Clinical isolates of hepatitis B virus genotype C have higher in vitro transmission efficiency than genotype B isolates.

Serum samples were collected from 54 hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive Chinese patients infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) subgenotype B2 or C2. They were compared for transmission efficiency using same volume of samples or infectivity using same genome copy number. Adding polyethylene glycol (PEG) during inoculation did not increase infectivity of fresh samples but markedly increased infectivity following prolonged sample storage. Differentiated HepaRG cells infected without PEG produced more hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and higher HBsAg/HBeAg ratio than sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP)-reconstituted HepG2 cells infected with PEG. They better supported replication of core promoter mutant in contrast to wild-type (WT) virus by HepG2/NTCP cells. Overall, subgenotype C2 samples had higher viral load than B2 samples, and in general produced more HBeAg, HBsAg, and replicative DNA following same-volume inoculation. Precore mutant was more prevalent in subgenotype B2 and had reduced transmission efficiency. When same genome copy number of viral particles was inoculated, viral signals were not necessarily higher for three WT C2 isolates than four WT B2 isolates. Using viral particles generated from cloned HBV genome, three WT C2 isolates showed slightly reduced infectivity than three B2 isolates. In conclusion, subgenotype C2 serum samples had higher transmission efficiency than B2 isolates in association with higher viral load and lower prevalence of precore mutant, but not necessarily higher infectivity. PEG-independent infection by HBV viremic serum samples is probably attributed to a labile host factor.

Nitrogen and sulfur co-doped porous carbon derived from polypyrrole-polythiophene for efficient peroxydisulfate activation towards degradation of aniline.

To enhance the catalytic activity of carbon materials and streamline their synthesis process, it is necessary to optimize the doping of heteroatoms and reduce the dependence on organic solvents. This can be achieved by utilizing carbonized Polypyrrole-Polythiophene (C(Ppy-Pth)), which is obtained through simultaneous and in-situ co-doping of N and S. This material can serve as an effective activator of peroxydisulfate (PDS) for the degradation of aniline (AN). The results showed that Ppy-Pth could be efficiently synthesized by using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide, pyrrole, thiophene, FeCl3, and H2O2 in water. Based on the price, self-decomposition and oxidation efficiency, the performance of PDS activated by C(Ppy-Pth) was superior to that of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) in degrading AN. The optimum conditions for catalyzing PDS and degrading 30 mg/L AN by C(Ppy-Pth) were 0.10 g/L C(Ppy-Pth)-1000-1/1, 2.10 mM PDS, and pH0 = 3.00, which resulted in 86.69% AN removal in 30 min. Carbonation temperature, N/S ratio and pyridine N content are the key factors affecting the catalytic activity of C(Ppy-Pth). Quenching, probe, and electrochemical experiment revealed that in the catalytic PDS system with C(Ppy-Pth)-1000-1/1 (pH0 = 3.00), the oxidation of AN mainly occurred through the generation of hydroxyl radical (·OH), superoxide anion (O2·-), and electron transfer on the C(Ppy-Pth)-1000-1/1 surface. The steady-state concentration of ·OH and O2·- were 2.65 × 10-14 M and 1.97 × 10-13 M, respectively, and the contribution rate of ·OH oxidation was 31.28%. The oxidation of AN by sulfate radical (SO4·-) and singlet oxygen (1O2) could be neglected. This study provides a promising strategy for the construction of PDS catalyst and wastewater treatment.

Particulate plastics-plant interaction in soil and its implications: A review.

Particulate plastics (<5 mm), including macroplastics (1 µm to 5 mm), microplastics (100 nm to 1 µm) and nanoplastics (<100 nm), have become a global environmental problem due to their widespread occurrence, distribution and ecosystem risk. Although numerous studies on particulate plastics have been conducted in aquatic systems, investigations in the soil ecosystem are lacking. Soil is the main storage place of particulate plastics, conferring significant impacts on plant growth and development. The impact of particulate plastics on plants is directly related to the safety of agricultural products. This review comprehensively examines the pollution characteristics and exposure pathways of particulate plastics in agricultural soils, highlighting plastic uptake process, and mechanisms in plants, and effects of particulate plastics, biodegradable particulate plastics and combined pollution of plastics with other environmental pollutants on plant performances. This review identifies a number of future research prospects including the development of accurate quantitative methods for plastic analysis in soil and plant samples, understanding the environmental behaviors of conventional and biodegradable particulate plastics in the presence and absence of other environmental pollutants, unravelling the fate of particulate plastics in plants, phyto-toxicity and molecular regulatory mechanisms of particultate plastics, and developing best management practices for the production of safe agricultural products in plastic-contaminated soils.

Anionic polyacrylamide-assisted construction of thin 2D-2D WO3/g-C3N4 Step-scheme heterojunction for enhanced tetracycline degradation under visible light irradiation.

Thin 2D/2D WO3/g-C3N4 Step-scheme (S-scheme) heterojunction with carbon doping and bridge (C-W/N) was constructed with anionic polyacrylamide (APAM), in which APAM functioned as an assistant templet and a carbon source. APAM and WO3 were inserted into g-C3N4 nanosheet. The carbon, thin planar structure and WO3 with oxygen vacancies result in fast charge transfer, high quantum efficiency and strong driving force for photocatalytic reaction. Consequently, as-prepared C-W/N ternary composite photocatalyst exhibited significantly enhanced photocatalytic performance for tetracycline (TC) degradation under visible light compared to pure g-C3N4, WO3 and other binary composites. Moreover, the material showed high stability and reusability in cyclic TC degradation. The principal intermediate products over C-W/N photocatalyst were revealed by HPLC-MS analysis. Corresponding degradation pathway of TC was also presented in this work. According to the trapping experiments, analysis of electron spin resource (ESR) and band gap, possible charge transfer pathways of C-W/N are proposed and discussed in detail. Based on the results, carbon derived from APAM works not only as electron mediator but also as acceptor for photocatalytic degradation reaction. It is a promising way to further modulate heterojunction for varies applications.

Long non-coding RNA maternally expressed gene 3 inhibits osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells via microRNA-543/smad ubiquitin regulatory factor 1/runt-related transcription factor 2 axis.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to investigate the biological roles and underlying mechanism of the long non-coding RNA maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3) on osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs). METHODS: The expression levels of MEG3, microRNA-543 (miR-543), osterix, osteopontin, osteocalcin and runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) were measured by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity assay and alizarin red S staining (ARS) were used to measure the impacts exerted by MEG3, miR-543 on osteogenic differentiation. Cell proliferation was measured by MTT assay. In addition, the targeted relationships between miR-543, MEG3, and Smad ubiquitin regulatory factor 1 (SMURF1) were assessed through dual luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: During osteogenic induction, the expression of MEG3 was gradually reduced, whereas the expression of miR-543, osterix, osteopontin, osteocalcin and RUNX2 were gradually increased. Functional analysis implied that MEG3 overexpression or miR-543 inhibition reduced the cell proliferation, ALP activity, ARS levels, and decreased the expression of osteoblast-related proteins. Moreover, MEG3 promoted SMURF1 expression by directly targeting miR-543 as a competing endogenous RNA. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-543 or silencing SMURF1 could reverse the inhibitory effects of MEG3 on the osteogenic differentiation of hDPSCs. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our study revealed that overexpression of MEG3 inhibited hDPSCs osteogenic differentiation via miR-543/SMURF1/RUNX2 regulatory network, which may contribute to the functional regulation and clinical applications of hDPSCs.

[In vitro study on the properties of guided bone regeneration of new type chitosan-based thermosensitive hydrogel membranes].

PURPOSE: To prepare chitosan/ß-glycerophosphate salt (CS/ß-GP) thermosensitive hydrogel membranes loaded enamel matrix proteins and detect the guided bone regeneration properties. METHODS: A newly membrane was synthesized using thermal phase inversion property of the CS/ßß-GP system. The membrane was synthesized and added with protein BSA. The concentration of protein was detected at different time points by enhanced protein assay kit, and the protein release curve was drawn. CS/ß-GP membrane added EMPs (1.0 g) as group A, CS/ß-GP (1.0 g) membrane as group B and nothing as blank control group (group C). They were co-cultured with ST2 cells. The mechanical properties of the membranes were tested in vitro, and the compatibility properties were detected by MTT method. The activity of ALP was assayed by PNPP method. The data was analyzed by SPSS 16.0 software package. RESULTS: Membranes with different concentration of CS/ß-GP could release protein slowly more than 12 days, and the total quantity of the released protein increased with the concentration of the ß-GP. The changes of mechanical properties of the membranes were not significant (P>0.05). The OD value of group A, B and C had statistically significant difference in the MTT test. The values of group A and B were higher than that of group C, while the value of group A was higher than that of group B (P<0.05). The activities of ALP were different in the three groups. The activities of group A and B were higher than that of the blank control group (P<0.05).The difference in expression of ALP between group A and B was also statistically significant. The expression in group A was higher than that in group B (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The new type CS/ß-GP membrane shows property of guided bone regeneration in vitro, which have the potentials for clinical use.

Microemulsion synthesis, characterization of highly visible light responsive rare earth-doped Bi2O3.

In this paper, Bi(2)O(3) and rare earth (La, Ce)-doped Bi(2)O(3) visible-light-driven photocatalysts were prepared in a Triton X-100/n-hexanol/cyclohexane/water reverse microemulsion. The resulting materials were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, photoluminescence spectra (PLS) and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The XRD patterns of the as-prepared catalysts calcined at 500 °C exhibited only the characteristic peaks of monoclinic α-Bi(2)O(3). PLS analysis implied that the separation efficiency for electron-hole has been enhanced when Bi(2)O(3) was doped with rare earth. UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy measurements presented an extension of light absorption into the visible region. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was evaluated by degradation of methyl orange (MO) and 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP). The results displayed that the photocatalytic activity of rare earth-doped Bi(2)O(3) was higher than that of dopant-free Bi(2)O(3). The optimal dopant amount of La or Ce was 1.0 mol%. And the mechanisms of influence on the photocatalytic activity of the catalysts were discussed.