Research progress on reactive oxygen species production mechanisms in tumor sonodynamic therapy.

In recent years, because of the growing desire to improve the noninvasiveness and safety of tumor treatments, sonodynamic therapy has gradually become a popular research topic. However, due to the complexity of the therapeutic process, the relevant mechanisms have not yet been fully elucidated. One of the widely accepted possibilities involves the effect of reactive oxygen species. In this review, the mechanism of reactive oxygen species production by sonodynamic therapy (SDT) and ways to enhance the sonodynamic production of reactive oxygen species are reviewed. Then, the clinical application and limitations of SDT are discussed. In conclusion, current research on sonodynamic therapy should focus on the development of sonosensitizers that efficiently produce active oxygen, exhibit biological safety, and promote the clinical transformation of sonodynamic therapy.

Bisphenol A induces testicular oxidative stress in mice leading to ferroptosis.

Bisphenol A is a common environmental factor and endocrine disruptor that exerts a negative impact on male reproductive ability. By exploring bisphenol A-induced testicular cell death using the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mouse model, we found that a ferroptosis phenomenon may exist. Mice were divided into six groups and administered different doses of bisphenol A via intragastric gavage once daily for 45 consecutive days. Serum was then collected to determine the levels of superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde. Epididymal sperm was also collected for semen analysis, and testicular tissue was collected for ferritin content determination, electron microscope observation of mitochondrial morphology, immunohistochemistry, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and western blot analysis. Exposure to bisphenol A was found to decrease sperm quality and cause oxidative damage, iron accumulation, and mitochondrial damage in the testes of mice. In addition, bisphenol A was confirmed to affect the expression of the ferroptosis-related genes, glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), ferritin heavy chain 1 (FTH1), cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2), and acyl-CoA synthetase 4 (ACSL4) in mouse testicular tissues. Accordingly, we speculate that bisphenol A induces oxidative stress, which leads to the ferroptosis of testicular cells. Overall, the inhibition of ferroptosis may be a potential strategy to reduce male reproductive toxicity caused by bisphenol A.

A single-crystal to single-crystal transition from a 7-fold interpenetrated coordination polymer to a non-interpenetrated one by photochemical [2 + 2] polymerization and their sensing properties.

Two complexes, namely [Zn(bpeb)(sda)] (1) and [Zn(poly-bpeb)(sda)] (2), were synthesized by an organic ligand with an extensively conjugated system, bpeb = 1,4-bis[2-(3-pyridyl) vinyl]-benzene, H2sda = sulfonyldibenzoic acid and d10 metal centers Zn2+. Structural analysis revealed that compound 1 was nonporous and possessed 7-fold interpenetrated three-dimensional (3D) frameworks constructed from one-dimensional (1D) Zn-bpeb and Zn-sda chains. Interestingly, due to the short distance between the vinyl groups from two neighboring bpeb ligands, compound 1 could undergo a photochemical [2 + 2] polymerization reaction to generate 2 in a single-crystal to single-crystal (SCSC) manner under the irritation of UV. Moreover, the organic polymer in 2 could be depolymerized by heating to realize the reversible transformation from 2 to 1. Furthermore, both compounds 1 and 2 could be used as fluorescent sensors for 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) with high selectivity and sensitivity.

[Emission Characteristics and Ozone Formation Potential of VOCs in Printing Enterprises in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei].

In this study, 23 typical printing enterprises were selected in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei. Through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/flame ionization detection (GC-MS/FID), 46 sets of analysis results were obtained to quantitatively analyze the emissions characteristics of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and the ozone generation potential of these printing enterprises. The results show that the emission concentrations of total VOCs (TVOCs) in exhaust funnels of the printing enterprises varied greatly, ranging from 3.3 mg·m-3 to 755.0 mg·m-3. In the printing stations of printing enterprises, the emission concentrations of VOCs were 129.7-958.4 mg·m-3 and 19.1-113.7 mg·m-3 in packaging and printing enterprises and publications printing enterprises, respectively. The concentration of VOCs emitted by packaging and printing enterprises was significantly higher than that of publications printing enterprises, which is related to the use of solvent-based inks. In terms of VOC composition, oxygen-containing VOCs were the primary type of those emitted by the printing station of packaging and printing enterprises and publications printing enterprises, which accounted for a ratio of 32.6%-99.4%, followed by alkanes. In terms of ozone generation potential, the average of ozone formation potential (OFP) of the printing enterprises was 505.5 mg·m-3, in which the packaging and printing enterprises was 564.1 mg·m-3, and the publication printing enterprises was 52.9 mg·m-3. The average VOC source reactivity (SR) emitted from the printing process was 1.24 g·g-1; that is, 1.24 g of O3 was formed owing to the unit mass of VOC emission, of which the packaging and printing enterprises was 1.70 g·g-1, and the publication printing enterprises was 0.89 g·g-1. According to the OFP and SR, the use of environmentally friendly ink can reduce the generation of O3 and promote air quality improvement.

Electric-Assisted Capillary Rise Adsorption of Polar and Nonpolar Solvents by Cellulose and Chitosan.

Electric-assisted capillary rise adsorption of polar and nonpolar solvents by cellulose and chitosan was studied by employing an electrostatic generator to assist a common capillary rise wetting by taking the anode and cathode electrodes respectively linked to a metal tube charged with samples and the probe solvent. To vary the voltage at 0, 100, 200, and 300 V, respectively, the recorded dynamic adsorption results showed that the cellulose and chitosan both kept a stable adsorption of the nonpolar hexane and diiodomethane, obviously ignoring the voltage increase. Moreover, the hexane amount adsorbed by cellulose and chitosan is similar, while the diiodomethane amount was adsorbed to a greater amount by cellulose as compared with the chitosan corresponding to these two biomaterials-based nonpolar components, for example, greater for cellulose and smaller for chitosan. Results also showed that the adsorption of polar water and formamide was gradually increased with the voltage increase, especially for chitosan, to correspond to the polar component of these materials, for example, greater for chitosan and smaller for cellulose. These adsorption behaviors suggested that the application of an extra electric field can only enhance the adsorption of polar solvent, and the molecular structure, for exmaple, the ß-(1-4)-linked d-glucosamine units of chitosan, has sensitive electric field responses in polar solvent adsorption as compared with those of the ß(1-4)-linked d-glucose units of cellulose. The reason for the electric adsorption behaviors was known due to the presence of an extra electric-field-induced reduction of the total surface tension of solvent and mainly the polar component.

Enhanced NLRP3, caspase-1, and IL- 1ß levels in degenerate human intervertebral disc and their association with the grades of disc degeneration.

The NACHT, LRR, and PYD domains-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome plays an important role in a variety of diseases. However, the role of NLRP3 in the human intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration remains unknown. In the present study, we assessed the expression levels of the NLRP3 inflammasome and its downstream targets caspase-1 and IL-1ß in 45 degenerate and seven nondegenerate IVD samples. The correlation between the degeneration scores and expression levels of NLRP3, caspase-1, and IL-1ß were also analyzed. The mRNA expression levels of the three molecules (NLRP3, caspase-1, and IL-1ß) were higher in the degenerate IVDs group than the controls (nondegenerate IVDs group). Immunohistochemistry showed that the expression levels of all three molecules were markedly increased in the nucleus pulposus of degenerate IVDs compared with nondegenerate IVDs. There was a positive correlation between the degeneration scores and the expression levels of the NLRP3 inflammasome as well as its downstream targets caspase-1 and IL-1ß. The findings suggest that excessive activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome results in overproduction of downstream IL-1ß, which participates in the pathogenesis of human IVD degeneration. Therefore, the NLRP3 inflammasome might serve as a potential therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of IVD degeneration.

[Study on the chemical compositions of VOCs emitted by cooking oils based on GC-MS].

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are key precursors of ozone and secondary organic aerosols in air, and the differences in the compositions of VOCs lead to their different contribution to atmospheric reaction. Cooking oil fume is one of the important sources of atmospheric VOCs, and its chemical compositions are distinct under different conditions of oil types, food types, cooking methods and heating temperatures etc. In this study, the production of cooking oil fume was simulated by heating typical pure vegetable oils (peanut oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, olive oil and blend oil) at different temperatures in beakers to investigate the chemical compositions of VOCs. The emitted VOCs were sampled with a Tenax adsorption tube and analyzed using GC-MS after thermal desorption. According to spectral library search and map analysis, using area normalized semi-quantitative method, preliminary qualitative and quantitative tests were conducted for the specific components of VOCs under different conditions.

[Study on the quantitative estimation method for VOCs emission from petrochemical storage tanks based on tanks 4.0.9d model].

VOCs emission from petrochemical storage tanks is one of the important emission sources in the petrochemical industry. In order to find out the VOCs emission amount of petrochemical storage tanks, Tanks 4.0.9d model is utilized to calculate the VOCs emission from different kinds of storage tanks. VOCs emissions from a horizontal tank, a vertical fixed roof tank, an internal floating roof tank and an external floating roof tank were calculated as an example. The consideration of the site meteorological information, the sealing information, the tank content information and unit conversion by using Tanks 4.0.9d model in China was also discussed. Tanks 4.0.9d model can be used to estimate VOCs emissions from petrochemical storage tanks in China as a simple and highly accurate method.

[Preliminary study concerning emissions of the volatile organic compounds from cooking oils].

Cooking oil fume is one of the important sources of atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are the key precursors of ozone and secondary organic aerosols in air. In this study, the production of cooking oil fume was simulated by heating typical pure vegetable oils (peanut oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, olive oil and blend oil) at different temperatures in beakers to investigate the VOCs emission characteristics. The emitted VOCs were sampled with a Tenax adsorption tube and analyzed using GC-MS after thermal desorption. The results showed that the emission of VOCs increased with the increase of the heating temperature for all the investigated cooking oils, and at a given temperature, the blend oil emitted the lowest amount of VOCs. The VOCs emission intensity at different heating temperatures fitted well with binomial equations and ranged from 1.6-11.1 mg x (kg x min)(-1).

Shenqi fuzheng, an injection concocted from Chinese medicinal herbs, combined with platinum-based chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Platinum-based chemotherapy has been a standard therapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but it has high toxicity. In China, Shenqi Fuzheng, a newly developed injection concocted from Chinese medicinal herbs has been reported that may increase efficacy and reduce toxicity when combined with platinum-based chemotherapy, but little is known about it outside of China. The aim of this study was to systematically review the existing clinical evidence on Shenqi Fuzheng Injection(SFI) combined with platinum-based chemotherapy for advanced NSCLC. METHODS: Pubmed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, CNKI, and CBM search were organized for all documents published, in English and Chinese, until April 2010. The randomized controlled clinical trials were selected based on specific criteria, in which a SFI plus platinum-based chemotherapy treatment group was compared with a platinum-based chemotherapy control group for patients with advanced NSCLC. The quality of studies was assessed by modified Jadad's scale, and Revman 4.2 software was used for data syntheses and analyses. RESULTS: Twenty nine studies were included in this review based on our selection criteria. Of them, ten studies were of high quality and the rest were of low quality, according to the modified Jadad scale. The meta-analysis showed there was a statistically significant higher tumor response (RR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.32; P = 0.001) and performance status ((RR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.45 to 1.70; P < 0.00001); but lower severe toxicity for WBC (RR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.29 to 0.47; P < 0.00001), PLT (RR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.21 to 0.52; P < 0.00001), HB (RR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.30 to 0.66; P < 0.0001) and nausea and vomiting (RR, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.22 to 0.47; P < 0.00001), when the SFI plus platinum-based chemotherapy treatment group was compared with the platinum-based chemotherapy control group. Sensitivity analysis was restricted to studies with the high quality, and the result was similar when the studies with low quality were excluded. Asymmetry was observed in a funnel plot analysis, and Egger's test also indicated an evidence of publication bias (P = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS: SFI intervention appears to be useful to increase efficacy and reduce toxicity when combined with platinum-based chemotherapy for advanced NSCLC, although this result needs to be further verified by more high-quality trials.