An alkali-enhanced subcritical water treatment strategy of short-chain chlorinated paraffins: Dechlorination and hydrocarbons recovery.

As persistent organic pollutants, short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) have attracted wide attention in the field of environmental health risk and hazardous waste management. Efficient dechlorination of high content of SCCPs in plastic waste is the committed step for its detoxification and safety treatment. In this study, a high-efficiency and low-temperature process for dechlorination and hydrocarbons recovery from typical SCCPs (52#SCCPs) by subcritical water (SubCW) with alkali enhancer was developed. The introduction of alkali enhancer in the SubCW process had significantly enhanced effect on the dechlorination of 52#SCCPs, and the order of the enhanced effect of alkali enhancer for the dechlorination was NaOH > Na2CO3 > NaHCO3 > NH3·H2O > KOH. The dechlorination behaviors of 52#SCCPs in the NaOH-enhanced SubCW process were studied systematically under different conditions including temperature, residence time, alkali concentration, and volume ratio. The results showed that high-efficiency dechlorination (100 %) of 52#SCCPs could be achieved by the NaOH-enhanced SubCW process at low temperature for a short time (250 °C, 5 min). All of the chlorine released from the molecular chain of 52#SCCPs was transferred to the aqueous phase in the form of inorganic chlorine. The continuous HCl elimination reaction was the primary dechlorination mechanism for 52#SCCPs in the NaOH-enhanced SubCW process. After the dechlorination of 52#SCCPs, high value-added hydrocarbons such as 2,4-hexadiyne (31.74 %) could be obtained. The alkali-enhanced SubCW process proposed in this study is believed to be an environmentally friendly and high-efficiency method for dechlorination/detoxification and resource recovery of SCCPs.

Noncoding SNP at rs1663689 represses ADGRG6 via interchromosomal interaction and reduces lung cancer progression.

A previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) revealed an association of the noncoding SNP rs1663689 with susceptibility to lung cancer in the Chinese population. However, the underlying mechanism is unknown. In this study, using allele-specific 4C-seq in heterozygous lung cancer cells combined with epigenetic information from CRISPR/Cas9-edited cell lines, we show that the rs1663689 C/C variant represses the expression of ADGRG6, a gene located on a separate chromosome, through an interchromosomal interaction of the rs1663689 bearing region with the ADGRG6 promoter. This reduces downstream cAMP-PKA signaling and subsequently tumor growth both in vitro and in xenograft models. Using patient-derived organoids, we show that rs1663689 T/T-but not C/C-bearing lung tumors are sensitive to the PKA inhibitor H89, potentially informing therapeutic strategies. Our study identifies a genetic variant-mediated interchromosomal interaction underlying ADGRG6 regulation and suggests that targeting the cAMP-PKA signaling pathway may be beneficial in lung cancer patients bearing the homozygous risk genotype at rs1663689.

Effect of intracranial pressure on photoplethysmographic waveform in different cerebral perfusion territories: A computational study.

Background: Intracranial photoplethysmography (PPG) signals can be measured from extracranial sites using wearable sensors and may enable long-term non-invasive monitoring of intracranial pressure (ICP). However, it is still unknown if ICP changes can lead to waveform changes in intracranial PPG signals. Aim: To investigate the effect of ICP changes on the waveform of intracranial PPG signals of different cerebral perfusion territories. Methods: Based on lump-parameter Windkessel models, we developed a computational model consisting three interactive parts: cardiocerebral artery network, ICP model, and PPG model. We simulated ICP and PPG signals of three perfusion territories [anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral arteries (ACA, MCA, and PCA), all left side] in three ages (20, 40, and 60 years) and four intracranial capacitance conditions (normal, 20% decrease, 50% decrease, and 75% decrease). We calculated following PPG waveform features: maximum, minimum, mean, amplitude, min-to-max time, pulsatility index (PI), resistive index (RI), and max-to-mean ratio (MMR). Results: The simulated mean ICPs in normal condition were in the normal range (8.87-11.35 mm Hg), with larger PPG fluctuations in older subject and ACA/PCA territories. When intracranial capacitance decreased, the mean ICP increased above normal threshold (>20 mm Hg), with significant decreases in maximum, minimum, and mean; a minor decrease in amplitude; and no consistent change in min-to-max time, PI, RI, or MMR (maximal relative difference less than 2%) for PPG signals of all perfusion territories. There were significant effects of age and territory on all waveform features except age on mean. Conclusion: ICP values could significantly change the value-relevant (maximum, minimum, and amplitude) waveform features of PPG signals measured from different cerebral perfusion territories, with negligible effect on shape-relevant features (min-to-max time, PI, RI, and MMR). Age and measurement site could also significantly influence intracranial PPG waveform.

Liquid crystal electro-optical transducers for electrophysiology sensing applications.

Objective.Biomedical instrumentation and clinical systems for electrophysiology rely on electrodes and wires for sensing and transmission of bioelectric signals. However, this electronic approach constrains bandwidth, signal conditioning circuit designs, and the number of channels in invasive or miniature devices. This paper demonstrates an alternative approach using light to sense and transmit the electrophysiological signals.Approach.We develop a sensing, passive, fluorophore-free optrode based on the birefringence property of liquid crystals (LCs) operating at the microscale.Main results.We show that these optrodes can have the appropriate linearity (µ± s.d.: 99.4 ± 0.5%,n = 11 devices), relative responsivity (µ± s.d.: 57 ± 12%V-1,n = 5 devices), and bandwidth (µ± s.d.: 11.1 ± 0.7 kHz,n = 7 devices) for transducing electrophysiology signals into the optical domain. We report capture of rabbit cardiac sinoatrial electrograms and stimulus-evoked compound action potentials from the rabbit sciatic nerve. We also demonstrate miniaturisation potential by fabricating multi-optrode arrays, by developing a process that automatically matches each transducer element area with that of its corresponding biological interface.Significance.Our method of employing LCs to convert bioelectric signals into the optical domain will pave the way for the deployment of high-bandwidth optical telecommunications techniques in ultra-miniature clinical diagnostic and research laboratory neural and cardiac interfaces.

LncRNA PPM1A-AS Regulate Tumor Development Through Multiple Signal Pathways in T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

ALL (Acute lymphoblastic leukemia) is the most common pediatric malignancy and T-ALL (T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia) comprises about 15% cases. Compared with B-ALL (B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia), the prognosis of T-ALL is poorer, the chemotherapy is easier to fail and the relapse rate is higher. Previous studies mainly focused in Notch1-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in T-ALL. Here, we intend to investigate lncRNAs involved in T-ALL covering different subtypes. The lncRNA PPM1A-AS was screened out for its significant up-regulation in 10 T-ALL samples of different subtypes than healthy human thymus extracts. Besides, the PPM1A-AS expression levels in 3 T-ALL cell lines are markedly higher than that in CD45+ T cells of healthy human. We further demonstrate that PPM1A-AS can promote cell proliferation and inhibit cell apoptosis in vitro and can influence T-ALL growth in vivo. Finally, we verified that PPM1A-AS can regulate core proteins, Notch4, STAT3 and Akt, of 3 important signaling pathways related to T-ALL. These results confirm that lncRNA PPM1A-AS can act as an oncogene in T-ALL and maybe a potential clinical target of patients resistant to current chemotherapy or relapsed cases.

Numerical modelling and optimization of actively Q-switched waveguide lasers based on liquid crystal transducers.

We have recently experimentally demonstrated that a novel liquid crystal-based photonic transducer for sensing systems could be utilized as an active Q-switch in a miniaturised and integrated waveguide laser system. In this paper, we now present a comprehensive numerical modelling study of this novel laser architecture by deriving a set of equations that accurately describe the temporal optical response of the liquid crystal cell as a function of applied voltage and by combining this theoretical model with laser-rate equations. We validate the accuracy of this model by comparing the results with previously obtained data and find them in excellent agreement. This enables us to predict that under realistic conditions and moderate pump power levels of 500 mW, the laser system should be capable of generating peak power levels in excess of 1.1 kW with pulse widths of about 20 ns, corresponding to pulse energies > 20 µJ. We believe that such a low-cost and ultra-compact laser source could find applications ranging from trace gas sensing and LIDAR to material processing.