The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is a council in the Executive Branch of the United States. It is designed to coordinate science and technology policy across the branches of federal government.
The agro-industrial sector is one of the biggest organic waste producers. Instead of being discarded into the environment, fruit and vegetable waste could be processed to obtain added value. This article introduces pomace fiber powder made from agroindustrial waste of fruits and vegetables. Its protective potential against hepatotoxicity induced by valproic acid was studied in Wistar rats, both as preventive and curative treatments. In the preventive test, valproic acid (250 mg/kg/day) was administered orally together with the pomace fiber powder (0.3 and 0.15 mg/kg/day) for 14 days. In the curative test, the rats received valproic acid for 14 days, followed by pomace fiber powder another 14 days, at the same amounts. Physicochemical analysis revealed that the experimental pomace fiber powder contained 15.2 ± 0.5% and 22.0 ± 1.2% of insoluble and soluble dietary fiber, respectively. This ratio made it possible to classify the new supplement as functional. The rats administered with valproic acid gained body weight and demonstrated a significant increase in serum enzyme activities, alanine aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase (p < 0.05). These results were confirmed by histopathological examination. In both preventive and curative treatments, the supplementation normalized body weight, improved liver biomarkers, and attenuated the hepatic injury induced in rats by valproic acid. The new pomace fiber powder made of agro-industrial waste proved to be an effective raw material that attenuates the side effects associated with prolonged valproic acid administration.
We prove that on a semisimple Lie algebra 𝔤 over a finite field of large characteristic, if a complex-valued invariant function f and its Fourier transform f̂ are both supported in the nilpotent cone of 𝔤, then f̂ = γ^-1f for an explicit quadratic Gauss sum γ. Consequently, we determine a fourth root of unity appearing in various formulae of generalised Gel'fand–Graev characters, known as Lusztig constant, previously known in special cases due to works of Kawanaka, Digne–Lehrer–Michel, Waldspurger and Geck. As consequence, we show the validity of a conjecture of Letellier on the compatibility of Fourier transform with Deligne–Lusztig induction.
We study two regularity problems on Hardy-type analytic tent spaces 𝒜𝒯^p_q,α on the unit disk: fractional integration and randomization of Taylor coefficients. For fractional integration, we characterize completely the boundedness and compactness of the Hadamard, Flett, and Riemann–Liouville operators between analytic tent spaces, and obtain parallel results for analytic Triebel–Lizorkin spaces. In particular, the case t=0 yields a complete solution to the corresponding embedding problem for analytic tent spaces. For randomization, we characterize completely when the random Taylor series ℛf belongs almost surely to an analytic tent space whenever f∈𝒜𝒯^p_q,α, and we also obtain the Triebel–Lizorkin counterpart. As part of the proof, we identify the random symbol space associated with 𝒜𝒯^p_q,α and solve the embedding problem from analytic tent spaces into mixed norm spaces. These results extend classical theorems of Hardy–Littlewood and Littlewood, as well as their later analogues for Bergman and mixed norm spaces.
Cuprous tellurides (Cu2-xTe) have recently garnered attention due to their multiple commensurate charge density wave (CDW) transitions. To elucidate the nature of these phase transitions, we investigated singlecrystalline Cu2-xTe (x similar to 0.1) using temperature-dependent measurements of specific heat (CP), electrical resistivity (rho), Seebeck coefficient (S), and thermal conductivity (kappa). Two distinct anomalies were identified, one near room temperature (TCI) and another similar to 150 K (TCII), accompanied by thermal hysteresis, indicative of the first-order nature of these transitions. Metastable states that arise from the pinning of the CDW domain lead to irreversibility between TCI and TCII during cooling and warming, which is likely driven by intrinsic Cu vacancies and associated lattice strain. At TCI, a sharp CP(T ) peak with a modest entropy release signifies that the transition is primarily dominated by strong electron-phonon coupling and partial electronic condensation. In contrast, the weaker anomaly in CP(T ) at TCII suggests predominantly lattice-driven dynamics, possibly involving a soft mode. The rho (T ) data reveal electron-electron correlations at low temperatures and metal-to-metal-like CDW transitions, likely involving partial Fermi surface gapping. The S(T) displays multiple sign reversals and anomalous enhancements across both transitions, indicating complex multiband transport due to CDW-induced Fermi surface reconstruction. A marked suppression in kappa(T) at TCI with competing electronic and phononic effects provides further evidence of strong electron-phonon interactions. Additionally, a kink near TCII supports the involvement of soft phonon modes and highlights the role of lattice dynamics. A comparative analysis with other CDW materials contextualizes these findings and emphasizes the potential of Cu2-xTe for thermoelectric applications.
Background/Aims: Evidence suggests that the gastrointestinal microbiome plays a significant role in the biology of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). However, it remains unclear whether disparities in the gut microbiome across intestinal tissular compartments between the sexes lead to MASLD pathogenesis.Methods: Sex-specific analyses of microbiome composition in two anatomically distinct regions of the gut, the small intestine and colon, were performed using an experimental model of MASLD. The study involved male and female spontaneously hypertensive rats and the Wistar-Kyoto control rat strain, which were fed either a standard chow diet or a high-fat diet for 12 weeks to induce MASLD (12 rats per group). High-throughput 16S sequencing was used for microbiome analysis.Results: There were significant differences in the overall microbiome composition of male and female rats with MASLD, including variations in topographical gut regions. The beta diversity of the jejunal and colon microbiomes was higher in female rats than in male rats (PERMANOVA p-value=0.001). Sex-specific analysis and discriminant features using LEfSe showed considerable variation in bacterial abundance, along with distinct functional properties, in the jejunum and colon of animals with MASLD. Significantly elevated levels of lipopolysaccharide and protein expression of Toll-like receptor 4 were observed in the livers of male rats with MASLD compared with their female counterparts.Conclusions: This study uncovered sexual dimorphism in the gut microbiome of MASLD and identified microbial heterogeneity within intestinal compartments. Insights into sex-specific variations in gut microbiome composition could facilitate customised treatment strategies.
