[Removal Performance and Mechanism of Potassium Permanganate Modified Coconut Shell Biochar for Cd(â ¡) and Ni(â ¡) in Aquatic Environment].

In this study, coconut shell biochar modified by KMnO4 (MCBC) was used as the adsorbent, and its removal performance and mechanism for Cd(Ⅱ) and Ni(Ⅱ) were discussed. When the initial pH and MCBC dosage were separately 5 and 3.0 g·L-1, respectively, the removal efficiencies of Cd(Ⅱ) and Ni(Ⅱ) were both higher than 99%. The removal of Cd(Ⅱ) and Ni(Ⅱ) was more in line with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, indicating that their removal was dominated by chemisorption. The rate-controlling step for Cd(Ⅱ) and Ni(Ⅱ) removal was the fast removal stage, for which the rate depended on the liquid film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion (surface diffusion). Cd(Ⅱ) and Ni(Ⅱ) were mainly attached to the MCBC via surface adsorption and pore filling, in which the contribution of surface adsorption was greater. The maximum adsorption amounts of Cd(Ⅱ) and Ni(Ⅱ) by MCBC were individually 57.18 mg·g-1 and 23.29 mg·g-1, which were approximately 5.74 and 6.97 times that of the precursor (coconut shell biochar), respectively. The removal of Cd(Ⅱ) and Zn(Ⅱ) was spontaneous and endothermic and had obvious thermodynamic characteristics of chemisorption. Cd(Ⅱ) was attached to MCBC through ion exchange, co-precipitation, complexation reaction, and cation-π interaction, whereas Ni(Ⅱ) was removed by MCBC via ion exchange, co-precipitation, complexation reaction, and redox. Among them, co-precipitation and complexation were the main modes of surface adsorption of Cd(Ⅱ) and Ni(Ⅱ). Additionally, the proportion of amorphous Mn-O-Cd or Mn-O-Ni in the complex may have been higher. These research results will provide important technical support and theoretical basis for the practical application of commercial biochar in the treatment of heavy metal wastewater.

Novel gene mutation in maturity-onset diabetes of the young: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) is the most common monogenic type of diabetes. Recently, 14 gene mutations have been found to be associated with MODY. In addition, the KLF11 gene mutation is the pathogenic gene of MODY7. To date, the clinical and functional characteristics of the novel KLF11 mutation c. G31A have not yet been reported. CASE SUMMARY: We report of a 30-year-old male patient with a one-year history of nonketosis-prone diabetes and a 3-generation family history of diabetes. The patient was found to carry a KLF11 gene mutation. Therefore, the clinical data of family members were collected and investigated. A total of four members of the family were found to have heterozygous mutations in the KLF11 gene c. G31A, which resulted in a change in the corresponding amino acid p.D11N. Three patients had diabetes mellitus, and one patient had impaired glucose tolerance. CONCLUSION: The heterozygous mutation of the KLF11 gene c.G31A (p. D11N) is a new mutation site of MODY7. Subsequently, the main treatment included dietary interventions and oral drugs.

P2X7 Receptor in Alcoholic Steatohepatitis and Alcoholic Liver Fibrosis.

Alcoholic liver disease is one of the most common chronic liver diseases in the world. It is a liver disease caused by prolonged heavy drinking and its main clinical features are nausea, vomiting, enlargement of the liver, and jaundice. Recent studies suggest that Kupffer cell-mediated inflammatory response is a core driver in the development of alcoholic steatohepatitis and alcoholic liver fibrosis. As a danger signal, extracellular ATP activates the assembly of NLPR3 inflammasome by acting on purine P2X7 receptor, the activated NLRP3 inflammasome prompts ASC to cleave pro-cCaspase-1 into active caspase-1in KCs. Active caspase-1 promotes the conversion of pro-IL-1ß to IL-1ß, which further enhances the inflammatory response. Here, we briefly review the role of the P2X7R-NLRP3 inflammasome axis in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease and the evolution of alcoholic steatohepatitis and alcoholic liver fibrosis. Regulation of the inflammasome axis of P2X7R-NLRP3 may be a new approach for the treatment of alcoholic liver disease.

Real microgravity condition promoted regeneration capacity of induced pluripotent stem cells during the TZ-1 space mission.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are reprogrammed somatic cells that gained self-renewal and differentiation capacity similar to embryonic stem cells. Taking the precious opportunity of the TianZhou-1 spacecraft mission, we studied the effect of space microgravity (µg) on the self-renewal capacity of iPSCs. Murine iPSCs carrying pluripotency reporter Oct4-GFP were used. The Oct4-EGFP-iPSCs clones were loaded into the bioreactor and exposed to µg in outer space for 14 days. The control experiment was performed in identical device but on the ground in earth gravity (1 g). iPSCs clones were compact and highly expressed Oct4 before launch. In µg condition, cells in iPSC clones spread out more rapidly than those in ground 1 g condition during the first 3 days after launch. However, in 1 g condition, as the cell density increases, the Oct4-GFP signal dropped significantly during the following 3 days. Interestingly, in µg condition, iPSCs originated from the spread-out clones during the first 3 days appeared to cluster together and reform colonies that activated strong Oct4 expression. On the other hand, iPSC clones in 1 g condition were not able to recover Oct4 expression after overgrown. Our study for the first time performed real-time imaging on the proliferation process of iPSCs in space and found that in µg condition, cell behaviour appeared to be more dynamic than on the ground.

Tetrahydroquinoline and tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives as potential selective PDE4B inhibitors.

Tetrahydroquinoline and tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives containing 2-phenyl-5-furan moiety were designed and synthesized as phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4) inhibitors. The bioassay results showed that title compounds showed good inhibitory activity against PDE4B and blockade of LPS (lipopolysaccharide) induced TNF-α release, which also exhibited considerable in vivo activity in animal models of asthma/COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and sepsis induced by LPS. The bioactivity of compounds containing tetrahydroquinoline (series 4) was higher than that of tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives (series 3). Compound 4 m with 4-methoxybenzene moiety exhibited the best potential selective activity against PDE4B. The primary structure-activity relationship study and docking results showed that the tetrahydroquinoline moiety of compound 4 m played a key role to form hydrogen bonds and π-π stacking interaction with PDE4B protein while the rest part of the molecule extended into the catalytic domain to block the access of cAMP and formed the foundation for inhibition of PDE4B. Based on LPS induced sepsis model for the measurement of TNF-α inhibition in Swiss Albino mice and neutrophilia inhibition for asthma and COPD in Sprague Dawley rats with the potential molecules, compound 4 m would be great promise as a hit inhibitor in the future study.

Fluoroquinolone derivatives and their anti-tubercular activities.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most widespread and leading deadliest diseases, around one-third of the world's population harbor a latent infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), and 5-10% eventually develop an active TB. The emergency of MTB new virulent forms as well as the co-infection between MTB and HIV alarming the serious problem in TB control and demanding the need for new drugs more potent than earlier with safe ADME profile. Fluoroquinolones are emerged as a large family of synthetic broad spectrum antibiotics, and some of them were recommended as the second-line agents for the treatment of TB mainly in cases involving resistance or intolerance to first-line anti-TB therapy by WHO. Numerous of FQs derivatives have been synthesized for seeking for new anti-TB agents, and some of them exhibited promising potency. This review aims to summarize the recent advances made towards the discovery of FQs derivatives as anti-TB agents and the structure-activity relationship of these derivatives.

Antiplasmodial and antimalarial activities of quinolone derivatives: An overview.

Malaria remains one of the most deadly infectious diseases globally. Considering the growing spread of resistance, development of new and effective antimalarials remains an urgent priority. Quinolones, which are emerged as one of the most important class of antibiotics in the treatment of various bacterial infections, showed potential in vitro antiplasmodial and in vivo antimalarial activities, making them promising candidates for the chemoprophylaxis and treatment of malaria. This review presents the current progresses and applications of quinolone-based derivatives as potential antimalarials to pave the way for the development of new antimalarials.

Intramolecular etherification and polyene cyclization of π-activated alcohols promoted by hot water.

Hot water, acting as a mildly acidic catalyst, efficiently promoted intramolecular direct nucleophilic substitution reactions of unsaturated alcohols with heteroatom or carbon nucleophiles. In a mixed solvent of water and 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP), polyene cyclizations using allylic alcohols as initiators gave the desired cyclized products, and in neat HFIP, a tricyclization reaction gave a tetracyclic product in 51% chemical yield.

Supplementation of iron alone and combined with vitamins improves haematological status, erythrocyte membrane fluidity and oxidative stress in anaemic pregnant women.

Pregnancy is a condition exhibiting increased susceptibility to oxidative stress, and Fe plays a central role in generating harmful oxygen species. The objective of the present study is to investigate the changes in haematological status, oxidative stress and erythrocyte membrane fluidity in anaemic pregnant women after Fe supplementation with and without combined vitamins. The study was a 2 months double-blind, randomised trial. Pregnant women (n 164) were allocated to four groups: group C was the placebo control group; group I was supplemented daily with 60 mg Fe (ferrous sulphate) daily; group IF was supplemented daily with Fe plus 400 µg folic acid; group IM was supplemented daily with Fe plus 2 mg retinol and 1 mg riboflavin, respectively. After the 2-month trial, Hb significantly increased by 15.8, 17.3 and 21.8 g/l, and ferritin by 2.8, 3.6 and 11.0 µg/l, in the I, IF and IM groups compared with placebo. Polarisation (ρ) and microviscosity (η) decreased significantly in other groups compared with placebo, indicating an increase in membrane fluidity. Significant decreases of ρ and η values compared with group C were 0.033 and 0.959 for group I, 0.037 and 1.074 for group IF and 0.064 and 1.865 for group IM, respectively. In addition, significant increases of glutathione peroxidase activities and decreases of malondialdehyde were shown in all treated groups, as well as increases of plasma retinol and urine riboflavin in group IM. The findings show that supplementation with Fe and particularly in combination with vitamins could improve the haematological status as well as oxidative stress and erythrocyte membrane fluidity.

Promoter hypermethylation correlates with the Hsulf-1 silencing in human breast and gastric cancer.

The HSulf-1 gene is an important factor that modulates the sulfation status of heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) in the extracellular matrix, resulting in disturbance of HSPG-related signal transduction pathways. Recently, HSulf-1 has been reported to be down-regulated in several human cancers. In this study, we first cloned and characterized the 5' promoter region of the HSulf-1 gene (around 400 bp) that contained high basal promoter activity. We also found that this functional promoter region was hypermethylated in a number of human cancer cell lines. Furthermore, we found that hypermethylation in this promoter region correlated with the down-regulation of the HSulf-1 expression in human breast and gastric cancer cell lines and tissue samples. These results suggest that the promoter hypermethylation may be one of the mechanisms of the HSulf-1 gene silencing in human breast and gastric cancers. Finally, we demonstrated that the HSulf-1 promoter was more frequently (p<0.05) methylated in cell-free DNA extracted from serum samples of human breast and gastric cancer patients than that of healthy people (76.2%, 55.0% and 19.0%, respectively), indicating that detection of the HSulf-1 promoter methylation in serum samples may have clinical implications in early detection and diagnosis of human breast and gastric cancers.