Material Recycling for Manufacturing Aggregates Using Melting Slag of Automobile Shredder Residues.

The quantity of waste from end-of-life vehicles is increasing with an increase in the number of scrapped internal combustion engine vehicles owing to international trends such as carbon neutrality and particulate matter reduction. The recycling rate must be ≥95%; however, the average recycling rate remains at approximately 89%. Therefore, the improvement of the recycling of automobile shredder residues (ASR) is gaining attention. In this study, four types of products (interlocking, clay, and lightweight swelled ceramic (LSC) bricks, and asphalt paving aggregate (APA)) were manufactured using ASR melting slag (ASRMS). Environmental performance, quality standards, and technology were evaluated to assess the recyclability of the manufactured bricks. The interlocking brick substituted melting slag for sand and stone powder as an aggregate. As melting slag content increased, absorption decreased and bending strength increased. Clay brick was manufactured by replacing kaolin and feldspar with melting slag that substituted for 20%. The quality of clay bricks mixed with over 15% melting slag was not better than standard. Asphalt paving aggregate was used to investigate the optimum condition of slag content in mixed asphalt; the mixture ratio showed that 61% broken stone of 13 mm, 6% screenings, 10% melting slag, 15% sand and 8% filler was most effective. A lightweight swelled ceramic brick was manufactured by using melting slag, front glass, and so on. Specific gravity and compressive strength ranged from 0.38 to 0.51 and from 339.7 to 373.6 N/cm2. ASRMS exhibited an environmental performance suitable for recycling and the manufactured bricks satisfied the quality standards. The recyclability of ASR was also assessed in terms of waste usage, conformance to quality standards, market size, and demand prediction. APA showed the best results followed by interlocking, clay, and LSC bricks.

Titanium dioxide incorporated in cellulose nanofibers with enhanced UV blocking performance by eliminating ROS generation.

The preparation of sunblocks with dispersion stability, ultraviolet blocking, and photocompatibility remains a considerable challenge. Plant-derived natural polymers, such as cellulose nanofibers (CNF), show versatile traits, including long aspect ratio, hydrophilic nature, resource abundance, and low material cost. In the present study, a facile and cost-effective strategy is reported for the fabrication of nanostructured inorganic materials by incorporating natural polymers as interspersed, systematically nanosized titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles onto CNF. Among all experiments, the optimized TiO2@CNF3 showed higher ultraviolet blocking performance and less whitening effect. The outstanding performance is attributed to the engineering of equally dispersed nano-sized TiO2 particles on the CNF surface and stable dispersion. Significantly, TiO2@CNF3 exhibited excellent compatibility with avobenzone (80%), an oil-soluble ingredient used in sunblock products, illustrating the photoprotection enhancement under ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB). Moreover, only 14.8% rhodamine B (Rho-B) dye degraded through photocatalytic oxidation process with the TiO2@CNF3, which is negligible photocatalytic activity compared to that of TiO2 (95% dye degraded). Furthermore, commercial inorganic and organic sunblock products with SPF lifetimes of 35+ and 50+ were modified using CNF, significantly enhancing the transmittance performance compared to that of the pure sunblock. However, it was also observed that hydrophilic CNF tended to demulsify the creams due to electrostatic disequilibrium. This CNF-based modified TiO2 system is a new window to replace effective sunblock products in high-value-added applications, such as cosmetics.

Oenanthe javanica Ethanolic Extract Alleviates Inflammation and Modifies Gut Microbiota in Mice with DSS-Induced Colitis.

Oenanthe javanica, commonly known as water dropwort, has long been used to treat acute and chronic hepatitis, abdominal pain, alcohol hangovers, and inflammation in various traditional medicine systems in Asia. However, whether O. javanica has beneficial effects on colitis-induced intestinal damage remains elusive. This study tested the hypothesis that O. javanica has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities in mice with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis. First, treatment of O. javanica ethanol extract (OJE) inhibited the production of inflammatory cytokines in lipopolysaccharide-affected macrophages. Second, in mice with DSS-induced colitis, OJE administration reduced pathological damage to the colon while alleviating weight gain and decreasing colon length, including inflammation and mucosal necrosis. In addition, OJE significantly (p < 0.01) restricted the activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and the secretion of pro-inflammatory mediators and increased the expression of Nrf2-phase 2 antioxidant enzymes. The results of 16S rRNA gene sequencing workflows for taxonomic assignment analysis confirmed that the diversity (richness and evenness) of fecal microbiota was markedly elevated in the OJE group. OJE administration reduced the abundance of Proteobacteria including Escherichia and increased the abundance of the genus Muribaculum. These results suggested that OJE exerts beneficial effects on inflammation and gut microbial composition in a mouse model of colitis.

SRSF9 Regulates Cassette Exon Splicing of Caspase-2 by Interacting with Its Downstream Exon.

Alternative splicing (AS) is an important posttranscriptional regulatory process. Damaged or unnecessary cells need to be removed though apoptosis to maintain physiological processes. Caspase-2 pre-mRNA produces pro-apoptotic long mRNA and anti-apoptotic short mRNA isoforms through AS. How AS of Caspase-2 is regulated remains unclear. In the present study, we identified a novel regulatory protein SRSF9 for AS of Caspase-2 cassette exon 9. Knock-down (KD) of SRSF9 increased inclusion of cassette exon and on the other hand, overexpression of SRSF9 decreased inclusion of this exon. Deletion mutagenesis demonstrated that exon 9, parts of intron 9, exon 8 and exon 10 were not required for the role of SRSF9 in Caspase-2 AS. However, deletion and substitution mutation analysis revealed that AGGAG sequence located at exon 10 provided functional target for SRSF9. In addition, RNA-pulldown mediated immunoblotting analysis showed that SRSF9 interacted with this sequence. Gene ontology analysis of RNA-seq from SRSF9 KD cells demonstrates that SRSF9 could regulate AS of a subset of apoptosis related genes. Collectively, our results reveal a basis for regulation of Caspase-2 AS.

The effect of NaOH for the recovery of elemental mercury from simulated mixture wastes and waste sludge from an industrial process using a thermal desorption process.

The need for appropriate management of mercury (Hg) wastes is increasing for active implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury. Though Hg can be a contaminant if it is not dealt with properly, recovered Hg can become a resource. Besides, a recovered Hg with reduced volume can be managed efficiently. This study examined the effect of NaOH for the recovery of elemental Hg from a waste sludge from an industrial process using the thermal desorption and condensation. For this purpose, the operating conditions, including temperature and pressure of the apparatus, were derived based on the experiments using Hg compounds (HgS and HgO), simulated waste (mixtures of HgCl2/As2O3 and HgS/As2O3). The reduced chamber pressure promoted to the recovery of elemental Hg via the thermal desorption. NaOH was introduced to increase the recovery efficiency of Hg in the presence of interfering substances such as S and As compounds. The Hg recovery efficiency increased, and 62.5% of Hg was recovered as elemental form by adding NaOH via thermal desorption and gas condensation with a lab-scale apparatus. Interfering substances such as Cl, S, and As compounds were captured in the bottom ash when bound with Na.

Application of powdered activated carbon coating to fabrics in a hybrid filter to enhance mercury removal.

Elemental mercury (Hg0) is predominant constituent of flue gas emitted from coal-fired power plants. Adsorption has been considered the best available technology for removal of Hg0 from flue gas. However, adsorbent injection increases the amount of ash generated. In the present study, powdered activated carbon (PAC) was coated on polytetrafluoroethylene/glass fiber filters to increase Hg0 removal while concurrently reducing the amount of ash generated. The optimal PAC coating rate was determined in laboratory experiments to ensure better Hg0 removal with low pressure drop. When PAC of particle size less than 45 µm was used, and the areal density was 50 g/m2, the pressure drop remained under 30 Pa while the Hg0 removal efficiency increased to 15.8% from 4.3%. The Hg0 removal efficiency also increased with decrease in filtration velocity. The optimal PAC coating rate was applied on a hybrid filter (HF), which was combined with a bag filter and an electrostatic precipitator in a single chamber. Originally designed to remove fine particulates matter, it was retrofitted to the flue gas control device for simultaneous Hg0 removal. By employing the PAC coating, the Hg removal efficiency of the HF increased to 79.79% from 66.35%. Also, a temporary reduction in Hg removal was seen but this was resolved following a cleaning cycle in which the dust layer was removed.

The simultaneous capture of mercury and fine particles by hybrid filter with powder activated carbon injection.

The hybrid filter (HF) was newly designed and operated with powder activated carbon (PAC) injection to capture mercury and fine particulate matter in the coal power plant. With PAC injection in HF operation, the capture efficiency of elemental mercury was clearly enhanced. When the injection rate of PAC increased from 0 to 20 mg/m3, the speciation fraction of elemental mercury significantly decreased from 85.19% to 3.76% at the inlet of the hybrid filter. The speciation fraction of oxidized mercury did not vary greatly, whereas the particulate mercury increased from 1.31% to 94.04%. It was clearly observed that the HF played a role in the capture of mercury and fine PM by leading the conversion of elemental mercury as particulate mercury and the growth of PM via electrode discharge in the HF operation with PAC injection.

CD44 alternative splicing and hnRNP A1 expression are associated with the metastasis of breast cancer.

CD44 is a transmembrane receptor for hyaluronic acid. CD44 pre-mRNA contains 19 exons, 9 of which are alternatively spliced. Among the CD44 spliced variants, the v4-7 variant, one of the v6 exon-containing isoforms that contains variable exon 4, 5, 6 and 7, confers metastatic potential to non-metastatic cells. Splicing of CD44 and the function of CD44 isoforms are different in breast cancer cells. hnRNP A1 is a ubiquitously expressed protein with an inhibitory function in pre-mRNA splicing. We showed that CD44v6 isoform, which includes all of the v6-containing mRNA isoforms, had the highest expression level in non-metatatic breast cancer cells (MCF7) when compared to the level in metastatic breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) and normal breast cells (MCF10A). Furthermore we showed that hnRNP A1 knockdown regulated splicing of CD44 differently in breast cancer cells. We showed here that CD44 isoform expression is completely different in MDA-MB-231 cells than that in MCF7 and MCF10A cells, whereas MCF7 and MCF10A cells had a similar expression pattern of CD44 isoforms. RT-PCR analysis of CD44v6 showed that MCF7 and MCF10A cells predominantly expressed the c5v6v7v8v9v10c6 isoform. However, in addition to this isoform, MDA-MB-231 cells also expressed the c5v6v8v9v10c6 and c5v6c6 isoforms. We also found that knockdown of hnRNP A1 significantly reduced the expression of c5v6v7v8v9v10c6 and c5v6v8v9v10c6, and promoted the expression of c5v6c6. hnRNP A1 knockdown significantly induced cell death. In addition, hnRNP A1 knockdown induced a decrease in cell invasion in the MDA-MB-231 cells. Our results indicate that the knockdown of hnRNP A1 has a specific function on the splicing of CD44 in breast cancer cells.