A molecularly imprinted polypyrrole electrochemiluminescence sensor based on a novel zinc-based metal-organic framework and chitosan for determination of enrofloxacin.

Nowadays, bacterial resistance caused by the abuse of antibiotics has become a worldwide problem. In this work, a quinolone antibiotic, enrofloxacin (ENR), was rapidly monitored by combining a selective molecular imprinting polymer (MIP) with the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) method. Zn-PTC, a novel zinc-based metal-organic framework (MOF) that has a large specific surface area and ultra-high luminous efficiency, was used as the ECL luminophore. Chitosan (CHIT) was used to contact the specific surface area of molecularly imprinted polymer films and further improved the detection sensitivity. Subsequently, the molecularly imprinted polypyrrole was electropolymerized on the surface of the Zn-PTC and CHIT modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The specific sites that could target recombining ENR were shaped on the surface of MIP after extracting the ENR templates. The specific concentrations of ENR could be detected according to the difference in ECL intensity (ΔECL) between the eluting and rebinding of ENR. After optimization, a good linear response of ΔECL and a logarithm of specific ENR concentrations could be obtained in the range of 1.0 × 10-12-1.0 × 10-4 mol L-1, with a detection limit of 9.3 × 10-13 mol L-1 (S/N = 3). Notably, this study provided a rapid, convenient, and cheap method for the detection of ENR in actual samples.

Polyethylene glycol recombinant human growth hormone in Chinese prepubertal slow-growing short children: doses reported in a multicenter real-world study.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the effectiveness of individualized-dose polyethylene glycol recombinant human growth hormone (PEG-rhGH) for short stature. METHODS: This real-world study enrolled children with short stature in 19 hospitals throughout China. They were treated with PEG-rhGH for 6 months. The starting dosage ranged from 0.10 to 0.20 mg/kg/week. The primary outcome was the change in height standard deviation score (ΔHt SDS). RESULTS: Five hundred and ten patients were included and grouped based on dosage as A (0.10-0.14 mg/kg/week), B (0.15-0.16 mg/kg/week), C (0.17-0.19 mg/kg/week), and D (0.20 mg/kg/week). The mean 6-month ΔHt SDS for the total cohort was 0.49 ± 0.27, and the means differed among the four dose groups (P = 0.002). The ΔHt SDS was lower in group A than in groups B (LSM difference [95%CI], -0.09 [-0.17, -0.01]), C (LSM difference [95%CI], -0.10 [-0.18, -0.02]), and D (LSM difference [95%CI], -0.13 [-0.21, -0.05]) after adjusting baseline covariates. There were no significant differences among groups B, C, and D. When the baseline IGF-1 was < -2 SDS or > 0 SDS, the △Ht SDS was not different among the four groups (P = 0.931 and P = 0.400). In children with baseline IGF-1 SDS of -2 ~ 0 SDS, a higher dosage was associated with a better treatment effect (P = 0.003), and the △Ht SDS was lower in older children than in younger ones (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: PEG-rhGH could effectively increase height in prepubertal short children. When the baseline IGF-1 was < -2 SDS, 0.10 mg/kg/week could be a starting dose. In other IGF-1 statuses, 0.15-0.20 mg/kg/week might be preferred. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03249480 , retrospectively registered.

Preparation and applications of keratin biomaterials from natural keratin wastes.

Keratin is a kind of natural polymer that is abundant in feathers, wool, and hair. Being one of the natural biomolecules, keratin has excellent biological activity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, favorable material mechanical properties, and natural abundance, which exhibit significant biological and biomedical application potentials. At present, the strategies commonly used for preparing keratin from hair, feathers, wool, etc. include physical, chemical, and enzymatic methods. The present article mainly reviews the structure, classification, preparation methods, and the main biological applications of keratin, and these applications cover wound healing, hemostasis, targeted release of tissue engineering drugs, and so on. It is expected to lay the foundations for its future in-depth investigations and wide applications of keratin biomaterials. KEY POINTS: • There are several pathways to prepare biologically active keratin from wool, feathers, and human hair, etc • Promoting blood coagulation by keratin is related to the adhesion and activation of platelets and the aggregation of fibrin • The biological applications of keratin, including wound healing and tissue engineering, are summarized.

A Novel Complex of Chitosan⁻Sodium Carbonate and Its Properties.

Chitosan has excellent properties, as it is nontoxic, mucoadhesive, biocompatible, and biodegradable. However, the poor water solubility of chitosan is a major disadvantage. Here, a novel chitosan-sodium carbonate complex was formed by adding a large amount of sodium carbonate to a chitosan/acetic acid solution, which is water-soluble. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, energy dispersive spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance techniques were used to detect and characterize the aforementioned complex, which appeared to be a neat flake crystal. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) was used to verify the connections between carbonate, sodium ions, and the protonated amino group in chitosan on the basis of 13C signals at the chemical shift of 167.745 ppm and 164.743 ppm. Further confirmation was provided by the strong cross-polarization signals identified by the SSNMR 2D 13C⁻¹H frequency-switched Lee⁻Goldberg heteronuclear correlation spectrum. The cytotoxicity of a film prepared using this complex was tested using rat fibroblasts. The results show that the film promoted cell proliferation, which provides evidence to support its nontoxicity. The ease of film-forming and the results of cytocompatibility testing suggest that the chitosan-sodium carbonate complex has the potential for use in tissue engineering.

INTRAVITREAL CONBERCEPT (KH902) FOR SURGICAL TREATMENT OF SEVERE PROLIFERATIVE DIABETIC RETINOPATHY.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the role, safety, and effectiveness of intravitreal conbercept (KH902) injections as an adjunct to vitrectomy in the management of severe proliferative diabetic retinopathy. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was performed on 36 eyes of 36 patients affected by vitreous hemorrhage and tractional retinal detachment, which occurred as a consequence of active proliferative diabetic retinopathy. The patients were randomly assigned to two groups. The patients in one of the groups received an intravitreal injection of conbercept in the inferior temporal sector 4 mm from the sclerocorneal limbus with a sterile technique 1 week before vitrectomy. RESULTS: In the group without conbercept, intraoperative bleeding occurred in 14 patients (77.8%), and in five of these cases, bleeding was significant. The use of endodiathermy was necessary in 8 patients (44.4%). In 3 patients (16.6%), iatrogenic retinal breaks occurred, and in 1 patient (5.5%), a relaxing retinotomy was performed. Endotamponade with silicone oil was performed in 12 patients (66.6%). In the group treated with conbercept, intraoperative bleeding occurred in 2 cases (11.1%). The use of endodiathermy was necessary in 1 patient (5.5%). No patients experienced iatrogenic breaks or relaxing retinotomy during the surgery. Endotamponade with silicone oil was performed in 2 patients (11.1%). CONCLUSION: Preoperative intravitreal injection of conbercept could reduce the chances of intraoperative bleeding, which are beneficial in the management of proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

A self-powered droplet sensor based on a triboelectric nanogenerator toward the concentration of green tea polyphenols.

Self-powered liquid droplet sensors based on triboelectric nanogenerators have attracted extensive attention in the field of biochemical sensing applications. Numerous research studies have investigated the effects of factors such as molecular species, molecular concentration, molecular charge, and molecular dipole moment in solution on the output electrical signals of the sensor. In this study, we prepared a self-powered droplet sensor using conductive copper film tape, polytetrafluoroethylene, and conductive aluminum foil tape. The sensor can continuously output pulsed electrical signals with minimal environmental impact. In comparison with other types of sensors, this sensor boasts a rapid response time of 10 ms and excellent sensitivity. The relationship between the friction-induced output current and voltage of the droplets and the concentration of green tea polyphenols (GTPs) was studied using the self-powered liquid droplet sensor with five different green tea samples. It was found that GTPs were the main factor contributing to the changes in output electrical signals in green tea water droplets. Fluorescence spectroscopy was used to reveal that the magnitude of the output current was inversely proportional to the concentration of GTPs in green tea. These results demonstrate the potential application of self-powered liquid droplet sensors in biochemical sensing applications based on concentration-dependent output signals.

High Prevalence of Cardiometabolic Risks and Health Needs Among Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Treatment: A Cross-sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have indicated that inadequate health-related behavior is associated with the progression of cancer and cardiometabolic disorders. Because patients with hepatocellular carcinoma may adopt inadequate health behaviors, they are at risk for cancer recurrence, mortality, cardiometabolic disease progression, and worse quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To explore the prevalence of cardiometabolic risks and health-promoting behaviors associated with quality of life among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after treatment. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2021 to August 2022. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire, and cardiometabolic information was recorded from medical charts. RESULTS: In total, 115 patients with liver cancer after treatment were enrolled; 73% were male. The mean age was 67.7 years, and high prevalence rates of central obesity (72.2%) and metabolic syndrome (47%) were noted. Inadequate exercise, oral hygiene, and cigarette smoking were common. The health-promoting score was significantly associated with exercise, the number of remaining teeth, and metabolic syndrome, which correlated with quality of life, including positive functional and negative symptoms dimensions. CONCLUSIONS: The findings demonstrated a high prevalence of cardiometabolic risks and inadequate health-related behaviors among patients with liver cancer after treatment. This study highlights the need for healthcare providers to help patients increase health literacy for preventing cardiometabolic risks at outpatient clinics. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Findings from this study can be used to advise healthcare providers to educate patients with liver cancer during and after treatment on improving their health-promoting behaviors.

Ectopic callose deposition into woody biomass modulates the nano-architecture of macrofibrils.

Plant biomass plays an increasingly important role in the circular bioeconomy, replacing non-renewable fossil resources. Genetic engineering of this lignocellulosic biomass could benefit biorefinery transformation chains by lowering economic and technological barriers to industrial processing. However, previous efforts have mostly targeted the major constituents of woody biomass: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Here we report the engineering of wood structure through the introduction of callose, a polysaccharide novel to most secondary cell walls. Our multiscale analysis of genetically engineered poplar trees shows that callose deposition modulates cell wall porosity, water and lignin contents and increases the lignin-cellulose distance, ultimately resulting in substantially decreased biomass recalcitrance. We provide a model of the wood cell wall nano-architecture engineered to accommodate the hydrated callose inclusions. Ectopic polymer introduction into biomass manifests in new physico-chemical properties and offers new avenues when considering lignocellulose engineering.

A multifunctional in situ-forming hydrogel for wound healing.

In this study, a multifunctional in situ-forming hydrogel (MISG) was prepared as a wound dressing designed to stop bleeding, inhibit inflammation, relieve pain, and improve healing. A mixture of poloxamers 407 and 188 was used for the matrix of the MISG. Other ingredients include aminocaproic acid (to stop bleeding), povidone iodine (anti-infective), lidocaine (pain relief), and chitosan (to enhance wound healing and regeneration). The incipient gelation temperature of the MISG was modified by varying the poloxamer concentration. Poloxamer cytotoxicity was evaluated in addition to the effect of the MISG on hemostasis in rabbits, pain relief in mice, bacteriostasis in vitro, and wound healing. The optimal MISG matrix consisted of 30% (w/v) poloxamer (407/188, 1 : 1, w/w) solution and was able to change to a gel within 10 minutes at 37 °C. The poloxamer solution had no cytotoxicity in fibroblasts. Compared to sterile gauze alone, the MISG significantly shortened average hemostasis time and decreased bleeding. The hydrogel showed strong bacteriostatic action similar to povidone iodine solution. It markedly increased the pain threshold and accelerated wound healing compared to the gauze. The MISG is a promising formulation for wound healing in emergency situations.

Developing and testing a prediction model for periodontal disease using machine learning and big electronic dental record data.

Despite advances in periodontal disease (PD) research and periodontal treatments, 42% of the US population suffer from periodontitis. PD can be prevented if high-risk patients are identified early to provide preventive care. Prediction models can help assess risk for PD before initiation and progression; nevertheless, utilization of existing PD prediction models is seldom because of their suboptimal performance. This study aims to develop and test the PD prediction model using machine learning (ML) and electronic dental record (EDR) data that could provide large sample sizes and up-to-date information. A cohort of 27,138 dental patients and grouped PD diagnoses into: healthy control, mild PD, and severe PD was generated. The ML model (XGBoost) was trained (80% training data) and tested (20% testing data) with a total of 74 features extracted from the EDR. We used a five-fold cross-validation strategy to identify the optimal hyperparameters of the model for this one-vs.-all multi-class classification task. Our prediction model differentiated healthy patients vs. mild PD cases and mild PD vs. severe PD cases with an average area under the curve of 0.72. New associations and features compared to existing models were identified that include patient-level factors such as patient anxiety, chewing problems, speaking trouble, teeth grinding, alcohol consumption, injury to teeth, presence of removable partial dentures, self-image, recreational drugs (Heroin and Marijuana), medications affecting periodontium, and medical conditions such as osteoporosis, cancer, neurological conditions, infectious diseases, endocrine conditions, cardiovascular diseases, and gastroenterology conditions. This pilot study demonstrated promising results in predicting the risk of PD using ML and EDR data. The model may provide new information to the clinicians about the PD risks and the factors responsible for the disease progression to take preventive approaches. Further studies are warned to evaluate the prediction model's performance on the external dataset and determine its usability in clinical settings.

A keratin/chitosan sponge with excellent hemostatic performance for uncontrolled bleeding.

Uncontrolled bleeding leads to a higher fatality rate in the situation of surgery, traffic accidents and warfare. Traditional hemostatic materials such as bandages are not ideal for uncontrolled or incompressible bleeding. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop a new medical biomaterial with excellent rapid hemostatic effect. Keratin is a natural, biocompatible and biodegradable protein which contains amino acid sequences that induce cell adhesion. As a potential biomedical material, keratin has been developed and paid attention in tissue engineering fields such as promoting wound healing and nerve repair. Herein, a keratin/chitosan (K/C) sponge was prepared to achieve rapid hemostasis. The characterizations of K/C sponge were investigated, including SEM, TGA, liquid absorption and porosity, showing that the high porosity up to 90.12 ± 2.17 % resulted in an excellent blood absorption. The cytotoxicity test and implantation experiment proved that the K/C sponge was biocompatible and biodegradable. Moreover, the prepared K/C sponge showed better hemostatic performance than chitosan sponge (CS) and the commercially available gelatin sponge in both rat tail amputation and liver trauma bleeding models. Further experiments showed that K/C sponge plays a hemostatic role through the endogenous coagulation pathway, thus shortening the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) effectively. Therefore, this study provided a K/C sponge which can be served as a promising biomedical hemostatic material.

Long-acting PEGylated growth hormone in children with idiopathic short stature.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of weekly PEGylated-recombinant human growth hormone (PEG-rhGH) in children with idiopathic short stature (ISS) in China. Design and methods: This was a multicenter, phase II study in which all subjects were randomized 1:1:1 to weekly s.c. injections of PEG-rhGH 0.1 (low-dose (LD) group) or 0.2 mg/kg/week (high-dose (HD) group) or control for 52 weeks. The primary end point was change (Δ) in height s.d. score (HT-SDS) from baseline to week 52. Secondary end points were height velocity (HV), bone maturity, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) SDS, and IGF-1/insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) molar ratio. Results: A total of 360 children with ISS were recruited in the study (n = 120 in each group). At week 52, ΔHT-SDS was 0.56 ± 0.26, 0.98 ± 0.35, and 0.20 ± 0.26 in the LD, HD, and control groups, respectively (within-group P < 0.0001; intergroup P < 0.0001). Statistically significant values of ΔHV, IGF-1, IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio, and IGF-1 SDS at week 52 from baseline were observed in both treatment groups (P < 0.0001). There were clear dose-dependent responses for all auxological variables. PEG-rhGH was well tolerated throughout the treatment period with treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) reported in 86.5%, 84.6%, and 91.3% of children in the HD, LD, and control groups, respectively. The incidence of TEAEs was similar in all treatment groups despite the difference in doses. A total of 27 (8.7%) children experienced drug-related TEAEs. Conclusion: Fifty-two-week treatment with PEG-rhGH 0.1 or 0.2 mg/kg/week achieved significant improvement in HT-SDS and other growth-related variables, including HV, IGF-1 SDS, and IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio, in a dose-dependent manner. Both doses were well tolerated with similar safety profiles.

Clinical and genetic characteristics of hypophosphatasia in Chinese children.

BACKGROUND: Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is a rare inherited disorder, which is caused by loss-of-function mutations in the ALPL gene. HPP is a heterogeneous disease that has a wide spectrum of phenotypes. Few studies were carried out in the Chinese population with HPP, especially in children. METHODS: The clinical and genetic characteristics of 10 Chinese children with HPP who were referred to the Beijing Children's Hospital were described. Previously reported HPP cases of children in China were also reviewed. RESULTS: A total of 33 cases were identified, which included 2 perinatal lethal HPP, 10 infantile HPP, 10 childhood HPP, and 11 odonto HPP. The male-to-female ratio was 24:9. The average age at onset was 0.69 years (ranged from 2 h after birth to 14 years), while the average age at clinical diagnosis was 3.87 years (ranged from 2 h after birth to 19 years). Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels were significantly decreased in patients with perinatal lethal/infantile HPP when compared with those with the mild forms of HPP childhood/odonto HPP (P < 0.01). Although serum phosphate levels were not different (P > 0.05), serum calcium levels were elevated, and serum intact parathyroid hormone levels were decreased in patients with perinatal lethal/infantile HPP in comparison with those with the childhood/odonto HPP (P all < 0.01). Genetic analyses identified 40 mutations in 31 HPP cases, including 28 missense mutations, 9 frameshift mutations, 2 splice junction alterations, and 1 regulatory mutation. Of which, 5 novel mutations were identified in our present study: 2 frameshift mutations (p.Arg138GlyfsTer27, p.Leu511Profs*272); 2 missense mutations (p.Ala176Val, p.Phe268Leu), and 1 splice junction alteration (c.297+5G>A). Compound heterozygous mutations accounted for 80.6% of all variants. No mutational "hot-spot" was found. Most mutations of ALPL were located in exons 5, 7, 10, and 3. Notably, subjects that carrying single heterozygous mutations showed milder phenotypes of HPP, while subjects with nonsense mutations were associated with a severer phenotype. CONCLUSIONS: HPP is a rare disease with often delayed diagnosis, and the incidence of HPP in China may be seriously underestimated. The present study expands the phenotypic and genotypic spectrum and the understanding of HPP in Chinese children. These findings will be useful for clinical assessment and shorten the diagnosis time for pediatric HPP in China.

Thrombin immobilized polydopamine-diatom biosilica for effective hemorrhage control.

In this study, an efficient composite hemostatic material (DA-diatom-T) was prepared, using a polydopamine layer as a linker to immobilize thrombin on the surface of diatom biosilica. DA-diatom-T retained the porous structure of the diatom with high water absorption capacity, which can absorb 31 times its own weight of water. The thrombin activity of DA-diatom-T was as high as 5.81 U mg-1 that could be maintained at 67% after 30 days at room temperature. DA-diatom-T exhibited non-toxicity to mouse fibroblast cell lines, favorable hemocompatibility and fast procoagulant ability. DA-diatom-T could promote the initiation of the coagulation process and increase platelet activity and blood clot strength to form a physical barrier at the wound. In an in vivo study, DA-diatom-T could significantly reduce the clotting time and reduce the bleeding volume. The above results showed that DA-diatom-T had potential as a new hemostatic material.

Enhanced peroxidase-like activity of Fe3O4-sodium lignosulfonate loaded copper peroxide composites for colorimetric detection of H2O2 and glutathione.

In this paper, the composites of Fe3O4 modified by sodium lignosulfonate and copper peroxide (Fe3O4@CP) were produced by a simple two-step method, and their morphology and composition were featured in Field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared. Then, Fe3O4@CP catalyzed the oxidation of colorless 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine to blue oxide in the presence of H2O2, indicating that it had good catalytic performance. Further, the experimental conditions were optimized, including time, pH, temperature and material concentration. The kinetic analysis results showed that Fe3O4@CP exhibited excellent catalytic performance and its catalytic kinetic plot conformed to the Michaelis-Menten equation and the catalytic mechanism was consistent with the ping-pong mechanism. Finally, a H2O2 colorimetric assay with a linear range of 0.2-300 µM and a detection limit of 0.11 µM was constructed. In addition, due to the decolorization reaction of ox-TMB with glutathione and the scavenging effect of GSH on hydroxyl radicals (·OH), a glutathione colorimetric assay was further constructed with a linear range of 0.2-40 µM and a detection limit of 0.05 µM. It also verified that the assay had excellent selectivity and stability and could be utilized to detect actual samples.

Clinicopathological study of 13 cases of intraoral soft tissue metastatic carcinomas.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Oral metastatic carcinomas are rarely found in oral soft tissues. This study reported the clinicopathological features of 13 intraoral soft tissue metastatic carcinomas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 13 intraoral soft tissue metastatic carcinomas were included in this study. The clinicopathological features of the 13 cases including the primary cancer site, metastatic intraoral soft tissue region, clinical presentation, and histopathological diagnoses were examined and reported. RESULTS: The 13 intraoral soft tissue metastatic carcinomas occurred in 13 patients (11 males and 2 females) with a mean age of 59.4 (range, 39-78) years. Nine cases originated from the liver (69.2%), and one each from the colon (7.7%), pancreas (7.7%), thyroid (7.7%), and kidney (7.7%). The histopathological diagnoses of the metastatic lesions were hepatocellular carcinoma in 9 cases, adenocarcinomas in 2 cases (one each from the colon and pancreas), clear cell carcinoma of the kidney in one case, and follicular thyroid carcinoma in one case. The gingiva and alveolar mucosa were the major metastatic sites (10 cases, 76.9%), followed by the buccal mucosa (two cases, 15.4%), and soft palate (one case, 7.7%). Twelve metastatic lesions manifested as ulcerated, easy-bleeding, and pyogenic granuloma-like lesions. CONCLUSION: The results of our series of 13 cases indicate that intraoral soft tissue metastatic carcinomas have a male predilection with a male to female ratio of 11:2, are commonly found in the gingiva and alveolar mucosa (76.9%), present frequently as an easy-bleeding pyogenic granuloma-like lesion (92.3%). In addition, the most common primary cancer site is the liver.

Hydroxybutyl chitosan/diatom-biosilica composite sponge for hemorrhage control.

Effective bleeding control is critical first step in current civilian and military trauma treatment, however commercially available hemostatic materials are difficult to achieve expected effects. In this study, a composite sponge (H-D) based on hydroxybutyl chitosan (HBC) and diatom-biosilica (DB) was designed for hemorrhage control. H-D exhibited hierarchical porous structure, favorable biocompatibility (hemolysis ratio < 5 %, no cytotoxicity), along with high and fast fluid absorbability (11-16 times than that of weight), given effective hemostasis effect (clotting time shortened by 70 % than that of control). In vitro coagulation tests demonstrated that H-D could provide strong interface effect to induce erythrocyte absorption and aggregation, as well as activating the intrinsic coagulation pathway and thus accelerated blood coagulation. These results proved that H-D composite sponge has great potential for hemorrhage control.

Performance and autopsy of nanofiltration membranes at an oil-field wastewater desalination plant.

In this study, the long-term operational performance of an on-site NF facility at a full-scale oil-field wastewater desalination plant was monitored. The NF facility with poor permeability due to membrane fouling enables efficient multivalent salt removal (rejections of Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe3+, and Al3+ were approximately 100%). Moreover, a comparison of the cleaning efficiencies of two on-site cleaning modes indicated that PL-007 cleaning helped to improve the effectiveness of subsequent acid cleaning in the removal of inorganic foulants. Furthermore, a spiral-wound NF membrane module harvested from the plant was unfolded and autopsied. The results showed that both anionic polyacrylamide (APAM) and crude oil were identified as the predominant organic matter on the membrane surface and collectively accounted for a substantial fraction (86.3%) in terms of dry weight. Additionally, dissolved organics with a high molecular weight were prone to accumulation on the membrane surface. Multivalent elements, including Mg, Ca, Al, Fe, and Si, were the primary inorganic species in the fouling layer. Among the inorganic elements, Si occupied a high proportion and existed in the form of SiO2 in the fouling layer. According to the autopsy results, organic fouling combined with inorganics was responsible for the decline in the flux.

Dietary calcium intake and food sources among Chinese adults in CNTCS.

BACKGROUND: Calcium is one of the essential micronutrients in the human body and is well-known for its important role in keeping bones and teeth healthy. However, calcium deficiency is a very common nutritional problem in the world and especially in China. The aim of this research was to determine the dietary calcium intake of Chinese adults and the corresponding food sources based on data from the 2015 China Nutritional Transition Cohort Study. METHODS: We obtained dietary data from Chinese adults ages 18 to 64 years in 15 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities using 3 consecutive days combined with the household weighing method. We used the China Food Composition (book 1, 2nd edition) to calculate the calcium intake from each food category. We regarded the percentage of participants with a calcium intake median below the estimated average requirement as the level of calcium inadequacy in the overall population. RESULTS: We divided the participants into 2 age groups, 18-49 years and 50-64 years, which included 6,630 and 5,307 participants, respectively. The groups' dietary calcium intake medians were 324.8 milligrams per day (mg/d) and 332.7 mg/d, respectively, and the calcium inadequacies were 92.9% and 96.0%, correspondingly. The median calcium intake for the whole study population was 328.3 mg/d, and the inadequacy was 94.3%, which improved with higher education, income, and urbanization levels. The main food sources of dietary calcium among the study population were vegetables, legumes, and cereals, which contributed 30.2%, 16.7%, and 14.6%, respectively. Milk and dairy products contributed 6.7% to the study population but varied with the urbanization level to 15.0%, 6.1%, 6.3%, and 2.0% in urban, suburban, county, and rural areas, respectively. CONCLUSION: These findings highlight the importance of nutrition education and intervention for Chinese adults to improve their dietary structures and increase milk and dairy products intake to consume adequate calcium.

Inhibitory effects of nontoxic protein volvatoxin A1 on pore-forming cardiotoxic protein volvatoxin A2 by interaction with amphipathic alpha-helix.

Volvatoxin A2, a pore-forming cardiotoxic protein, was isolated from the edible mushroom Volvariella volvacea. Previous studies have demonstrated that volvatoxin A consists of volvatoxin A2 and volvatoxin A1, and the hemolytic activity of volvatoxin A2 is completely abolished by volvatoxin A1 at a volvatoxin A2/volvatoxin A1 molar ratio of 2. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanism by which volvatoxin A1 inhibits the cytotoxicity of volvatoxin A2. Volvatoxin A1 by itself was found to be nontoxic, and furthermore, it inhibited the hemolytic and cytotoxic activities of volvatoxin A2 at molar ratios of 2 or lower. Interestingly, volvatoxin A1 contains 393 amino acid residues that closely resemble a tandem repeat of volvatoxin A2. Volvatoxin A1 contains two pairs of amphipathic alpha-helices but it lacks a heparin-binding site. This suggests that volvatoxin A1 may interact with volvatoxin A2 but not with the cell membrane. By using confocal microscopy, it was demonstrated that volvatoxin A1 could not bind to the cell membrane; however, volvatoxin A1 could inhibit binding of volvatoxin A2 to the cell membrane at a molar ratio of 2. Via peptide competition assay and in conjunction with pull-down and co-pull-down experiments, we demonstrated that volvatoxin A1 and volvatoxin A2 may form a complex. Our results suggest that this occurs via the interaction of one molecule of volvatoxin A1, which contains two amphipathic alpha-helices, with two molecules of volvatoxin A2, each of which contains one amphipathic alpha-helix. Taken together, the results of this study reveal a novel mechanism by which volvatoxin A1 regulates the cytotoxicity of volvatoxin A2 via direct interaction, and potentially provide an exciting new strategy for chemotherapy.