Mitigation of reverse osmosis membrane fouling by coagulation pretreatment to remove silica and transparent exopolymer particles.

The dissolution of silica and transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) can deposit on the membrane surface and cause serious membrane fouling in reverse osmosis (RO) technology. Coagulation, as a common pretreatment process for RO, can effectively intercept pollutants and alleviate membrane fouling. In this study, FeCl3 and AlCl3 coagulants and polyacrylamide (PAM) flocculants were used to explore the optimal coagulation conditions to reduce the concentration of silica and TEP in the RO process. The results showed that the two coagulants had the best removal effect on pollutants when the pH was 7 and the dosage was 50 mg/L. Considering the proportion of reversible fouling after coagulation, the removal rate of pollutants, and the residual amount of coagulation metal ions, the best PAM dosage was 5 mg/L for FeCl3 and 1 mg/L for AlCl3. After coagulation pretreatment, the Zeta potential decreased, and the particle size distribution increased, making pollutants tend to aggregate, thus effectively removing foulants. The removal mechanisms of pollutants by coagulation pretreatment were determined to be adsorption, electric neutralization and co-precipitation. This study determined the best removal conditions of silica and TEP by coagulation and explored the removal mechanism.

Fibrotic immune microenvironment remodeling mediates superior anti-tumor efficacy of a nano-PD-L1 trap in hepatocellular carcinoma.

The local microenvironment where tumors develop can shape cancer progression and therapeutic outcome. Emerging evidence demonstrate that the efficacy of immune-checkpoint blockade (ICB) is undermined by fibrotic tumor microenvironment (TME). The majority of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) develops in liver fibrosis, in which the stromal and immune components may form a barricade against immunotherapy. Here, we report that nanodelivery of a programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) trap gene exerts superior efficacy in treating fibrosis-associated HCC when compared with the conventional monoclonal antibody (mAb). In two fibrosis-associated HCC models induced by carbon tetrachloride and a high-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, the PD-L1 trap induced significantly larger tumor regression than mAb with no evidence of toxicity. Mechanistic studies revealed that PD-L1 trap, but not mAb, consistently reduced the M2 macrophage proportion in the fibrotic liver microenvironment and promoted cytotoxic interferon gamma (IFNγ)+tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α)+CD8+T cell infiltration to the tumor. Moreover, PD-L1 trap treatment was associated with decreased tumor-infiltrating polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cell (PMN-MDSC) accumulation, resulting in an inflamed TME with a high cytotoxic CD8+T cell/PMN-MDSC ratio conductive to anti-tumor immune response. Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis of two clinical cohorts demonstrated preferential PD-L1 expression in M2 macrophages in the fibrotic liver, thus supporting the translational potential of nano-PD-L1 trap for fibrotic HCC treatment.

Long non-coding RNA DANCR increases spinal cord neuron apoptosis and inflammation of spinal cord injury by mediating the microRNA-146a-5p/MAPK6 axis.

OBJECTIVE: This research was to unravel the impact of the lncRNA differentiation antagonizing non-protein coding RNA (DANCR)/microRNA (miR)-146a-5p/mitogen-activated protein kinase 6 (MAPK6) axis on spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS: SCI mouse models were established and injected with si-DANCR or miR-146a-5p agomir. The recovery of motor function was assessed by Basso Mouse Scale. SCI was pathologically evaluated, and serum inflammatory factors were measured in SCI mice. Mouse spinal cord neurons were injured by H2O2 and transfected, followed by assessment of proliferation and apoptosis. DANCR, miR-146a-5p, and MAPK6 in tissues and cells were detected, as well as their relationship. RESULTS: DANCR increased and miR-146a-5p decreased in SCI. Silencing DANCR or enhancing miR-146a-5p stimulated the proliferation of mouse spinal cord neurons and reduced apoptosis. DANCR was bound to miR-146a-5p to target MAPK6. DANCR affected the proliferation and apoptosis of spinal cord neurons by mediating the miR-146a-5p/MAPK6 axis. Downregulating DANCR or upregulating miR-146a-5p improved inflammation, the destruction of spinal cord tissue structure, and apoptosis in SCI mice. CONCLUSION: DANCR affects spinal cord neuron apoptosis and inflammation of SCI by mediating the miR-146a-5p/MAPK6 axis.

Various solitons induced by relative phase in the nonlinear Schrödinger Maxwell-Bloch system.

We study the effect of relative phase on the characteristics of rogue waves and solitons described by rational solutions in the nonlinear Schrödinger Maxwell-Bloch system. We derived the rational rogue wave and soliton solutions with adjustable relative phase and present the parameter range of different types of rogue waves and solitons. Our findings show that the relative phase can alter the distribution of rational solitons and even change the type of rational solitons, leading to a rich array of rational soliton types by adjusting the relative phase. However, the relative phase does not affect the structure of the rogue wave, because the relative phase of the rogue wave changes during evolution. In particular, we confirm that the rational solitons with varying relative phases and the rogue waves at corresponding different evolution positions share the same distribution mode. This relationship holds true for rogue waves or breathers and their stable counterparts solitons or periodic waves in different nonlinear systems. The implications of our study are significant for exploring fundamental excitation elements in nonlinear systems.

Fabrication of the flower-like Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst Bi-BiOI/UiO 66 for enhanced photodegradation of acetaminophen in simulated wastewater.

Acetaminophen is a representative contaminant of emerging persistent organic pollutants that can cause environmental problems when it enters municipal wastewater. An innovative flower-like Z-scheme photocatalyst Bi-BiOI/UiO 66 heterojunction composite was designed and constructed via a one-step solvothermal method. Investigations demonstrated that the Z-scheme structure strongly contributes to increasing the degradation efficiency of micropollutants. The results indicate that the bandgap energy (Eg) of the Bi-BiOI/UiO 66 composite decreases significantly from 3.22 eV to 2.43 eV, in comparison with that of pure copper-based UiO 66. Under suitable conditions (5 mg/L Ace, pH 3, 0.05 g/L), the organic pollutants in the water can be removed completely. A k value of 5.67 × 10-2 min-1 for the Bi-BiOI/UiO 66 heterojunction composite was found to effectively represent the acetaminophen photodegradation process. The reaction mechanism of acetamide in aqueous solution is also discussed. The Bi in Bi-BiOI can use surface plasmon resonance to form an electric field and accelerate the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes. This study highlights the potential of a novel photocatalyst for practical application.

Insight into the microbial community of denitrification process using different solid carbon sources: Not only bacteria.

There is a lack of understanding about the bacterial, fungal and archaeal communities' composition of solid-phase denitrification (SPD) systems. We investigated four SPD systems with different carbon sources by analyzing microbial gene sequences based on operational taxonomic unit (OTU) and amplicon sequence variant (ASV). The results showed that the corncob-polyvinyl alcohol sodium alginate-polycaprolactone (CPSP, 0.86±0.04 mg NO3--N/(g·day)) and corncob (0.85±0.06 mg NO3--N/(g·day)) had better denitrification efficiency than polycaprolactone (PCL, 0.29±0.11 mg NO3--N/(g·day)) and polyvinyl alcohol-sodium alginate (PVA-SA, 0.24±0.07 mg NO3--N/(g·day)). The bacterial, fungal and archaeal microbial composition was significantly different among carbon source types such as Proteobacteria in PCL (OTU: 83.72%, ASV: 82.49%) and Rozellomycota in PVA-SA (OTU: 71.99%, ASV: 81.30%). ASV methods can read more microbial units than that of OTU and exhibit higher alpha diversity and classify some species that had not been identified by OTU such as Nanoarchaeota phylum, unclassified_ f_ Xanthobacteraceae genus, etc., indicating ASV may be more conducive to understand SPD microbial communities. The co-occurring network showed some correlation between the bacteria fungi and archaea species, indicating different species may collaborate in SPD systems. Similar KEGG function prediction results were obtained in two bioinformatic methods generally and some fungi and archaea functions should not be ignored in SPD systems. These results may be beneficial for understanding microbial communities in SPD systems.

Association between IL-38 and inflammatory indicators in patients with bacterial pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: IL-38, a recently discovered cytokine of IL-1 family, exerts immunoregulatory activities in multi-type inflammatory diseases. However, its expression level and underlying clinical importance for IL-38 in respiratory bacterial infections remain unknown. METHODS: Thirty-five patients with bacterial pneumonia and twenty age- and gender- matched healthy individuals were enrolled in the study to determine serum IL-38 concentrations by ELISA. Then, the correlation between serum IL-38 levels and clinical features were analyzed and ROC curve was used to evaluate the potential diagnostic value for bacterial infections. In vitro, LPS-stimulated human respiratory epithelial cell model was employed to explore immunomodulatory mechanism of IL-38 in pulmonary infections. RESULTS: Elevated serum levels of IL-38 were determined in patients with bacterial pneumonia when compared with healthy controls. In addition, serum IL-38 levels were negatively correlated with clinical inflammation parameters, including WBC count, CRP, PCT and proinflammatory IL-6 and IL-8. In vitro, we demonstrated that recombinant IL-38 was able to remarkably inhibit expression of proinflammatory IL-6, IL-8, IL-1ß and TNF-α as well as adhesion molecule ICAM-1, which were partially mediated by attenuated activation of STAT3 and NF-κB signal cascades in BEAS-2B cells. Furthermore, we identified the diagnostic efficiency of IL-38 in discriminating patients with bacterial pneumonia from healthy individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates higher serum IL-38 levels in patients with bacterial pneumonia are involved in anti-inflammatory activities in respiratory infections revealing a critical role of IL-38 in attenuating excessive pulmonary inflammation against exogenous pathogens. More importantly, IL-38 exhibited a potential novel biomarker for bacterial pneumonia. Thus, our data may provide useful insights for both clinical and basic research for bacterial pneumonia diagnosis.

Ring finger protein 10 improves pirarubicin-induced cardiac inflammation by regulating the AP-1/Meox2 signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVES: Pirarubicin (THP) is widely used in clinical antitumor therapy, but its cardiotoxicity seriously affects the therapeutic effect in patients. In the study, we investigated the role of ring finger protein 10 (RNF10) in cardiotoxicity induced by THP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cardiac toxicity model in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats induced by THP was established. Changes in diet, weight, electrocardiogram (ECG), and echocardiography were observed. Serum levels of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), creatine kinase MB (CK-MB), cardiac troponin T (cTnT), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were measured. The expression of RNF10 in myocardium was observed by immunohistochemistry. The expressions of RNF10, activator protein-1 (AP-1), mesenchyme homeobox 2 (Meox2), total nuclear factor (NF)-κB p65 (T-P65), phosphorylated NF-κB p65 (PP65), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, and mature IL-1ß were detected by Western blot. A THP-induced H9c2 myocardial cell injury model was established. RNF10 was downregulated or overexpressed by RNF10 siRNA and a RNF10 lentiviral vector, respectively. Then, cell viability was measured. The expression of RNF10 in H9c2 cells was observed by immunofluorescence. All of the above signaling pathways were verified by Western blots. FINDINGS: THP caused a series of cardiotoxic manifestations in SD rats. Our studies suggested that THP caused cardiac inflammation by inhibiting the expression of RNF10, while overexpression of RNF10 antagonized the cardiotoxicity induced by THP. SIGNIFICANCE: Our study showed RNF10 improved THP-induced cardiac inflammation by regulating the AP-1/Meox2 signaling pathway. RNF10 may be a new target to treat THP-induced cardiotoxicity.

Novel slow-release carbon source improves anodic denitrification and electricity generation efficiency in microbial fuel cells.

MFC anodic denitrification is more suitable for the coexistence of organic matter and nitrate in actual sewage, but the traditional carbon source has some problems such as high cost and difficulty of dosage control in MFC. Herein, corncob and polycaprolactone (PCL) were mechanically pulverized and mixed in the system of polyvinyl alcohol and sodium alginate, and cross-linked to prepare slow-release carbon source fillers (CPSP), which were added to the MFC anolyte to realize the coupling of solid-phase denitrification and anodic denitrification. Results showed the start-up period of MFC experimental group (MFC-C) with CPSP was slightly longer than the control group (MFC-0), but MFC-C's maximum output voltage (648.4 mV) and power density (2738 mW/m3) could be increased by 5% and 15% higher than that of MFC-0 (P < 0.05). The degradation process of MFC substrate in unit cycle was mainly divided into nitrogen removal stage (0-8 h) and electricity generation stage (8-48 h). The NO3--N and COD degradation and power generation kinetic processes of MFC conformed to the Han-Levenspiel model. Kinetics experiments showed CPSP can improve the affinity and tolerance of MFC to NO3--N, also it can alleviate the pressure of electron competition in anolyte and improve coulombic efficiency. In addition, microbial communities were significantly changed under the effect of CPSP (P < 0.001). Meanwhile, CPSP can promote the synthesis of denitrification functional genes. This study provides a new strategy to improve the performance of MFC by the addition of novel denitrification carbon source.

Cumulative health risk in children and adolescents exposed to bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP).

Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) has been widely concerned owing to its widespread detection and endocrine disrupting effect. Nevertheless, systematic analysis and evaluation of the current status of DEHP contamination are still insufficient for children and adolescents. Dietary exposure and nondietary exposure to DEHP were investigated to estimate the total average daily dose (ADD). The top three contributors were dust exposure, edible oil and vegetable intake. Dietary intake contributed highly (70%) to daily exposure to DEHP. By analyzing the monitoring data on DEHP exposure, the cumulative health risks of DEHP were assessed for different age groups of children and adolescents in East China. The probability distributions of noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic risks were determined by Monte Carlo simulation. The results showed that the risk level reduced with age. The predicted mean noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic risks for all age groups exceeded the acceptable level, indicating that the general population would be at high risk by DEHP overexposure. Schoolchildren at ages 6∼<9 were more susceptible to DEHP exposure, with a 30% possibility of exceeding the safety limit Based on these results, gradual banning and restriction should be carried out to decrease DEHP contamination and potential health risks.

Fabrication, characterization, and application of BiOI@ZIF-8 nanocomposite for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of acetaminophen from aqueous solutions under UV-vis irradiation.

This work investigates the use of novel BiOI@ZIF-8 nanocomposite for the removal of acetaminophen (Ace) from synthetic wastewater. The samples were analyzed using FTIR, XRD, XPS, DRS, PL, FESEM-EDS, and ESR techniques. The effects of the loading capacity of ZIF-8 on the photocatalytic oxidation performance of bismuth oxyiodide (BiOI) were studied. The photocatalytic degradation of Ace was maximized by optimizing pH, reaction time and the amount of photocatalyst. On this basis, the removal mechanisms of the target pollutant by the nanocomposite and its photodegradation pathways were elucidated. Under optimized conditions of 1 g/L of composite, pH 6.8, and 4 h of reaction time, it was found that the BiOI@ZIF-8 (w/w = 1:0.01) nanocomposite exhibited the highest Ace removal (94%), as compared to that of other loading ratios at the same Ace concentration of 25 mg/L. Although this result was encouraging, the treated wastewater still did not satisfy the required statutory of 0.2 mg/L. It is suggested that the further biological processes need to be adopted to complement Ace removal in the samples. To sustain its economic viability for wastewater treatment, the spent composite still could be reused for consecutive five cycles with 82% of regeneration efficiency. Overall, this series of work shows that the nanocomposite was a promising photocatalyst for Ace removal from wastewater samples.

Safety and effectiveness of neoadjuvant PD-1 inhibitor (toripalimab) plus chemotherapy in stage II-III NSCLC (LungMate 002): an open-label, single-arm, phase 2 trial.

BACKGROUND: This trial aimed to analyse the safety, effectiveness and transcriptomic characteristics of neoadjuvant toripalimab plus chemotherapy in II-III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: Patient eligibility mainly involved treatment-naive, clinical stage II-III and wild-type EGFR/ALK NSCLC. The patients received 2-4 cycles of toripalimab (240 mg q3w) plus carboplatin-based chemotherapy. After the second treatment cycle, all patients were re-evaluated by a multidisciplinary team. Candidates eligible for surgery underwent surgery; otherwise, patients received the remaining treatment cycles. The primary endpoints were safety and major pathological response (MPR). Secondary endpoints were R0 resection rate, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). RNA sequencing of baseline and post-treatment samples was conducted to explore the transcriptomic characteristics of the therapeutic response. RESULTS: In total, 50 eligible patients were enrolled, including 12 (24.0%) with resectable disease (RD) and 38 (76.0%) with potentially resectable disease (PRD). Treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) were recorded in 48 cases (96.0%). Severe TRAEs occurred in 3 (6.0%) cases, including myelosuppression, drug-induced liver injury and death related to haemoptysis. The objective response rate (ORR) was 76.0%, with 8 (16.0%) patients having a complete response (CR), 30 (60.0%) partial response (PR), 10 (20.0%) stable disease (SD) and 2 (4.0%) progressive disease (PD). Surgery could be achieved in 12 (100%) patients with RD and 25 (65.8%) with PRD; 1 (2.0%) with PRD refused surgery. Therefore, R0 resection was performed for all 36 (100%) patients who underwent surgery; 20 (55.6%) achieved MPR, including 10 (27.8%) with a complete pathological response (pCR). The CHI3L1 (chitinase-3-like protein 1) immunohistochemistry (IHC) expression of baseline tumour samples could predict the therapeutic response (AUC=0.732), OS (P=0.017) and PFS (P=0.001). Increased PD-1 expression, T cell abundance and immune-related pathway enrichment were observed in post-treatment samples compared to baseline in the response group (CR+PR) but not in the non-response group (SD+PD). CONCLUSIONS: Neoadjuvant toripalimab plus chemotherapy was safe and effective, with a high MPR and manageable TRAEs for II-III NSCLC, even converting initially PRD to RD. Disparate transcriptomic characteristics of therapeutic efficiency were observed, and CHI3L1 expression predicted therapeutic response and survival. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ChiCTR1900024014, June 22, 2019.

Erratum: Activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR/p70S6K Pathway is Involved in S100A4-Induced Viability and Migration in Colorectal Cancer Cells: Erratum.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.7150/ijms.8128.].

Recanalization of thrombosed aneurysmal hemodialysis arterovenous fistulas using a hybrid technique based on data from a single center.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the technical specifications and clinical outcomes of thrombosed aneurysmal haemodialysis arteriovenous fistula (AVF) treated with ultrasound-guided percutaneous transluminal angioplasty combined with minimal aneurysmotomy. METHODS: This case series study included 11 patients who had thrombosed aneurysmal AVF and underwent salvage procedures over a 13-month period. All procedures were performed under duplex guidance. Minimal aneurysmotomy was performed, along with manual thrombectomy and thrombolytic agent infusion, followed by angioplasty to macerate the thrombus and sufficiently dilate potential stenoses. A successful procedure was defined as immediate restoration of flow through the AVF. RESULTS: The 11 patients (four males and seven females) had a mean age of 49.6 years ± 11.9 years. Six patients (54.5%) had two or more aneurysms. The mean aneurysm maximal diameter was 21.5 mm (standard deviation: ± 5.0 mm), and the mean thrombus length was 12.9 cm (8-22 cm). Ten (83.3%) of the 12 procedures were technically successful. The mean duration of operation was 150.9 minutes (standard deviation: ± 34.2 minutes), and mean postoperative AVF blood flow was 728.6 ml/min (standard deviation: ± 53.7 mi/min). The resumption of hemodialysis was successful in all 11 cases, with a clinical success rate of 100%. The primary patency rates were 90.0% and 75.0% at three and four months over a mean follow-up time of 6.3 months (3-12 months). The secondary patency rates were 90.4% at three and four months. CONCLUSION: A hybrid approach combining ultrasound-guided percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and minimal aneurysmotomy might be a safe and effective method for thrombosed aneurysmal AVF salvage.

Excitation of mirror symmetry higher-order rational soliton in modulation stability regimes on continuous wave background.

We study the relationship between the structures of the nonlinear localized waves and the distribution characteristics of the modulation stability regime in a nonlinear fiber with both third-order and fourth-order effects. On the background frequency and background amplitude plane, the modulation stability region consists of two symmetric curves on the left and right and a point on the symmetry axis. We find that the higher-order excitation characteristics are obviously different at different positions in the modulation stability region. Their excitation characteristics are closely related to the modulation instability distribution characteristics of the system. It is shown that asymmetric high-order rational solitons are excited at the left and right stable curves, and the symmetric one is excited at the stable points. Interestingly, the asymmetric higher-order rational solitons on the left and right sides are mirror-symmetrical to each other, which coincides with the symmetry of the modulation instability distribution. These results can deepen our understanding of the relationship between nonlinear excitation and modulation instability and enrich our knowledge about higher-order nonlinear excitations.

Assessment of EN-RAGE, sRAGE and EN-RAGE/sRAGE as potential biomarkers in patients with autoimmune hepatitis.

BACKGROUND: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a liver disease characterized by the autoimmune-induced injury of hepatocytes which can lead to cirrhosis and hepatic failure. The diagnosis and disease management of AIH patients remain challenging due to the diversity of clinical phenotypes and the presence of confounders such as alcohol and viruses. Recently, EN-RAGE and sRAGEs have been implicated in inflammatory-immune response. Nonetheless, their natural behaviour and relationship to disease activity as well as clinical predictive values in AIH development or therapy-induced remission have not been reported. METHODS: Sixty-seven AIH patients and thirty gender- and age-matched healthy controls (HC) were enrolled. The serum concentrations of EN-RAGE, sRAGE and their ratio (EN-RAGE/sRAGE) in these subjects were measured by ELISA. Besides, the correlations of three parameters with clinical features and therapeutic response were analyzed, respectively. Furthermore, their potential predictive values for monitoring the AIH progression and therapeutic response were also evaluated. RESULTS: Higher serum EN-RAGE, lower sRAGE and higher EN-RAGE/sRAGE value were observed in AIH patients. EN-RAGE and sRAGE as well as EN-RAGE/sRAGE were correlated with liver necroinflammation parameters, cirrhosis occurrence and therapeutic response. In addition, we identified that EN-RAGE/sRAGE, EN-RAGE and sRAGE had valuable predicting power for AIH patients, AIH patients with normal ALT and cirrhosis incidence, respectively. More importantly, EN-RAGE/sRAGE also exerted predicting power for the remission in AIH patients. CONCLUSIONS: AIH patients rendered distinct patterns of serum EN-RAGE, sRAGE or EN-RAGE/sRAGE compared to healthy controls. Moreover, these three parameters exhibited potentials as novel biomarkers for AIH diagnosis and prognosis evaluation.

MiR-19b-3p attenuates IL-1ß induced extracellular matrix degradation and inflammatory injury in chondrocytes by targeting GRK6.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by degradation of articular cartilage. MiRNAs are involved in the regulation of chondrogenesis and OA. We aimed to investigate effects and mechanisms of miR-19b-3p in regulating chondrocytes viability, cartilage degradation and inflammatory response. Primary chondrocytes were isolated from cartilages in control subjects and patients with OA. Murine ATDC5 cells were pre-conditioned with IL-1ß in vitro. Expressions and interaction of miR-19b-3p with G protein-coupled receptor kinase 6 (GRK6), and their effects on inflammation, chondrocytes viability and cartilage degradation were determined after miR-19b-3p mimic or GRK6 siRNA transfection. MiR-19b-3p was significantly decreased in OA chondrocytes and IL-1ß-stimulated ATDC5 cells, in paralleled with the elevated type-II-collagen, aggrecan, MMP13 and GRK6 expression. MiR-19b-3p mimic dramatically increased the viability of chondrocytes and suppressed cell apoptosis. It also increased type-II-collagen, aggrecan expression and glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) content, and decreased the expression of MMP-1 and MMP-13 that controlled by IL-1ß. Overexpression of miR-19b-3p inhibited the production of IL-6 and IL-8 in ATDC5 cells. However, the protective effects of miR-19b-3p mimic on IL-1ß induced cell death; IL-8 production and sGAG decrease were greatly discounted by GRK6 lentiviral vectors. Luciferase reporter assay confirmed that GRK6 gene was a direct target ofmiR-19b-3p. GRK6 siRNA transfection antagonized the IL-1ß-induced chondrocytes injury, extracellular matrix degradation and inflammatory response. MiR-19b-3p mimic and GRK6 siRNA showed comparable inhibitory effect on IL-1ß-provoked NF-κB as reflected by the expression of p-p65. NF-κB translocation inhibition with PS1154 reversed the effects of IL-1ß on IL-8 and sGAG. Collectively, miR-19b-3p attenuated OA by targeting GRK6-NF-κB pathway.

Dynamics of perturbations at the critical points between modulation instability and stability regimes.

We study numerically the evolutions of perturbations at critical points between modulational instability and stability regimes. It is demonstrated that W-shaped solitons and rogue waves can be both excited from weak resonant perturbations at the critical points. The rogue wave excitation at the critical points indicates that rogue wave comes from modulation instability with resonant perturbations, even when the baseband modulational instability is absent. The perturbation differences for generating W-shaped solitons and rogue waves are discussed in detail. These results can be used to generate W-shaped solitons and rogue waves controllably from weak perturbations.

Insight into removal of dissolved organic matter in post pharmaceutical wastewater by coagulation-UV/H2O2.

The removal of four dissolved organic matter (DOM) fractions, non-acid hydrophobics, hydrophobic acids, hydrophilics and transphilics, was achieved by coagulation-UV/H2O2 oxidation in post-pharmaceutical wastewater (PhWW). Coagulation with Polyferric chloride (PFC), Polymeric ferric sulfate (PFS) and Polymeric aluminum ferric chloride (PAFC) was studied separately to evaluate the effects of the initial pH and coagulant dosage. The coagulation-UV/H2O2 oxidation method resulted in much higher reduction rates for dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (by 75%) and UV254 (by 92%) than coagulation or UV/H2O2 oxidation alone. The proportion of non-acid hydrophobics, hydrophobic acids, transphilics and hydrophilics removed by coagulation was 54%, 49%, 27% and 12 %, while the combined treatment removed 92%, 87%, 70% and 39%, respectively. Parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) of fluorescence measurements revealed that the humic-like fluorescent component C4 showed the highest removal (by 44%) during the coagulation stage. After coagulation-UV/H2O2 treatment, the humic-like fluorescent component C3 had the highest removal (by 72%), whereas xenobiotic organic fluorescent components C1 and C4 remained recalcitrant to decomposition. Significant correlations (R2 > 0.8) between C1 and the hydrophobic acids and non-acid hydrophobics suggested the possibility of using fluorescence spectroscopy as an effective tool to assess variations in DOM fraction treatment efficacy in coagulation-UV/H2O2 systems. After the combined treatment, toxic inhibition of cellular activity by post PhWW decreased from 88% to 47% and biodegradability increased from 0.1 to 0.52.

Identification of serum ß-catenin as a biomarker in patients with HBV-related liver diseases.

BACKGROUND: Substantial evidence indicates that ß-catenin is a pivotal regulator that contributes to the initiation and development of various types of diseases. Recently, ß-catenin can be detected in human serum and also reported to be correlated with several disease progression in a little research. However, very little is known about the relationship between serum ß-catenin and HBV-related liver disease. METHODS: Serum levels of ß-catenin, from 77 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 63 patients with hepatitis B associated liver cirrhosis (HBLC), 61 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 41 healthy HBV carriers (HHCs) and 78 healthy controls (HCs) were measured by ELISA. Correlations of serum ß-catenin with viral replication and liver necroinflammation parameters were analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to assess the discriminating power of serum ß-catenin to grade different stages of HBV-related disorders. Human hepatic cell line L02 was transfected with a HBV plasmid, and ß-catenin levels and the underlying mechanism were analyzed. RESULTS: Chronic hepatitis B and HBLC patients but not HHC or HCC showed significantly higher serum ß-catenin levels than HCs. ß-catenin levels were not correlated with HBV DNA levels but were correlated with necroinflammation parameters. HBV-infected cell model showed elevated levels of phosphorylation at Ser473 in Akt (p-Akt), phosphorylation at Ser9 in GSK3ß (p-GSK3ß) and ß-catenin, all of which was blocked by treatment with Akt inhibitor LY294002. Additionally, ROC analysis of ß-catenin for discriminating patients with CHB from HHCs, which yielded an AUC of 0.71 (cutoff value, 42 pg/mL; 95% CI 0.61-0.81) with 64.93% sensitivity, 73.17% specificity and 69.05% accuracy. ROC analysis of ß-catenin for discriminating patients with HCC from chronic HBV infection mainly including CHB and HBLC, which yielded an AUC of 0.75 (cutoff value, 42 pg/mL; 95% CI 0.67-0.83) with 66.43% sensitivity, 75.41% specificity and 70.92% accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: HBV infection enhances ß-catenin expression by activating Akt/GSK3ß signaling. Serum ß-catenin levels are correlated with necroinflammation parameters but not with viral load. Serum ß-catenin has potential to discriminate the phase of HBV-related disorders, particularly predicts the patients with CHB from HHCs and also predicting HCC form chronic HBV infection.