As a compound from marine fungi, (+)-terrein showed significant anticancer activity. In this study, (+)-terrein was extracted from the marine-derived fungus and showed significant cytotoxicity against cancer cells, especially in A549 cells. To enhance its anticancer effects, redox-responsive nanocarriers based on folic acid-chitosan decorating the mesoporous silica nanoparticles were designed to control (+)-terrein target delivery into cancer cells. (+)-Terrein was loaded in the holes, and folic acid-chitosan worked as a gatekeeper by disulfide linkage controlling (+)-terrein release in the tumor microenvironment. The (+)-terrein drug delivery systems exhibited cytotoxicity toward A549 cells through induction of apoptosis. The apoptosis effect was confirmed by the increase in the expression of cleaved caspase-3, caspase-9, and PARP. Taken together, this work evaluates for the first time the (+)-terrein delivery system and provides a promising nanomedicine platform for (+)-terrein. The low molecular weight (LMW) proteins present in circulating body fluids, such as serum and plasma, hold biological significance as possible biomarkers. A major obstacle in mass spectrometry-based proteomics of serum is the presence of abundant high molecular weight proteins which mask the identification and quantitation of lower molecular weight proteins. Traditional methods involve the use of affinity resins to remove high molecular weight proteins, such as albumin and immunoglobulin G, with concomitant loss of lower molecular weight proteins. Considering the importance of depleting high molecular proteins, this paper compares an affinity resin, a gel-filter, and an acetonitrile (ACN) precipitation method to achieve successful removal of high molecular weight proteins and recovery of lower molecular weight proteins. Serum enrichment was carried out by multiple methods such as with the commercially available serum protein mini kit, ACN precipitation, and a gel filter method. Mass spectrometric runs werd, thus allowing for better screening and identification of potential biomarkers.Using only chilled ACN and centrifugation, most of the highly abundant proteins were successfully removed from the serum, while recovering a significant portion of the LMW proteome. A more rapid protocol, which is compatible with iTRAQ labeling, to achieve improved results has been elucidated, thus allowing for better screening and identification of potential biomarkers.By means of spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) computations, we unravel the reaction mechanisms of catalytic CO oxidation on B-doped fullerene. It is shown that O2 species favors to be chemically adsorbed via side-on configuration at the hex-C-B site with an adsorption energy of -1.07 eV. Two traditional pathways, Eley-Rideal (ER) and Langmuir-Hinshelwood (LH) mechanisms, are considered for the CO oxidation starting from O2 adsorption. CO species is able to bind at the B-top site of the B-doped fullerene with an adsorption energy of -0.78 eV. learn more Therefore, CO oxidation that occurs starting from CO adsorption is also taken into account. Second reaction of CO oxidation occurs by the reaction of CO + O → CO2 with a very high energy barrier of 1.56 eV. A trimolecular Eley-Rideal (TER) pathway is proposed to avoid leaving the O atom on the B-doped fullerene after the first CO oxidation. These predictions manifest that boron-doped fullerene is a potential metal-free catalyst for CO oxidation.The aim of this study was to find alternative starch plasticizers to glycerol that yielded a less tacky material in high-moisture conditions without leading to starch crystallization. A range of glycerol films containing different potential plasticizers (linear alkane diols) were therefore produced, and it was shown that 1,3-propanediol, in combination with glycerol, was a possible solution to the problem. Several additional interesting features of the starch films were however also revealed. The larger diols, instead of showing plasticizing features, yielded a variety of unexpected structures and film properties. Films with 1,6-hexanediol and 1,7-heptanediol showed an ultraporous film surface and near-isoporous core. The most striking feature was that starch films with these two diols moved/rotated over the surface when placed on water, with no other stimulus than the interaction with water. Films with 1,8-octanediol and 1,10-decanediol did not show these features, but there was clear evidence of a structure with phase-separated crystallized diol in a starch matrix, as observed in high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images.We describe a tert-butyl nitrite-catalyzed oxidative dehydrogenation of hydrazobenzenes for producing azobenzenes. This method proceeds at ambient temperature and under an atmospheric environment by employing eco-friendly EtOH as the medium, representing a mild, general route to the synthesis of various symmetrical and nonsymmetrical azobenzenes in excellent yields with broad functional group tolerance.To promote a minimal use of acid in the activation of bentonite and to maintain oil quality during refinery and storage, a new class of bleaching agent, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-pillared bentonite (CTAB@Bent), is fabricated. The influences of three independent intercalation variables, including temperature T (40, 50, and 60 °C), time t (2, 4, and 6 h), and CTAB loading mc (0.2, 0.25, 0.33, 0.50, and 1.00%, w/w), on the β-carotene removal rate are studied. The multilevel factorial design combined with the response surface methodology and three-way analysis of variance is employed to design and optimize experiments in regard to the three independent variables. Based on the optimization results, the highest β-carotene removal rate is monitored at 71.04% (w/w) using CTAB@Bent obtained at optimum intercalation conditions (CTAB@Ben-Opt) T = 40 °C, t = 3.2 h, mc = 1.00% (w/w). The mechanism study shows that the adsorption of β-carotene onto CTAB@Bent-Opt is spontaneous and endothermic, with the governing steps of physical interaction and ion exchange between β-carotene and the cationic head of CTAB. CTAB@Bent-Opt also exhibits characteristics superior to those of commercial raw bentonite and acid-activated bentonite, indicating that a more efficient β-carotene removal can be achieved using this new bleaching agent.