Quasi-Discrete Pore Engineering via Ligand Racemization in Metal-Organic Frameworks for Thermodynamic-Kinetic Synergistic Separation of Propylene and Propane.

The adsorptive separation of propylene and propane offers an energy-efficient alternative to the conventional cryogenic distillation technology. However, developing porous adsorbents with both high equilibrium and kinetic selectivity remains extremely challenging due to the similar size and physical properties of these gases. Herein, this work reports a ligand racemization strategy to construct quasi-discrete pores in MOFs for a synergistically enhanced thermodynamic and kinetic separation performance. The use of enantiopure l-malic acid versus racemic dl-malic acid as ligands afforded isoreticular Ni-based MOFs with contrasting one-dimensional channels (l-mal-MOF) and quasi-discrete cavities connected by small windows (dl-mal-MOF). The periodic pore constrictions in dl-mal-MOF significantly increased the differentiation in diffusion rates and binding energies between propylene and propane. dl-mal-MOF exhibited an exceptional propylene uptake of 1.82 mmol/g at 0.05 bar and 298 K along with an ultrahigh equilibrium-kinetic combined selectivity of 62.6. DFT calculations and MD simulations provided insights into the synergistic mechanism of preferential propylene adsorption and diffusion. Breakthrough column experiments demonstrated the excellent separation and high-purity recovery of propylene over propane on dl-mal-MOF. The robust stability and facile regeneration highlight its potential for propylene purification applications.

Bleomycin induces senescence and repression of DNA repair via downregulation of Rad51.

BACKGROUND: Bleomycin, a potent antitumor agent, is limited in clinical use due to the potential for fatal pulmonary toxicity. The accelerated DNA damage and senescence in alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) is considered a key factor in the development of lung pathology. Understanding the mechanisms for bleomycin-induced lung injury is crucial for mitigating its adverse effects. METHODS: Human lung epithelial (A549) cells were exposed to bleomycin and subsequently assessed for cellular senescence, DNA damage, and double-strand break (DSB) repair. The impact of Rad51 overexpression on DSB repair and senescence in AECs was evaluated in vitro. Additionally, bleomycin was intratracheally administered in C57BL/6 mice to establish a pulmonary fibrosis model. RESULTS: Bleomycin exposure induced dose- and time-dependent accumulation of senescence hallmarks and DNA lesions in AECs. These effects are probably due to the inhibition of Rad51 expression, consequently suppressing homologous recombination (HR) repair. Mechanistic studies revealed that bleomycin-mediated transcriptional inhibition of Rad51 might primarily result from E2F1 depletion. Furthermore, the genetic supplement of Rad51 substantially mitigated bleomycin-mediated effects on DSB repair and senescence in AECs. Notably, decreased Rad51 expression was also observed in the bleomycin-induced mouse pulmonary fibrosis model. CONCLUSIONS: Our works suggest that the inhibition of Rad51 plays a pivotal role in bleomycin-induced AECs senescence and lung injury, offering potential strategies to alleviate the pulmonary toxicity of bleomycin.

Customizing Metal-Organic Frameworks by Lego-Brick Strategy for One-Step Purification of Ethylene from a Quaternary Gas Mixture.

One-step purification of ethylene (C2 H4 ) from a quaternary gas mixture of C2 H6 /C2 H4 /C2 H2 /CO2 by adsorption is a promising separation process, yet developing adsorbents that synergistically capture various gas impurities remains challenging. Herein, a Lego-brick strategy is proposed to customize pore chemistry in a unified framework material. The ethane-selective MOF platform is further modified with customized binding sites to specifically adsorb acetylene and carbon dioxide, thus one-step purification of C2 H4 with high productivity of polymer-grade product (134 mol kg-1 ) is achieved on the assembly of porous coordination polymer-2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (PCP-FDCA) and PCP-5-aminoisophthalic acid (IPA-NH2 ). Computational studies verify that the low-polarity surface of this MOFs-based platform provides a delicate environment for C2 H6 recognition, and the specific binding sites (FDCA and IPA-NH2 ) exhibit favorable trapping of C2 H2 and CO2 via CHδ+ ···Oδ- and Cδ+ ···Nδ- electrostatic interactions, respectively. The proposed Lego-brick strategy to customize binding sites within the MOFs structure provides new ideas for the design of adsorbents for compounded separation tasks.

Rapid and successful effects of combining dupilumab with ultraviolet B radiation therapy in the treatment of Papuloerythroderma of Ofuji.

Papuloerythroderma of Ofuji (PEO) is an uncommon disease characterised by widespread erythroderma composed of intensely pruritic solid papules coalescing into plaques sparing the skin folds (deck-chair sign). The pathogenesis of PEO remains unclear, although T helper (Th) 2 and Th22 cells may play an important role. Dupilumab is an interleukin (IL)-4 receptor α-antagonist that effectively reduces Th2 responses, which has drawn increasing attention in the treatment of PEO patients. Here, we reported a successful case of dupilumab treatment in combination with ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation therapy, which is well known and effective for chronic itch. The patient had a significant decrease in visual analogue scale (VAS) score and eosinophil after only 1 week of treatment, which may be due to the combination effect.

The Role of NF-κB/NLRP3 Inflammasome Signaling Pathway in Attenuating Pyroptosis by Melatonin Upon Spinal Nerve Ligation Models.

Accumulated evidence has demonstrated causative links between neuropathic pain (NP) and immune-mediated inflammatory disorders. However, the role of inflammasome-induced pyroptosis in NP remains elusive. Melatonin possesses a well-documented analgesic action in various pain models. The current study aimed to test our hypothesis that melatonin regulated pyroptosis to alleviate NP by inhibiting NF-κB/NLRP3-dependent signaling. A rat model of spinal nerve ligation (SNL) was established to explore the potential association between melatonin and pyroptosis. Behavioral experiments revealed that SNL provoked severe allodynia which was suppressed by the administration of melatonin, a caspase-1 inhibitor (VX-765), or an NF-κB inhibitor (BAY 11-7085). SNL significantly up-regulated the inflammatory cytokines associated with the excessive activation of NLRP3 components and NF-κB signaling, as well as a marked pyroptosis activation. These effects were partially inhibited by melatonin, VX-765 or BAY 11-7085, and when melatonin and inhibitors were added together, the effect was enhanced. In conclusion, melatonin has potent analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects in SNL models through preventing pyroptosis via the NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammasome signaling pathway.

Deep Desulfurization with Record SO2 Adsorption on the Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Selective elimination of sulfur dioxide is significant in flue gas desulfurization and natural gas purification, yet developing adsorbents with high capture capacity especially at low partial pressure as well as excellent cycling stability remains a challenge. Herein, a family of isostructural gallate-based MOFs with abundant hydrogen bond donors decorating the pore channel was reported for selective recognition and dense packing of sulfur dioxide via multiple hydrogen bonding interactions. Multiple O···H-O hydrogen bonds and O···H-C hydrogen bonds guarantee SO2 molecules are firmly grasped within the framework, and appropriate pore apertures afford dense packing of SO2 with high uptake and density up to 1.86 g cm-3, which is evidenced by dispersion-corrected density functional theory calculations and X-ray diffraction resolution of a SO2-loaded single crystal. Ultrahigh adsorption uptake of SO2 at extremely low pressure (0.002 bar) was achieved on Co-gallate (6.13 mmol cm-3), outperforming all reported state-of-the-art MOFs. Record-high IAST selectivity of SO2/CO2 (325 for Mg-gallate) and ultrahigh selectivity of SO2/N2 (>1.0 × 104) and SO2/CH4 (>1.0 × 104) were also realized. Breakthrough experiments further demonstrate the excellent removal performance of trace amounts of SO2 in a deep desulfurization process. More importantly, M-gallate shows almost unchanged breakthrough performance after five cycles, indicating the robust cycling stability of these MOFs.

Laparoscopic fixation of biological mesh at hiatus with glue and suture during hiatal hernia repair.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic paraesophageal hernia repair is associated with higher recurrence rate. Mesh is used to reduce the recurrence rate. This retrospective study is to review our experience of biological mesh fixed with suture and medical glue in hiatal hernias repairs. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted for a consecutive series of patients undergoing laparoscopic hiatal herniorrhaphy between January 2018 and January 2019. After hiatus closure, a piece of biological prosthesis was fixed with medical glue and suture for reinforcement of the crural closure. Clinical outcomes were reviewed, and data were collected regarding operative details, complications, symptoms, and follow-up imaging. Radiological evidence of any size of hiatal hernia was considered to indicate a recurrence. RESULTS: Thirty-six patients underwent surgery uneventfully without any serious complication. There was no mortality. The follow-up was, on average, 18.4 months, and there was no symptomatic recurrence. There was one anatomical recurrence without any related presentation. The method of mesh fixation with medical glue and suture took 12 min on average, and the handling was fairly easy. CONCLUSIONS: Biological mesh fixed with suture and medical glue was safe and effective for repairing large hiatal hernias. Of course, a longer follow-up is still needed for determining long-term outcomes.

Impact of light on anoxic/oxic reactors: performance, quorum sensing, and metagenomic characteristics.

The effect of light has raised attention on wastewater treatment. However, little research has concentrated on the influences of light on activated sludge. In this study, the influences of light on the performance, quorum sensing (QS) and metagenomic characteristics of anoxic/oxic reactors were investigated. The reactor without light (AO1) showed higher total nitrogen (TN) removal (79.15 ± 1.69%) than the reactor with light (AO2) (74.54 ± 1.30%), and significant differences were observed. It was observed that light facilitated the production of protein-like and tryptophan-like substances by employing parallel factor analysis for extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), resulting in more EPS production in AO2, indicating light was beneficial to EPS production. The concentrations of N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) were various in the two reactors, so the AHLs-mediated QS behaviors in both reactors were also different. These results revealed that light significantly influenced nitrogen removal, EPS, and QS. Metagenomic analysis based on Tax4Fun demonstrated that light reduced the denitrification, stimulated the polysaccharide and protein biosynthesis pathways and down-regulated the AHLs synthesis pathway, resulting in lower TN removal, more EPS production, and lower AHLs concentrations. Based on the above, the likely mechanism was proposed for the influences of light on the reactor.

CoNi Alloy Nanoparticles Embedded in Metal-Organic Framework-Derived Carbon for the Highly Efficient Separation of Xenon and Krypton via a Charge-Transfer Effect.

Separation of Xe and Kr is one of the greatest challenges in the gas industries owing to their close molecular structure and similar properties. Energy-effective adsorption-based separation using chemically stable carbon adsorbents is a promising technology. We propose a strategy for Xe/Kr separation using MOF-derived metallic carbon adsorbents. M-Gallate (M=Ni, Co) were used as precursors to fabricate CoNi alloy nanoparticles embedded carbon adsorbents by one-step auto-reduction pyrolysis. The optimal NiCo@C-700 exhibits record-high IAST selectivity (24.1) and Henry's selectivity (20.1) of Xe/Kr among reported carbon adsorbents. DFT calculations, local density of states calculation, charge density difference, and Bader charge analysis reveal the great affinity with Xe benefits from the presence of Ni or CoNi nanoparticles as a result of more charge transfer from Xe than Kr to metal, thus providing higher binding energy. Breakthrough experiments further verify NiCo@C-700 a promising candidate for Xe/Kr separation.

Tension-Free Mesh Repair for Incarcerated Groin Hernia: A Comparative Study.

Background. Management of emergent groin hernias remains challenging, due to limited consensus in surgical approach and repair options (eg, mesh vs nonmesh, biological mesh, and polypropylene [PP] mesh). Methods. A 5-year retrospective study was conducted on 118 patients who received emergency incarcerated groin hernia repair in Beijing Chaoyang Hospital. The incidence of surgical site infection (SSI), preoperative mortality, sepsis, and ileus was noted. In the follow-up, postoperative foreign body sensation, chronic pain, seroma/hematoma, and recurrence were recorded. The outcomes of different surgical procedures (with mesh/without mesh, biological mesh/PP mesh, transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP)/Lichtenstein repair) were compared and analyzed. Results. Out of the 118 patients, 14 cases received suture repair (as group A); 104 cases had TAPP repair (n = 44) or Lichtenstein repair (n = 60) with meshes, including 23 cases of biological mesh (as group B); and 81 cases had repair with PP mesh (group C). There were no significant differences between the 3 groups regarding SSI, mortality, sepsis, and ileus. After 20.5 months of follow-up (range from 6 to 65 months), 21.4% of group A developed recurrence, a rate significantly higher than that of group B (4.3%) and group C (0). The incidence of seroma/hematoma in group B was higher than that in group A (7.1%) and group C (7.4%). The results between TAPP group and Lichtenstein group were comparable. Conclusion. Tension-free mesh repair in the treatment of emergency incarcerated groin hernia is safe and effective, which can reduce hernia recurrence without increasing infection risk. The results of biological mesh and PP mesh were comparable.

Fully-automatic segmentation of coronary artery using growing algorithm.

Currently, cardiac computed tomography angiography (CTA) is widely applied to coronary artery disease diagnosis. Automatic segmentation of coronary artery has played an important role in coronary artery disease diagnosis. In this study, we propose and test a fully automatic coronary artery segmentation method that does not require any human-computer interaction. The proposed method uses a growing strategy and contains three main parts namely, (1) the initial seed detection that automatically detects the root points of the left and right coronary arteries where the ascending aorta meets the coronary arteries, (2) the growing strategy that searches for the neighborhood blocks to decide the existence of coronary arteries with an improved convolutional neural network, and (3) the iterative termination condition that decides whether the growing iteration finishes. The proposed framework is validated using a dataset containing 32 cardiac CTA volumes from different patients for training and testing. Experimental results show that the proposed method obtained a Dice loss ranged from 0.70 to 0.83, which indicates that the new method outperforms the traditional methods such as level set.

High-frequency genome editing using ssDNA oligonucleotides with zinc-finger nucleases.

Zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) have enabled highly efficient gene targeting in multiple cell types and organisms. Here we describe methods for using simple ssDNA oligonucleotides in tandem with ZFNs to efficiently produce human cell lines with three distinct genetic outcomes: (i) targeted point mutation, (ii) targeted genomic deletion of up to 100 kb and (iii) targeted insertion of small genetic elements concomitant with large genomic deletions.

[Stellar spectral outliers detection based on Isomap].

How to find the spectra misclassified by traditional methods is the key problem that has been widely studied by the experts of astronomical data processing. We found that Isomap algorithm performs well for this problem. By comparing the performance of Isomap with that of principal component analysis (PCA), we found that (1) Isomap can project the spectra with similar features together and project the spectra with different features far away, while PCA may project the spectra with different features into nearby regions; (2) the outliers given by Isomap can be easily determined, and most of the outliers are binary stars with high scientific values; while the outliers given by PCA are difficult to determine and most of outliers are not binary stars. Thus, Isomap is more efficient than PCA in finding the outliers. Since the spectral data used in experiment are the spectra from the ninth data release of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS DR9), Isomap can find the spectra misclassified by SDSS pipeline efficiently and improve the classification accuracy obviously. Furthermore, since most of the spectra misclassified by SDSS pipeline are binary stars, Isomap can improve the efficiency of finding the binary stars with high scientific values. Though the experiment results show that Isomap is more sensitive to the noise than PCA, this disadvantage will not affect the application of Isomap in spectral classification since most of the spectra with low signal-to-noise ratios are the spectra whose spectral type can't be determined manually.

Description of three new species of Ooencyrtus (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) from China.

Hymenoptera parasitoids of Megaloptera, particularly the family Corydalidae, are rarely found. Ooencyrtus Ashmead is a genus that attacks eggs of many orders of Insecta, including Megaloptera. Here, three species, O. longicauda sp. n., O. noyesi sp. n. and O. protohermeasis sp. n. are described. Two of them, O. longicauda and O. protohermesis were reared from eggs of corydalids (Megaloptera: Corydalidae). The three new species and O. yoshidai Noyes & Hirose are included in the newly established protohermesis species-group of Ooencyrtus because of shared similar morphological characters and what is apparently a shared host family (unknown for O. noyesi).

Reaction engineering blocks ether cleavage for synthesizing chiral cyclic hemiacetals catalyzed by unspecific peroxygenase.

Hemiacetal compounds are valuable building blocks in synthetic chemistry, but their enzymatic synthesis is limited and often hindered by the instability of hemiacetals in aqueous environments. Here, we show that this challenge can be addressed through reaction engineering by using immobilized peroxygenase from Agrocybe aegerita (AaeUPO) under neat reaction conditions, which allows for the selective C-H bond oxyfunctionalization of environmentally significant cyclic ethers to cyclic hemiacetals. A wide range of chiral cyclic hemiacetal products are prepared in >99% enantiomeric excess and 95170 turnover numbers of AaeUPO. Furthermore, by changing the reaction medium from pure organic solvent to alkaline aqueous conditions, cyclic hemiacetals are in situ transformed into lactones. Lactams are obtained under the applied conditions, albeit with low enzyme activity. These findings showcase the synthetic potential of AaeUPO and offer a practical enzymatic approach to produce chiral cyclic hemiacetals through C-H oxyfunctionalization under mild conditions.

Optimizing hydraulic retention time of high-rate activated sludge designed for potential integration with partial nitritation/anammox in municipal wastewater treatment.

The integration of high-rate activated sludge (HRAS), an effective carbon redirection technology, with partial nitritation/anammox (PN/A) is a novel AB treatment process for municipal wastewater. In this study, an airlift HRAS reactor was operated in the continuous inflow mode for 200 d at a wastewater treatment plant. The balance between potential PN/A system stability and peak HRAS performance under decreasing hydraulic retention time (HRT) was optimized. Energy consumption and recovery and CO2 emissions were calculated. The results showed that the optimal HRT suitable with the PN/A process was 3 h, achieving 2-3 g/L mixed liquor volatile suspended solid, 67.8 % chemical oxygen demand (COD) recovery, 81 % total COD removal efficiency, 2.27 ± 1.03 g COD/L/d organic loading rate, 62 % aeration reduction, and 0.24 kWh/m3 power recovery potential. Such findings hold practical value and contribute to the development of the optimal AB process capable of achieving energy autonomy and carbon neutrality.

Rapid start-up of an innovative pilot-scale staged PN/A continuous process for enhanced nitrogen removal from mature landfill leachate via robust NOB elimination and efficient biomass retention.

The start-up and stable operation of partial nitritation-anammox (PN/A) treatment of mature landfill leachate (MLL) still face challenges. This study developed an innovative staged pilot-scale PN/A system to enhance nitrogen removal from MLL. The staged process included a PN unit, an anammox upflow enhanced internal circulation biofilm (UEICB) reactor, and a post-biofilm unit. Rapid start-up of the continuous flow PN process (full-concentration MLL) was achieved within 35 days by controlling dissolved oxygen and leveraging free ammonia and free nitrous acid to selectively suppress nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). The UEICB was equipped with an annular flow agitator combined with the enhanced internal circulation device of the guide tube, which achieved an efficient enrichment of Candidatus Kuenenia in the biofilm (relative abundance of 33.4 %). The nitrogen removal alliance formed by the salt-tolerant anammox bacterium (Candidatus Kuenenia) and denitrifying bacteria (unclassified SBR1031 and Denitratisoma) achieved efficient nitrogen removal of UEICB (total nitrogen removal percentage: 90.8 %) and at the same time effective treatment of the refractory organic matter (ROM). The dual membrane process of UEICB fixed biofilm combined with post-biofilm is effective in sludge retention, and can stably control the effluent suspended solids (SS) at a level of less than 5 mg/L. The post-biofilm unit ensured that effluent total nitrogen (TN) remained below the 40 mg/L discharge standard (98.5 % removal efficiency). Compared with conventional nitrification-denitrification systems, the staged PN/A process substantially reduced oxygen consumption, sludge production, CO2 emissions and carbon consumption by 22.8 %, 67.1 %, 87.1 % and 87.1 %, respectively. The 195-day stable operation marks the effective implementation of the innovative pilot-scale PN/A process in treating actual MLL. This study provides insights into strategies for rapid start-up, robust NOB suppression, and anammox biomass retention to advance the application of PN/A in high-ammonia low-carbon wastewater.

Anti-hypoxia effect of adenovirus-mediated expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) on primary cultured neurons.

Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) has attracted great attention recently in hypoxia injury because of its close link to the recovery after hypoxic-ischemic damage in organs. However, the cellular mechanism underlying its protective roles remains unclear. In this study, we developed a recombinant adenovirus containing HSP70-GFP (vAd-HSP70-GFP) and studied the effect of virus-mediated expression of exogenous HSP70 gene on neurons in response to hypoxia-reoxygenation injury. Virus-mediated expression of HSP70 was detected as early as 24 hr and lasted until 10 days after infection. Neurons with 48 hr vAd-HSP70-GFP infection were exposed to 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, or 4 hr hypoxia followed by 1 hr reoxygenation. The mRNA and protein levels of HSP70 in neurons exposed to different lengths of hypoxia were compared by using RT-PCR and Western blotting (WB). The 1-hr hypoxia exposure showed the most significant increases in the HSP70 mRNA and protein level compared with other exposure durations. MTT assay showed that HSP70 overexpression significantly increased the neuronal viability, accompanied by decreased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in the culture medium after hypoxia-reoxygenation. Neurons with vAd-HSP70-GFP exhibited increased levels of mitochondrial cytochrome C (Cyt-C) and decreased levels of cytoplasmic Cyt-C compared with vAd-GFP-infected cells. These results suggest a neuroprotective role of exogenous HSP70 against hypoxia-reoxygenation injury, possibly via preventing initiation of mitochondrial apoptosis.

Camellia fruit borer, Neoblastobasis camelliae, a new species of Blastobasinae in China (Lepidoptera, Blastobasidae).

A new Neoblastobasis Kuznetzov & Sinev, 1985, Neoblastobasis camelliae Chen & Wu, sp. nov., is described from Jiangxi, China, and reported feeding on the fruits of Camellia oleifera Abel (Theaceae). Illustrations of the adult antennal base, tergal spines on the posterior part of tergites, male genital structures, and notes on its biology are provided. A list of the Blastobasidae known from China is also included. Two species, Blastobasis murcyae Adamski & Brown, 2002 and B. ianella Adamski, 2003 are transferred from Blastobasis to Neoblastobasis.

Uncovering the Mechanism of Azepino-Indole Skeleton Formation via Pictet-Spengler Reaction by Strictosidine Synthase: A Quantum Chemical Investigation.

Strictosidine synthase (STR) catalyzes the Pictet-Spengler (PS) reaction of tryptamine and secologanin to produce strictosidine. Recent studies demonstrated that the enzyme can also catalyze the reaction of non-natural substrates to form new alkaloid skeletons. For example, the PS condensation of 1H-indole-4-ethanamine with secologanin could be promoted by the STR from Rauvolfia serpentina (RsSTR) to generate a rare class of skeletons with a seven-membered ring, namely azepino-[3,4,5-cd]-indoles, which are precursors for the synthesis of new compounds displaying antimalarial activity. In the present study, the detailed reaction mechanism of RsSTR-catalyzed formation of the rare seven-membered azepino-indole skeleton through the PS reaction was revealed at the atomic level by quantum chemical calculations. The structures of the transition states and intermediates involved in the reaction pathway were optimized, and the energetics of the complete reaction were analyzed. Based on our calculation results, the most likely pathway of the enzyme-catalyzed reaction was determined, and the rate-determining step of the reaction was clarified. The mechanistic details obtained in the present study are important in understanding the promiscuous activity of RsSTR in the formation of the rare azepino-indole skeleton molecule and are also helpful in designing STR enzymes for the synthesis of other new alkaloid skeleton molecules.