Hierarchically porous cellulose-based carbon aerogels with N-doped skeletons and encapsulated iron-based catalysts for efficient tetracycline catalytic degradation.

Three-dimensional interpenetrating and hierarchically porous carbon material is an efficient catalyst support in water remediation and it is still a daunting challenge to establish the relationship between hierarchically porous structure and catalytic degradation performance. Herein, a highly porous silica (SiO2)/cellulose-based carbon aerogel with iron-based catalyst (FexOy) was fabricated by in-situ synthesis, freeze-drying and pyrolysis, where the addition of SiO2 induced the hierarchically porous morphology and three-dimensional interpenetrating sheet-like network with nitrogen doping. The destruction of cellulose crystalline structure by SiO2 and the iron-catalyzed breakdown of glycosidic bonds synergistically facilitated the formation of electron-rich graphite-like carbon skeleton. The unique microstructure is confirmed to be favorable for the diffusion of reactants and electron transport during catalytic process, thus boosting the catalytic degradation performance of carbon aerogels. As a result, the catalytic degradation efficiency of tetracycline under light irradiation by adding only 5 mg of FexOy/SiO2 cellulose carbon aerogels was as high as 90 % within 60 min, demonstrating the synergistic effect of photocatalysis and Fenton reaction. This ingenious structure design provides new insight into the relationship between hierarchically porous structure of carbon aerogels and their catalytic degradation performance, and opens a new avenue to develop cellulose-based carbon aerogel catalysts with efficient catalytic performance.

2,2',4,4',5,5'-Hexabromophenyl ether (BDE-153) causes abnormal insulin secretion and disorders of glucose and lipid metabolism in mice.

BACKGROUND: Environmental polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) exposure may be associated with diabetes and obesity. 2,2',4,4',5,5'-Hexabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-153) is one of the most abundant and widely distributed homologs of PBDEs detected in humans. This study investigated the effects of BDE-153 on the expression of adipokines and glucose and lipid metabolism. METHODS: Adult male C57BL/6 mice were divided into five BDE-153 groups and one control group. After BDE-153 exposure for 4 weeks, the levels of biochemical indexes and the mRNA and protein expression levels of leptin, adiponectin, peroxisome proliferators activated receptors gamma (PPARγ), and AMPKα were measured. The histomorphological changes of liver and pancreas tissues were observed. RESULTS: After BDE-153 exposure, the weight of mice in the medium-high-dose group at different exposure times was lower than that in the control group ( p all <0.05), and the body weight decreased slightly with the increase of the dose of BDE-153. BDE-153 caused the disorder of glucose and lipid metabolism in mice, the weight of liver and pancreas increased, lipid droplets accumulated in liver cells, and the positive rate of insulin staining increased in a dose-dependent manner. BDE-153 also interfered with the expression of PPARγ, AMPKα, and adipokines. The results of restrictive cubic splines (RCS) showed that there were a nonlinear dose-response relationship between the exposure dose of BDE-153 and the expression levels of PPARγ, AMPKα, and adipokines. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that BDE-153 may interfere with the expression of adipokines and the secretion of insulin by affecting the expression of PPARγ and AMPKα, which play a key role in glucose and lipid metabolism, leading to the occurrence of glucose and lipid metabolism disorder.

Pilot study on the treatment of low carbon and nitrogen ratio municipal sewage by A1/O2/A3/A4/O5 sludge-membrane coupling process with multi-point inflow.

A new multi-point inflow pre-anoxic/oxic/anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A1/O2/A3/A4/O5) sludge-membrane coupling process and pilot plant were developed and designed to solve the problem of nitrogen and phosphorus removal of low carbon and nitrogen (C/N) ratio domestic sewage in southern China. The removal effect and transformation rule of organic matter, nitrogen, and phosphorus in the system were studied by changing the distribution ratio of multi-point influent. The average C/N ratio of the influent was 2.09 and the influent distribution ratio was 1:1. When the temperature was 16-25 °C, the average concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen (NH4+- N), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) in the effluent were 21.31 (±2.65), 0.60 (±0.24), 12.76 (±1.09), and 0.34 (±0.05) mg/L, respectively, and their average removals are 87.3 (±1.2)%, 98.7 (±0.4)%, 74.1 (±1.3)%, and 88.1 (±0.4)% respectively. When the low temperature was 12-15 °C, the average removals were 78.6 (±1.1)%, 90.5 (±1.3)%, 73.7 (±1.13)%, and 86.6 (±1.7)%, respectively. Compared with the traditional anaerobic/anoxic/aerobic (A2O) process under the same conditions, the TN removal was increased by 15.4%, and the TP removal was increased by 22.2%. This system has obvious advantages in treating wastewater with low C/N ratio, thereby solving the problem wherein the effluent of biological phosphorus removal from low C/N ratio domestic sewage was difficult when it was lower than 0.5 mg/L.

ErbB4 in parvalbumin-positive interneurons mediates proactive interference in olfactory associative reversal learning.

Consolidated memories influence later learning and cognitive processes when new information is overlapped with previous events. To reveal which cellular and molecular factors are associated with this proactive interference, we challenged mice with odor-reward associative learning followed by a reversal-learning task. The results showed that genetical ablation of ErbB4 in parvalbumin (PV)-positive interneurons improved performance in reversal-learning phase, with no alteration in learning phase, supporting that PV interneuron ErbB4 is required for proactive interference. Mechanistically, olfactory learning promoted PV interneuron excitatory synaptic plasticity and direct binding of ErbB4 with presynaptic Neurexin1ß (NRXN1ß) and postsynaptic scaffold PSD-95 in the prefrontal cortex. Interrupting ErbB4-NRXN1ß interaction impaired network activity-driven excitatory inputs and excitatory synaptic transmission onto PV interneurons. Neuronal activity-induced ErbB4-PSD-95 association facilitated transsynaptic binding of ErbB4-NRXN1ß and excitatory synapse formation in ErbB4-positive interneurons. Furthermore, ErbB4-NRXN1ß binding was responsible for the activity-regulated activation of ErbB4 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 in PV interneurons, as well as synaptic plasticity-related expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Correlatedly, blocking ErbB4-NRXN1ß coupling in the medial prefrontal cortex of adult mice facilitated reversal learning of an olfactory associative task. These findings provide novel insight into the physiological role of PV interneuron ErbB4 signaling in cognitive processes and reveal an associative learning-related transsynaptic NRXN1ß-ErbB4-PSD-95 complex that affects the ERK1/2-BDNF pathway and underlies local inhibitory circuit plasticity and proactive interference.

Role of the caudate-putamen nucleus in sensory gating in induced tinnitus in rats.

Tinnitus can be described as the conscious perception of sound without external stimulation, and it is often accompanied by anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Current clinical treatments for tinnitus are ineffective. Although recent studies have indicated that the caudate-putamen nucleus may be a sensory gating area involved in noise elimination in tinnitus, the underlying mechanisms of this disorder are yet to be determined. To investigate the potential role of the caudate-putamen nucleus in experimentally induced tinnitus, we created a rat model of tinnitus induced by intraperitoneal administration of 350 mg/kg sodium salicylate. Our results revealed that the mean spontaneous firing rate of the caudate-putamen nucleus was increased by sodium salicylate treatment, while dopamine levels were decreased. In addition, electrical stimulation of the caudate-putamen nucleus markedly reduced the spontaneous firing rate of neurons in the primary auditory cortex. These findings suggest that the caudate-putamen nucleus plays a sensory gating role in sodium salicylate-induced tinnitus. This study was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Peking University Health Science Center (approval No. A2010031) on December 6, 2017.

Prenatal diagnosis of single umbilical artery and postpartum outcome.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the incidence of the single umbilical artery (SUA) malformation and postpartum outcomes in a retrospective analysis of 781 fetuses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective analysis included 781 pregnant women carrying singleton fetuses diagnosed with SUA at Gansu Provincial Maternal and Child-care Hospital between 2013 and 2019. Detailed data on maternal and fetal characteristics and postpartum outcomes were obtained. RESULTS: In total, 624 (79.9 %) fetuses were diagnosed with isolated SUA and 157 (20.1 %) fetuses had SUA together with other structural and/or chromosome abnormalities. The highest incidence of malformation was found in the urinary system, followed by the cardiovascular system and digestive system. The incidence of SUA was 59.1 % on the right side and 40.9 % on the left side. Fetuses with SUA and other abnormalities tended to have a lower mean birth weight (3061 g vs 3201 g, p < 0.01), but no difference in the rate of preterm delivery was noted. CONCLUSIONS: After a diagnosis of SUA, structural observation of the fetus is required. The urinary, cardiovascular and digestive systems should be the focus of observation. If relevant malformations are found, then genetic testing must be performed. With isolated SUA, dynamic monitoring of biological indicators is recommended for lower birth weight, but genetic testing is not recommended.

[Effects of Different Inflammatory Factors on Hepatocyte Kinase Receptors and Ligands in Human Periodontal Ligament Fibroblasts].

Objective To investigate the effects of different inflammatory factors on hepatocyte kinase receptor(Eph)and ligand(ephrin)in human periodontal ligament fibroblasts(hPDLFs).Methods hPDLFs were stimulated with either 10 ng/ml tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)or 10 ng/ml interleukin(IL)-1ß,and then the expressions of Eph and ephrin at both mRNA and protein levels were determined at 0,1,2,6,12,and 24 hours.Results The levels of Eph receptors and ephrin ligand changed in a time-dependent manner in human periodontal ligament fibroblasts after treatment with TNF-α or IL-1ß. The expression of ephrinA2 significantly increased in both groups within 24 hours(all P<0.05). In the TNF-α group,the mRNA expression of ephrinA2 significantly increased at 1 h and was significant higher that in the IL-1ß group at 24 h(P<0.05). EphB4 showed a time-dependent decline after a short period of high expression.Conclusions Both TNF-α and IL-1ß can cause changes in the expressions of Eph receptors and ephrin ligands in hPDLFs. The changes induced by both are consistent,although the effect of TNF-α is more pronounced.

Recognition of the human antibody-mediated platelet destruction in adult ITP patients by C-reactive protein.

Immune thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP) is characterized by destruction of circulating platelets and the presence of antiplatelet IgG antibodies, which opsonize platelets for splenic clearance resulting in low levels of circulating platelets, and the disease severity can be predicted neither by antibody isotype nor by titer, indicating that other factors also play a role. Although the main cause of ITP remains unclear, but its relationship with some infection was demonstrated, including viral or bacterial infections. C-reactive protein (CRP), a member of the pentraxin family, is a major acute-phase protein in humans and is a clinical marker of infection. We aimed to investigate the correlation between the levels of CRP and the presence of antiplatelet IgG antibodies in adults with newly diagnosed ITP. CRP levels and platelet counts were measured in the blood samples from a 60 ITP patient (with confirmed anti-GPIIb/IIIa antibodies), 60 infection patients (all without anti-GPIIb/IIIa antibodies) and 60 normal individuals. The bleeding score, recover time of intravenous immune globulin (IVIg) therapy and the number of megakaryocytes in bone marrow were recorded in ITP patients. The platelet count, bleeding score, recover time of intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) therapy and the number of megakaryocytes in bone marrow and CRP concentrations were compared in ITP group using Spearman's correlation coefficient. We examined the influence of intraperioneal CRP administration on antibody-mediated platelet destruction in mice. There were no statistical differences in gender, age and body mass index among the three groups (P>0.05). Though CRP levels are significantly elevated in ITP patients and infection patients (P<0.05), the platelet count was markedly lower only in ITP patients. We found that CRP was inert toward platelets without antiplatelet antibodies in this study. There are a significant correlation between CRP levels and platelet counts, bleeding severity and the number of megakaryocytes in bone marrow aspiration (r=-0.5079, r=0.5498, r=0.4172, P<0.001, respectively). Moreover, a significant correlation was observed between the recovery time of platelet count and CRP levels (r=-0.5569, P<0.001). In mice, platelet count was lower in Anti-CD41 (0.75 µg)+, CRP (200 µg) group as compared with Anti-CD41 (0.75 µg)+, CRP(-) group and Anti-CD41 (0.75 µg)-, CRP (200 µg) group (P<0.05). In summary, this study indicated that CRP levels are significantly elevated in ITP patients all with confirmed anti-GPIIb/IIIa antibodies, which is able to predict the clinical bleeding severity of ITP patients. The slower CRP levels reduction after IVIg treatment predicted slower platelet count recovery in ITP.