Stormwater runoff pollution control performance of permeable concrete pavement and constructed wetland combined system: toward on-site reuse.

Urban waterlogging and the deterioration of receiving water quality caused by stormwater runoff have become increasingly significant problems. Based on the concept of combining grey and green infrastructure, a combined permeable concrete pavement (PCP) and constructed wetland (CW) system has been developed to treat stormwater runoff and enable on-site reuse. The results showed that the removal rate of suspended solids (SS) by PCP ranged from 96.61 to 99.20%; however, the chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations in the effluent did not meet the standards required for rainwater reuse. For the combined PCP-CW system, the removal rates of COD, TN and TP by the CW were 48.45-75.12%, 47.26-53.05%, and 59.04-75.28%, respectively, under different hydraulic loading (HL) rates; thus, the effluent TN concentrations did not consistently meet the reuse standards. Further optimization of aeration in different parts of the CW revealed that aeration in the middle and front sections of the wetland had the most significant effect on pollutant removal, under which the TN concentrations in the effluent met the standard required for reuse. The effluent from the combined PCP-CW system was able to fully meet the stormwater reuse standards under these optimized conditions, and the reuse of urban stormwater runoff can therefore be realized.

Performance optimization of two-stage constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell system for the treatment of high-concentration wastewater.

Constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell (CW-MFC) has attracted much attention because of its dual functions of wastewater treatment and energy recovery. However, its performance in treating high-concentration wastewater is degraded by the decreased dissolved oxygen at the cathode and insufficient electron acceptors. In this study, two CW-MFC systems with cathodic aeration were connected in series to investigate the effects of aeration rate and hydraulic retention time (HRT) on the removal of pollutants and the performance of electricity production in high-concentration wastewater. Results showed that aeration enhanced NH4+-N and TP removal by 45.0-49.8% and 11.5-18.0%, compared with the unaerated condition, respectively. Meanwhile, no significant change regarding COD removal was observed. Aeration enhances the output voltage and power density of the system, especially the first stage CW-MFC, which improved the power production performance by 1 to 2 orders-of-magnitude. Increasing HRT improves the system's pollutant treatment efficiency and power generation performance for high-concentration wastewater. Still, the extension of HRT to 2 days will not contribute much to improving the removal efficiency. Under optimized conditions, the maximum total removal rates of COD, NH4+-N, and TP for the two-stage tandem CW-MFC system were 99.3 ± 0.2%, 92.4 ± 1.6%, and 79.5 ± 3.4%, respectively. Meanwhile, the maximum output voltage and maximum power density of the first-stage CW-MFC were 405 mV and 138.0 mW/m3, respectively. In contrast, the maximum output voltage and maximum power density of the second stage are 105 mV and 14.7 mW/m3, respectively.

The effect of ENEAS application in patients with endometriosis and its influence on the level of IL-8 and MCP-1.

Endometriosis is a gynecological disease that endometrial cells develop outside the uterus. This event happens when the endometrial glands grow outside the endometrium and uterine muscles, especially in the pelvis. Although endometriosis is widespread, the clinical manifestations of the disease are very different, and it is challenging to adapt to the conventional classification system to divide patients into homogeneous groups. Given the importance of endometriosis, a correct, accurate, and timely diagnosis of this disease can significantly prevent its complications. Using health-related software is one of these ways. Enhanced Endometriosis Archiving Software (ENEAS) is a web-based application based on one of the most widely used open-source database management systems (MySQL), allowing the direct link to other open-source software for data management and storage. In the current study, the effect of ENEAS application was considered in patients with endometriosis, and its influence on IL-8 and MCP-1 gene expression was evaluated. For this purpose, 100 women with endometriosis were divided into two groups of 50 patients. The first group (control group) was examined by a gynecologist and received medication and treatment. In the case group, their demographic and clinical information were entered into ENEAS software. To study the expression of the IL-8 gene and MCP-1 gene, after collecting 5 ml of blood samples in tubes containing anticoagulant, RNA extraction was performed by Total RNA Purification Kit (Cat. 17200, 37500, 17250). Then cDNA synthesis was performed for this purpose, and a Bioneer DNA synthesis kit (South Korea) was used. The results showed that the expression level of the IL-8 gene in the case group was significantly reduced compared to the control group (P = 0.035). MCP-1 gene expression was also decreased compared to the control group, but this decrease was not significant. Therefore, those who used this application for treatment had reduced expression of IL-8 and MCP-1 genes. This event indicates that this application has reduced the amount of inflammation caused by endometriosis with proper analysis.

The correlation and role analysis of SLC30A1 and SLC30A10 in cervical carcinoma.

Background: SLC30 family genes, also known as ZnT family genes, can keep cellular zinc levels within a physiological range by exporting zinc to extracellular space or by isolating zinc in the specific regions of cytoplasm when cellular zinc concentrations are elevated in human cells. There are growing evidences that dysregulated expression of SLC30 family genes can potentially influence tumorigenesis. However, the expression and prognostic value of SLC30 family genes in cervical carcinoma are poorly characterized. Methods: In this study, we used many tools such as UALCAN, Kaplan-Meier Plotter, cBioPortal, LinkedOmics, FunRich, Metascape, GeneMANIA, Open targets and TISIDB to perform bioinformatics analysis of SLC30 family genes in cervical carcinoma. Results: We found that the expression of SLC30A1/7/10 was significantly higher in cervical carcinoma than that in normal matched tissues, while SLC30A2/8 mRNA levels were decreased compared to normal tissues. For tumor stages, SLC30A1, SLC30A7 and SLC30A10 groups significantly varied. And a high expression of SLC30A1, SLC30A6, SLC30A8 and SLC30A10 was associated with worse overall survival in cervical carcinoma patients. Besides, we found that SLC30A1/10 may have a potential regulatory role in immune infiltration in cervical carcinoma. In addition, the results showed that the high expression of SLC30A1 was resistant to 79 drugs or small molecules; Two drugs (Neopeltolide and Tozasertib) can inhibit the high expression of SLC30A10 in cancers. Conclusion: SLC30A1 and SLC30A10 can be recognized as potential diagnostic indicators and therapeutic targets in cervical carcinoma.

RGMB-AS1/miR-4428/PBX1 axis drives the progression of cervical cancer.

BACKGROUND: RGMB antisense RNA 1 (RGMB-AS1) is a member of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and relates to the carcinogenesis of numerous cancers. Nonetheless, its performance and mechanism in cervical cancer (CC) is unclear. METHODS: The expressions of RGMB-AS1, microRNA-4428 (miR-4428), PBX homeobox 1 (PBX1) were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Nuclear-cytoplasmic fractionation was used to locate RGMB-AS1. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), EdU, TUNEL, Western blot and transwell assays were performed to assess RGMB-AS1 function in proliferation, apoptosis, and invasion in vitro. Interplays involving miR-4428, RGMB-AS1 and PBX1 were verified applying luciferase reporter, RNA pull-down and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP). RESULTS: RGMB-AS1 level was high in CC specimens and cells. RGMB-AS1 encouraged proliferation, and invasion, and depressed apoptosis in CC cells. Further, miR-4428 was screened as a targeted for RGMB-AS1, and RGMB-AS1 performed the competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) role to release PBX1 from miR-4428. Correlation analysis based on clinical specimens confirmed positive association between RGMB-AS1 and PBX1 and negative association of miR-4428 with RGMB-AS1 and PBX1. Rescue experiments indicated that PBX1 overexpression counteracted RGMB-AS1 silence-caused inhibition on CC development. CONCLUSIONS: RGMB-AS1 regulated miR-4428/PBX1 axis to aggravate CC development, indicating that targeting RGMB-AS1 could be a potent way for developing the novel therapeutic methods for CC patients.

Proliferative and apoptotic effects of andrographolide on the BGC-823 human gastric cancer cell line.

BACKGROUND: Andrographolide has been shown to have anticancer activity on diverse cancer cell lines representing different types of human cancers. The aim of this research was to investigate the anticancer and apoptotic effects of andrographolide on the BGC-823 human gastric cancer cell line. METHODS: Cell proliferation and IC50 were evaluated using MTT assay, cell-cycle analysis with flow cytometry apoptotic effects with Annexin-V/propidium iodide double-staining assay, and morphologic structure with transmission electron microscopy. Immunohistochemistry and reverse-transcription PCR was used to analyze Bcl-2, Bax, and caspase-3 expressions. RESULTS: Andrographolide showed a time- and concentration-dependent inhibitory effects on BGC-823 cell growth. Compared to controls, the number of cells in the G0-G1-phase increased significantly, S and G2-M-phase cells decreased after 48 hours of treatment with andrographolide, and both early and late apoptotic rates increased significantly compared to the controls, all in a concentration-dependent manner. Bax and caspase-3 expressions were markedly increased, and Bcl-2 expression was decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Andrographolide inhibits BGC-823 cell growth and induces BGC-823 cell apoptosis by up-regulating Bax and caspase-3 expressions and down-regulating Bcl-2 expression. Andrographolide may be useful as a potent and selective agent in the treatment of human gastric cancers.