Unveiling microplastic spectral signatures under weathering and digestive environments through shortwave infrared hyperspectral sensing.

Microplastic (MP) pollution presents a novel challenge for marine environmental protection, necessitating comprehensive and long-term monitoring and assessment approaches. Environmental MPs can undergo weathering and microorganism-related digestive processes, altering their original surface properties and chemical structure, thus complicating their quantification and identification. This study aims to establish a comprehensive hyperspectral database for weathered and digestion-degraded MPs, using a wide variety of polymer types collected as either virgin particles or commercial products (within a size range of approximately 3 mm), and to investigate the impact of these processes on their spectral characteristics. Polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) MPs exhibited significant responses to weathering treatment, as indicated by the formation of new characteristic peaks or slight peak shifts around 1679-1705 nm, which can be attributed to the formation of carbonyl and vinyl functional groups through Norrish reactions. Similarly, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and polystyrene (PS) MPs demonstrated notable degradation following digestive treatment, as evidenced by the emergence of new absorption peaks at approximately 1135-1165 nm, possibly associated with alterations involving carbonyl and vinyl functional groups. The results were further validated based on their comparable spectral characteristics of the resultant MPs to reference polymers and possible additives, considering a reasonably accurate match of approximately 80% for the studied MP samples. This study showcases the significant advantage of using shortwave infrared hyperspectral sensing for rapid identification of virgin and exposed MPs with a relatively large scan area after a simple sample preparation. This approach, combined with other complementary characterization techniques, shall provide highly throughput results for MPs identification. This research provides valuable insights into the features extracted from environmental MPs and establishes a foundation for improving their classification efficiency for environmental applications.

Enhancing membrane separation performance in the conditions of different water electrical conductivity and fouling types via surface grafting modification of a nanofiltration membrane, NF90.

A commercialized and widely applied nanofiltration membrane, NF90, was in-situ modified through a surface grafting modification method by using 3-sulfopropyl methacrylate potassium salt and initiators. The effects of water electrical conductivity (EC) and fouling types on membrane separation efficiency were examined before and after membrane modification. Results reveal that both the pristine membrane (PTM) and surface grafting modification membrane (SGMM) had a declining permeate flux and salt (NaCl) removal efficiency but an increasing trend of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) removal with increasing water EC from 250 to 10,000 µs cm-1. However, SGMM exhibited a slightly declining permeate flux but 13%-17% and 1%-42% higher rejection of salt and PPCPs, respectively, compared with PTM, due to electrostatic repulsion and size exclusion provided by the grafted polymer. After sodium alginate (SA) and humic acid (HA) fouling, SGMM had 17%-26% and 16%-32% higher salt rejection and 1%-12% and 1%-51% greater PPCP removal, respectively, compared with PTM due to the additional steric barrier layer contributed by the foulants. The successful grafting and increasing hydrophilicity of the SGMM were confirmed by contact angle analysis, which was beneficial for mitigating membrane fouling. Overall, the proposed in-situ surface grafting modification of NF90 can considerably mitigate organic and biological fouling while raising the rejection of salt and PPCPs at different background water EC, which is beneficial for practical applications in producing clean and high quality water for consumers.

TGFBR3 supports anoikis through suppressing ATF4 signaling.

Epithelial morphogenesis and oncogenic transformation can cause loss of cell adhesion, and detached cells are eliminated by anoikis. Here, we reveal that transforming growth factor ß receptor 3 (TGFBR3) acts as an anoikis mediator through the coordination of activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4). In breast cancer tissues, TGFBR3 is progressively lost, but elevated TGFBR3 is associated with a histologic subtype characterized by cellular adhesion defects. Dissecting the impact of extracellular matrix (ECM) deprivation, we demonstrate that ECM loss promotes TGFBR3 expression, which in turn causes differentiation of cell aggregates, conferring a low-adhesion phenotype, and drives the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. We demonstrate that inhibition of TGFBR3 impairs epithelial anoikis by activating ATF4 signaling. These preclinical findings provide a rationale for therapeutic inhibition of ATF4 in the subgroup of breast cancer patients with low TGFBR3 expression.

Incidence of plastic ingestion by the shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus, off the northeast coast of Taiwan.

This present study documents the incidence of plastic digestion by shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus), caught by the Taiwanese small-scale tuna longline fishery in the Northwest Pacific Ocean (between the northeast coast of Taiwan and Japan). In 20 stomachs of shortfin mako, nearly 10% of samples contained at least one piece of plastic debris. The ingested plastic debris was found in the forms of films (5.0 cm) and fragments (3.0 mm) and was identified as polypropylene (PP) based on its polymer characteristics. The results from the analysis provide evidence for the anthropogenic origin and potential intake pathway of direct engulfment of ingested plastics. Our results also confirmed the low incidence of plastic ingestion in shortfin mako, suggesting that pelagic marine species may be relatively less affected by plastic pollution. Future research efforts are thus needed to assess the long-term impact of plastic pollution on marine species.

Suppression of allergic reactions in ovalbumin-sensitized mice by yam storage proteins dioscorins.

To study the biomedical functions of dioscorins isolated from various species of Dioscorea , we investigated their antiallergic potential using an OVA-induced allergy mouse model. All the dioscorins suppressed allergic reactions by decreasing the serum IgE and histamine levels. The serum IFN-γ and IgG2a levels increased in all the dioscorin-treated mice. The spleen cells from the dioscorin-treated mice also exhibited an up-regulation of IFN-γ secretion in response to ConA stimulation. Although dioscorins did not affect the IgG1 levels, the IL-5 levels decreased to basal levels in mice treated with dioscorins of D. alata or D. japonica and in most of the lymphoid cells of the dioscorin-treated mice in response to ConA stimulation. The decrease of IgE and histamine levels was concomitant with an increase in IFN-γ and IgG2a levels and with a decrease in IL-5 levels, suggesting that dioscorins suppressed the OVA-induced allergic reactions, possibly through modulating an imbalanced Th1/Th2 immune response.