Photocatalytic Conversion of Diluted CO2 into Tunable Syngas via Modulating Transition Metal Hydroxides.

The conversion of diluted CO2 into tunable syngas via photocatalysis is critical for implementing CO2 reduction practically, although the efficiency remains low. Herein, we report the use of graphene-modified transition metal hydroxides, namely, NiXCo1-X-GR, for the conversion of diluted CO2 into syngas with adjustable CO/H2 ratios, utilizing Ru dyes as photosensitizers. The Ni(OH)2-GR cocatalyst can generate 12526 µmol g-1 h-1 of CO and 844 µmol g-1 h-1 of H2, while the Co(OH)2-GR sample presents a generation rate of 2953 µmol g-1 h-1 for CO and 10027 µmol g-1 h-1 for H2. Notably, by simply altering the addition amounts of nickel and cobalt in the transition metal composite, the CO/H2 ratios in syngas can be easily regulated from 18:1 to 1:4. Experimental characterization of composites and DFT calculations suggest that the differing adsorption affinities of CO2 and H2O over Ni(OH)2-GR and Co(OH)2-GR play a significant role in determining the selectivity of CO and H2 products, ultimately affecting the CO/H2 ratios in syngas. Overall, these findings demonstrate the potential of graphene-modified transition metal hydroxides as efficient photocatalysts for CO2 reduction and syngas production.

Development of a Facile Lysosome-Targeting Nitric Oxide Fluorescent Probe Based on a Novel Reaction Mechanism.

As a ubiquitous signal molecule in biosystems, nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in many physiological and pathological processes. Therefore, it is of great significance to detect NO in organisms for the study of related diseases. Currently, a variety of NO fluorescent probes have been developed based on several types of reaction mechanisms. However, due to the inherent disadvantages of these reactions, like potential interference by biologically related species, there is a great need to develop NO probes based on the new reactions. Herein, we report our discovery of the unprecedented reaction between a widely used fluorophore of 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(p-(dimethylamino)styryl)-4H-pyran (DCM) and NO under mild conditions with fluorescence changes. By the analysis of the structure of the product, we proved that DCM undergoes a particular nitration process and proposed a mechanism for fluorescence changes due to the interruption of the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) process of DCM by the nitrated product of DCM-NO2. Based on the understanding of this specific reaction, we then easily constructed our lysosomal-localized NO fluorescent probe LysoNO-DCM by linking DCM and a morpholine group, a lysosomal-targeting functional group. LysoNO-DCM exhibits excellent selectivity, sensitivity, pH stability, and outstanding lysosome localization ability with Pearson's colocalization coefficient of up to 0.92 and is successfully applied to the imaging of exogenous and endogenous NO in cells and zebrafish. Our studies expand design methods for NO fluorescence probes based on the novel reaction mechanism and will benefit the studies of this signaling molecule.

Recent development in antibacterial activity and application of nanozymes in food preservation.

Nanozymes with excellent broad-spectrum antibacterial properties offers an alternative strategy for food preservation. This review comprehensively summarized the antibacterial mechanisms of nanozymes, including the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the destruction of biofilms. Besides, the primary factors (size, morphology, hybridization, light, etc.) regulating the antibacterial activity of different types of nanozymes were highlighted in detail, which provided effective guidance on how to design highly efficient antibacterial nanozymes. Moreover, this review presented elaborated viewpoints on the unique applications of nanozymes in food preservation, including the selection of nanozymes loading matrix, fabrication techniques of nanozymes-based antibacterial films/coatings, and the recent advances in the application of nanozymes-based antibacterial films/coatings in food preservation. In the end, the safety issues of nanozymes have also been mentioned. Overall, this review provided new avenues in the field of food preservation and displayed great prospects.

Early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease using Continuous Convolution Network: Handwriting recognition based on off-line hand drawing without template.

The examination of patients' handwriting has become an important auxiliary method for the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson's disease which can be used for early self-diagnosis of patients with Parkinson's disease. However, at present, the recognition of writing disorders based on artificial intelligence technology mainly relies on pattern templates and intelligent dynamic acquisition equipment, which has some design limitations. And professional acquisition equipment is not suitable for ordinary home patients. In order to facilitate the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease and get more accurate diagnostic results, this paper is devoted to studying various features of spiral hand drawing of Parkinson's disease and developing an auxiliary diagnosis scheme based on hand drawing. Firstly, through the ablation experiment with open dataset, it is verified that the visual information of hand drawing can better reflect the characteristics of hand drawing of patients with Parkinson's disease than the original dynamic information. Secondly, an Archimedes spiral hand drawing dataset is established that can accurately reflect the tremor, shape and spacing characteristics of the image, with no limitation of the application scenario. Finally, Continuous Convolution Network (CC-Net) is proposed to reduce the pooling layer. Compared with the traditional classification network, CC-Net can accurately extract diversified features of hand drawings and maximize the retention of image information, and obtain a higher classification accuracy with qualified stability (the classification accuracy on the dataset of this paper is about 89.3%, MCC is about 0.733, and average AUC is about 0.934).

Significance of Common Blood Test Indexes in the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Multiple Myeloma.

BACKGROUND: The goal of this study is to explore the clinical value of routine tests in multiple myeloma (MM). METHODS: A total of 179 MM patients, newly diagnosed in our hospital from January 2010 to December 2018 (case group), as well as 352 cases of healthy individuals (control group) were evaluated. Albumin (Alb), globulin (Glb), albumin/globulin (A/G), creatinine (Cr), calcium (Ca), hemoglobin (Hb), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), platelet count (Plt), and platelet distribution width (PDW) were compared between the analyzed groups. Respective tests were screened by forward selection. Thereafter, screened out indicators were identified through logistic regression analysis. Risk prediction nomogram, area under curve (AUC), calibration, decision curve analysis (DCA), and clinical impact curve (CIC) were further performed. At the same time, routine test indicators of MM patients for stage and subtype diagnosis, were compared. A correlation analysis between these test indicators and respective disease stages was performed. High stage group and low stage groups were subsequently compared to define the predictive value of single and combined indicators of disease severity. RESULTS: Except for Ca, the difference between the case and control groups for all other blood indicators was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Moreover, the difference in positive rate(s) was statistically significant (p < 0.05). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of Alb, Hb, and PDW harbored robust discrimination (AUC = 0.960) and appropriate calibration. The DCA and CIC showed that the resulting nomogram had a superior net benefit in predicting MM. Among all indicators, only LDH was statistically reduced in MM patients at ISS stages I, II, and III (p < 0.05). Interestingly, the ISS stage of respective MM patients was positively correlated with Cr (τ = 0.392), while it was negatively correlated with Hb (τ = -0.364). Alb, Glo, A/G, and Hb were significantly distinct between heavy chain (IgG, IgA) and LC, while few significant differences were found between the ISS stages. Lastly, the AUC (0.828) for Cr was greater than that for all other single and combined indicators. CONCLUSIONS: The effective application of major indicators measured in routine blood tests can provide important clues for the diagnosis and prognosis of MM.

Nanofiltration-Inspired Janus Membranes with Simultaneous Wetting and Fouling Resistance for Membrane Distillation.

Membranes with robust antiwetting and antifouling properties are highly desirable for membrane distillation (MD) of wastewater. Herein, we have proposed and demonstrated a highly effective method to mitigate wetting and fouling by designing nanofiltration (NF)-inspired Janus membranes for MD applications. The NF-inspired Janus membrane (referred to as PVDF-P-CQD) consists of a hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane and a thin polydopamine/polyethylenimine (PDA/PEI) layer grafted by sodium-functionalized carbon quantum dots (Na+-CQDs) to improve its hydrophilicity. The vapor flux data have confirmed that the hydrophilic layer does not add extra resistance to water vapor transport. The PVDF-P-CQD membrane exhibits excellent resistance toward both surfactant-induced wetting and oil-induced fouling in direct contact MD (DCMD) experiments. The impressive performance arises from the fact that the nanoscale pore sizes of the PDA/PEI layer would reject surfactant molecules by size exclusion and lower the propensity of surfactant-induced wetting, while the high surface hydrophilicity resulted from Na+-CQDs would induce a robust hydration layer to prevent oil from attachment. Therefore, this study may provide useful insights and strategies to design novel membranes for next-generation MD desalination with minimal wetting and fouling propensity.

Development of prognostic nomograms using institutional data for patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive disease. Nomograms can predict prognosis of patients with TNBC. Methods: A total of 745 eligible TNBC patients were recruited and randomly divided into training and validation groups. Endpoints were disease-free survival and overall survival. Concordance index, area under the curve and calibration curves were used to analyze the predictive accuracy and discriminative ability of nomograms. Results: Based on the training cohort, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, positive lymph nodes, tumor size and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes were used to construct a nomogram for disease-free survival. In addition, age was added to the overall survival nomogram. Conclusion: The current study developed and validated well-calibrated nomograms for predicting disease-free survival and overall survival in patients with TNBC.

Effects of aging on the histology and biochemistry of rat tendon healing.

INTRODUCTION: Tendon diseases and injuries are a serious problem for the aged population, often leading to pain, disability and a significant decline in quality of life. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of aging on biochemistry and histology during tendon healing and to provide a new strategy for improving tendon healing. METHOD: A total of 24 Sprague-Dawley rats were equally divided into a young and an aged group. A rat patellar tendon defect model was used in this study. Tendon samples were collected at weeks 2 and 4, and hematoxylin-eosin, alcian blue and immunofluorescence staining were performed for histological analysis. Meanwhile, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot were performed to evaluate the biochemical changes. RESULTS: The histological scores in aged rats were significantly lower than those in young rats. At the protein level, collagen synthesis-related markers Col-3, Matrix metalloproteinase-1 and Metallopeptidase Inhibitor 1(TIMP-1) were decreased at week 4 in aged rats compared with those of young rats. Though there was a decrease in the expression of the chondrogenic marker aggrecan at the protein level in aged tendon, the Micro-CT results from weeks 4 samples showed no significant difference(p>0.05) on the ectopic ossification between groups. Moreover, we found more adipocytes accumulated in the aged tendon defect with the Oil Red O staining and at the gene and protein levels the markers related to adipogenic differentiation. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that tendon healing is impaired in aged rats and is characterized by a significantly lower histological score, decreased collagen synthesis and more adipocyte accumulation in patellar tendon after repair.

The absence of oestrogen receptor beta disturbs collagen I type deposition during Achilles tendon healing by regulating the IRF5-CCL3 axis.

Achilles tendon healing (ATH) remains an unanswered question in the field of sports medicine because it does not produce tissue with homology to the previously uninjured tissue. Oestrogen receptor ß (ERß) is involved in the injury and repair processes of tendons. Our previous study confirmed that ERß plays a role in the early stage of ATH by affecting adipogenesis, but its role in extracellular matrix (ECM) remodelling is unknown. We established a 4-week Achilles tendon repair model to investigate the mechanism through which ERß affects ATH at the very beginning of ECM remodelling phase. In vitro studies were performed using tendon-derived stem cells (TDSCs) due to their promising role in tendon healing. Behavioural and biomechanical tests revealed that ERß-deficient mice exhibit weaker mobility and inferior biomechanical properties, and immunofluorescence staining and qRT-PCR showed that these mice exhibited an erroneous ECM composition, as mainly characterized by decreased collagen type I (Col I) deposition. The changes in gene expression profiles between ERß-knockout and WT mice at 1 week were analysed by RNA sequencing to identify factors affecting Col I deposition. The results highlighted the IRF5-CCL3 axis, and this finding was verified with CCL3-treated TDSCs. These findings revealed that ERß regulates Col I deposition during ATH via the IRF5-CCL3 axis.

The application of stem cell therapy and brown adipose tissue transplantation in metabolic disorders.

The discovery of brown fat in adult humans has led to increased research of the thermogenic function of this tissue in various metabolic diseases. In addition, high levels of brown fat have been correlated with lower body mass index values. Therefore, increasing brown fat mass and/or activity through methods such as the browning of white fat is considered a promising strategy to prevent and treat obesity-associated diseases. Cell-based approaches using mesenchymal stromal cells and brown adipose tissue (BAT) have been utilized to directly increase BAT mass/activity through cell and tissue implantation into animals. In addition, recent studies evaluating the transplantation of human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have shown promising results in terms of positive metabolic function. In this comprehensive review, we provide a summary of the research over the past 10 years with regard to stem cell therapy and brown fat tissue transplantation for the effective treatment of metabolic syndrome. Recent advancements in stem cell methods have allowed for the production of brown adipocytes from human iPS cells, which represent an unlimited source of cellular material with which to study adipocyte development. In addition, this process is expected to be used to further explore drug- and cell-based therapies to treat obesity-related metabolic complications.

Can Composite Janus Membranes with an Ultrathin Dense Hydrophilic Layer Resist Wetting in Membrane Distillation?

Tackling membrane wetting is an ongoing challenge for large-scale applications of membrane distillation (MD). Herein, composite Janus MD membranes comprising an ultrathin dense hydrophilic layer are developed by layer-by-layer assembling cationic polyethyleneimine and anionic poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) polyelectrolytes on a hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride substrate. Using surfactant-containing saline water as the feed with low surface tension, experiments reveal that the number of polyelectrolyte layers, rather than surface wettability or surface charge, determines the anti-wetting performance of the composite Janus membranes. More deposited layers yield higher wetting resistance. With the aid of positron annihilation spectroscopy, this study, for the first time, demonstrates the origin of the excellent wetting resistance of the composite Janus membranes. The effective pore size of the polyelectrolyte multilayer decreases with an increase in the number of the deposited layer. The membrane with an ultrathin hydrophilic multilayer of 48 nm has a sufficiently small pore size to sieve out surfactant molecules from the feed solution via a size exclusion mechanism, thus protecting the hydrophobic substrate from being wetted by the low-surface-tension feed water. This study may pave the way for developing next-generation anti-wetting Janus membranes for robust membrane distillation.

Survival prediction model for patients with mycosis fungoides/Sezary syndrome.

Aim: A nomogram was constructed to forecast the overall survival (OS) of patients with mycosis fungoides/Sezary syndrome. Patients & methods: The clinicopathological information of patients was obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. A model was established based on the independent prognostic factors. Predictive ability of the model was evaluated with the concordance index and calibration curves. Risk stratification was conducted for patients with similar tumor node metastasis (TNM) stages. Results: The model included 1997 eligible patients and seven prognostic factors for OS. The concordance index of the nomogram was 0.84 in the training and external validation cohorts, which indicated good predictive ability of the model and reliability of the results. The high agreement between the model predictions and actual observations was identified by calibration curves, which demonstrated the prediction accuracy of the model. Risk stratification displayed significant differences for patients with similar TNM stages, which suggested that the OS of patients with similar TNM stages could be further distinguished. Conclusion: We established a reliable nomogram to predict the OS of patients with mycosis fungoides/Sezary syndrome, which highlighted the advantages of nomograms over the conventional TNM staging system and promoted the application of individualized therapeutic strategies.

Exosomes from tendon stem cells promote injury tendon healing through balancing synthesis and degradation of the tendon extracellular matrix.

Tendon injuries are common musculoskeletal system disorders in clinical, but the regeneration ability of tendon is limited. Tendon stem cells (TSCs) have shown promising effect on tissue engineering and been used for the treatment of tendon injury. Exosomes that serve as genetic information carriers have been implicated in many diseases and physiological processes, but effect of exosomes from TSCs on tendon injury repair is unclear. The aim of this study is to make clear that the effect of exosomes from TSCs on tendon injury healing. Exosomes were harvested from conditioned culture media of TSCs by a sequential centrifugation process. Rat Achilles tendon tendinopathy model was established by collagenase-I injection. This was followed by intra-Achilles-tendon injection with TSCs or exosomes. Tendon healing and matrix degradation were evaluated by histology analysis and biomechanical test at the post-injury 5 weeks. In vitro, TSCs treated with interleukin 1 beta were added by conditioned medium including exosomes or not, or by exosomes or not. Tendon matrix related markers and tenogenesis related markers were measured by immunostaining and western blot. We found that TSCs injection and exosomes injection significantly decreased matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-3 expression, increased expression of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-3 (TIMP-3) and Col-1a1, and increased biomechanical properties of the ultimate stress and maximum loading. In vitro, conditioned medium with exosomes and exosomes also significantly decreased MMP-3, and increased expression of tenomodulin, Col-1a1 and TIMP-3. Exosomes from TSCs could be an ideal therapeutic strategy in tendon injury healing for its balancing tendon extracellular matrix and promoting the tenogenesis of TSCs.

Earth-Abundant MoS2 and Cobalt Phosphate Dual Cocatalysts on 1D CdS Nanowires for Boosting Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production.

Cocatalysts play a significant role in accelerating the catalytic reactions of semiconductor photocatalyst. In particular, a semiconductor assembled with dual cocatalysts, i.e., reduction and oxidation cocatalysts, can obviously enhance the photocatalytic performance because of the synergistic effect of fast consumption of photogenerated electrons and holes simultaneously. However, in most cases, noble metal cocatalysts are employed, which tremendously increases the cost of the photocatalysts and restricts their large-scale applications. Herein, on the platform of one-dimensional (1D) CdS nanowires, we have utilized the earth-abundant dual cocatalysts, MoS2 and cobalt phosphate (Co-Pi), to construct the CdS@MoS2@Co-Pi (CMC) core-shell hybrid photocatalysts. In this dual-cocatalyst system, Co-Pi is in a position to expedite the migration of holes from CdS, while MoS2 acts as an electron transporter as well as active sites to accelerate the surface water reduction reaction. Taking the advantages of the dual-cocatalyst system, the prepared CMC hybrid shows an obvious enhancement of both the photoactivity and photostability toward hydrogen production compared with bare 1D CdS nanowires and binary hybrids (CdS@MoS2 and CdS@Co-Pi). This work highlights the promising prospects for rational utilization of earth-abundant dual cocatalysts to design low-cost and efficient hybrids toward boosting photoredox catalysis.

Molecular characterization of p38 MAPK from blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala) and its expression after ammonia stress, and lipopolysaccharide and bacterial challenge.

p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is an important protein which plays a key role in regulating the innate immunity, so exploring its molecular characterization is helpful in understanding the resistance against microbial infections in cultured fish. Here, a full-length cDNA of p38 MAPK was cloned from liver of blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala) which covered 2419 bp with an open reading frame of 1086 bp encoding 361 amino acids. p38 MAPK contained the characteristic structures of Thr-Gly-Tyr (TGY) motif and substrate binding site Ala-Thr-Arg-Trp (ATRW), which are conserved in MAPK family. To investigate p38 MAPK functions, two in vivo experiments were carried out to examine its expression following ammonia exposure and bacterial challenge. Also, an in vitro experiment was conducted to assess the role of p38 MAPK in inflammation of primary hepatocytes induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The results showed the ubiquitous expression of p38 MAPK in all the tested tissues with varying levels. p38 MAPK mRNA expression was significantly up-regulated by ammonia stress and Aeromonas hydrophila challenge, and altered in a time-dependent manner. Moreover, the results indicated that the inflammatory response induced by LPS in hepatocytes is p38 MAPK dependent as knockdown of p38 MAPK using siRNA technology depressed the expression of IL-1ß and IL-6. The findings in this study showed that p38 MAPK has anti-stress property, and plays key role in protection against bacterial infection and inflammation in blunt snout bream.

Bacillus pumilus SE5 originated PG and LTA tuned the intestinal TLRs/MyD88 signaling and microbiota in grouper (Epinephelus coioides).

The normal microbiota plays a key role in the health of host, but little is known of how the fish immune system recognizes and responds to indigenous bacteria/probiotics. Our previous studies have showed that heat-inactivated indigenous Bacillus pumilus SE5 activate the TLR2 signaling pathways and modulate the intestinal microbiota in grouper (Epinephelus coioides), suggesting microbial-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) involved. In this study, whole cell wall (CW) and two possible MAMPs, peptidoglycan (PG) and lipoteichoic acid (LTA) have been extracted from B. pumilus SE5 and their effects on intestinal immune related genes expression and microbiota were evaluated in a 60 days feeding trial. Significantly elevated expression of TLR1, TLR2, TLR5 and MyD88 was observed in fish fed the CW, PG and LTA containing diets, and the highest expression was observed in groups PG and LTA. At the same time, significantly upregulated expression of antimicrobial effectors, such as antimicrobial peptides (epinecidin-1, hepcidin-1 and ß-defensin), C-type Lectin and IgM was observed in fish fed PG and LTA containing diets. This induced activation of intestinal immunity was consistent with the microbiota data showing that CW, PG and LTA originated from SE5 modulated the overall structure of intestinal microbiota, and the relative abundance of potentially pathogenic Vibrio decreased significantly while beneficial Lactobacillus increased significantly in fish fed PG and LTA. In conclusion, both the PG and LTA originated from B. pumilus SE5 could activate TLRs/MyD88 signaling and expression of wide-ranging antibacterial effectors, and therefore shape the intestinal microbiota in grouper.

Methylation status of ORMDL3 regulates cytokine production and p-ERK/MMP9 pathway expression.

Orosomucoid like-3 (ORMDL3) has been identified to be associated with the development of asthma according to previous studies. However, the definite role of ORMDL3 in the pathogenesis of asthma remains unclear. In this study, we found ORMDL3 was highly expressed in PBMC specimens from childhood asthma patients. Cytokines production and p-ERK/MMP-9 pathway expression was also increased in childhood asthma patients compared with controls. In addition, ORMDL3 overexpression induced IL-6 and IL-8 release and activated p-ERK/MMP-9 pathway in vitro. Increased ORMDL3 expression was observed after treated with 5-Aza-CdR. 5-Aza-CdR decreased the percentage of the CpG island in the ORMDL3 promoter region and increased its promoter activity. In addition, 5-Aza-CdR significantly increased IL-6 and IL-8 levels in NHBE cells while there was no obvious alteration after knocking down ORMDL3. Knockdown of ORMDL3 also significantly decreased the expression of p-ERK/MMP-9 pathway in the presence or absence of 5-Aza-CdR. In conclusion, our study provided novel evidence for the association between ORMDL3 and asthma-associated cytokines. Moreover, DNA methylation plays an important role in ORMDL3-mediated increased IL-6 and IL-8 levels and p-ERK/MMP-9 pathway expression.

DCZ0801, a novel compound, induces cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest via MAPK pathway in multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a refractory malignant hematological malignancy, and many therapeutic strategies have been developed to cure patients with MM. DCZ0801 is a compound that consists of oxophenamide and pterostilbene. The role of these compounds in hematological cancers such as MM has yet to be studied. In this study, we explored the potential mechanism of DCZ0801 action, its anti-tumor activity both in vitro and in vivo on MM. This study was carried out via cell cycle proliferation assay, apoptotic analysis, western blot analysis, and examination of xenotransplantation model of tumors. The in vitro studies revealed that DCZ0801 could inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis by regulating both caspase-dependent and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways, inducing S-phase arrest of the cell cycle related to downregulation of CDK2, cyclin-A2, and CDC25A protein expression. The in vivo studies showed that DCZ0801 could significantly reduce the size of the tumors in nude mice. Our results demonstrated that DCZ0801 may emerge as the new therapeutic option for the patient with MM.

Comparative analysis of vertebral transcriptome in Japanese seabass (Lateolabrax japonicus) fed diets with varying phosphorus/calcium levels.

Aquaculture jeopardizes the aquatic environment by discharge of the most dietary phosphorus (P) into the water. Reducing the dietary P level is a common approach for decreasing the P discharge but it may result in increased risk of P deficiency leading to vertebral deformities. However, the molecular mechanism of vertebral deformities is poorly understood. We assessed vertebral transcriptome and compared the genes associated with bone metabolism in Japanese seabass (Lateolabrax japonicus) fed three diets containing different P and Ca levels including: diet I (0.4% P, 0.3% Ca), diet II (0.8% P, 0.3% Ca) and diet III (0.8% P, 3% Ca). The results showed that P deficiency reduces the ossification of vertebrae and induces visible vertebral deformities. Moreover, 256 gens were up-regulated and 125 genes were down-regulated in fish fed P deficient diets. Furthermore, administration of the diet with adequate P and Ca excess (diet III) resulted in the significant enhancement in expression of 19 genes and reduced expression of 93 genes. Comparing group II with group III, expression of 109 genes was up-regulated and expression of 1369 genes was down-regulated. Gene ontology enrichment analysis revealed significant alterations in biological functions by P deficiency. In summary, these findings indicated that both dietary P shortage and Ca excess lead to reduced differentiation and proliferation of osteoblast and induce a higher activity of osteoclastogenesis, which could subsequently impair vertebral mineralization and cause skeletal deformities.

Advanced Anti-Fouling Membranes for Osmotic Power Generation from Wastewater via Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO).

A facile and versatile approach was demonstrated for the fabrication of low-fouling pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) membranes for osmotic power generation from highly polluted wastewater. A water-soluble zwitterionic random copolymer with superior hydrophilicity and unique chemistry was molecularly designed and synthesized via a single-step free-radical polymerization between 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) and 2-aminoethyl methacrylate hydrochloride (AEMA). The P[MPC- co-AEMA] copolymer was then chemically grafted onto the surface of PES/Torlon hollow fibers via amino groups coupling of poly(AEMA) with the polyimide structures of Torlon, leaving the zwitterions of poly(MPC) in the feed solution. Because of the outstanding hydrophilicity, unique cationic and anionic groups, and electrical neutrality of the zwitterionic brush, the newly developed membrane showed great resistances to both inorganic scaling and organic fouling in PRO operations. When using a real wastewater brine comprising multifoulants as the feed, the P[MPC- co-AEMA] modified membrane exhibits a much lower flux decline of 37% at Δ P = 0 bar after 24-h tests and a smaller power density decrease of 28% at Δ P = 15 bar within 12-h tests, compared to 61% and 42% respectively for the unmodified one. In addition to the low fouling tendency, the modified membrane shows outstanding performance stability and fouling reversibility, where the flux is almost fully recovered by physical backwash of water at 15 bar for 0.5 h. This study provides valuable insights and strategies for the design and fabrication of effective antifouling materials and membranes for PRO osmotic power generation.