SlERF.G3-Like mediates a hierarchical transcriptional cascade to regulate ripening and metabolic changes in tomato fruit.

The tomato ripening process contains complex changes, including ethylene signalling, cell wall softening and numerous metabolic changes. So far, much is still unknown about how tomato plants precisely coordinate fruit maturation and metabolic regulation. In this paper, the ERF family transcription factor SlERF.G3-Like in tomato was found to be involved in the regulation of ethylene synthesis, cell wall degradation and the flavonoid pathway. We show that the master ripening regulator SlRIN was found to directly bind to the promoter region of SlERF.G3-Like to activate its expression. In addition, we managed to increase the production of resveratrol derivatives from ~1.44 mg/g DW in E8:VvStSy line to ~2.43 mg/g DW by crossing p35S: SlERF.G3-Like with the E8:VvStSy line. Our data provide direct evidence that SlERF.G3-Like, a hierarchical transcriptional factor, can directly manipulate pathways in which tomatoes can coordinate fruit maturation and metabolic changes. We also attest that SlERF.G3-Like can be used as an effective tool for phenylpropanoid metabolic engineering.

Anaerobic membrane bioreactors for municipal wastewater: Progress in resource and energy recovery improvement approaches.

Anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) offer promise in municipal wastewater treatment, with potential benefits including high-quality effluent, energy recovery, sludge reduction, and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. However, AnMBR face hurdles like membrane fouling, low energy recovery, etc. In light of net-zero carbon target and circular economy strategy, this work sought to evaluate novel AnMBR configurations, focusing on performance, fouling mitigation, net-energy generation, and nutrients-enhancing integrated configurations, such as forward osmosis (FO), membrane distillation (MD), bioelectrochemical systems (BES), membrane photobioreactor (MPBR), and partial nitrification-anammox (PN/A). In addition, we highlight the essential role of AnMBR in advancing the circular economy and propose ideas for the water-energy-climate nexus. While AnMBR has made significant progress, challenges, such as fouling and cost-effectiveness persist. Overall, the use of novel configurations and energy recovery strategies can further improve the sustainability and efficiency of AnMBR systems, making them a promising technology for future sustainable municipal wastewater treatment.

MiR-24-1-5p Hinders Malignant Phenotypes of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma by Targeting SHOX2.

MiRNAs are essential epigenetic modulators that can regulate protein expression. According to the principle of base complementary pairing, miRNA is partially or completely complementary to the 3'-UTR region of its target gene, by which it inhibits the translation of the targeted gene. This study investigated the role of miR-24-1-5p in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Data in TCGA-KIRC denoted that miR-24-1-5p was under-expressed in ccRCC. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that its target gene was SHOX2, which was significantly expressed in cancer tissues. Dual luciferase assay verified the targeting relationship between miR-24-1-5p and SHOX2. Cell function experiments demonstrated that overexpression of miR-24-1-5p significantly inhibited SHOX2 level and the malignant phenotypes of ccRCC cells. The above results illustrated that miR-24-1-5p/SHOX2 axis was critical for the oncogenesis and development of ccRCC, which might be helpful for us to understand the mechanism and novel therapeutic methods of ccRCC.

NEDD4L inhibits migration, invasion, cisplatin resistance and promotes apoptosis of bladder cancer cells by inactivating the p62/Keap1/Nrf2 pathway.

PURPOSE: This study identified the function of neural precursor cell expressed developmentally down-regulated 4-like (NEDD4L) on bladder cancer (BLCA). METHODS: NEDD4L expression in BLCA patients was scrutinized. The function of NEDD4L on the viability, apoptosis, migration and invasion of BLCA cells was evaluated by cell counting kit-8, flow cytometry and Transwell assays. The effect of NEDD4L on the cisplatin (DDP) resistance of the DDP-resistant BLCA cells was explored. The influence of NEDD4L on the p62/Keap1/Nrf2 pathway activity in BLCA cells was tested by Western blot. Rescue experiments were implemented to verify whether NEDD4L regulated BLCA cell malignant behavior by mediating the Keap1/Nrf2 pathway activity via p62. The effect of NEDD4L on the growth and the p62/Keap1/Nrf2 pathway activity in vivo was researched in xenograft tumor nude mice models. RESULTS: The down-regulated NEDD4L in BLCA patients was associated with unfavorable survival. NEDD4L suppressed the viability (inhibition rate 57.1%/49.0%), migration (inhibition rate 49.7%/77.1%), invasion (inhibition rate 50.6%/75.7%), promoted the apoptosis of T24/5637 cells (promotion rate 243.8%/201.9%), reduced IC 50 of DDP-resistant T24/5637 cells from 132.2/101.8 to 57.81/59.71 µM, respectively, and inactivated the p62/Keap1/Nrf2 pathway in T24/5637 cells. p62 up-regulation partially abrogated the inhibition of NEDD4L on the Keap1/Nrf2 pathway activity, the malignant behavior of BLCA cells, and the DDP resistance of DDP-resistant BLCA cells. NEDD4L overexpression inhibited the tumor growth and the p62/Keap1/Nrf2 pathway activity in vivo in BLCA. CONCLUSION: NEDD4L inhibits the progression of BLCA by inactivating the p62/Keap1/Nrf2 pathway. It may be an effective target for BLCA treatment.

A review on vitrification technologies of hazardous waste.

Vitrification technology provides a solution for the issue of safe disposal of hazardous waste containing harmful chemical composition and organic pollutants. This review discusses application of vitrification technologies to treat hazardous waste including, asbestos, fly ash, electronic sludge, nuclear waste, medical waste and radioactive waste. Vitrification processes via Joule heating, microwave heating, plasma technology, electric arc furnaces and incinerators are compared herein. Stabilization of hazardous waste can be achieved by vitrification with the addition of flux agents/additives. Furthermore, crystalline structures, containing the silicate-glass network, are formed as a result of vitrification, depending on the type of flux agents/additives used. In addition, the concentration of heavy metals can be degraded in the final residue and leaching resistance can be achieved. Moreover, energy consumption, pollution prevention and the foreground of the practical application of vitrification are discussed. Vitrification with the advantage of encapsulating pollutants from the hazardous waste is proven to be a promising approach for hazardous waste treatment.

Application of plasma technology for treating e-waste: A review.

This review details the current information on e-waste treatment using plasma technology. The current status of e-waste treatment via plasma technology from the scientific literature is presented herein, namely, moist paste battery, galvanic sludge, resin, printed circuit board, and semiconductor industries. The concept of plasma technology, classification of e-waste, contaminants of e-waste (metals, metalloids, and VOCs), and vitrification of the final product are presented herein. This review paper focuses on fusing flux agents to vitrify e-waste. Furthermore, this paper covers laboratory-scale investigations, plasma technology benefits, and reuse of material from plasma post-treatment. The use of plasma technology combined with flux agents could be recommended to eliminate contaminants from e-waste. Materials from plasma post-treatment may also be applied in environmental reuse applications.

Economic and environmental evaluation of flux agents in the vitrification of resin waste: A SWOT analysis.

Flux agents play an important role in the pyrolysis treatment of vitrifying hazardous wastes. Among these is plasma jets, a cost-less flux agent derived from shell powder which can be used to create vitrification. It is a promising option to be applied in the vitrification of elements and to remove the VOCs of hazardous waste, namely, resin from PCB scrap in an atmospheric-pressure microwave plasma reactor. In this study, a laboratory scale experiment was conducted. The experiment was performed in the pyrolysis of resin which was added with flux agents. The economic evaluation of the flux agents, and the circular economy concept of the final residue derived from the plasma pyrolysis was then analyzed post treatment. To test the strength and weakness of the experiment, the SWOT analysis was performed. The outcome helped in the understanding of the cost-less flux agent used in the pyrolysis treatment of hazardous waste. Results showed that fusing shell powder in resin was better for improving the removal efficiency of VOCs, such as benzene and toluene as well as toxic metals than compared to other flux agents such as limestone and quartz sand. Moreover, the final residue of resin was found to fulfil the concept of circular economy where it could be reused as an absorbent of methyl blue, thereby indicating good absorption performance, from 1 ppm-100 ppm. The twelve strategies that were derived from the SWOT analysis could be used as information outlining the current internal and external condition for the development and application of shell powder. Shell powder, as a cost-less flux agent, has the potential for enhancing waste management and circular economy when used in the pyrolysis treatment of future hazardous wastes.

Performance of electrodialysis reversal and reverse osmosis for reclaiming wastewater from high-tech industrial parks in Taiwan: A pilot-scale study.

Wastewater reclamation is considered an absolute necessity in Taiwan, as numerous industrial parks experience water shortage. However, the water quality of secondary treated effluents from sewage treatment plants generally does not meet the requirements of industrial water use because of the high inorganic constituents. This paper reports experimental data from a pilot-plant study of two treatment processes-(i) fiber filtration (FF)-ultrafiltration (UF)-reverse osmosis (RO) and (ii) sand filtration (SF)-electrodialysis reversal (EDR)-for treating industrial high conductivity effluents from the Xianxi wastewater treatment plant in Taiwan. The results demonstrated that FF-UF was excellent for turbidity removal and it was a suitable pretreatment process for RO. The influence of two membrane materials on the operating characteristics and process stability of the UF process was determined. The treatment performance of FF-UF-RO was higher than that of SF-EDR with an average desalination rate of 97%, a permeate conductivity of 272.7 ± 32.0, turbidity of 0.183 ± 0.02 NTU and a chemical oxigen demand of <4.5 mg/L. The cost analysis for both processes in a water reclamation plant of 4000 m3/d capacity revealed that using FF-UF-RO had a lower treatment cost than using SF-EDR, which required activated carbon filtration as a post treatment process. On the basis of the results in this study, the FF-UF-RO system is recommended as a potential process for additional applications.

Fast and efficient adsorption of methylene green 5 on activated carbon prepared from new chemical activation method.

Activated carbon (AC) was synthesized from golden shower (GS) through a new chemical activation process. The three-stage process comprised (1) hydrothermal carbonization of GS to produce hydrochar, (2) pyrolysis of hydrochar to produce biochar, and (3) subsequent chemical activation of biochar with K2CO3 to obtain GSHBAC. The traditional synthesis processes (i.e., one-stage and two-stage) were also examined for comparison. In the one-stage process, GS that was impregnated with K2CO3 was directly pyrolyzed (GSAC), and the two-stage process consisted of (1) pyrolytic or hydrothermal carbonization to produce biochar or hydrochar and (2) subsequent chemical activation was defined as GSBAC and GSHAC, respectively. The synthesized ACs were characterized by scanning electron microscope, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, point zero charge, and Boehm titration. The adsorption results demonstrated that the MG5 adsorption process was not remarkably affected by neither the solution pH (2.0-10) nor ionic strength (0-0.5 M NaCl). Kinetic studies showed that the adsorption equilibrium was quickly established, with a low activation energy required for adsorption (Ea; 3.30-27.8 kJ/mol), and the ACs removed 50-73% of the MG5 concentration from solution within 01 min. Desorption studies confirmed the adsorption was irreversible. Thermodynamic experiments suggested that the MG5 adsorption was spontaneous (-ΔG°) and endothermic (+ΔH°), and increased the randomness (+ΔS°) in the system. Although the specific surface areas of the ACs followed the order GSAC (1,413) > GSHAC (1,238) > GSHBAC (903) > GSBAC (812 m2/g), the maximum adsorption capacities determined from the Langmuir model (Qomax) at 30 °C exhibited the following order: GSHBAC (531) > GSAC (344) > GSHAC (332) > GSBAC (253 mg/g). Oxygenation of the ACs' surface through a hydrothermal process with acrylic acid resulted in a decrease in MG5 adsorption and identified the importance of π-π interactions to the adsorption process. The primary interactions in MG5 adsorption were π-π interactions and pore filling, while hydrogen bonding and n-π interactions were minor contributors. The three-stage process can be regarded as the effective preparation method of AC with a high adsorption capacity toward the cationic dye.

Effect of pyrolysis temperatures and times on the adsorption of cadmium onto orange peel derived biochar.

The mechanism and capacity of adsorption of cadmium (Cd) on orange peel (OP)-derived biochar at various pyrolysis temperatures (400, 500, 600, 700 and 800°C) and heating times (2 and 6 h) were investigated. Biochar was characterized using proximate analysis, point of zero charge (PZC) analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Equilibrium and kinetic experiments of Cd adsorption on biochar were performed. The results indicated that the pH value at PZC of biochar approached 9.5. Equilibrium can be reached rapidly (within 1 min) in kinetic experiments and a removal rate of 80.6-96.9% can be generated. The results fitted the pseudo-second-order model closely. The adsorption capacity was estimated using the Langmuir model. The adsorption capacity of Cd on biochar was independent of the pyrolysis temperature and heating time (p>0.01). The maximum adsorption capacity of Cd was 114.69 (mg g(-1)). The adsorption of Cd on biochar was regarded as chemisorption. The primary adsorption mechanisms were regarded as Cπ-cation interactions and surface precipitation. Cadmium can react with calcite to form the precipitation of (Ca,Cd)CO3 on the surface of biochar. The OP-derived biochar can be considered a favourable alternative and a new green adsorbent for removing Cd(2+) ions from an aqueous solution.

A review on medical waste treatment in COVID-19 pandemics: Technologies, managements and future strategies.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 few years ago, the increasing of the number of medical waste has become a huge issue because of their harmful impact to environment. A major concern associated to the limitation of technologies for dealing with medical waste, especially conventional technologies, are overcapacities since pandemic occurs. Moreover, the outbreak of new viruses from post COVID-19 should become a serious attention to be prevented not only environmental issues but also the spreading of viruses to new pandemic near the future. The high possibility of an outbreak of new viruses and mutation near the future should be prevented based on the experience associated with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the last 3 yr. This review presented information and strategies for handling medical waste during the outbreak of COVID-19 and post-COVID-19, and also information on the current issues related to technologies, such as incineration, pyrolysis/gasification, autoclaves and microwave treatment for the dealing with high numbers of medical waste in COVID-19 to prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus, their advantages and disadvantages. Plasma technology can be considered to be implemented as an alternative technology to deal with medical waste since incinerator is usually over capacities during the pandemic situation. Proper treatment of specific medical waste in pandemics, namely face masks, vaccine vials, syringes, and dead bodies, are necessary because those medical wastes are mediums for transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Furthermore, emission controls from incinerator and plasma are necessary to be implemented to reduce the high concentration of CO2, NOx, and VOCs during the treatment. Finally, future strategies of medical waste treatment in the perspective of potential outbreak pandemic from new mutation viruses are discussed in this review paper.Implications: Journal of the air and waste management association may consider our review paper to be published. In this review, we give important information related to the technologies, managements and strategies for handling the medical waste and control the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus, starting from proper technology to control the high number of medical waste, their pollutants and many strategies for controlling the spreading of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Moreover, this review also describes some strategies associated with control the transmission not only the SARS-CoV-2 virus but also the outbreak of new viruses near the future.

Characterizing sector-oriented roadside exposure to ultrafine particles (PM0.1) via machine learning models: Implications of covariates influences on sectors variability.

Ultrafine particles (UFPs; PM0.1) possess intensified health risk due to their smaller size and unique spatial variability. One of major emission sources for UFPs is vehicle exhaust, which varies based on the traffic composition in each type of roadside sector. The current challenge of epidemiological UFPs study is limited characterization ability due to expensive instruments. This study assessed the UFPs particle number concentrations (UFPs PNC) exposure dose for typical healthy adults and children at three different roadside sectors, including industrial roadside (IN), residential roadside (RS), and urban background (UB). Furthermore, this study also developed and utilized machine learning (ML) algorithms that could accurately characterize the UFPs exposure dose and explain the covariates effects on the model outputs, representing the intra-urban variability of UFPs between sectors. It was found that the average inhaled UFPs dose for healthy adults and children during off-peak season (warm period) were 1.71 ± 0.19 × 1010; 1.28 ± 0.22 × 1010; 1.09 ± 0.18 × 1010 #/hour and 1.33 ± 0.15 × 1010; 0.99 ± 0.17 × 1010; 0.86 ± 0.14 × 1010 #/hour at IN, RS, UB. Inhaled UFPs were mainly deposited in tracheobronchial (TB) respiratory fraction for adults (67.7%) and in alveoli (ALV) fraction for children (67.5%). Among three ML algorithms implemented in this study, XGBoost possessed the highest UFPs PNC exposure dose estimation performances with R2 = 0.965; 0.959; 0.929 & RMSE = 0.79 × 108; 0.54 × 108; 0.15 × 105 #/hour at IN, RS, and UB which then followed by multiple linear regression (MLR), and random forest (RF). Furthermore, SHAP analysis from the XGBoost model has successfully pointed out the spatial variability of each roadside sector by quantifying the approximated contributions of covariates to the model's output. Findings in this study highlighted the potential use of ML models as an alternative for preliminary particle exposure source apportionment.

G protein-coupled receptors and traditional Chinese medicine: new thinks for the development of traditional Chinese medicine.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) widely exist in vivo and participate in many physiological processes, thus emerging as important targets for drug development. Approximately 30% of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs target GPCRs. To date, the 'one disease, one target, one molecule' strategy no longer meets the demands of drug development. Meanwhile, small-molecule drugs account for 60% of FDA-approved drugs. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has garnered widespread attention for its unique theoretical system and treatment methods. TCM involves multiple components, targets and pathways. Centered on GPCRs and TCM, this paper discusses the similarities and differences between TCM and GPCRs from the perspectives of syndrome of TCM, the consistency of TCM's multi-component and multi-target approaches and the potential of GPCRs and TCM in the development of novel drugs. A novel strategy, 'simultaneous screening of drugs and targets', was proposed and applied to the study of GPCRs. We combine GPCRs with TCM to facilitate the modernisation of TCM, provide valuable insights into the rational application of TCM and facilitate the research and development of novel drugs. This study offers theoretical support for the modernisation of TCM and introduces novel ideas for development of safe and effective drugs.

Identifying spatiotemporal trends of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater: from the perspective of upstream and downstream wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE).

Recently, many efforts have been made to address the rapid spread of newly identified COVID-19 virus variants. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is considered a potential early warning tool for identifying the rapid spread of this virus. This study investigated the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 in eight wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and their sewerage systems which serve most of the population in Taoyuan City, Taiwan. Across the entire study period, the wastewater viral concentrations were correlated with the number of COVID-19 cases in each WWTP (Spearman's r = 0.23-0.76). In addition, it is confirmed that several treatment technologies could effectively eliminate the virus RNA from WWTP influent (> 90%). On the other hand, further results revealed that an inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation and hotspot model combined with the geographic information system (GIS) method could be applied to analyze the spatiotemporal variations of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater from the sewer system. In addition, socio-economic factors, namely, population density, land use, and income tax were successfully identified as the potential drivers which substantially affected the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan. Finally, the data obtained from this study can provide a powerful tool in public health decision-making not only in response to the current epidemic situation but also to other epidemic issues in the future.

Au/Doc/Quer@PDA/A10-3.2 Nanoparticles for targeted treatment of docetaxel-resistant prostate cancer.

Docetaxel (Doc), as a first-line chemotherapy drug for prostate cancer (PC), often loses its therapeutic efficacy due to acquired resistance and lack of targeting specificity. Therefore, there is a need to develop a novel drug that can overcome Doc resistance and enhance its targeting ability to inhibit PC progression. In this study, we prepared Au/Doc/Quer@PDA/A10-3.2 nanoparticles (NPs) composite drug by encapsulating Doc and quercetin (Quer) within polydopamine (PDA)-coated Au NPs and further modifying them with RNA oligonucleotide aptamer A10-3.2. A10-3.2 was used for specific targeting of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-positive PC cells (LNCaP). Quer was employed to reverse the resistance of Doc-resistant cell line (LNCaP/R) to Doc. Physical characterization using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the successful preparation of Au/Doc/Quer@PDA/A10-3.2 NPs. Fluorescence imaging and flow cytometry experiments demonstrated the targeting ability of Au/Doc/Quer@PDA/A10-3.2 NPs towards PSMA-positive LNCaP/R cells. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, and migration experiments revealed that Quer reversed the resistance of LNCaP/R cells to Doc. Immunoblotting experiments further confirmed the mechanism behind sensitization of chemotherapy by Quer. Finally, we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of Au/Doc/Quer@PDA/A10-3.2 NPs in a mouse model of PC. In conclusion, this study synthesized and validated a novel nano-composite drug (Au/Doc/Quer@PDA/A10-3.2 NPs) for combating Doc-resistant PC, which could potentially be applied in clinical treatment of PC.

Antifouling catalytic mixed-matrix membranes based on polyethersulfone and composition-optimized Zn-Cu-Fe-O CWAO catalyst under dark ambient conditions.

Besides photocatalysts, novel catalytic wet-air oxidation (CWAO) catalysts capable of operating under mild conditions are a potential candidate to fabricate antifouling filtration membranes. This study optimized the CWAO catalyst consisting of three metal oxide components (ZnO, CuO, and Fe3O4) and used it to fabricate composite membranes with PES (polyethersulfone). The catalyst was characterized by methods such as FTIR, BET, XRD, UV-Vis DRS, XPS, ESR. The activity of the catalyst and the composite membranes was tested by the Acid Yellow 42 (AY42) degradation experiments in both cases with and without hydrogen peroxide at room conditions with air aeration. The pure water fluxes of composite membranes were also investigated based on a vacuum filtration system. The major degradation pathways of AY42 by the catalyst were proposed from the DFT (Density Functional Theory) and NBO (Natural Bond Orbital) calculations. The results showed that the optimal catalyst has molar ratios of Zn, Cu, and Fe metal ions of 0.05, 0.588, and 0.362, respectively, with AY42 decomposition efficiency of 88% in 3 h. The main factors affecting the catalytic efficiency of the CWAO catalyst determined from the trapping experiment were e- and O2. The results from different materials characterization methods have demonstrated the successful synthesis of the catalyst with a high surface area (103.5 m2/g) and small pore diameters (∼10 nm). The AY42 degradation of composite membranes was stable over five repeated cycles with over 70% efficiency. The pure water fluxes of composite membranes have also been significantly improved and are proportional to catalyst contents.

Antifouling CuO@TiO2 coating on plasma-grafted PAA/PES membrane based on photocatalysis and hydrogen peroxide activation.

Because of the small size effect leading to the high bandgap of TiO2 P25, the photocatalytic membrane using this photocatalyst has low antifouling efficiency. This study prepared CuO@TiO2 composite photocatalyst with a lower bandgap than TiO2 P25 and used it as antifouling coatings on the PES membrane with PAA intermediate adhesive layer. PAA was grafted onto the surface of the PES membranes through free radicals generated by the cold plasma treatment of the PES membrane. The composite photocatalysts were characterized by FTIR, SEM-EDS, TEM-EDS, XRD, BET, UV-Vis DRS, XPS, and ESR methods demonstrating high surface area (51.0 m2/g), decreased bandgap, and the formation of active free radicals under UV light irradiation. Under photocatalysis and hydrogen peroxide activation, the degradation of AB260 (acid blue 260) catalyzed by 10%CuO@TiO2 reached about 92% after 60 min. Besides, the photocatalytic and antifouling activities of CuO@TiO2/PAA/PES membranes are high and stable over five continuous cycles. The water flux of the modified membrane was not significantly influenced and only decreased about 10% compared to the pristine membrane. In addition, the flux recovery ratios (FRR) of fouled membranes treated by photocatalysis were almost 100%.

SMAR1 inhibits proliferation, EMT and Warburg effect of bladder cancer cells by suppressing the activity of the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of scaffold matrix attachment region binding protein 1 (SMAR1) on the development of bladder cancer (BCa). SMAR1 expression in paired tumor and corresponding adjacent normal tissues from 55 BCa patients was detected by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. BCa cells were transfected to regulate SMAR1 expression. BCa cells were treated with XAV-939, LiCl and 2-deoxyglucose. The effect of SMAR1 on the viability, proliferation, migration, invasion and Warburg effect of BCa cells was researched by counting kit-8, colony formation assay, Transwell and aerobic glycolysis assays. Western blot was performed to detect protein expression. BCa cell growth in vivo was recorded in nude mice. Immunohistochemical staining was performed for clinical and xenografted tumor tissue specimens. SMAR1 expression was down-regulated in BCa patients, associating with worse prognoses. SMAR1 knockdown enhanced the viability, proliferation, migration, invasion, EMT and Warburg effect of BCa cells. The opposite effect was found in the SMAR1 overexpression BCa cells. XAV-939 treatment reversed the elevation of ß-catenin, c-Myc and Cyclin D1 proteins expression and Warburg effect in Bca cells post-SMAR1 knockdown. LiCl treatment abrogated the inhibition of ß-catenin, c-Myc and Cyclin D1 proteins expression and Warburg effect proteins due to SMAR1 overexpression in BCa cells. SMAR1 overexpression inhibited the growth of BCa cells in vivo. SMAR1 might suppress the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway activity to inhibit the progression of BCa. It might be an effective treatment target for BCa.

Degradation of contaminants in plasma technology: An overview.

The information of plasma technologies applications for environmental clean-up on treating and degrading metals, metalloids, dyes, biomass, antibiotics, pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), bacteria, virus and fungi is compiled and organized in the review article. Different reactor configurations of plasma technology have been applied for reactive species generation, responsible for the pollutants removal, hydrogen and methane production and microorganism inactivation. Therefore, in this review article, the reactive species from discharge plasma are presented here to provide the insight into the environmental applications. The combinations of plasma technology with flux agent and photocatalytic are also given in this review paper associated with the setup of the plasma system on the removal process of metals, VOCs, and microorganisms. Furthermore, the potential of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) inactivation via plasma technology is also described in this review paper. Detailed information of plasma parameter configuration is given to support the influence of the critical process in the plasma system to deal with contaminants.

Rapid fabrication of MgO@g-C3N4 heterojunctions for photocatalytic nitric oxide removal.

Nitric oxide (NO) is an air pollutant impacting the environment, human health, and other biotas. Among the technologies to treat NO pollution, photocatalytic oxidation under visible light is considered an effective means. This study describes photocatalytic oxidation to degrade NO under visible light with the support of a photocatalyst. MgO@g-C3N4 heterojunction photocatalysts were synthesized by one-step pyrolysis of MgO and urea at 550 °C for two hours. The photocatalytic NO removal efficiency of the MgO@g-C3N4 heterojunctions was significantly improved and reached a maximum value of 75.4% under visible light irradiation. Differential reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) was used to determine the optical properties and bandgap energies of the material. The bandgap of the material decreases with increasing amounts of MgO. The photoluminescence spectra indicate that the recombination of electron-hole pairs is hindered by doping MgO onto g-C3N4. Also, NO conversion, DeNOx index, apparent quantum efficiency, trapping tests, and electron spin resonance measurements were carried out to understand the photocatalytic mechanism of the materials. The high reusability of the MgO@g-C3N4 heterojunction was shown by a five-cycle recycling test. This study provides a simple way to synthesize photocatalytic heterojunction materials with high reusability and the potential of heterojunction photocatalysts in the field of environmental remediation.