Enhanced adsorptive desulfurization by iso-structural amino bearing IRMOF-3 and IRMOF-3@Al2O3versus MOF-5 and MOF-5@Al2O3 revealing the predominant role of hydrogen bonding.

Desulfurization of oragnosulfur-containing fuels signify a great importance in improving the quality of fuel and is also beneficial to the environment. In this work, we report two new composites, namely, MOF-5@γ-Al2O3 and IRMOF-3@γ-Al2O3, synthesized by loading iso-structural MOF-5 and amino bearing IRMOR-3 onto the γ-Al2O3 beads (the loading amount of MOF-5 and IRMOF-3 are 13.4 wt% and 16.3 wt%, respectively). The composites are fully characterized by IR spectroscopy, XRD, SEM, BET and XRF. These iso-structural MOFs and their composites exhibit substantially high adsorptive desulfurization capacities for benzothiophene (BT), 3-methylthiophene (3-MT), dibenzothiophene (DBT), and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT). The adsorption capacities of amino bearing IR-MOF-3 and IRMOF-3@γ-Al2O3 are significantly greater than those of MOF-5 and MOF-5@γ-Al2O3, e.g., the adsorption capacities for DBT of IRMOF-3@γ-Al2O3, IRMOF-3, MOF-5@γ-Al2O3 and MOF-5 are 54.9, 45.1, 31.4 and 24.1 mg S g-1 MOFs, respectively, under optimal conditions (time 60 min, temperature 30 °C, MOFs@γ-Al2O3/Moil = 1/40). The adsorption results revealed the predominant role of hydrogen bonding between the Lewis basic S atoms of the organo sulfurs and -NH2 groups in IR-MOF-3 and also the π-π interactions that works well in MOF-5. The enhancement in the desulfurization capability of MOFs@γ-Al2O3versus the corresponding pristine MOFs shall be attributed to the advantage of the confinement effect of the γ-Al2O3 pores that results in larger specific surface area, much more exposed active sites, and shorter diffusion channels of the MOFs. The kinetics and thermodynamic parameters indicate that the adsorption process is spontaneous and endothermic, and the increase in entropy is the primary driving force for the desulfurization. In addition, it is found that the composites possess good reusability and can be regenerated by simple washing due to enhanced mechanical strength.

Long non-coding RNA PCAT-1 promotes tumor progression by inhibiting miR-129-5p in human ovarian cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the most common malignancies and the leading cause of cancer-related death among women. The long non-coding RNA Prostate cancer-associated transcript-1 (PCAT-1) has been reported to play important roles in multiple human cancers. However, the role of PCAT-1 in OC has never been investigated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression and roles of PCAT-1 in OC. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Expression of PCAT-1 and miR-129-5p in OC tissues and cell lines was determined by qRT-PCR. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were analyzed by MTT assay and flow cytometry, respectively. The interaction between PCAT-1 and miR-129-5p was demonstrated by luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: PCAT-1 is significantly upregulated in OC tissues and cell lines (p < 0.05). Overexpression of PCAT-1 promotes proliferation of OC cells and inhibits their apoptosis (p < 0.05). In addition, miR-129-5p is markedly downregulated in OC and its level is inversely correlated with PCAT-1 expression in OC tumor tissues (p < 0.05). miR-129-5p inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in OC cell lines (p < 0.05). Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that miR-129-5p is directly targeted by PCAT-1 and miR-129-5p overexpression can effectively attenuate the effects of PCAT-1 on the proliferation and apoptosis of OC cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that PCAT-1 functions as an oncogene by inhibiting miR-129-5p in OC and silencing PCAT-1 may be a novel therapeutic strategy in the treatment of OC.

Association of ultimate pH and stress-related blood variables in cattle.

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between ultimate pH (pHu) and stress-related blood variables. Of 50 cattle in total, blood samples from 6 cattle which exhibited high (≥6.10) pHu (dark-cutting) were collected, along with the same number of low pHu and intermediate pHu cattle (5.40-5.80; 5.80-6.10, respectively) to determine the concentration of plasma cortisol, glucose, lactate, creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, haptoglobin and serum amyloid A protein. Compared to cattle with low pHu, high pHu cattle showed higher plasma cortisol, glucose, lactate, creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase levels at exsanguination. But the concentration of haptoglobin and serum amyloid A protein showed no significant differences among three pH groups. These results imply that measuring plasma cortisol, glucose, lactate, creatine kinase, or lactate dehydrogenase levels at exsanguination may be useful to identify the dark-cutting beef condition.

Carbon monoxide packaging shows the same color improvement for dark cutting beef as high oxygen packaging.

In this study, carbon monoxide (CO) modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) was used to increase redness (a*) and lightness (L*) values of dark cutting beef (ultimate pH (pHu)≥6.10), compared to normal pHu beef and intermediate pHu beef (pH: 5.40-5.79; pH: 5.80-6.09, respectively) during 20 d chilled storage. Compared with HiOx-MAP, CO-MAP exhibited similar color improvement effects (increased L*, a*, b* values) for all pHu beef groupings. The metmyoglobin (MetMb) content was lower under CO-MAP than that of HiOx-MAP in normal pHu beef, but opposite effects were observed in dark, high pH beef. This result could not be explained by MetMb reducing ability (MRA) and lipid oxidation, as both parameters were higher in CO-MAP beef than either normal or high pHu beef, compared with HiOx-MAP. In conclusion, CO-MAP was effective to maintain the cherry red color for dark cutting beef, but the color improvement mechanisms might be different with HiOx packaging methods.

Manual assembly of a rare-earth polyoxometalate microcrystal film showing highly polarized luminescence.

Currently, the realization of rationally designed architectures based on polyoxometalates (POMs) with designed functions has mostly been achieved through the preparation of functional films. However, the traditional approaches suffer from the drawbacks such as time-consuming processes, ill-defined structure and quality, random orientation of the POM molecules, and unsatisfactory performance. In this study, microcrystals of Ag9[EuW10O36]·36H2O (denoted as Ag9[EuW10O36]) were synthesized via a titration method by treating Na9[EuW10O36]·32H2O (denoted as Na9[EuW10O36]), selected as a prototype, with Ag+, leading to the formation of a water-insoluble crystalline powder with a uniform hexagonal platelet morphology. After this, a simple yet efficient manual assembly method was used to rapidly manufacture Ag9EuW10O36 microcrystal thin films on a glass substrate with high coverage, high crystallinity, and highly preferential orientation. Note that the as-prepared films emit orange polarized fluorescence with an anisotropy value of about 0.21, which places them among the materials of largest anisotropy. It is expected that the manual assembly approach can be generally adopted for the fabrication of many other kinds of polyoxometalate-based materials on various substrates for practical applications.

Value of high-frequency ultrasound in diagnosing carpal tunnel syndrome.

This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of high-frequency ultrasound examination for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). A total of 63 wrists from 45 patients diagnosed with CTS were selected as the study group, and 43 asymptomatic wrists of 40 cases were included as the normal control group. Parameters such as the transverse diameter, vertical diameter, cross-sectional area (CSA), and flattening rate (FR) of the carpal tunnel radioulnar joint, postular bone, and median nerve in the hamate bone hook plane were measured, and the differences between the two groups were compared. The median nerve CSA in the postular bone plate was significantly greater in the study group than in the normal control group (0.17±0.05 vs. 0.09±0.02, P<0.01), and the FR at the hook of the hamate was significantly higher in the study group (3.52±0.86 vs. 3.21±0.26, P<0.01). Our results suggest that ultrasonography can effectively provide dynamic real-time images of the wrist in addition to being painless, non-invasive, and associated with relatively low costs. Based on our findings, we believe that ultrasonography is an effective examination method for CTS. When the threshold of the median nerve CSA in the postular bone plate was set as 10 mm(2), the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 92% and 86%, respectively. Therefore, the median nerve CSA may represent a good clinical indicator of CTS.