The Role of Bacteria in the Formation and Migration of Oil-Particle Aggregates (OPAs) after Marine Oil Spills and the Associated Mechanism.

Oil spills interact with mineral particles to form oil-particle aggregates (OPAs), which promotes the oil's natural diffusion and biodegradation. We investigated the effect of bacteria on the formation and vertical migration of OPAs under different concentrations and types of particles and proposed and elucidated an oil-particle-bacteria coupling mechanism. The depth of particle penetration into oil droplets (13-17 µm) was more than twice that of the nonbacterial group. Oil that remained in the water column and deposited to the bottom decreased from 87% to 49% and increased from 14% to 15% at high/low concentration, respectively. Interestingly, the median droplet diameter showed a negative correlation (R2 = 0.83) and positive correlation (R2 = 0.60) at high/low concentration, respectively, with the relative penetration depth first proposed. We further demonstrated that bacteria increased the penetrating depth by a combination of reducing/increasing the interfacial tension, reducing the oil amount (C17-C38) in the OPAs, and increasing the particle width. These effects reduced the droplet size and ultimately changed the vertical migration of OPAs. Finally, we provided a simple assessment of the vertical distribution of OPAs in nearshore environments based on experimental data and suggested that the role of bacteria in increasing the depth of particles penetrating into the oil droplets should not be ignored. These findings will broaden the research perspective of marine oil spill migration.

Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry Imaging Illustrates the Quality Characters of Isatidis Radix.

For a long history, herbal medicines have made significant contributions to human health all around the world. However, the exploration of an effective approach to illustrate their inner quality remains a challenge. So, it is imperative to develop new methods and technologies to characterize and identify quality markers of herbal medicines. Taking Isatidis Radix, the dried root of Isatis indigotica as an example, desorption electrospray ionization (DESI), in combination with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Q-TOF/MS), was applied in this work for the first time to reveal the comprehensive spatial distribution of metabolites and, further, to illustrate quality characters of this herbal medicine. After simple pretreatment, 102 metabolites including alkaloids, sulfur-containing compounds, phenylpropanoids, nucleosides, amino acids, organic acids, flavonoids, phenols, terpenes, saccharides, peptides, and sphingolipids were characterized, some of which were successfully localized and visualized in the transverse section of the root. Based on the ion images, samples with different quality characters were distinguished unambiguously by the pattern recognition method of orthogonal partial least squares discrimination analysis (OPLS-DA). Simultaneously, 11 major influencing components exerting higher ion intensities in superior samples were identified as the potential quality markers of Isatidis Radix. Desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) mass spectrometry imaging (MSI), together with chemometric analysis could not only improve the understanding of the plant biology of herbal medicines but also be beneficial in the identification of quality markers, so as to carry out better quality control of herbal medicines.

Clinical efficacy of Shugan granule in the treatment of mixed anxiety-depressive disorder: A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Shugan granule is derived from Xiaoyao powder, a traditional Chinese medicine that has been shown to be effective in treating emotional disorders. At present, there is no standard drug treatment for mixed anxiety-depressive disorder (MADD), and no evidence-based clinical trial has been performed for any drug, meaning MADD patients are unable to obtain standardized treatment. AIM OF THE STUDY: The purpose of this clinical trial was to test the clinical efficacy and safety of Shugan granules in the treatment of MADD, and to provide clinical trial-based support along with drug recommendations for the treatment of MADD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted on 400 patients with MADD recruited from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2020, and they were randomly divided into test and placebo groups with a 1:1 ratio. Subjects in the test group (n = 200) received oral administration of Shugan granules, while subjects in the placebo group (n = 200) received oral administration of a Shugan granule simulator. The treatment lasted for 8 weeks. The Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), Hamilton Depression Scale-17 (HAMD-17), Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGIS), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) were used to evaluate efficacy. In addition, the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome scale for MADD was developed to observe improvements of related symptoms in patients after treatment based on the disease guidelines of TCM and the clinical manifestations of depression. Furthermore, the safety of Shugan granules was evaluated during and after treatment. RESULTS: After 8 weeks of treatment, the total scores for HAMA, HAMD, SAS, and SDS in the test group were significantly lower than those in the placebo group (P < 0.01). The proportion of patients with efficacy index (EI) > 1 for the CGIS score in the test group was significantly higher than that in the placebo group (P < 0.01). The efficacy of treatment in the test group based on the TCM syndrome scale was 70.16% and 88.27% after 4 weeks and 8 weeks, respectively, which was significantly higher than that in the placebo group (44.27% and 66.67% after 4 weeks and 8 weeks, respectively; P < 0.01). The disappearance rate of single symptoms in the test group was 20-30% higher than that in the placebo group, with a significant difference between groups (P < 0.05). During the treatment period, the incidence of adverse reactions was 2.05% in the test group and 2.06% in the placebo group, with no significant differences noted (P = 1.0000). CONCLUSION: Shugan granule was more effective than placebo in the treatment of MADD. Moreover, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of safety. This paper provides a clinical therapeutic regime using Shugan granule for the treatment of MADD.

Structure characterization of low molecular weight sulfate Ulva polysaccharide and the effect of its derivative on iron deficiency anemia.

Sulfate Ulva polysaccharide with low molecular weight was prepared by enzymatic method and name SUE. The structural characterization of SUE and the effect of its derivative SUE-iron (III) on iron deficiency anemia were studied. Results showed SUE with molecular weight of 178 kDa were consisted of 57.9% rhamnose, 12.1% glucose, 16.3% glucuronic acid, and 13.7% xylose. The backbone contained (1 → 3, 4)-linked rhamnose, (1 → 4)-linked xylose, (1 → 6)-linked glucose and sulfate substitution was at C-3 of rhamnose. Due to high contents of sulfate group (23.7 ±â€¯1.1%) and uronic acid, SUE-iron (III) with 20.3% iron content was synthesized. In order to evaluate the effects of SUE-iron (III) supplementation, an IDA animal model was created. After iron supplement administration, the SUE­iron (III) showed effective effect on returning hemoglobin, red blood cells, serum iron, and erythropoietin to the normal levels. The hematological index of rats showed no difference from that in positive group. Besides, SUE-iron (III) is beneficial to alleviate inflammatory damage caused by IDA. These suggest that SUE-iron (III) might be exploited as safe and effective new iron supplement.

Two phosphaalkene radical cations with inverse spin density distributions.

Two phosphaalkene radical cations 1(•+) and 2(•+) have been reported. 1(•+) is stable in the solid state and has been structurally characterized. 2(•+) only remains persistent in solution. 1(•+) is described as a phosphorus-centered radical, while 2(•+) as a delocalized radical with little contribution from phosphorus.

Studies on crude oil removal from pebbles by the application of biodiesel.

Oil residues along shorelines are hard to remove after an oil spill. The effect of biodiesel to eliminate crude oil from pebbles alone and in combination with petroleum degrading bacteria was investigated in simulated systems. Adding biodiesel made oil detach from pebbles and formed oil-biodiesel mixtures, most of which remained on top of seawater. The total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) removal efficiency increased with biodiesel quantities but the magnitude of augment decreased gradually. When used with petroleum degrading bacteria, the addition of biodiesel (BD), nutrients (NUT) and BD+NUT increased the dehydrogenase activity and decreased the biodegradation half lives. When BD and NUT were replenished at the same time, the TPH removal efficiency was 7.4% higher compared to the total improvement of efficiency when BD and NUT was added separately, indicating an additive effect of biodiesel and nutrients on oil biodegradation.

Biodegradation of marine surface floating crude oil in a large-scale field simulated experiment.

Biodegradation of marine surface floating crude oil with hydrocarbon degrading bacteria, rhamnolipid biosurfactants, and nutrients was carried out by a large-scale field simulated experiment in this paper. After a 103 day experiment, for n-alkanes, the maximum biodegradation rate reached 71% and the results showed hydrocarbon degrading bacteria, rhamnolipid biosurfactants, and nutrients have a comprehensive effect. It also showed that rhamnolipid biosurfactants could shorten the biodegradation time through an emulsifying function; the nutrients could greatly increase the biodegradation rate by promoting HDB production. For PAHs, the chrysene series had higher weathering resistance. For the same series, the weathering resistance ability is C1- < C2- < C3- < C4-. After 53 days, no comprehensive effect occurred and more biodegradation was found for different n-alkanes in two pools which only had added rhamnolipid biosurfactants or nutrients, respectively. Except for C14, C15 and C16 sesquiterpanes, most of the steranes and terpanes had high antibiodegradability.

Fingerprinting and source identification of an oil spill in China Bohai Sea by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry coupled with multi-statistical analyses.

This paper describes a case study in which advanced chemical fingerprinting and data interpretation techniques were used to characterize the chemical composition and determine the source of an unknown spilled oil reported on the beach of China Bohai Sea in 2005. The spilled oil was suspected to be released from nearby platforms. In response to this specific site investigation need, a tiered analytical approach using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) was applied. A variety of diagnostic ratios of "source-specific marker" compounds, in particular isomers of biomarkers, were determined and compared. Several statistical data correlation analysis methods were applied, including clustering analysis and Student's t-test method. The comparison of the two methods was conducted. The comprehensive analysis results reveal the following: (1) The oil fingerprinting of three spilled oil samples (S1, S2 and S3) positively match each other; (2) The three spilled oil samples have suffered different weathering, dominated by evaporation with decrease of the low-molecular-mass n-alkanes at different degrees; (3) The oil fingerprinting profiles of the three spilled oil samples are positive match with that of the suspected source oil samples C41, C42, C43, C44 and C45; (4) There are significant differences in the oil fingerprinting profiles between the three spilled oil samples and the suspected source oil samples A1, B1, B2, B3, B4, C1, C2, C3, C5 and C6.

[Identification of crude oils in Bohai Sea by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon fingerprinting].

Crude oils from different sources have quite different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) distributions. Also, many PAH compounds are more resistant to weathering than their saturated counterparts (n-alkanes and isoprenoids) and volatile alkylbenzene compounds, thus PAils become one of the most valuable classes of hydrocarbons for oil identification using fingerprinting. A reliable, effective, and accurate gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method for the differentiation and source identification of crude oils by the use of PAH compounds is described. PAll components of 6 crude oil samples from 5 different platforms in 4 different oil fields in Bohal Sea were analyzed by GC/MS. Using different methods, such as the comparisons of original fingerprinting, characteristic information, and diagnostic ratios of PAHs, 6 crude oil samples were identified completely, which showed distinctive characteristics of the same platform oils. Although distinction was diminutive, it can still be identified by GC/MS. PAHs could be used in weathering check of spilled oils in identification and to ensure the correctness of the identification.

[Determination of trace manganese in food by flame atomic absorption spectrometry with microemulsion sampling injection].

The effects of four surfactants and microemulsion were studied in the detection on trace manganses in food by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The results showed that the absorption increased when one of two of surfactants and microemulsion were used. The microemulsion are the most effective. The absorption increased by 58%. A method of determination on trace manganese by means of atomic absorption spectrometry sensitized with microemulsion was established. At the same time, we also made a recovery experiment for trace manganese in food, The relative standard deviation is 2.90%-5.62%, and recovery is 97.0%-98.2%.