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Long-term consumption of a high-calorie diet could inhibit autophagy function, and facilitate neuronal loss in the hippocampus, which in turn aggravate age-related cognition impairment. And consumption of a low-calorie diet (caloric restriction, CR) could enhance the degree of autophagy, protect neurons effectively against aging and damage, and keep learning and memory capacity better.

Water-stable metal−organic framework (MOF) UiO-66 was studied in boron removal from water for the first time. XRD, SEM, nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms, and thermogravimetric analysis (TG) were employed to confirm the structure. The boron adsorption kinetics, isotherms, thermodynamics, mechanism, and recycling on UiO-66 were further investigated in batch adsorption process. UiO-66 exhibits great adsorption performance of 10.59 mmol• g −1 at 45 °C, and the adsorption process reaches equilibrium rapidly in 1 h. Pseudo-second-order model, intraparticle diffusion, and Boyd model are employed for kinetic analysis. The process is a spontaneous endothermic process controlled by entropy change rather than enthalpy change, which suggests intensive chemisorption. The adsorption capacity does not decrease obviously after four cycles. Characterization on exhausted UiO-66 with 11 B MAS NMR reveals not solely interaction between boric acid and UiO-66. The XPS patterns suggest interaction with an Zr site, which is confirmed by the adsorption simulation with quantum chemistry. Higher boron adsorption capacity than conventional boron removal adsorbents and easy regeneration make UiO-66 a promising agent for boron removal from aqueous solution.

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To identify the molecular mechanism underlying improved spatial learning ability of C57/BL mice on a caloric restricted (CR) diet. Seven-week-old male C57/BL mice were randomly divided into three groups: normal control group (NC group, n = 10), high energy group (n = 10), and low energy group (CR group, n = 10). Body mass and levels of blood glucose were measured every 2 weeks over the course of 30 weeks. After 30 weeks, metabolic parameters, serum total cholesterol, and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) were measured, and learning and memory ability of animals were tested using the Morris water maze. The expression of insulin signaling pathway-related proteins in the brain tissues also were tested for molecular mechanism. When compared with the NC group, body weight, and levels of serum glucose decreased in the CR group and increased in the high energy group at all time points tested. Average escape latency and swimming distance were lower in the CR group as compared to the control group after 30 weeks. The serum cholesterol level of the high energy group was significantly higher than that of the control group. The expressions of IGF-1, IR, IRS-1, PI3K, Akt/PKB, and p-CREB protein in the CR group were significantly lower and the expressions of PI3K and Akt/PKB protein in the high energy group were significantly lower than those of the control group at post 30 weeks treatment. Our findings demonstrate that the low energy diet may improve hippocampus-dependent spatial learning ability in C57/BL mice, possibly through a regulatory mechanism of the insulin-PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.