillation for more than 10 min, while raw sand can only withstand 3 min. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis shows that the interface adhesion of MRQS under low load is tripled (106.7 nN vs. 32.0 nN), which explains its stronger aggregation intensity. In the temporary sealing test, MRQS forms a stable and low-permeability sealing layer at the narrow crack, raising the sealing pressure to 0.23 MPa, while the original sand cannot achieve effective sealing. The crack diversion ability test shows that MRQS still maintains a diversion capacity of 1.62 μm²·cm under a closed stress of 45 MPa, and the attenuation curve is gentle. Although the initial value is slightly lower than that of raw sand (1.88 μm²·cm), the overall performance is comparable. The static loss test shows that MRQS extends the filtration time of 200 mL filtrate to 439 s, which is 2.04 times that of the original sand. This simple dry coating strategy prepares a multifunctional support agent, which combines self-aggregation, temporary sealing, filter loss control and high stress stability, providing a practical solution to improve the fracturing performance of coal seam gas (CBM). Full article

Phytol, an acyclic diterpene alcohol and a key lipophilic side-chain moiety of chlorophyll, is widely distributed in nature. It exhibits potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and broad-spectrum antibacterial activities. Notably, phytol can also effectively inhibit melanin production, repair the skin barrier, and exert profound anti-aging effects, making it a highly promising ingredient for daily skincare with substantial industrial application value. The skincare benefits of phytol are primarily achieved by constructing a multi-dimensional regulatory network involving defense, modulation and repair. Compared to conventional retinol-based skincare ingredients, phytol exhibits superior biocompatibility, mild irritation, and remarkable safety advantages. Nevertheless, its application is hindered by inherent limitations, including strong hydrophobicity, spontaneous aggregation tendency, and poor photothermal stability. These drawbacks severely restrict its dispersibility, storage stability and percutaneous bioavailability in aqueous cosmetic formulations. To address these deficiencies, nanodrug delivery systems (NDDS), such as liposomes, nanoemulsions, solid lipid nanoparticles and PLGA nanoparticles, have been widely employed. These nanocarriers can penetrate the skin barrier via the size effect, enabling targeted skin delivery and long-term controlled release of phytol. This review systematically summarizes the biological sources and metabolic fate of phytol, as well as its multi-mechanistic pharmacological effects on the skin. Furthermore, we outline the current application status and industrial development trends of phytol in mainstream cosmetics worldwide. This work aims to provide theoretical basis and forward-looking references for the development of high-efficiency, safe and stable phytol-derived skincare raw materials and topical formulations. Highlights: (1) Phytol, a natural acyclic diterpene alcohol, exerts multi-dimensional skincare effects including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, whitening, anti-aging, and skin barrier repair activities via a defense–modulation–repair regulatory network. (2) Phytol may act as a mild, non-irritating functional alternative to retinoids, targeting PPAR/RXR pathways and avoiding TRPV1-mediated irritation, making it suitable for sensitive skin. (3) Poor water solubility and instability hinder phytol’s translation; nanodelivery systems effectively improve solubility, permeability, and sustained release. Full article

To explore an alternative detection approach for the pesticide imidacloprid (IMI), this study repurposed the quinoline-benzimidazole fluorescent probe DQBM-B—previously developed for Co²⁺ recognition—and investigated its detection performance and interaction mechanism toward IMI in the aggregated state. The optimal working conditions of the probe were determined by optimizing key detection parameters, and the sensing performance and matrix compatibility were evaluated through selectivity tests and proof-of-concept spiked cucumber extract analysis. The DQBM-B aggregates interact with IMI synergistically through intermolecular hydrogen bonding and π–π stacking, which enrich IMI at the aggregate surface to create a local enrichment layer. The observed fluorescence quenching arises from the synergistic contribution of static quenching (due to ground-state complex formation) and the inner filter effect (IFE). Under the optimal conditions, the system exhibited a detection limit of 0.75 μmol L⁻¹ for IMI with favorable anti-interference ability. The matrix effect evaluation in cucumber extract demonstrated good recovery and precision, demonstrating the feasibility of the aggregation-regulated IFE strategy in complex food matrices. This study expands the application scope of the DQBM-B probe from metal-ion sensing to pesticide detection and provides a metal-free, aggregation-regulated strategy for the fluorescence detection of neonicotinoid pesticides. Full article

Background/Objectives: Therapeutic antibodies have become an important modality for cancer treatment; however, effective targeted antibody therapies for T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) remain limited. CD99 is a promising therapeutic target due to its high expression in leukemic T cells and its capacity to transmit apoptotic signals. However, the efficacy of antibody-mediated apoptosis may depend on the CD99 region recognized by the antibody. This study compared the in vitro apoptotic activity of two chimeric anti-CD99 antibodies, ChAbMT99/1 and ChAbMT99/3, which recognize distinct regions of CD99 in T-ALL models. Methods: ChAbMT99/1 and ChAbMT99/3 were generated as human IgG1 antibodies. Antibody reactivity and binding site specificity were characterized using peptide-based ELISA. Binding to native CD99, apoptosis induction in two-dimensional (2D) Jurkat E6.1 and MOLT-4 suspension cultures and three-dimensional (3D) Jurkat E6.1-derived spheroid models, and cytotoxic effects on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were assessed by flow cytometry. In vitro hematologic effects were assessed using hemagglutination and platelet aggregation assays. Results: ChAbMT99/1 and ChAbMT99/3 specifically recognized peptides corresponding to distinct CD99 regions, with peptide-binding EC₅₀ values of 0.813 and 0.819 μg/mL, respectively. Both antibodies exhibited binding reactivity to native CD99 on the tested cells. Functionally, both antibodies induced Annexin V/7-AAD-defined cell death in both 2D and 3D T-ALL models compared with controls in a crosslinking-dependent manner. In contrast, both antibodies induced low levels of cell death (<10%) in bulk PBMCs, with no visible hemagglutination or platelet aggregation observed in samples from five selected donors under the stated assay conditions. Conclusions: Both chimeric anti-CD99 antibodies demonstrated in vitro apoptotic activity against T-ALL models despite recognizing distinct regions of CD99. These findings provide a rationale for further investigation of their other mechanisms of action to support the future development of CD99-targeted antibody therapy for T-ALL. Full article

Existing colorimetric sensing strategies based on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are largely limited to the detection of free metal ions, leaving metal–organic complexes widely present in real water bodies undetectable. Herein, we develop a simple colorimetric method based on the anti-aggregation effect of bare AuNPs for the simultaneous detection of free Cr³⁺ and its organic complexes. Tetrabutylphosphonium bromide (TPB) dissociates into phosphonium cations ([P(C₄H₉)₄]⁺), which neutralize the negatively charged surface of AuNPs via electrostatic attraction, thereby inducing particle aggregation and a color change from wine-red to blue. Under strongly alkaline conditions, Cr³⁺ converts to negatively charged [Cr(OH)₆]³⁻ species. These anionic species then compete with the AuNPs for the phosphonium cations, blocking the aggregation process and preserving the wine-red color. This competitive mechanism is further extended to the detection of Cr³⁺-EDTA, Cr³⁺-tartrate, and Cr³⁺-oxalate complexes, as they also transform into [Cr(OH)₆]³⁻ under alkaline conditions. Without the need for tedious surface modification, the proposed method is simple to operate and exhibits excellent sensitivity and selectivity for both free and complexed Cr³⁺ in real water samples. It thus provides a reliable analytical tool for monitoring chromium pollution in environmental waters. Full article