Advanced treatment of secondary effluent from wastewater treatment plant by a newly isolated microalga Desmodesmus sp. SNN1.

Secondary effluents contain considerable amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous, which if dumped untreated can cause eutrophication of the receiving water bodies. Microalgae can remove these nutrients and other pollutants from the wastewater effluents and play an effective role in the secondary effluent treatment. In this study, six microalgae strains (SNN1, SNN2, SNN3, SNN4, SNS1, and SNS2) were isolated and screened from the water and mud of Yingxue Lake of Shandong Jianzhu University, and their efficiencies for the removal of COD, NH4 +-N, TN, and TP in the secondary effluent were assessed. By comparing the growth performances and nutrient removal ability of algal strains in domestic sewage, we found that SNN1 (identified and named as Desmodesmus sp. SNN1) has the highest efficiency for biomass accumulation and sewage purification. Hence, the algal strain SNN1 was selected for further screening and optimization experiments. The strain showed higher biomass yield and better nutrient removal rate when the pH of secondary effluent was 9.0 and the initial inoculum concentration (optical density at 680 nm) of algal strain was 0.4. After 12 days of treatment, the concentrations of COD, NH4 +-N, TN, and TP in the secondary effluent were 31.79, 0.008, 8.631, and 0.069 mg/L, respectively. Therefore, SNN1 with the removal rates of 52.69% (COD), 99.99% (NH4 +-N), 89.09% (TN), and 94.64% (TP) displayed its high potential in nutrient removal. In addition, it also yielded 5.30 mg/L of chlorophyll a and 168.33 mg/L of lipids. These results demonstrated that this strain exhibited an effective treatment capacity for secondary effluent and microalgal oil production. This study is helpful to provide a strategy for the resource utilization of secondary effluent and the conservation of freshwater resources required by microalgae culture.

LAB Fermentation Improves Production of Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Withania somnifera Extract and Its Metabolic Signatures as Revealed by LC-MS/MS.

In this study we investigated the effect of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) fermentation on the ingredients and anti-oxidant activity of Withania somnifera extract. Four strains of LAB could proliferate normally in medium containing W. somnifera extract after the pH reached 3.1~3.5. LAB fermentation increased the content of alcohols and ketones, endowing the extract with the characteristic aroma of fermentation. Compared to the control, the DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging rates in the fermented samples were significantly improved, ranging from 48.5% to 59.6% and 1.2% to 6.4%. The content of total phenols was significantly increased by 36.1% during the fermentation of mixed bacteria. Moreover, the original composition spectrum of the extract was significantly changed while the differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) were closely related to bile secretion, tryptophan metabolism and purine metabolism. Therefore, LAB fermentation can be used as a promising way to improve the flavor and bioactivity of the extracts of W. somnifera, making the ferments more attractive for use as functional food.

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Mindfulness in Chinese College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Mindfulness has been found to have many positive effects on life outcomes, including mental health and educational achievement. However, less is known about the antecedents of mindfulness, particularly in Chinese college students. This study examines the effect of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on mindfulness among Chinese college students in September 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized that ACEs negatively affected students' mindfulness. The data were collected from 1,871 college students from 12 colleges across China. The results aligned with our hypothesis that ACEs was negatively associated with mindfulness. In particular, emotional abuse and neglect in childhood appear to have the most negative effects on mindfulness compared to other dimensions of ACEs such as physical abuse and household challenges.

Derivatives of Deoxypodophyllotoxin Induce Apoptosis through Bcl-2/Bax Proteins Expression.

BACKGROUND: Deoxypodophyllotoxin, isolated from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Anthriscus sylvestris, is well-known because of its significant anti-tumor activity with strong toxicity in vitro and in vivo. OBJECTIVE: In this article, a series of deoxypodophyllotoxin derivatives were synthesized and their anti-tumor effectiveness was evaluated. METHODS: The anti-tumor activity of deoxypodophyllotoxin derivatives was investigated by the MTT assay method. Apoptosis percentage was measured by flow cytometer analysis using Annexin-V-FITC. RESULTS: The derivatives revealed obvious cytotoxicity in the MTT assay by decreasing the number of late cancer cells. The decrease of Bcl-2/Bax could be observed in MCF-7, HepG2, HT-29, and MG-63 using Annexin V-FITC. The ratio of Bcl-2/Bax in the administration group was decreased, which was determined by the ELISA kit. CONCLUSION: The derivatives of deoxypodophyllotoxin could induce apoptosis in tumor cell lines by influencing Bcl-2/Bax.

Antitumor constituents from Anthriscus sylvestris (L.) Hoffm.

Bioassay-guided chemical investigation of the roots of Anthriscus sylvestris (L.) Hoffm. resulted in the isolation of nine compounds, whose structures were determined by spectroscopic methods. Compound 1 was isolated from this plant for the first time and compounds 3 and 9 were first found from this genus. Different polar fractions of A. sylvestris extract and compounds 1, 6-8 and 9 were evaluated for antitumor activities against HepG2 (human hepatocellular carcinoma), MG-63 (human osteosarcoma cells), B16 (melanoma cells) and HeLa (human cervical carcinoma cells) lines by the MTT method. The petroleum ether fraction of A. sylvestris extract exhibited excellent inhibitory activity with an IC50 value of 18.3 µg/ml. Among the isolates from the petroleum ether fraction, compound 7 showed significant inhibition against the growth of the four tumor cells with IC50 values ranging from 12.2-43.3 µg/ml.

Expression of IL-17A and IL-17F in lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury and the counteraction of anisodamine or methylprednisolone.

Th17 cytokines IL-17A and IL-17F as pro-inflammatory cytokines played an important role in triggering inflammatory responses. However, little was known about the expression of IL-17A and IL-17F in acute lung injury (ALI). Therefore, the present study investigated the expression of IL-17A and IL-17F in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI in rats and rat pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVEC) by enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay or reverse transcription-polymerase chains reaction. Anisodamine and methylprednisolone were also investigated as anti-inflammatory strategy in the process of LPS-induced ALI. Lung injury was evaluated by histological changes, right lung wet weight:body weight (LW/BW) ratios, and protein education and total leukocyte count of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Our findings showed that LPS exposure elevated the levels of leukocyte number, protein education in BALF and the ratios of LW/BW, increased the expression of IL-17A and IL-17F in the lung tissues homogenate, BALF and serum of ALI rats. Up-regulation of IL-17F expression was also observed after LPS challenge in rat PMVEC. Treatment with anisodamine or methylprednisolone significantly inhibited the increases of parameters of ALI induced by LPS, and markedly reduced the expression of IL-17A and IL-17F in rats and the IL-17F expression in PMVEC. These data suggested that IL-17A and IL-17F maybe play an important role in LPS-induced ALI via autocrine and paracrine mechanisms, and anisodamine is similar in extent to methylprednisolone that contributes to relieve LPS-induced ALI.

Dissecting functions of KATANIN and WRINKLED1 in cotton fiber development by virus-induced gene silencing.

Most of the world's natural fiber comes from cotton (Gossypium spp.), which is an important crop worldwide. Characterizing genes that regulate cotton yield and fiber quality is expected to benefit the sustainable production of natural fiber. Although a huge number of expressed sequence tag sequences are now available in the public database, large-scale gene function analysis has been hampered by the low-efficiency process of generating transgenic cotton plants. Tobacco rattle virus (TRV) has recently been reported to trigger virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) in cotton leaves. Here, we extended the utility of this method by showing that TRV-VIGS can operate in reproductive organs as well. We used this method to investigate the function of KATANIN and WRINKLED1 in cotton plant development. Cotton plants with suppressed KATANIN expression produced shorter fibers and elevated weight ratio of seed oil to endosperm. By contrast, silencing of WRINKLED1 expression resulted in increased fiber length but reduced oil seed content, suggesting the possibility to increase fiber length by repartitioning carbon flow. Our results provide evidence that the TRV-VIGS system can be used for rapid functional analysis of genes involved in cotton fiber development.

Molecular and morphological description of two new species of Stemphylium from China and France.

Two new species of Stemphylium (anamorphic Pleospora) are described on the basis of morphological characters and molecular phylogenetic analyses. Stemphylium phaseolina and S. variabilis were isolated respectively from diseased leaves of Phaseolus vulgaris L. in Hebei Province, China, and from diseased leaves of Allium sativum L. in Angres, France. The two species exhibit characteristic Stemphylium morphology but are distinct from similar species based on the morphology and development of conidia. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) nuclear rDNA region and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gpd) genes were sequenced. The results of maximum parsimony (MP) and maximum likelihood (ML) phylogenetic analyses of the combined DNA sequences of these two gene regions supported S. phaseolina and S. variabilis as two distinct phylogenetic species. The taxonomic descriptions of the new species and their comparison with related species are presented, together with the phylogenetic analysis based on combined DNA sequences of ITS and gpd gene regions.

[Effects of Yanggan Lidan Granule on insulin resistance in guinea pigs with induced cholesterol gallstones].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of Yanggan Lidan Granule (YGLDG), a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine, on insulin resistance in guinea pigs with induced cholesterol gallstones. METHODS: Eighty guinea pigs were randomly divided into normal control group, untreated group, YGLDG group and ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) group, with 20 guinea pigs in each group. Except the normal control group, gallstones were induced by high-cholesterol diet in the guinea pigs. The guinea pigs in the normal control group and the untreated group were administered with normal saline. UDCA and YGLDG were given to the guinea pigs in the corresponding groups for seven weeks. Eight guinea pigs of each group were used to measure the glucose infusion rate (GIR) by using hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp technique. At the end the guinea pigs were killed and their gallstone formation was observed. RESULTS: The gallstones in guinea pigs were identified as cholesterol stones by qualitative analysis through infrared spectrum. The incidence rate of cholelithiasis of the untreated group was 82.35% . The GIR of guinea pigs in the untreated group was obviously lowered down as compared with the normal control group. Compared with the untreated group, the GIRs of the YGLDG group and the UDCA group were obviously increased, especially in the YGLDG group. CONCLUSION: YGLDG may improve insulin resistance in guinea pigs with cholesterol gallstones by elevating GIR obviously.