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The research represents first scientific exploration into pectinase-assisted enzymatic hydrolysis of bee pollen, targeting its structurally resilient exine and intine layers. The disruption of these stable layers is crucial in promoting the nutrient release (amino acids, bioactive compounds, and minerals) and potentially broadening its applicability in numerous food formulations. Response surface methodology ascertained that optimal parameters for effectively disintegrating bee pollen cell walls are an enzyme concentration of 0.26%, a pH of 4.6, a temperature of 48.7℃ and hydrolysis time of 12 h with protein dispersibility index, wall-breaking rate, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, and total phenolic content as the response variables. Furthermore, the artificial neural network model (R² = 0.99) successfully validated the experimental data obtained from response surface methodology, ensuring robust predictive accuracy. The scanning electron micrographs of pectinase optimized bee pollen (PEOP) demonstrated complete disruption of cell wall. Subsequent analysis demonstrated a marked increase in crude lipid content (12.43 ± 0.19%), protein (32.14 ± 0.28%), water holding capacity (1.95 ± 0.02%), emulsifying activity (65.58 ± 1.35%) compared to untreated bee pollen. Significant increase was also observed in essential amino acids (1.5 times), minerals (1.1 times), in vitro digestibility of PEOP with reduced thermal stability. Minimum alterations in functional group and degree of crystallinity confirms the integrity of the PEOP, ensuring its suitability as a functional food supplement. Therefore, the results strongly establish that pectinase hydrolysis is a productive approach to disrupt bee pollen cell wall for maximising the nutrient release, and bioavailability hence, paving the way for the utilization of fragmented nutrient-rich bee pollen in diverse food applications.

Cosmos caudatus is a traditional Indonesian medicinal plant commonly used in the treatment of cancer, hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis, and other potential health conditions. However, the mechanisms behind its compounds, targets, diseases, disease pathways, and their molecular profiles in treating lung cancer remain unclear. Therefore, a comprehensive approach is required to study these mechanisms by integrating metabolomics, bioinformatics, and in vitro experimental validation to explore the active compounds, targets, diseases, disease pathways, and molecular mechanisms involved in the treatment of lung cancer. The active compounds were identified through analysis using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-orbital ion trap-high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS), and the screening of active compounds was conducted based on ADMET parameters. Potential compounds from C. caudatus and lung cancer-related targets were retrieved from public databases, such as SwissTargetPrediction, DisGeNET, DrugBank, GeneCards, PharmGKB, and TTD. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis of the targets was performed using DAVID, and protein–protein interactions (PPI) were analyzed using STRING and Cytoscape. A pharmacological network was constructed with Cytoscape. Finally, molecular docking analysis was conducted to predict and validate the interactions between C. caudatus compounds and core lung cancer targets. The metabolomic approach identified 66 compounds in the leaves, of which 13 met the criteria for gastrointestinal drugs. The compounds 3’,4’,5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone, AKT1 target, lung neoplasms diseases, and PIP3 activating AKT signalling pathway, became the core target with the highest degree value in the pharmacological network formed. In the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, AKT1 again became the core target with the highest degree value. Gene Ontology (GO) functional enrichment analysis revealed that the biological processes, molecular functions, cellular components, and KEGG pathways in lung cancer were phosphorylation, cytoplasm, protein binding, and cancer pathways, respectively. The three compounds with the best binding energy and hydrogen bonding were 3’,4’,5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone-AKT1 (9C1W), gamma-mangostin-EGFR (3P0V), and cratoxyarborenone E-TNF (1XU1), with binding energies of − 10.8, − 8.9, and − 9.6 kcal/mol, respectively. The methanol extracts inhibited A549 cells at a concentration of 156.12 µg/mL. The combination of these methods provides insights into the pharmacological mechanisms of C. caudatus compounds in the treatment of lung cancer.

Cemented sandy gravel is often used to enhance the foundation soil of engineering projects. This paper presents results of triaxial tests on cemented sandy gravel specimens. We compared 8 cemented specimens and 4 uncemented specimens. The strength, dilatancy, and stiffness behavior of both cemented and uncemented specimens are compared. The strength of cemented specimens is significantly greater than that of uncemented specimens, and the cemented specimens demonstrate pronounced expansion characteristics. The peak friction angle of the cemented specimen shows a linear relationship with the confining pressure: ψ = 68.1–18.2·lg(σ₃/pa). To quantify the structural strength of the cemented specimens, a structural damage parameter is introduced based on the differences in mechanical properties between the two materials. The structural damage parameter first increases and then decreases as shearing progresses, and a hump curve function is used to describe this behavior. In the frame of the generalized plasticity, a novel elastoplastic model is established, considering the structural parameter as a factor of the plastic modulus, loading vectors and plastic flow direction vectors. The calculated values fit well with the experimental results. The model can reflect the characteristics of cemented sandy gravel, in terms of stress softening, residual strength, and volumetric dilation. Finally, the model is used to evaluate the deformation of a sluice dam foundation after being enhanced with cemented sandy gravel. The results show that after treatment, both the settlement of the gate floor and the shear deformation of the waterstops can be reduced by more than 10%.

In this work, we analyze a quantum cosmology model with three components: radiation fluid; negative cosmological constant term; and a Bose–Einstein condensate described by the Pöschl–Teller potential. At the classical level, all cosmological solutions of the model exhibit big bang-type singularities. Through quantization in minisuperspace, the singularities are removed by wavefunction solutions of the Universe in the form of wormholes from the Wheeler–DeWitt equation. These solutions and the corresponding energy spectrum are obtained using the Galerkin method. We also construct normalized wave packets and verify, within the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, that the expected value of the Universe’s scale factor never vanishes.

In this paper, analytical solutions of Bohr Hamiltonian for (gamma )-unstable nuclei via energy-dependent (ED) inverse square potential are obtained. A linear ED potential is employed to minimize the (beta )-fluctuation which occurs during the (beta ) collective excitation motion of the nuclei. The ED inverse square potential is shown to override the general problem associated with ED and also with the standard version of Bohr Hamiltonian without ED. The present model is well represented by (^{118-134})Xe isotope chain. For (^{132})Xe and (^{134})Xe spectra fits, standard errors of (sigma =0.32) and (sigma =0.13) are recorded, respectively, compared to (sigma =0.42) and (sigma =0.19) from previous studies using inverse square potential without ED. Within the framework of Bohr Hamiltonian for (gamma )-unstable nuclei, these results indicate that the present ED model can serve as a corrective approach to previous work using inverse square potential without energy dependence.

Molluscs, being highly susceptible to potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and easily accessible for human consumption, play a critical role in research on PTE pollution. This study focuses on Kukup Fishing Village in Johor, Malaysia, to investigate the levels of Cd, Cu, and Pb in seawater, sediment, and the soft tissues and shells of the gastropods Nerita articulata (lined nerite snail) and Cerithidea obtusa (obtuse horn shell). All collected samples were chemically digested before being analysed using the flame atomic absorption spectrometer (F-AAS). It is found that the PTEs are mostly accumulated in soft tissues and shells, followed by sediments and seawater, respectively. Besides, the results revealed that all study locations exhibited moderate to severe pollution, and the PTE concentrations in sea snails exceeded the thresholds set by the Malaysian Food Regulations (1985). The mean concentrations of the studied elements in the seawater, soft tissues, and shells of two studied species were found to be in the order of Pb > Cu > Cd. Additionally, Pb was heavily accumulated in the soft tissues of both species: N. articulata (712.587–723.242 ppm) and C. obtusa (705.935–708.626 ppm). Compared to N. articulata, C. obtusa showed a higher capacity to accumulate Cd (3.702–4.350 ppm) and Cu (92.687–157.445 ppm), particularly in the soft tissues. The shell of N. articulata and the soft tissue of C. obtusa were identified as potential biomonitoring indicators for Cd and Cu, respectively. It is recommended that the local Malaysian authorities could strengthen environmental management, implement regular monitoring, and raise public awareness to minimise seafood consumption from polluted areas as these measures could aid to reduce pollution, protect marine ecosystems, and safeguard public health.

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This study investigates the phenomenon of abnormally large amplitude intermittent spikes in a memristive Hindmarsh–Rose (MHR) neuron model. The analysis focusses on the effects of coupling strength variations between mutually coupled FitzHugh–Nagumo (FHN) and MHR neuron models. Both neuron models exhibit similar transitions at a critical coupling strength, the FHN neuron displays intermittent oscillations, whereas the MHR neuron occasionally generates intermittent spikes of significantly larger amplitude. The occurrence of extreme events within these spikes was validated using the probability distribution function (PDF). Furthermore, the two-parameter phase diagrams of the membrane input currents and coupling strength enabled the identification of extreme event (EE) and non-extreme event (NEE) regions in the MHR neuron model. The study also explores the underlying mechanisms responsible for the extreme amplitude of spikes observed in the MHR neuron.

This article investigates a (2 + 1)-dimensional nonlinear Broer–Kaup–Kupershmidt (BKK) equation and proposes an improved F-expansion method for obtaining analytical soliton solutions. We introduce the F-expansion technique, which involves a Riccati equation and hyperbolic functions. Using this approach, various solutions are obtained and some structures are constructed and classified into three categories: dromion solutions, local excitations and self-similar fractal structures. These solutions contribute to understanding the (2 + 1)-dimensional BKK and give vital insights into wave distributions. To obtain the dynamics of the solutions, some results are discussed and some local excitations and self-similar fractal structures (FSs) are presented. For the trial functions are emerged into the dromion solutions, the fractal structures which are self-similar are observed. The physical insight and the dynamics of the dromion solutions describing the wave propagation transmission in optical physics are discussed for different selections of rational polynomial trial functions in the solutions. The significance of this work lies in the successful application of the proposed method to achieve soliton solutions of (2 + 1)-dimensional BKK. Through symbolic calculation, the analytic soliton solutions are extracted, which is beyond the efforts of the previous literature. This method provides a new perspective for studying the BKK equation and its solutions. The results obtained enhance our understanding of the BKK behaviour and pave the way for the next work in this area.