Probing operational conditions of mixing and oxygen deficiency using HSV color space.

In this work, the relationship between sludge color and operational conditions was studied. It was found that the coordinates H and S of the HSV color space well correlated with biological status and the operational conditions of mixing and oxygen deficiency, and a coefficient of variation (CVH/S) of the ratio of H to S in sludge cake images was derived. A smaller CVH/S indicated better mixing conditions based on the observations of four laboratory-scale experiments and two full scale WWTPs, which can be used as a promising index for the monitoring of mixing condition. The coordinate oxygen uptake rate (OURq) of the respirogram space showed similar trend as CVH/S, and analysis of microbial community also showed that CVH/S could indicate changes of biological community including species and richness. These findings suggested that CVH/S is a biological meaningful index for detecting the effect of changing operational conditions, which gives a key to quantify a large number of empirical rules accumulated in the past. Furthermore, it promotes the Internet of Things (IoT) application to the management of WWTPs, as color is readily available with MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) sensors such as smart phones.

MicroRNA-206 Downregulates Connexin43 in Cardiomyocytes to Induce Cardiac Arrhythmias in a Transgenic Mouse Model.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are critical modulators of various physiological and pathological processes, but their role in cardiac arrhythmias remains yet to be completely understood. Connexin43 (Cx43) is an important cardiac gap junction protein and a potential target of miR-206, and downregulation of Cx43 induces ventricular tachyarrhythmias. METHODS: We investigated the effects of miR-206 overexpression on the adult mouse heart and in cardiac arrhythmias. Luciferase activity assay was employed to validate Cx43 as a direct target of miR-206. Expression of Cx43 was measured in cardiac muscle cell line HL-1 securely expressing miR-206. An inducible miR-206 overexpression mouse model was established to evaluate the in vivo effect of miR-206 on Cx43 expression and cardiac rhythm. RESULTS: MiR-206 directly recognised 3'-untranslated region of Cx43 mRNA to inhibit its expression in HL-1 cells. Induction of miR-206 in the adult mouse heart suppressed Cx43 expression, particularly in the atria and ventricle. Importantly, miR-206 overexpression also induced abnormal heart-rate and PR interval, and shortened life-span in the experimental mice. CONCLUSIONS: In cardiomyocytes, miR-206 is a upstream regulator of Cx43, and its overexpression downregulates Cx43 to induce abnormal heart-rate and PR interval.

Atherogenic index of plasma is an effective index for estimating abdominal obesity.

BACKGROUND: The correlation between the atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and waist circumference (WC) remains unknown. METHODS: A total of 5351 middle-aged men living in Southeastern China were surveyed using the random stratified cluster sampling method. A WC of 90 cm or greater was indicative of abdominal obesity, and AIP was calculated as follows: log [triglyceride (TG)/high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C)]. RESULTS: (1) A significantly higher AIP was observed in subjects with abdominal obesity than in those without abdominal obesity (P < 0·001). (2) Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed an odds ratio of 1·93, 2·59 and 2·76 for abnormal AIP levels for the second, third and fourth WC quartiles, respectively (all P < 0·001) compared to the first WC quartile as a reference. (3) There was a linear correlation between WC and AIP, and a 1·0 cm increase in WC resulted in a 0·0175 rise in AIP. For AIP corresponding to moderate risk (0·12-0·21), WC was 85-90 cm; for AIP corresponding to high risk (> 0·21), WC was >90 cm. CONCLUSIONS: AIP of 0·12-0·21 or >0·21 indicates a likelihood of borderline abdominal obesity or abdominal obesity, respectively, and the combination of WC and AIP may increase the specificity and sensitivity for detection of abdominal obesity in clinical practice. The results suggest that AIP may be used as a reference to estimate abdominal obesity.

Swimming exercise increases serum irisin level and reduces body fat mass in high-fat-diet fed Wistar rats.

BACKGROUND: It has been shown that irisin levels are reduced in skeletal muscle and plasma of obese rats; however, the effect of exercise training on irisin level remains controversial. We aim to evaluate the association of swimming exercise with serum irisin level and other obesity-associated parameters. METHODS: Forty healthy male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to 4 groups: a normal diet and sedentary group (ND group), normal diet and exercise group (NDE group), high-fat diet and sedentary group (HFD group), and high-fat diet and exercise group (HFDE group. After 8 consecutive weeks of swimming exercise, fat mass and serum irisin level was determined. RESULTS: Higher serum irisin levels were detected in the HFDE group (1.15 ± 0.28 µg/L) and NDE group (1.76 ± 0.17 µg/L) than in the HFD group (0.84 ± 0.23 µg/L) or the ND group (1.24 ± 0.29 µg/L), respectively (HFDE group vs. HFD group, P < 0.05; NDE group vs. ND group, P < 0.01). Pearson's correlation analysis showed that serum irisin level negatively correlated with TG level (r = -0.771, P < 0.05), percentage fat mass (r = -0.68, P < 0.05), fat mass (r = -0.576, P < 0.05), visceral fat mass (r = -0.439, P < 0.05) and TC level (r = -0.389, P < 0.05). The fat mass, visceral fat mass and percentage fat mass were lower in the HFDE group than the HFD group (all P values < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Swimming exercise decreases body fat mass in high-fat-fed Wistar rats, which may be attributable to elevated irisin levels induced by swimming exercise.

MiR-214 regulates the pathogenesis of patients with coronary artery disease by targeting VEGF.

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) in patient body fluids have recently been considered to hold the potential of being novel disease biomarkers and drug targets. We aimed to investigate the correlation between the levels of circulating miR-214 and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease patients to further explore the mechanism involved in the vasculogenesis. Three different cohorts, including 13 acute myocardial infarction patients, 176 angina pectoris patients, and 127 control subjects, were enrolled to investigate the expression levels of circulating miR-214 in patients with myocardial ischemia and also the relationship between plasma miR-214 and severity of coronary stenosis. Plasma miR-214 levels of participants were examined by real-time quantitative PCR. Simultaneously, plasma cardiac troponin I concentrations were measured by ELISA assays. We further detected the correlation of miR-214 and VEGF by molecular and animal assays. MiR-214 was enriched in not only diseased endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) but also the plasma of coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. Besides, we found out miR-214 was able to suppress VEGF expression and EPC activities. Reporter assays confirmed the direct binding and repression of miR-214 to the 39-UTR of VEGF mRNA. Knockdown of miR-214 not only restored VEGF levels and angiogenic activities of diseased EPCs in vitro, but also further promoted blood flow recovery in ischemic limbs of mice. Circulating miR-214 may be a new biomarker for CAD and as a potential diagnostic tool. And increased miR-214 level may be used to predict the presence and severity of coronary lesions in CAD patients.

Association of SLC22A4 gene polymorphism with Rheumatoid arthritis in the Chinese population.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease with complex genetic factors. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the SLC22A4 gene have been previously reported to be associated with RA in Japanese but not European populations. This study further investigated the association of SLC22A4 polymorphisms, in particular slc2F1/slc2F2, with RA in the Chinese population, the largest Asian population. A total of 160 human subjects with 95 RA patients and 65 healthy controls were genotyped for slc2F1-G/A and slc2F2-C/T polymorphisms. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the genotype distribution of these two polymorphisms between the two groups. In addition, the presence of slc2F1 A allele and slc2F2 T allele carries a 1.93-fold and 2.14-fold increased risk for anticyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) positivity, respectively. Overall, this study provided evidence that SLC22A4 gene polymorphisms played important roles in the etiology of RA in the largest Asian population, the Chinese population.

Bis[1-(eth-oxy-carbonyl-meth-yl)pyridinium] bis-(1,2-dicyano-ethene-1,2-dithiol-ato-κ(2)S,S')nickelate(II).

The asymmetric unit of the title ion-pair complex, (C(9)H(12)NO(2))(2)[Ni(C(4)N(2)S(2))(2)], contains two 1-(eth-oxy-carbonyl-meth-yl)pyridinium cations and one bis-(1,2-dicyano-ethene-1,2-dithiol-ato)nickelate(II) dianion, which exhibits a slightly distorted square-planar coordination geometry. In the crystal, the cations are linked by strong C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds into C(6) chains along [100]. The cations and anions are linked into a three-dimensional architecture by weak C-H⋯N and C-H⋯S inter-actions.

[The echocardiographic diagnostic characteristics and follow-up of apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the echocardiographic features of apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (ApHCM). METHODS: Twenty-seven patients with ApHCM including 21 men and 6 women, average age (42.7 +/- 5.1) years old were followed up from 1995 to 2008 to investigate the clinical, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic features. RESULTS: The major features of ECG were increased R amplitude (V(4) > V(5) > V(3)) and inverteted T wave (especially in V(3-5) leads and the voltage of the inverteted T waves may be up to >/= 10 mm). The major feature of echocardiography was the thickening of left ventricular apical wall to 15 - 37 (18.0 +/- 3.3) mm. The final follow up showed that the mean thickness of the apical wall was (19.7 +/- 3.7) mm. The ratio of the thickness of left ventricular apical wall to posterior wall before and after the follow up was 1.7 +/- 0.3 and 1.9 +/- 0.9 respectively, with significant statistical difference (P < 0.05). There was no difference in the left ventricular end-diastolic dimension and left ventricular ejection fraction. The main cardiovascular events were atrial fibrillation (16 cases), heart failure of NYHA III-IV class (3 cases), anterior wall myocardial infarction (1 case) and sudden death (1 case). CONCLUSIONS: The final diagnosis of ApHCM depends on the characteristic inverteted T wave in ECG and apical hypertrophy in echocardiography. The prognosis of ApHCM is rather good for its progression is relatively slow.

Characterization of aerobic granular sludge of different sizes for nitrogen and phosphorus removal.

Granular size plays a key role in the performance of the aerobic granular sludge (AGS). As the diameter of the granule increases, stratification may begin to appear due to the increase in mass transfer resistance. Aerobic granules harvested from a lab-scale anaerobic-aerobic sequencing batch reactor (AO-SBR) were classified into three categories according to their size: (a) 0.15-0.28 mm, (b) 0.28-0.45 mm and (c) larger than 0.45 mm. In this study, the categories were called small-size, medium-size and large-size granules, respectively. A fraction of the different forms of phosphate and denitrification efficiency was investigated in each category. Results show that small-size granules present much more easily mobile phosphorus than other granules. Moreover, the denitrification performance has been tested by using dumping and trickling patterns for COD and NO3--N feeding. The results demonstrated that the large-size granules exhibit poor denitrification rates, as opposed to the medium-size granules. Therefore, medium-size granules, with a size of 0.28-0.45 mm, are regarded as the most suitable granular size for AGS in this experiment from the perspective of denitrification and phosphorus removal.

[Effects of the Physical Structure of Activated Sludge on Respiration Processes].

Physical properties and bioactivity are two important aspects of the activated sludge process. To solve the contradiction between these two aspects in the operation control process, the physical structure and respiration processes of sludge in different activated sludge systems were analyzed. Sludge from seven different activated sludge systems was used for the experiments, and the particle size, microscopic morphology, fractal dimension, compression settling performance, adsorption performance, and respirogram were studied and analyzed. The results showed that the correlations between physical performance indicators and respiration rate were very good. Sludge particle size (d) was negatively correlated with the endogenous specific respiration rate (SOURe) and maximum specific respiration rate (SOURt) (R2>0.9); fractal dimension (Df) was linearly and negatively correlated with SOURe and SOURt (R2>0.8); sludge compression index (SCI) and sludge volume index (SVI) were positively correlated with SOURe (R2>0.9); equilibrium adsorption (Qmax) was linearly and negatively correlated with the quasi-endogenous specific respiration rate (SOURq) and SOURe (R2>0.9). In addition, the optimal physical properties and bioactivity range of activated sludge under normal operating conditions were obtained as follows:SVI of 50-120 mL·g-1, SOURe of 6.27-7.55 mg·(g·h)-1, d of 205.80-228.12 µm, Df of 1.56-1.60, Rn/t of 0.02-0.03, and Qmax of 508-636 mg·g-1.

Evaluation of robustness of activated sludge using calcium-induced enhancement of respiration.

Robustness of an activated sludge system, describing uncertainty and operational risk, was evaluated using the absence or presence of calcium-induced enhancement of respiration (CaER) effect. Generally, the fast-growing system was susceptible to external environmental variations, of which the sludge exhibited significant CaER effect under normal operational conditions, while the slow growing system showed less significant CaER effect. However, sludge in both systems exhibited CaER effect under stressed conditions of decreasing temperature or ammonia shocking. Therefore, the absence of CaER effect indicates a more robust system, while the presence of CaER effect indicates a susceptible system. Additionally, a method to identify safe and dangerous shocking was established by a hybrid usage of absence or presence of CaER effect and recovery index (RI) curve type. The evaluation of robustness could help determining when adjustment should be really taken to cope with the uncertainty, and thus holds a high promise for field application.

A simple respirogram-based approach for the management of effluent from an activated sludge system.

Managing wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) based on respirometric analysis is a new and promising field. In this study, a multi-dimensional respirogram space was constructed, and an important index Res/t (ratio of in-situ respiration rate to maximum respiration rate) was derived as an alarm signal for the effluent quality control. A smaller Res/t value suggests better effluent. The critical R'es/t value used for determining whether the effluent meets the regulation depends on operational conditions, which were characterized by temperature and biomass ratio of heterotrophs to autotrophs. With given operational conditions, the critical R'es/t value can be calculated from the respirogram space and effluent conditions required by the discharge regulation, with no requirement for calibration of parameters or any additional measurements. Since it is simple, easy to use, and can be readily implemented online, this approach holds a great promise for applications.

A prospective evaluation of apolipoprotein M gene T-778C polymorphism in relation to coronary artery disease in Han Chinese.

OBJECTIVES: Apolipoprotein M (apoM) is important for the formation of pre-beta-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and cholesterol efflux in macrophages. It is demonstrated that single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) T-778C of apoM gene is related to type 2 diabetes in Han Chinese. In the present study, we investigated the possible association of apoM polymorphism in relation to coronary artery disease (CAD) in Han Chinese. DESIGN AND METHODS: This case-controlled study consisted of 118 CAD patients who were diagnosed angiographically to have at least 30% stenosis, and 255 unrelated subjects who were used as control. ApoM gene polymorphism in the proximal promoter region was analyzed by PCR-RFLP and serum lipid levels were also measured. RESULTS: It is indicated that CAD patients had increased frequency of C allele on apoM T-778C compared to the controls (14.8% vs. 6.9%, P=0.0008). Multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that odds ratios (ORs) for all subjects with apoM CC+CT genotypes and C allele were 1.9 (95% CI=1.1-2.9, P<0.0001) and 1.9 (95% CI=1.3-3.2, P<0.0001), respectively. The plasma total cholesterol (TC) levels were significantly higher in individuals with CC or CT genotype than those with TT genotype in both CAD patients and controls. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings suggest that the C allele at nucleotide -778 in the apoM gene is a risk factor for genetic susceptibility to CAD and is also associated with TC levels in Han Chinese.

Resveratrol protects the loss of connexin 43 induced by ethanol exposure in neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes.

Excessive alcohol consumption provides risk to cardiomyopathy with unknown mechanisms. Resveratrol, a plant polyphenol, is widely reported for its cardiovascular benefits, while its effect on alcohol-induced impairments in cardiomyocytes largely remains unknown. Effects of resveratrol on the cardiomyocytes under ethanol insult were studied in vitro. Ethanol exposure in mouse neonatal cardiomyocytes increased cell death and induced a specific loss of tight junction protein, connexin 43. In spite of adverse effects at higher concentrations, resveratrol at 10 µM improved cell viability of cardiomyocytes in the presence of a deleterious dose of ethanol. Importantly, the co-treatment of resveratrol with ethanol exhibited the restoration of connexin 43 protein. Further assays showed that these effects were likely associated with the antioxidative actions of resveratrol, and correlated with the alleviation of MAP kinase activation in cultured cardiomyocytes in response to ethanol. Our data suggests a novel mechanism of cardiomyocyte cell loss under ethanol exposure and provides new evidence of protective effects of resveratrol in the cardiomyocytes.

[Investigation of Initiation and Shock Process of ANAMMOX Based on Color Space].

Anaerobic ammonia oxidation (ANAMMOX) is an efficient and energy-saving denitrification technology, but it still lacks a simple and easy method to characterize its start-up process and stable state. Based on the analysis of water quality, color space was used to monitor the color change of sludge during the start-up of ANAMMOX, and the species and quantity of microbial flora were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing technology. The results were as follows. ① According to water quality characteristics, the whole start-up process can be divided into activity lag phase, activity enhancement period, load increase period, and stable operation period. At the same time, HSV and CIELAB color space indicators decreased first, then increased, and finally remained stable. The change of sludge color was consistent with the change of water quality and the change of dominant bacteria based on the molecular biology testing, which implies correlations among these three. Therefore, color space can be used to characterize the start-up process of ANAMMOX. ② When subjected to shocks caused by high load, H, S, a*, b*, Cab*, and TIN volume removal rate all decreased, while Hab suddenly increased. The impact characteristic of the system was accurately expressed by all of the color indicators. This paper proposes a color space-based method for characterizing all phases of the start-up of ANAMMOX and a shock process index system that provides a theoretical basis for applying color space in ANAMMOX systems.

[Analysis of Respirogram Characteristics of Filamentous Bulking Caused by Low Dissolved Oxygen].

The current research on filamentous bulking focuses on the effluent quality and the settling properties but the reports on the microbial physiology under filamentous bulking conditions are seldom. In this study, the variations in the respirogram of microorganisms and affinity coefficient during filamentous bulking were explored in a sequence batch reactor. Low dissolved oxygen, regarded as the typical reason for filamentous bulking, was applied as the stimulation method. The results showed that microorganisms entered the physiological adaptation stage in the early period of low DO. The following properties were observed in the system:① a sudden increase in the endogenous specific oxygen uptake rate (SOURe) of activated sludge, ② an abrupt decrease in the specific oxygen uptake rate (SOURn) of autotrophic bacteria, ③ a rapid increase after a slight decline in the specific oxygen uptake rate (SOURc) of heterotrophic bacteria and a sudden increase in the oxygen affinity coefficient (KO). However, maintaining the low DO levels would deteriorate the effluent quality and sedimentation properties, but the SOURn and SOURc could recover to higher levels after a while and the COD affinity coefficient (KS) and KO would decrease gradually. In low DO conditions, a sufficient hydraulic retention time will benefit the effluent quality from a theoretical point of view. Moreover, microorganisms could adapt to low DO conditions, which verifies the feasibility of "low oxygen aeration theory" from the respiration and kinetic parameters. The results from this study provide a theoretical support for energy savings of sewage treatment plant operations.

High serum YKL-40 level positively correlates with coronary artery disease.

AIM: We investigated the predictive value of chitinase-like protein YKL-40 in coronary artery disease (CAD). PATIENTS: Serum YKL-40 levels in 116 CAD patients and 82 healthy controls were analyzed. Severity of CAD was evaluated using Gensini scores. Spearman's correlation was used to evaluate the correlation between Gensini scores and YKL-40 levels. The predictive value of YKL-40 was determined by receivers operating characteristic curve analysis. RESULTS: Serum YKL-40 levels were significantly elevated in CAD group as compared with control group. A positive correlation was found between the serum YKL-40 level and Gensini score. The optimum cut-off value of YKL-40 concentration was 127.7 ng/ml for distinguishing CAD patients from healthy controls with a 75.9% sensitivity and 57.3% specificity. CONCLUSION: A positive correlation exists between YKL-40 levels and CAD, and YKL-40 might be a useful adjunct in the diagnosis of CAD.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Natriuretic Peptides for Heart Failure in Patients with Pleural Effusion: A Systematic Review and Updated Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported that natriuretic peptides in the blood and pleural fluid (PF) are effective diagnostic markers for heart failure (HF). These natriuretic peptides include N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), and midregion pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP). This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates the diagnostic accuracy of blood and PF natriuretic peptides for HF in patients with pleural effusion. METHODS: PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched to identify articles published in English that investigated the diagnostic accuracy of BNP, NT-proBNP, and MR-proANP for HF. The last search was performed on 9 October 2014. The quality of the eligible studies was assessed using the revised Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool. The diagnostic performance characteristics (sensitivity, specificity, and other measures of accuracy) were pooled and examined using a bivariate model. RESULTS: In total, 14 studies were included in the meta-analysis, including 12 studies reporting the diagnostic accuracy of PF NT-proBNP and 4 studies evaluating blood NT-proBNP. The summary estimates of PF NT-proBNP for HF had a diagnostic sensitivity of 0.94 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.90-0.96), specificity of 0.91 (95% CI: 0.86-0.95), positive likelihood ratio of 10.9 (95% CI: 6.4-18.6), negative likelihood ratio of 0.07 (95% CI: 0.04-0.12), and diagnostic odds ratio of 157 (95% CI: 57-430). The overall sensitivity of blood NT-proBNP for diagnosis of HF was 0.92 (95% CI: 0.86-0.95), with a specificity of 0.88 (95% CI: 0.77-0.94), positive likelihood ratio of 7.8 (95% CI: 3.7-16.3), negative likelihood ratio of 0.10 (95% CI: 0.06-0.16), and diagnostic odds ratio of 81 (95% CI: 27-241). The diagnostic accuracy of PF MR-proANP and blood and PF BNP was not analyzed due to the small number of related studies. CONCLUSIONS: BNP, NT-proBNP, and MR-proANP, either in blood or PF, are effective tools for diagnosis of HF. Additional studies are needed to rigorously evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of PF and blood MR-proANP and BNP for the diagnosis of HF.

[Effects of surfactants on adsorption of methyl parathion by neutral alumina].

The sorption of methyl parathion by neutral alumina which was modified by ionic surfactants such as SDS, SDBS and CTMAB was studied. It showed that the adsorbability of alumina to methyl parathion were related to the type and concentration of surfactant and pH of the system. The adsorbabilities of alumina on three kinds of surfactants were different. When pH = 7, the adsorbance of SDS was the largest, but the adsorbance of CTMAB was the smallest. When pH = 4, the adsorbance of SDS or SDBS was increased, while the adsorbance of CTMAB was decreased. The adsorbability of alumina was strengthened, not weakened, by the cooperation of pollutant and anionic surfactant, while the sorption of methyl parathion by alumina with cationic surfactant was weakened. These features had the practical value when neutral alumina is used to remove more than one contaminants from wastewater.