Electrical stress and acid orange 7 synergistically clear the blockage of electron flow in the methanogenesis of low-strength wastewater.

Energy recovery from low-strength wastewater through anaerobic methanogenesis is constrained by limited substrate availability. The development of efficient methanogenic communities is critical but challenging. Here we develop a strategy to acclimate methanogenic communities using conductive carrier (CC), electrical stress (ES), and Acid Orange 7 (AO7) in a modified biofilter. The synergistic integration of CC, ES, and AO7 precipitated a remarkable 72-fold surge in methane production rate compared to the baseline. This increase was attributed to an altered methanogenic community function, independent of the continuous presence of AO7 and ES. AO7 acted as an external electron acceptor, accelerating acetogenesis from fermentation intermediates, restructuring the bacterial community, and enriching electroactive bacteria (EAB). Meanwhile, CC and ES orchestrated the assembly of the archaeal community and promoted electrotrophic methanogens, enhancing acetotrophic methanogenesis electron flow via a mechanism distinct from direct electrochemical interactions. The collective application of CC, ES, and AO7 effectively mitigated electron flow impediments in low-strength wastewater methanogenesis, achieving an additional 34% electron recovery from the substrate. This study proposes a new method of amending anaerobic digestion systems with conductive materials to advance wastewater treatment, sustainability, and energy self-sufficiency.

Modelling biochemical oxygen demand using improved neuro-fuzzy approach by marine predators algorithm.

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is one of the most important parameters used for water quality assessment. Alternative methods are essential for accurately prediction of this parameter because the traditional method in predicting the BOD is time-consuming and it is inaccurate due to inconstancies in microbial multiplicity. In this study, the applicability of four hybrid neuro-fuzzy (ANFIS) methods, ANFIS with genetic algorithm (GA), ANFIS with particle swarm optimization (PSO), ANFIS with sine cosine algorithm (SCA), and ANFIS with marine predators algorithm (MPA), was investigated in predicting BOD using distinct input combinations such as potential of hydrogen (pH), dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity (EC), water temperature (WT), suspended solids (SS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (T-P) acquired from two river stations, Gongreung and Gyeongan, South Korea. The applicability of multi-variate adaptive regression spline (MARS) in determination of the best input combination was examined. The ANFIS-MPA was found to be the best model with the lowest root mean square error and mean absolute error and the highest determination coefficient. It improved the root mean square error of ANFIS-PSO, ANFIS-GA, and ANFIS-SCA models by 13.8%, 12.1%, and 6.3% for Gongreung Station and by 33%, 25%, and 6.3% for Gyeongan Station in the test stage, respectively.

Feeble Antipyretic, Analgesic, and Anti-inflammatory Activities were Found with Regular Dose 4'-O-ß-D-Glucosyl-5-O-Methylvisamminol, One of the Conventional Marker Compounds for Quality Evaluation of Radix Saposhnikoviae.

INTRODUCTION: 4'-O-ß-D-glucosyl-5-O-methylvisamminol (GML) is a conventional marker compound for quality control of Radix Saposhnikoviae. Despite that, neither pharmacodynamic or pharmacokinetic information is available with regard to GML. As such, the aim of thisstudy was to assess the conventional evaluation indices for the quality of Radix Saposhnikoviae. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pyretic animal model, hot plate test, and ear edema model were established to evaluate and compare the antipyretic, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory effect of the chromone derivativescimifugin, prime-O-glucosylcimifugin (PGCN), and GML in Radix Saposhnikoviae. High performance liquid chromatography separation and analysis was used to obtain pharmacokinetic parameters. Simulated gastric fluid and simulated intestinal fluid was used to investigate the metabolite profiles of PGCN and GML in gastrointestinal tract. RESULTS: Cimifugin exerted a marked dose-dependent antipyretic, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory effect, whereas the effects of PGCN were relatively lower. GML had feeble pharmacodynamic effects. Pharmacokinetic study showed that only cimifugin was detected in the plasma sample of cimifugin and PGCN-treated animals, with drug concentration in the former much higher than the latter. No components were traced in the plasma samples from GML-treated rats. Stability study showed that PGCN and GML was predominantly biotransformed into cimifugin and 5-O-methyvisammiol, respectively. The latter was proven to be extremely unstable in liver tissue homogenate and plasma. CONCLUSIONS: A feeble antipyretic, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory activities was observed when GML was orally delivered. Given that Radix Saposhnikoviae extract is generally administered orally, we speculate that this compound might be a nonpharmacolagically active agent in real usage. Thus, it might be unscientific to evaluate the quality of Radix Saposhnikoviae based on the content of GML. SUMMARY: GML-derived cimifugin, which represents the potential pharma codynamic component of Radix Saposhnikoviae chromones, in plasma was almost nil in contrast to cimifugin and PGCN. And thus, feeble antipyretic, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory activities were found with GML. Abbreviations used: AUC:area under concentration-time curve, DNP:2,4-Dinitrophenol, HPLC:high performance liquid chromatography, HPLC-MS:high performance liquid chromatography- mass spectrography, GML:4'-O-ß-D-glucosyl-5-O-methylvisamminol, MVL:5-O-methyvisammiol, PGCN:prime-O-glucosylcimifugin, SGF:alkaline phosphatase. SIF:simulated intestinal fluid.

Polysaccharide enhances Radix Saposhnikoviae efficacy through inhibiting chromones decomposition in intestinal tract.

Vegetative but not reproductive stage of Saposhnikovia divaricate (Turxz.) schischk possesses pharmacological activities. However, our recent study showed that reproductive S. divaricate supplemented with polysaccharide showed evidently elevated pharmacological activities and increased cimifugin content in rat serum. The aims of present study were to assess the influence of polysaccharides on the chromones pharmacological activities in Radix Saposhnikoviae (RS), the dried root of vegetative stage of S. divaricate, and to explore the underlying mechanisms. Only cimifugin was detected in the plasma of chromone treated animals and RS polysaccharide significantly increased the plasma content of cimifugin. It was shown that neither cimifugin absorption nor glycoside components transformation in simulated digestive fluid was affected by RS polysaccharide. However, a significant promotion of transformation of cimifugin to more stable prime-O-glucosylcimifugin (PGCN) by RS polysaccharide, and a protective effect of polysaccharide on chromone components were observed in small intestine solutions. Meanwhile, RS polysaccharide produced a significant elevation of cimifugin and PGCN concentration in vivo. Based on these findings, we concluded that RS polysaccharide could greatly increase the content of cimifugin, which might be related to its degradation-proof effect on cimifugin, via transforming cimifugin to comparatively more stable PGCN and spatial structure protection.

Total glycosides of Ranunculus japonius prevent hypertrophy in cardiomyocytes via alleviating chronic Ca(2+) overload.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the in vitro anti-hypertrophic effect of total Glycosides of Ranunculus Japonius (TGRJ). METHODS: Neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were cultured and hypertrophy was induced by administrating isoproterenol (ISO, 10 µmol/L) or angiotensin 2 (Ang 2, 1 µmol/L) for 48 hours. In the treatment groups, cells were pretreated with TGRJ (0.3 g/L) for 30 minutes prior to hypertrophic stimuli. The anti-hypertrophic effects of TGRJ were examined by measuring cell size, total protein content, and protein synthesis. Intracellular free Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)]i) was evaluated using fluorescence dye Fura-2/AM. Sacroplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) ATPase 2a (SERCA2a), atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), and beta-myosin heavy chain (ß-MHC) protein expression levels were measured by Western blotting . SERCA2a activity was assayed by p-nitrophenal phosphate disodium salt hexahydrate method. RESULTS: Increased cell size, total protein content, and protein synthesis following ISO or Ang 2 stimulation were significantly inhibited by pretreatment with TGRJ (all P<0.05). This anti-hypertrophic effect of TGRJ was confirmed by its suppressing effect on elevated expression of the three hypertrophic related genetic markers, ANP, BNP, and ß-MHC. In addition, TGRJ inhibited ISO or Ang 2 induced up-regulation of [Ca(2+)]i under chronic but not acute conditions. And ISO or Ang 2 induced down-regulation of SERCA2a expression and activity was also effectively rectified by TGRJ pretreatment. CONCLUSIONS: The results of present study suggested that TGRJ could prevent ISO or Ang 2 induced cardiac hypertrophy through improving chronic [Ca(2+)]i disorder, might via normalizing SERCA2a expression and activity.