Comparative study of gene expression profiles rooted in acute myocardial infarction and ischemic/reperfusion rat models.

Mining data in depth of genome-wide sequencing data generated from pathological target tissues under disease conditions is necessary for seeking novel functional genes, and developing more biological study directions for the field. Based on our previous published RNA-seq data generated from acute myocardial ischemia and ischemia-reperfusion in rat heart, we re-analysed these two data sets using bioinformatics tools. All these raw fastq files were extracted from Illumina BCL using the Illumina CASAVA program. Four groups were obtained: UD (genes up-regulated in MI but down-regulated in I/R injury), DU (genes down-regulated in MI but up-regulated in I/R injury), UU (genes both up-regulated in MI and I/R injury), and DD (genes both down-regulated in MI and I/R injury) groups. The results showed that 304 common genes in the UD group, 236 common genes in the DU group, 318 common genes in the UU group, and 159 common genes in the DD group detected by comparing data sets of the MI and the I/R injury. We then listed the top 30 DEGs for each group, and carried out GO and KEGG analyses for enrichment and pathway studies for those top expressed genes. Further analysis of INTERPRO Protein Domains and Features enriched by DEGs showed that 20% of the Domains enriched were related to c-type lectin, and 17% of these domains are related to neurotransmitter-gated ion-channel. 15% of PFAM Protein Domains were about Neurotransmitter-gated ion-channel. There were only 8 SMART Protein Domains DEGs enriched and 37.5% of which were concerned about leucine-rich. Collagen involvement in Reactome Pathways accounted for 22.7%. We found that only a few DEGs in these two disease conditions have been reported in the literatures, suggesting that there are many new genes would be considered in the future studies. These analyses would provide some information for seeking more novel targets of these two clinic diseases, acute myocardial ischemia and myocardial ischemia/reperfusion.

Robust, Lightweight, Hydrophobic, and Fire-Retarded Polyimide/MXene Aerogels for Effective Oil/Water Separation.

Polyimide (PI) aerogels have attracted great attention owing to their low density and excellent thermal stability. However, hydrophobic surface modification is required for PI aerogels to improve their ability in oil/water separation due to their amphiphilic characteristic. Two-dimensional MXenes (transition metal carbides/nitrides) can be utilized as nanofillers to enhance the properties of polymers because of their unique layered structure and versatile interface chemistry. Herein, the robust, lightweight, and hydrophobic PI/MXene three-dimensional architectures were fabricated via freeze-drying of polyamide acid/MXene suspensions and thermal imidization. Polyamide acid was synthesized using N-N-dimethylacetamide and 4,4'-oxydianiline. MXene (Ti3C2Tx) dispersion was obtained via the etching of Ti3AlC2 and ultrasonic exfoliation. Taking advantage of the strong interaction between PI chains and MXene nanosheets, the interconnected, highly porous, and hydrophobic PI/MXene aerogels with low density were fabricated, resulting in the improved compressive performance, remarkable oil absorption capacity, and efficient separation of oil and water. For the PI/MXene-3 aerogel (weight ratio, 5.2:1) without any surface modification, the water contact angle was 119° with a density of 23 mg/cm3. This aerogel can completely recover to its original height after 50 compression-release cycles, exhibiting superelasticity and exceptional fatigue-resistant ability. It also showed high absorption capacities to various organic liquids ranging from approximately 18 to 58 times of their own weight. This hybrid aerogel can rapidly separate the chloroform, soybean oil, and liquid paraffin from the water-oil system. The thermally stable hybrid aerogel also exhibited excellent fire safety properties and outstanding reusability under an extreme environment.

[Preconcentration with crosslinked chitosan for determination of trace manganese in waters by flame atomic absorption spectrometry].

A novel method for the preconcentration with crosslinked chitosan (CCTS) and determination of trace manganese in waters by flame atomic absorption spectrometry has been presented. The absorption rate of manganese (VII) by CCTS was 98% at pH 3.00. The effect of preconcentration time, dosage of CCTS, temperature, sample volume and co-existing elements have been investigated. The mechanism of adsorption of CCTS for Mn(VII) was also discussed. The detection limit of the method was 1.86 microg x L(-1), and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 2.0% (n = 10). The method has been applied to the determination of trace manganese in south lake and Changjiang water with satisfactory results.