Novel Magnetic Retrievable Visible-Light-Driven Ternary Fe3O4@NiFe2O4/Phosphorus-Doped g-C3N4 Nanocomposite Photocatalyst with Significantly Enhanced Activity through a Double-Z-Scheme System.

Nickel ferrite (NiFe2O4) and magnetite (Fe3O4) are established earth-abundant materials and get tremendous attention because of magnetic and high photocatalytic activity. First we fabricated novel Fe3O4@20 wt % NiFe2O4/phosphorus-doped g-C3N4 (M@NFOPCN) using a convenient simple coprecipitation method followed by calcination at 400 °C. Then M@NFOPCN composites were prepared by the in situ growth of Fe3O4 nanorods and cubes on the surfaces of a porous agglomerated NFOPCN nanostructure, varying the weight percentage of Fe3O4. A series of characterizations like X-ray diffraction, UV-vis diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy, photoluminescence, Fourier transform infrared, thermogravimetric analysis-differential thermal analysis, vibrating-sample magnetometry, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy techniques confirm that changing weight percentage of M can constructively control the textural characteristics, internal strain, size of the crystals, and other aspects meant for photocatalytic activity. When M was coupled with NFOPCN, magnetic loss was lowered and also an appreciable saturation magnetization (Ms) was obtained. 40 wt % M@NFOPCN showed admirable photostability and was capable of evolving 924 µmol h-1 H2 when irradiated under visible light. The percentage of degradation for ciprofloxacin (CIP) by this ternary nanocomposite was almost 2-fold greater than those of the pure M and NFOPCN photocatalysts. A plausible photocatalytic mechanism for the degradation of CIP antibiotic was established. Hence, this study presents a reusable, low-cost, noble-metal-free, environmentally friendly, fast, and highly efficient 40 wt % M@NFOPCN photocatalyst, achieving 90% degradation of CIP antibiotic under visible light. The double-Z scheme triggers charge separation and migration, enhances visible-light harvesting, and helps in internal electric-field creation, thus headed toward dramatic augmentation of the photocatalytic activity.

The placental lipidome of maternal antenatal depression predicts socio-emotional problems in the offspring.

While maternal mental health strongly influences neurodevelopment and health in the offspring, little is known about the determinants of inter-individual variation in the mental health of mothers. Likewise, the in utero biological pathways by which variation in maternal mental health affects offspring development remain to be defined. Previous studies implicate lipids, consistent with a known influence on cognitive and emotional function, but the relevance for maternal mental health and offspring neurodevelopment is unclear. This study characterizes the placental and circulatory lipids in antenatal depression, as well as socio-emotional outcomes in the offspring. Targeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry covering 470 lipid species was performed on placenta from 186 women with low (n = 70) or high (n = 116) levels of antenatal depressive symptoms assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale at 26 weeks' gestation. Child socio-emotional outcomes were assessed from the Child Behavior Check List (CBCL) at 48 months. Seventeen placental lipid species showed an inverse association with antenatal EPDS scores. Specifically, lower levels of phospholipids containing LC-PUFAs: omega-3 docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and omega-6 arachidonic acid (AA) were significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Additional measurement of LC-PUFA in antenatal plasma samples at mid-gestation confirmed the reduced circulation of these specific fatty acids in mothers. Reduced concentration of the placental phospholipids also predicted poorer socio-emotional outcomes in the offspring. This study provides new insights into the role of the materno-fetal lipid cross-talk as a mechanism linking maternal mental health to that of the offspring. These findings show the potential utility of nutritional approaches among pregnant women with depressive symptoms to reduce offspring risk for later socio-emotional problems.

Assessing pH-dependent toxicity of fluoxetine in embryonic zebrafish using mass spectrometry-based metabolomics.

While it is well known that fluoxetine is more toxic to aquatic organisms at high pH, the metabolic dysregulations related to observed pH-dependent effects are still poorly understood. In the present study, we utilized a gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) based metabolomics approach to assess metabolomic profile changes in developing zebrafish embryos following exposure (2 hpf-96 hpf) to different concentrations of fluoxetine at three environmentally relevant pH values (7.0, 8.0, and 9.0). Multivariate data analyses and pathway analyses were used to assess metabolomic profile changes and elicit important biochemical information regarding pH-dependent toxicity of fluoxetine. Overall, the affected biochemical functions related to fluoxetine exposure included amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism, nitrogenous waste excretion and osmolyte functions. While fluoxetine exposure (56 µg/L, 70 µg/L and 500 µg/L) caused no significant changes at pH 7, 500 µg/L and 70 µg/L fluoxetine was differentiated from the controls at pH 8 and pH 9 respectively. Three, eight and seven metabolites were identified as the most adversely affected at pH 7, 8 and 9, respectively. The altered metabolites associated with fluoxetine toxicity at high pH included urea, glycine and d-glucose 6-phosphate. Exposure to 70 µg/L fluoxetine, did not cause significant metabolomic profile changes at pH 7, However, the results indicate that this exposure concentration at pH and 9 can cause significant metabolic dysregulation related to apoptosis and oxidative stress. Increasing aqueous pH progressively enhanced fluoxetine induced toxicity for the 70 µg/L exposure group. The observed impacts included higher energy consumption at pH 7, a breakdown of reserve energy to supplement energy demand at pH 8 and impaired lipid metabolism at pH 9. This study provides important information regarding molecular-level effects related to pH-dependent exposure of fluoxetine in embryonic zebrafish.

Facile construction of a novel NiFe2O4@P-doped g-C3N4 nanocomposite with enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity.

Construction of a Z-scheme-based photocatalyst, i.e., NiFe2O4@P-g-C3N4 nanocomposite, was successfully fabricated by coupling phosphorus-doped g-C3N4 with spinel structure NiFe2O4. The structural, morphological, and spectroscopic data of the as-synthesized photocatalyst was successfully characterized through XRD, FTIR, SEM, TEM, UV-Vis DRS, PL, and XPS techniques. It was found that NiFe2O4@P-g-C3N4 had an increased light-absorption capacity, high exciton separation, low photogenerated electron-hole recombination, and showed better photocatalytic activity toward phenol oxidation and hydrogen energy production than the neat materials. Photocatalytic phenol oxidation by 20 wt% NFO@P-CN was also superior and could achieve a 96% conversion, which was 2 and 3 times higher than that by P-CN and NFO, respectively. The 20 wt% NFO@P-CN showed excellent photostability and was able to evolve 904 µmol h-1 H2 under visible-light irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of NiFe2O4@P-g-C3N4 was in good agreement with the photocurrent results. The synergistic effect between P-CN and NFO could accelerate photogenerated charge separation and, moreover, the distinctive magnetism of NiFe2O4@P-g-C3N4 aided the collection and recycling of the photocatalyst.

Evaluation of loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay in the diagnosis of tubercular lymphadenitis: A pilot study.

Tubercular lymphadenitis (TBLA) contributes to 30-40% of extrapulmonary TB cases in the immunocompetent individuals and 40-50% in people with HIV. Current diagnostic methods for TBLA like Gene-Xpert or PCR are costly and conventional methods like fine needle aspiration cytology, histopathology lack sensitivity and specificity. Culture which is considered as gold standard require high turnaround time. Loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay has been developed as a novel technique for nucleic acid amplification and has shown promising results in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. Present study evaluated the Nu-LAMPTM TB Kit (RAS Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd, a bioMerieux group company) for diagnosis of TBLA comparing with conventional tests (cytology, ZN smear, culture). The sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of LAMP assay was found to be 33.3%, 91.2%, 40% and 88.57% as compared to 100%, 76.5%, 42.9% and 100% of ZN staining and 100%, 73.5%, 40% and 100% of cytopathology. The low sensitivity of LAMP assay in the present study addresses the need for comparison and validation of the commercially available LAMP kits before used for patient diagnosis.

Assessing biological effects of fluoxetine in developing zebrafish embryos using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry based metabolomics.

Continuous low-dose exposure of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in aquatic ecosystems is a concern worldwide. In this study, we utilized a gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) based metabolomics approach to assess endogenous metabolite changes in developing zebrafish embryos exposed to different concentrations of the widely used antidepressant, fluoxetine. Embryos were exposed from 2 h post fertilization (hpf) until 96 hpf. Using the Fiehn GC-MS library, a total of 31 metabolites were positively identified in embryos. Statistical analyses revealed significant dysregulation of 11 metabolites in fluoxetine exposed embryos. Metabolite classes that were significantly altered included, amino acids, monosaccharides, glycerophosphates, fatty acids, carboxylic acid derivatives and sugars. Concentrations of amino acids, maltose, d-malic acid, 3-phosphoglycerate and d-glucose were significantly reduced in exposed embryos. Conversely, concentrations of citric acid were in some cases significantly elevated in exposed embryos. Metabolic pathway analysis revealed perturbation of five main pathways, including (i) alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, (ii) phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis, (iii) phenylalanine metabolism. (iv) tyrosine metabolism and (v) starch and sucrose metabolism. The results indicate fluoxetine exposure causes perturbation of energy and amino acid metabolism, which may adversely impact embryogenesis due to depletion of energy reserves during this period. Also, the observed alterations in aspartic acid, phenylalanine and tyrosine in fluoxetine exposed embryos suggests potential disruption of normal neurobehavioral and liver function. The results further demonstrate that GC-MS based metabolomics is an effective approach for assessing toxicodynamics and threshold effect levels of environmental pollutants in aquatic organisms.

Autologous bone marrow mononuclear cell therapy for autism: an open label proof of concept study.

Cellular therapy is an emerging therapeutic modality with a great potential for the treatment of autism. Recent findings show that the major underlying pathogenetic mechanisms of autism are hypoperfusion and immune alterations in the brain. So conceptually, cellular therapy which facilitates counteractive processes of improving perfusion by angiogenesis and balancing inflammation by immune regulation would exhibit beneficial clinical effects in patients with autism. This is an open label proof of concept study of autologous bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) intrathecal transplantation in 32 patients with autism followed by multidisciplinary therapies. All patients were followed up for 26 months (mean 12.7). Outcome measures used were ISAA, CGI, and FIM/Wee-FIM scales. Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography (PET-CT) scan recorded objective changes. Out of 32 patients, a total of 29 (91%) patients improved on total ISAA scores and 20 patients (62%) showed decreased severity on CGI-I. The difference between pre- and postscores was statistically significant (P < 0.001) on Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test. On CGI-II 96% of patients showed global improvement. The efficacy was measured on CGI-III efficacy index. Few adverse events including seizures in three patients were controlled with medications. The encouraging results of this leading clinical study provide future directions for application of cellular therapy in autism.