Free boundary problem for a nonlocal time-periodic diffusive competition model.

In this paper we consider a free boundary problem for a nonlocal time-periodic competition model. One species is assumed to adopt nonlocal dispersal, and the other one adopts mixed dispersal, which is a combination of both random dispersal and nonlocal dispersal. We first prove the global well-posedness of solutions to the free boundary problem with more general growth functions, and then discuss the spreading and vanishing phenomena. Moreover, under the weak competition condition, we study the long-time behaviors of solutions for the spreading case.

Association between trichlorophenols and neurodegenerative diseases: A cross-sectional study from NHANES 2003-2010.

PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH: To evaluate the association of the exposure of trichlorophenols (TCPs) on the morbidity and mortality of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) using the data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2010. Multivariable logistic regression models and COX regression were used to evaluate the association between TCP exposure and the AD and PD risk. Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) methods were used to screen latent covariates. PRINCIPAL RESULTS: A total of 6333 participants over the age of 18 years were included in the analysis. After the adjustments for major confounders, participants with higher concentrations of urinary 2,4,6-TCP had higher risk of AD (odds ratios (ORs), 3.19; 95% CI: 1.07, 9.45) than the group below the limit of detection (LOD). Compared to group of below the LOD, higher urinary concentrations of 2,4,5-TCP was associated with higher risk of all-cause mortality in PD patients (log-rank P = 0.022) and all participants (log-rank P < 0.001) without adjustments for confounders. In addition, a higher risk of all-cause mortality in all participants with high urinary concentrations of 2,4,6-TCP (log-rank P = 0.001) was found without adjustments for confounders. With the adjustments for major confounders, participants with higher concentrations of urinary 2,4,5-TCP had a higher risk of death in patients with PD (hazard ratios (HRs), 53.19; 95% CI: 2.82, 1004.13) than in the group below the LOD. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to high concentration of 2,4,6-TCP may increase the risk of AD, and the level of 2,4,5-TCP may be associated with the risk of death in patients with PD. Our findings reveal the potential toxicity of TCPs, highlight the potential impact of TCPs on neurodegenerative diseases, and express concerns regarding the use of organochlorine pesticides.

α-Lipoic Acid Exerts Its Antiviral Effect against Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus (VHSV) by Promoting Upregulation of Antiviral Genes and Suppressing VHSV-Induced Oxidative Stress.

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV), belonging to the genus Novirhabdovirus, Rhabdoviridae family, is a causative agent of high mortality in fish and has caused significant losses to the aquaculture industry. Currently, no effective vaccines, Food and Drug Administration-approved inhibitors, or other therapeutic intervention options are available against VHSV. α-Lipoic Acid (LA), a potent antioxidant, has been proposed to have antiviral effects against different viruses. In this study, LA (CC50 = 472.6 µmol/L) was repurposed to exhibit antiviral activity against VHSV. In fathead minnow cells, LA significantly increased the cell viability post-VHSV infection (EC50 = 42.7 µmol/L), and exerted a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on VHSV induced-plaque, cytopathic effects, and VHSV glycoprotein expression. The time-of-addition assay suggested that the antiviral activity of LA occurred at viral replication stage. Survival assay revealed that LA could significantly upregulated the survival rate of VHSV-infected largemouth bass in both co-injection (38.095% vs. 1.887%, P < 0.01) and post-injection manner (38.813% vs. 8.696%, P < 0.01) compared with the control group. Additional comparative transcriptome and qRT-PCR analysis revealed LA treatment upregulated the expression of several antiviral genes, such as IRF7, Viperin, and ISG15. Moreover, LA treatment reduced VHSV-induced reactive oxygen species production in addition to Nrf2 and SOD1 expression. Taken together, these data demonstrated that LA suppressed VHSV replication by inducing antiviral genes expression and reducing VHSV-induced oxidative stress. These results suggest a new direction in the development of potential antiviral candidate drugs against VHSV infection.

Mechanism analyses of high specific filtration resistance of gel and roles of gel elasticity related with membrane fouling in a membrane bioreactor.

In this study, mechanisms and roles of gel elasticity in extremely high specific filtration resistance (SFR) were investigated. It was found that, as compared with cake layer in a membrane bioreactor (MBR), real gel layer in the MBR and agar gel possessed extremely high SFR. Foulant characterization showed that foulants were easy to bind water, and agar gel possessed a network structure. Mechanisms based on Flory-Huggins and Flory-Rehner models were deduced to describe the high SFR of agar gel. Model simulation showed that sum of SFR induced by the mixing chemical potential and the elastic chemical potential change is close to that of the agar gel, suggesting feasibility of the deduced models. Gel elasticity accounted for about 13% of total SFR of agar gel under conditions in this study. This study satisfactorily explained the extremely high SFR of gel, and addressed roles of gel elasticity in gel SFR.

The G-BHQ synergistic effect: Improved double quenching molecular beacons based on guanine and Black Hole Quencher for sensitive simultaneous detection of two DNAs.

We designed two double quenching molecular beacons (MBs) with simple structure based on guanine (G base) and Black Hole Quencher (BHQ), and developed a new analytical method for sensitive simultaneous detection of two DNAs by synchronous fluorescence analysis. In this analytical method, carboxyl fluorescein (FAM) and tetramethyl-6-carboxyrhodamine (TAMRA) were respectively selected as fluorophore of two MBs, Black Hole Quencher 1 (BHQ-1) and Black Hole Quencher 2 (BHQ-2) were respectively selected as organic quencher, and three continuous nucleotides with G base were connected to organic quencher (BHQ-1 and BHQ-2). In the presence of target DNAs, the two MBs hybridize with the corresponding target DNAs, the fluorophores are separated from organic quenchers and G bases, leading to recovery of fluorescence of FAM and TAMRA. Under a certain conditions, the fluorescence intensities of FAM and TAMRA all exhibited good linear dependence on their concentration of target DNAs (T1 and T2) in the range from 4 × 10-10 to 4 × 10-8molL-1 (M). The detection limit (3σ, n = 13) of T1 was 3 × 10-10M and that of T2 was 2×10-10M, respectively. Compared with the existing analysis methods for multiplex DNA with MBs, this proposed method based on double quenching MBs is not only low fluorescence background, short analytical time and low detection cost, but also easy synthesis and good stability of MB probes.

Surface modification of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane via radiation grafting: novel mechanisms underlying the interesting enhanced membrane performance.

This study provided the first attempt of grafting hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane with hydrophilic hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) monomer via a radiation grafting method. This grafted membrane showed an enhanced hydrophilicity (10° decrease of water contact angle), water content ratio, settling ability and wettability compared to the control membrane. Interestingly, filtration tests showed an improved dependence of water flux of the grafted membrane on the solution pH in the acidic stage. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis provided in-situ evidence that the reduced surface pore size of the grafted membrane with the solution pH governed such a dependence. It was proposed that, the reduced surface pore size was caused by the swelling of the grafted chain matrix, with the pH increase due to the chemical potential change. It was found that the grafted membrane showed a lower relative flux decreasing rate than the control membrane. Moreover, flux of the bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution was noticeably larger than that of pure water for the grafted membrane. Higher BSA flux than water flux can be explained by the effects of electric double layer compression on the polymeric swelling. This study not only provided a pH-sensitive PVDF membrane potentially useful for various applications, but also proposed novel mechanisms underlying the enhanced performance of the grafted membrane.

Thermodynamic assessment of adsorptive fouling with the membranes modified via layer-by-layer self-assembly technique.

In this study, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) microfiltration membrane was coated by dipping the membrane alternatingly in solutions of the polyelectrolytes (poly-diallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC) and polystyrenesulfonate (PSS)) via layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly technique to improve the membrane antifouling ability. Filtration experiments showed that, sludge cake layer on the coated membrane could be more easily washed off, and moreover, the remained flux ratio (RFR) of the coated membrane was obviously improved as compared with the control membrane. Characterization of the membranes showed that a polyelectrolyte layer was successfully coated on the membrane surfaces, and the hydrophilicity, surface charge and surface morphology of the coated membrane were changed. Based on the extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (XDLVO) approaches, quantification of interfacial interactions between foulants and membranes in three different scenarios was achieved. It was revealed that there existed a repulsive energy barrier when a particle foulant adhered to membrane surface, and the enhanced electrostatic double layer (EL) interaction and energy barrier should be responsible for the improved antifouling ability of the coated membrane. This study provided a combined solution to membrane modification and interaction energy evaluation related with membrane fouling simultaneously.

Tuning anti-adhesion ability of membrane for a membrane bioreactor by thermodynamic analysis.

Developing strategies that allow tuning anti-adhesion ability of membranes in membrane bioreactors (MBRs) is of primary interest in membrane fouling research. In this study, interaction energies between foulants and membrane in three different interaction scenarios were systematically assessed based on thermodynamic methods. It was found that, membrane surface electron donor tension (γ(-)) rather than surface hydrophilicity was a more reliable indicator to predict adsorptive fouling. The interaction energy would be continuously repulsive in the initial range of separation distance when membrane γ(-) is higher than a critical value, suggesting that designing membrane with γ(-) higher than a critical value would confer membrane with high anti-adhesion ability. It was also found that, zeta potential on the membrane surface exerted certain effects on adsorptive fouling. This study proposed a novel strategy regarding adjusting membrane γ(-) to tune anti-adhesion ability of membrane, and also offered a thermodynamic theoretical background to this strategy.

Membrane fouling in a membrane bioreactor: High filtration resistance of gel layer and its underlying mechanism.

A membrane bioreactor (MBR) was continuously operated to investigate mechanisms of fouling caused by the gel layer in this study. Agar was used as a model foulant for gel layer formation, and filtration resistance of gel layers was systematically assessed. The results showed that gel layer possessed unusually high specific filtration resistance (SFR) and high measured porosity as compared with cake layer. Current knowledge cannot explain the contradiction between high filtration resistance and high porosity of gel layer. A new fouling mechanism based on Flory-Huggins theory was then proposed. Filtration resistance of agar gel layer was found to be independent of pH and ionic strength, but linearly increase with gel thickness. The results are accordant with the mechanism deductions. Simulation of the mechanism model showed that the filtration resistance induced by mixing chemical potential variation was comparable to the experimental data of filtration resistance of agar gel layer, indicating that the proposed mechanism is the predominant mechanism responsible for the high filtration resistance of gel layer. The proposed mechanism was further verified from the bound water viewpoint.

A practical and azide-free synthetic approach to oseltamivir from diethyl D-tartrate.

A short and practical synthesis of oseltamivir was accomplished in 11 steps from inexpensive and abundant diethyl D-tartrate starting material. This azide-free route featured an asymmetric aza-Henry reaction and a domino nitro-Michael/Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons (HWE) reaction as the key steps to construct the relevant cyclohexene ring of the product, which provided an economical and practical alternative for the synthesis of oseltamivir.