Influencing factors for the development of obstructive sleep apnea after orthognathic surgery in skeletal class III patients: A systematic review.

This systematic review aimed to investigate the factors that may contribute to the development of OSA after orthognathic surgery in patients with skeletal class III. Electronic searches of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases were conducted up to December 10, 2022. In total, 277 studies were retrieved and screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and 14 were finally selected. All studies were of medium quality (moderate risk of bias). The occurrence of OSA after orthognathic surgery in patients with class III skeletal relationships depends on surgical factors and patient self-factors. Surgical factors include surgery type, amount of maxillary and mandibular movement, and the patient's postoperative swelling. Patient self-factors include weight, age, gender, and hypertrophy of the soft palate, tonsils, and tongue. According to information in the 14 selected articles, the incidences of OSA after Le Fort I impaction and BSSO setback, BSSO setback, and Le Fort I advancement and BSSO setback were 19.2%, 8.57%, and 0.7%, respectively, mostly accompanied with greater amounts of mandibular recession. However, no clear evidence exists to confirm that orthognathic surgery is a causative factor for postoperative sleep breathing disorders in patients with mandibular prognathism. The wider upper airway in patients with class III skeletal might be the reason for the rare occurrence of OSA after surgery. In addition, obesity and advanced age may lead to sleep apnea after orthognathic surgery. Obese patients should be advised to lose weight preoperatively.

Negative role of filamentous bulking and its elimination in anammox process.

In this study, the filamentous bulking (FB) with moderate and excessive levels were demonstrated to induce anammox failure by inhibiting nitrogen (N) removal and biomass retention. The low external mass transfer resulted from high liquid-surface friction and low turbulence of filamentous surface was considered the "trigger" of anammox failure, which decreased flux of nitrogen flow toward granular surface and directly limited N-removal loading, which meanwhile exposed granules with N-scarcity environment and indirectly inhibited N-removal bio-activity. Low bio-activity performed poor extracellular polymeric substances secretion further destroyed bio-aggregation with low suface hydrophobicity, which acted as "accelerator" for granule disintegration and biomass washout, ultimatly leading to anammox failure. Fortunately, incresing hydraulic shear stress could eradicate FB's negative effects without inhibiting FB itself, which promoted re-granulation and N-remval restore by enhancing external mass transfer more than hydraulic detachment. Enhancing mechanical stirring with FB level was necessary to maintain stable operation of granular anammox system.

Broadening horizons: ferroptosis as a new target for traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, with ~50 million people experiencing TBI each year. Ferroptosis, a form of regulated cell death triggered by iron ion-catalyzed and reactive oxygen species-induced lipid peroxidation, has been identified as a potential contributor to traumatic central nervous system conditions, suggesting its involvement in the pathogenesis of TBI. Alterations in iron metabolism play a crucial role in secondary injury following TBI. This study aimed to explore the role of ferroptosis in TBI, focusing on iron metabolism disorders, lipid metabolism disorders and the regulatory axis of system Xc-/glutathione/glutathione peroxidase 4 in TBI. Additionally, we examined the involvement of ferroptosis in the chronic TBI stage. Based on these findings, we discuss potential therapeutic interventions targeting ferroptosis after TBI. In conclusion, this review provides novel insights into the pathology of TBI and proposes potential therapeutic targets.

Serine-arginine splicing factor 2 promotes oesophageal cancer progression by regulating alternative splicing of interferon regulatory factor 3.

OBJECTIVE: Often, alternative splicing is used by cancer cells to produce or increase proteins that promote growth and survival through alternative splicing. Although RNA-binding proteins are known to regulate alternative splicing events associated with tumorigenesis, their role in oesophageal cancer (EC) has rarely been explored. METHODS: We analysed the expression pattern of several relatively well characterized splicing regulators on 183 samples from TCGA cohort of oesophageal cancer; the effectiveness of the knockdown of SRSF2 was subsequently verified by immunoblotting; we measured the ability of cells treated with lenti-sh-SRSF2/lenti-sh2-SRSF2 to invade through an extracellular matrix coating by transwell invasion assay; using RNA-seq data to identify its potential target genes; we performed qRT-PCR to detect the changes of exon 2 usage in lenti-sh-SRSF2 transduced KYSE30 cells to determine the possible effect of SRSF2 on splicing regulation of IRF3; RNA Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (RNA-EMSA) was performed by the incubation of purified SRSF2 protein and biotinylated RNA probes; we performed luciferase assay to confirm the effect of SRSF2 on IFN1 promoter activity. RESULTS: We found upregulation of SRSF2 is correlated with the development of EC; Knock-down of SRSF2 inhibits EC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion; SRSF2 regulates the splicing pattern of IRF3 in EC cells; SRSF2 interacts with exon 2 of IRF3 to regulate its exclusion; SRSF2 inhibits the transcription of IFN1 in EC cells. CONCLUSION: This study identified a novel regulatory axis involved in EC from the various aspects of splicing regulation.

The C2 and PH domains of CAPS constitute an effective PI(4,5)P2-binding unit essential for Ca2+-regulated exocytosis.

Ca2+-dependent activator proteins for secretion (CAPSs) are required for Ca2+-regulated exocytosis in neurons and neuroendocrine cells. CAPSs contain a pleckstrin homology (PH) domain that binds PI(4,5)P2-membrane. There is also a C2 domain residing adjacent to the PH domain, but its function remains unclear. In this study, we solved the crystal structure of the CAPS-1 C2PH module. The structure showed that the C2 and PH tandem packs against one another mainly via hydrophobic residues. With this interaction, the C2PH module exhibited enhanced binding to PI(4,5)P2-membrane compared with the isolated PH domain. In addition, we identified a new PI(4,5)P2-binding site on the C2 domain. Disruption of either the tight interaction between the C2 and PH domains or the PI(4,5)P2-binding sites on both domains significantly impairs CAPS-1 function in Ca2+-regulated exocytosis at the Caenorhabditis elegans neuromuscular junction (NMJ). These results suggest that the C2 and PH domains constitute an effective unit to promote Ca2+-regulated exocytosis.

Improving mechanical stability of anammox granules with organic stress by limited filamentous bulking.

Under organic stress, the limited filamentous bulking (FB) was demonstrated to improve anammox capability by inhibiting granule disintegration and washout. The accumulation of internal stress played a more important role than the adverse physicochemical properties (low viscoelasticity and hydrophobicity) of granules in limiting granular strength by consuming the granular elastic energy. Different from the floc-forming heterotrophic bacteria (HB) that stored its growth stress as internal stress by pushing the surrounded anammox micro-colonies outwards under the spatial constraint of elastic anammox "shell", the filamentous HB grew into a uniform network structure within granules, endowed granules low internal stress and acted as the granular skeleton due to its rich amyloid substance, which was benefited from the elimination of inhomogeneous growth and the consequent expansion competition for living space. Combined with the mechanical instability and sticking-spring models, controlling FB at limited level was effective for improving granular strength without affecting sludge-water separation.

Improving anammox performance by limited filamentous bulking for wastewater treatment with organic stress.

In this study, the filamentous bulking was demonstrated to improve anammox capability and anammox bacteria (AnAOB) population density under organic stress. The selective heterotrophic bacteria (HB) washout that involved in shear detachment, enmeshment and biomass washout was triggered. The microbial spatial distribution and granular detachment properties revealed that the filamentous bulking transferred the "location advantage" of HB from granules interior to surface, and endowed granular surface low shear tolerance for shear detachment, ultimately resulted in selective HB detachment. The detached filaments-mediated enmeshment provided additional selective pressure for free HB-flocs, eventually achieving the retention time differentiation between AnAOB (34 - 141 days) and HB (3 - 15 days), and a high anammox population density. Controlling dissolved oxygen level was crucial for regulating sludge bulking. Collectively, the filamentous bulking was developed as an effective anti-organic stress strategy to broaden the application of granular anammox process in actual wastewater treatment.

Poly(rC)-binding proteins as pleiotropic regulators in hematopoiesis and hematological malignancy.

Poly(rC)-binding proteins (PCBPs), a defined subfamily of RNA binding proteins, are characterized by their high affinity and sequence-specific interaction with poly-cytosine (poly-C). The PCBP family comprises five members, including hnRNP K and PCBP1-4. These proteins share a relatively similar structure motif, with triple hnRNP K homology (KH) domains responsible for recognizing and combining C-rich regions of mRNA and single- and double-stranded DNA. Numerous studies have indicated that PCBPs play a prominent role in hematopoietic cell growth, differentiation, and tumorigenesis at multiple levels of regulation. Herein, we summarized the currently available literature regarding the structural and functional divergence of various PCBP family members. Furthermore, we focused on their roles in normal hematopoiesis, particularly in erythropoiesis. More importantly, we also discussed and highlighted their involvement in carcinogenesis, including leukemia and lymphoma, aiming to clarify the pleiotropic roles and molecular mechanisms in the hematopoietic compartment.

New insights in ferroptosis: Potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of ischemic stroke.

Stroke is a common disease in clinical practice, which seriously endangers people's physical and mental health. The neurovascular unit (NVU) plays a key role in the occurrence and development of ischemic stroke. Different from other classical types of cell death such as apoptosis, necrosis, autophagy, and pyroptosis, ferroptosis is an iron-dependent lipid peroxidation-driven new form of cell death. Interestingly, the function of NVU and stroke development can be regulated by activating or inhibiting ferroptosis. This review systematically describes the NVU in ischemic stroke, provides a comprehensive overview of the regulatory mechanisms and key regulators of ferroptosis, and uncovers the role of ferroptosis in the NVU and the progression of ischemic stroke. We further discuss the latest progress in the intervention of ferroptosis as a therapeutic target for ischemic stroke and summarize the research progress and regulatory mechanism of ferroptosis inhibitors on stroke. In conclusion, ferroptosis, as a new form of cell death, plays a key role in ischemic stroke and is expected to become a new therapeutic target for this disease.

Synaptic Secretion and Beyond: Targeting Synapse and Neurotransmitters to Treat Neurodegenerative Diseases.

The nervous system is important, because it regulates the physiological function of the body. Neurons are the most basic structural and functional unit of the nervous system. The synapse is an asymmetric structure that is important for neuronal function. The chemical transmission mode of the synapse is realized through neurotransmitters and electrical processes. Based on vesicle transport, the abnormal information transmission process in the synapse can lead to a series of neurorelated diseases. Numerous proteins and complexes that regulate the process of vesicle transport, such as SNARE proteins, Munc18-1, and Synaptotagmin-1, have been identified. Their regulation of synaptic vesicle secretion is complicated and delicate, and their defects can lead to a series of neurodegenerative diseases. This review will discuss the structure and functions of vesicle-based synapses and their roles in neurons. Furthermore, we will analyze neurotransmitter and synaptic functions in neurodegenerative diseases and discuss the potential of using related drugs in their treatment.

Insight into dead space effects in granular anammox process with organic stress.

In this study, the dead space was demonstrated to enhance the robustness of anammox nitrogen (N)-removal under organic stress. Different from the "yellow aggregates" that inhabit in mixing space were assembled by anammox and heterotrophic micro-colonies, the "red granules" that inhabit in dead space were formed by initial anammox aggregates that growing outward with higher anammox-activity, settleability and sludge stability, which endowed the dead space the role of "anammox-stabilizer" with prominent anammox N-removal contribution (63.8%) especially under high organic stress. The extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) dynamic balance test revealed that the high and stable EPS contents in dead space were attributed to the low EPS degradation rate and low proportion of heterotrophic bacteria (HB)-produced EPS, respectively. The weak hydrodynamic forces were the key to less HB-colonization and high granular stability in dead space. Retaining a certain dead space is necessary to prevent anammox bacteria (AnAOB) loss under organic stress.

Corrigendum: Poly(rC)-binding proteins as pleiotropic regulators in hematopoiesis and hematological malignancy.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1045797.].

Operational mode affects the role of organic matter in granular anammox process.

In the presence of organic matter, the granular anammox system under sequencing batch mode showed more robust anammox performance than that under completely mixed mode, which was attributed to the better biomass retention with high settling ability and stability of granular sludge. Based on the specific anammox activity test, stratified and mixed distribution of heterotrophic bacteria was found under completely mixed and sequencing batch mode, respectively. The stratified microbial distribution resulted in low enzyme activity of anammox bacteria and sludge disintegration by hindering substrate transfer with a large accumulation of EPS on the granular surface. Whereas the heterotrophic bacteria mixed in granules (mixed microbial distribution) act as a "skeleton", which increased the particle size, density, and stability of granular sludge. Compared with biokinetic-based selection, diffusion-based selection with high substrate penetration depth more likely resulted in the mixed granular structure and strong resistance to organic inhibition under sequencing batch mode.

Insight into enrichment of anaerobic ammonium oxidation bacteria in anammox granulation under decreasing temperature and no strict anaerobic condition: Comparison between continuous and sequencing batch feeding strategies.

A continuous flow reactor (CFR) and a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) were operated in parallel to investigate the difference between anammox granulation in CFR and SBR under decreasing temperature and no strict anaerobic condition. The results showed that the biomass achieved initial granulation successfully (D [4, 3] = 280.44 and 346.28 µm) in both CFR and SBR on day 70. Compared with SBR, a better performance (0.33 kg N m-3 d-1) was gotten in CFR due to a better retention capacity of biomass (1397 mg L-1), when seasonal drop of water temperature occurred (18-14 °C). Thus, different operations led to different granulation styles of anammox. Granules in CFR had better rheological properties than that in SBR. Based on a stable and suitable environment provided by CFR, anaerobic ammonium oxidation bacteria (AnAOB) are able to self-aggregate easily and secret extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which can capture other bacteria as home guardians. In SBR, AnAOB live inside the tan granules under the protection of other bacteria and thick EPS; other aggregations stick to solid carrier surface to form biofilm.

Performance and operational strategy of simultaneous nitrification, denitrification, and phosphorus removal system under the condition of low organic loading rate in wet weather.

A pilot-scale aerobic granular sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with domestic wastewater was operated to evaluate the effects of the low organic loading rate (OLR) due to wet weather flow conditions on simultaneous nitrification, denitrification, and phosphorus removal (SNDPR). As the OLR decreased from 0.85 to 0.43 kg COD m-3 d-1, the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) removal efficiencies decreased from 84.0% and 94.1% to 51.3% and 73.8%, respectively, the sludge volume index (SVI) increased from 42.3 to 85.5 mL g-1, and the average granular size decreased from 1022 to 742 µm; however, no sludge disintegration and biomass loss were observed. The poor nutrient removal efficiencies and settling ability were due to the shrinking anoxic zone and substrate scarcity inside the granules, wherein the activity decay of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and overgrowth of filamentous bacteria played an important role. Alternating the aeration intensity was effective in enhancing nitrogen removal and sludge settling by improving the anoxic activity in granules and inhibiting the proliferation of filamentous bacteria. Returning 20% of sludge from the end of one anaerobic stage to the beginning of the next anaerobic stage (midway sludge return) was beneficial for phosphorus removal as it improved phosphorus storage by phosphorus-accumulating bacteria. A smaller granular size with stronger stability and better nutrient removal performance was the new steady state of the SNDPR system under wet-weather flow conditions.

Multi-strategy engineering greatly enhances provitamin A carotenoid accumulation and stability in Arabidopsis seeds.

Staple grains with low levels of provitamin A carotenoids contribute to the global prevalence of vitamin A deficiency and therefore are the main targets for provitamin A biofortification. However, carotenoid stability during both seed maturation and postharvest storage is a serious concern for the full benefits of carotenoid biofortified grains. In this study, we utilized Arabidopsis as a model to establish carotenoid biofortification strategies in seeds. We discovered that manipulation of carotenoid biosynthetic activity by seed-specific expression of Phytoene synthase (PSY) increases both provitamin A and total carotenoid levels but the increased carotenoids are prone to degradation during seed maturation and storage, consistent with previous studies of provitamin A biofortified grains. In contrast, stacking with Orange (OR His ), a gene that initiates chromoplast biogenesis, dramatically enhances provitamin A and total carotenoid content and stability. Up to 65- and 10-fold increases of ß-carotene and total carotenoids, respectively, with provitamin A carotenoids composing over 63% were observed in the seeds containing OR His and PSY. Co-expression of Homogentisate geranylgeranyl transferase (HGGT) with OR His and PSY further increases carotenoid accumulation and stability during seed maturation and storage. Moreover, knocking-out of ß-carotene hydroxylase 2 (BCH2) by CRISPR/Cas9 not only potentially facilitates ß-carotene accumulation but also minimizes the negative effect of carotenoid over production on seed germination. Our findings provide new insights into various processes on carotenoid accumulation and stability in seeds and establish a multiplexed strategy to simultaneously target carotenoid biosynthesis, turnover, and stable storage for carotenoid biofortification in crop seeds. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42994-021-00046-1.

[Effect of Different Ratios of Anaerobic Time and Aeration Time on the Operation of a Continuous-Flow Reactor with Partial Nitrification Granules].

A continuous flow reactor was inoculated at 25-28℃ with mature partial nitrification granular sludge. In order to avoid the granular sludge being crushed because of the sludge backflow through the peristaltic pump, a built-in sedimentation zone was used for internal backflow. The experiment investigated the influence of the different anaerobic time to aeration time ratio (1:1, 2:1, and 1:2) on the stability of a continuous-flow partial nitrification granular sludge system. The results showed that when the controlled anaerobic time to aeration time ratio was 1:1 and 2:1, the partial nitrification performance was good and the nitrite accumulation rates were 85.2% and 94.5%, respectively. When the controlled anaerobic time to aeration time ratio was 1:2, the partial nitrification performance gradually deteriorated, and the ammonia nitrogen removal rate and nitrite accumulation rate at the end of the stage decreased to 64.1% and 58.7%, respectively. Batch test results showed that intermittent aeration and continuous aeration can better inhibit the relative activity of NOB in the partial nitrification system to a certain extent. The longer the anaerobic time, the better the NOB activity inhibition. However, too long an anaerobic time will also lead to ammonia nitrogen removal rate. In the process of partial nitrification, the long-term stable operation of continuous flow partial nitrification process can be realized by 1:1 and coordinated control of other control conditions. An analysis of sludge performance indicated that in the anaerobic time to aeration time ratio range of 1:1-1:2, the longer the anaerobic time, the more stable the granular sludge structure. The shorter the anaerobic time, the smaller the selection pressure in the reactor, resulting in poor sludge sedimentation performance and partial disintegration of partial nitrification granular sludge. An EPS chemical analysis and a three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopic analysis showed that the PN content was higher and the PN/PS value was higher when the anaerobic time and aeration time ratio was 2:1.

[Effect of On/Off Aeration Time Ratio Under High Frequency On/Off Aeration on Performance of Nitrosated Granular Sludge].

The inhibition of the on/off aeration time ratio on nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOBs) in intermittent aeration is the key to accumulating nitrite. This study explores the stable operation of nitrosated granular sludge under the same frequency of aeration and different combinations of stop exposure time. At 25-28℃, aerobic granular sludge was inoculated into a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) (R0) and acclimatized to nitrosated granular sludge by intermittent aeration and dissolved oxygen (DO) restriction. The effects of different on/off aeration time ratios in one sub-aeration cycle (3 min:3 min; 4 min:2 min; 2 min:4 min) on the performance of nitrosated granular sludge were analyzed using three same sets of SBRs (R1, R2, and R3). Experiments showed that the nitrite accumulation rates of R1 and R2 were higher, with average nitrite accumulation rates of 89% and 95%, respectively. The nitrosation performance of R3 was poor, and the nitrite accumulation rate at the end of the operation cycle was only 57%. The results showed that when the off-aeration time was between 2 and 4 minutes, the longer the off-aeration time was, the more stable the granular sludge structure was; hence, a good nitrosation performance could be maintained. When the off aeration time was less than 2 minutes, the alternation of anaerobic and aerobic environment could not be fully realized, which resulted in the sludge tending to stay in an environment of continuous aeration. Thus, the environmental advantage of intermittent aeration was lost; the NOBs could not be inhibited, and the granular sludge was disintegrated thereby leading to the deterioration of the nitrosation performance. Additionally, the longer aeration time contributed to the development of irregularly shaped particles. The longer the off-aeration time was, the higher the PN/PS value was, which was beneficial to the enhancement of the hydrophobicity of the particle surface and the sludge settling performance.

[Effect of Step Aeration on a Municipal Sewage Aerobic Granular Sludge System].

In order to achieve simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal in low-C/N urban sewage, a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was operated in anaerobic/aerobic (A/O) mode. Keeping the total aeration volume at 900 L, the aeration strategy was adjusted. The uniform aeration of 2.81 L·(h·L)-1 was changed to "high/low aeration" with high strength 4.22 L·(h·L)-1before low strength 1.88 L·(h·L)-1, and "low/high aeration" with low strength 1.88 L·(h·L)-1 before high strength 4.22 L·(h·L)-1. The experiment investigated the nitrogen and phosphorus removal performance and sludge characteristics of the system under different aeration strategies. The results showed that the nitrogen and phosphorus removal performances of the system under high/low aeration were the best. The effluent concentrations of NH4+-N, NO2--N, NO3--N, and TP were 0, 0.15, 8.12, and 0.04 mg·L-1, respectively. The removal rates of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were as high as 78.33% and 99.19%, respectively. Simultaneous nitrification endogenous denitrification (SNED) was clear, with the SNED ratio at 77.08%. Compared with uniform aeration, the system nitrification rate and denitrification rate increased, and the denitrification rate reached 14.33 mg·(g·h)-1, which was the maximum value during the whole operation; the solidity, sedimentation performance, and stability of granular sludge were improved, and the sludge volume index (SVI) was 23.49 mL·g-1. After adjusting the aeration strategy to low/high aeration, the nitrogen and phosphorus removal performance of the system deteriorated, and the removal rates of TN and TP were reduced to 51.26% and 58.32%, respectively. However, the system had the best nitrification performance with ammonia oxidation rate and nitrate production rate at 14.92 mg·(g·h)-1and 7.50 mg·(g·h)-1, respectively, which were their maximum values during the whole operation. Simultaneously, the filamentous bacteria in the granular sludge multiplied, the granular structure became loose, the sedimentation and stability all worsened, and the SVI rose to 40.76 mL·g-1.

Activation of lignin by selective oxidation: An emerging strategy for boosting lignin depolymerization to aromatics.

Lignin is the most abundant, renewable aromatic resource on earth and holds great potential for the production of value-added chemicals. The efficient valorization of lignin requires to deal with several formidable challenges, especially to prevent it from re-condensation reactions during its depolymerization. Recently, a strategy involving the activation of lignin side chains by selective oxidation of the benzylic alcohol in ß-O-4 linkages to facilitate lignin degradation to aromatic monomers has become very popular. This strategy provides great advantages for lignin selective degradation to high yields of aromatics under mild conditions, but requires an additional pre-oxidation step. The purpose of this review is to provide the latest cutting-edge innovations of this novel approach. Various catalytic systems, including those using chemo-catalytic methods, physio-chemo catalytic methods, and/or bio-catalytic methods, for the oxidative activation of lignin side chains are summarized. By analyzing the current situation of lignin depolymerization, certain promising directions are emphasized.