Bifunctional Thiourea-Catalyzed Enantioselective Aza-Friedel-Crafts Reaction of 3-Aminobenzofurans with Isatin-Derived Ketimines.

A quinine-derived thiourea-promoted enantioselective aza-Friedel-Crafts reaction of 3-aminobenzofurans with isatin-derived ketimines is developed, providing a variety of 3-benzofuran-3-amino-2-oxindoles bearing a quaternary stereocenter with good to excellent yields (72-95%) and moderate to excellent enantioselectivities (48-97%). The synthetic potential of this concise and efficient protocol is revealed by gram-scale preparation and further transformation of the adduct to an optically pure spirocyclic oxindole.

Insight into the microbial nitrogen cycle in riparian soils in an agricultural region.

Riparian zones are considered as an effective measure on preventing agricultural non-point source nitrogen (N) pollution. However, the mechanism underlying microbial N removal and the characteristics of N-cycle in riparian soils remain elusive. In this study, we systematically monitored the soil potential nitrification rate (PNR), denitrification potential (DP), as well as net N2O production rate, and further used metagenomic sequencing to elucidate the mechanism underlying microbial N removal. As a whole, the riparian soil had a very strong denitrification, with the DP 3.17 times higher than the PNR and 13.82 times higher than the net N2O production rate. This was closely related to the high soil NO3--N content. In different profiles, due to the influence of extensive agricultural activities, the soil DP, PNR, and net N2O production rate near the farmland edge were relatively low. In terms of N-cycling microbial community composition, the taxa of denitrification, dissimilatory nitrate reduction, and assimilatory nitrate reduction accounted for a large proportion, all related to NO3--N reduction. The N-cycling microbial community in waterside zone showed obvious differences to the landside zone. The abundances of N-fixation and anammox genes were significantly higher in the waterside zone, while the abundances of nitrification (amoA&B&C) and urease genes were significantly higher in the landside zone. Furthermore, the groundwater table was an important biogeochemical hotspot in the waterside zone, the abundance of N-cycle genes near the groundwater table was at a relative higher level. In addition, compared to different soil depths, greater variation in N-cycling microbial community composition was observed between different profiles. These results reveal some characteristics of the soil microbial N-cycle in the riparian zone in an agricultural region and are helpful for restoration and management of the riparian zone.

Characterizing dissolved organic matter and bacterial community interactions in a river network under anthropogenic landcover.

Anthropogenic landcover could rise nutrient concentrations and impact the characteristics and bioavailability of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in a river network. Exploring the interactions between DOM and microbials might be conducive to revealing biogeochemistry behaviors of organic matter. In this study, synchronous fluorescence spectra (SFS) with Gaussian band fitting and two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2D-COS) were employed to identify DOM fractions and reveal their interactions with bacterial communities. DOM was extracted from a river network under eco-agricultural rural (RUR), eco-residential urban (URB), eco-economical town (TOW), and eco-industrial park (IND) regions in Jiashan Plain of eastern China. The overlapping peaks observed in the SFS were successfully separated into four fractions using Gaussian band fitting, i.e., tyrosine-like fluorescence (TYLF), tryptophan-like fluorescence (TRLF), microbial humic-like fluorescence (MHLF), and fulvic-like fluorescence (FLF) materials. Across all four regions, TRLF (44.79% ± 7.74%) and TYLF (48.09% ± 8.85%) were the dominant components. Based on 2D-COS, variations of TYLF and TRLF were extremely larger than those of FLF in RUR-TOW. However, in URB-IND, the former exhibited lower variations compared to the latter. These suggested that FLF be likely derived continuously from lignin and other residue of terrestrial plant origin along the river network, and TYLF and TRLF be originated discontinuously from domestic wastewater in RUR-TOW. By high-throughput sequenced OTUs, the number of organisms in RUR-TOW could be higher than those in URB-IND, while genes associated with carbohydrate metabolism were lower in former than those in the latter. According to co-occurrence networks, microbes could promote the production of TYLF and TRLF in RUR-TOW. In contrast, microbial communities in URB-IND might contribute to decompose FLF. The obtained results could not only reveal interactions between DOM fractions and bacterial communities in the river network, but this methodology may be applied to other water bodies from different landscapes.

Mechanistic insights into dissolved organic matter-driven protistan and bacterial community dynamics influenced by vegetation restoration.

Vegetation restoration projects can not only improve water quality by absorbing and transferring pollutants and nutrients from non-vegetation sources, but also protect biodiversity by providing habitat for biological growth. However, the mechanism of the protistan and bacterial assembly processes in the vegetation restoration project were rarely explored. To address this, based on 18 S rRNA and 16 S rRNA high-throughput sequencing, we investigated the mechanism of protistan and bacterial community assembly processes, environmental conditions, and microbial interactions in the rivers with (out) vegetation restoration. The results indicated that the deterministic process dominated the protistan and bacterial community assembly (94.29% and 92.38%), influenced by biotic and abiotic factors. For biotic factors, microbial network connectivity was higher in the vegetation zone (average degree = 20.34) than in the bare zone (average degree = 11.00). For abiotic factors, the concentration of dissolved organic carbon ([DOC]) was the most important environmental factor affecting the microbial community composition. [DOC] was lower significantly in vegetation zone (18.65 ± 6.34 mg/L) than in the bare zone (28.22 ± 4.82 mg/L). In overlying water, vegetation restoration upregulated the protein-like fluorescence components (C1 and C2) by 1.26 and 1.01-folds and downregulated the terrestrial humic-like fluorescence components (C3 and C4) by 0.54 and 0.55-folds, respectively. The different DOM components guided bacteria and protists to select different interactive relationships. The protein-like DOM components led to bacterial competition, whereas the humus-like DOM components resulted in protistan competition. Finally, the structural equation model was established to explain that DOM components can affect protistan and bacterial diversity by providing substrates, facilitating microbial interactions, and promoting nutrient input. In general, our study provides insights into the responses of vegetation restored ecosystems to the dynamics and interactives in the anthropogenically influenced river and evaluates the ecological restoration performance of vegetation restoration from a molecular biology perspective.

Bioinspired Iron-Catalyzed Dehydration of Aldoximes to Nitriles: A General N-O Redox-Cleavage Method.

Inspired by OxdA that operates biocatalytic aldoxime dehydration, we have developed an efficient iron catalyst, Cp*Fe(1,2-Cy2PC6H4O) (1), which rapidly converts various aliphatic and aromatic aldoximes to nitriles with release of H2O at room temperature. The catalysis involves redox activation of the N-O bond by a 1e- transfer from the iron catalyst to the oxime. Such redox-mediated N-O cleavage was demonstrated by the isolation of a ferrous iminato intermediate from the reaction of the ketoxime substrate. This iron-catalyzed acceptorless dehydration approach represents a general method for the preparation of nitriles, and it also delivers salicylonitriles by catalyzing the Kemp elimination reaction.

Pediatric laparoscopic partial cystectomy for the treatment of benign bladder tumors and urachal cysts.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility and efficacy of carrying out pediatric laparoscopic partial cystectomies (LPC) when treating benign bladder tumors and urachal cysts. METHODS: Retrospectivey analyzing 4 clinical cases involving children with bladder tumors, which were collected from October 2017 to December 2018. In these clinical cases, there were 3 male children and 1 female child, aged from 4.5 to 9.4 years old, with an average age of 6.5 years. An intraperitoneal laparoscopic partial cystectomy was performed in the treatment of 3 of these patients with benign bladder tumors and in 1 patient with an urachal cyst. The surgical procedures included a partial cystectomy and a complete intracavitary bladder suture. RESULTS: All 4 cases were successful and no operation was transferred to opensurgery. The operation time was 100-120 min, with an average time of 108 min. The intraoperative blood loss was 10-20 ml, with an average loss of 15 ml. 6 h after the operation, the patients still maintained a fluid diet and 1 case of hematuria had occurred, with the catheter removed 12 days after the operation. No postoperative urine leakage, intestinal adhesion or intestinal obstruction occurred, and the average postoperative hospitalization time was 14 days. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic partial cystectomy is a safe and feasible method to be used for the treatment of benign bladder tumors and urachal cysts. It presents the advantages of being minimally invasive, and having a quick recovery and short hospitalization time. It is an alternative surgical method for the treatment of pediatric benign bladder tumors.

Revealing heavy metal correlations with water quality and tracking its latent factors by canonical correlation analysis and structural equation modeling in Dongjianghu Lake.

Decreasing levels of water quality and elevated concentrations of heavy metals in freshwaters can pose global challenges for drinking water sources. Multivariate statistical techniques have been applied on data matrices of water quality and heavy metals for keen characterization of their spatio-temporal variations, exploration of latent factors, and identification of pollution sources. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS), canonical correlation analysis (CCA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) were employed to process data matrices of the water quality and heavy metals with 14 parameters measured at 13 sampling sites in Dongjianghu Lake in March, June, August, and December 2016. The sampling sites were grouped into three clusters using the nMDS, suggesting that the increasing order of the water quality levels was approximately midstream < downstream < upstream and lake. The CCA of 14 parameters proved that the Escherichia coli, CODMn, TP, TN, TEMP, DO, and pH were the latent factors to distinguish the sampling sites, suggesting that the natural disturbances further influenced the lake and upstream, while the anthropogenic activities further influenced the midstream and downstream. The CCA of the heavy metals exhibited that the CODMn, F-, and E. coli were the latent factors of the Cu, Zn, and As, while the DO and TEMP were the latent factors of the Cd. This indicated that the Cu, As, and Zn were mainly associated with the anthropogenic activities, while the Cd was predominantly relative to the natural conditions. The SEM of the water quality and heavy metals showed that the weights of CODMn (28.64%), NH3-N (14.96%), BOD5 (14.32%), TN (12.88%), and TP (10.18%) were higher than those of the pH (8.37%), DO (7.73%), TEMP (2.58%), and E. coli (0.34%). This indicated that the former exhibited strong influences on the heavy metals than the latter. Moreover, the CODMn and BOD5 were the key factors of the heavy metals, which should be attributed to the no-point sources, especially the exploitation mining and mill tailings. The water quality assessment by the nMDS, CCA, and SEM can determine the status, trend corresponding to its standards, and trace latent factors and identify possible pollution sources. The study could provide a guide for water quality evaluation and pollution control.

Degradation of dissolved organic matter in effluent of municipal wastewater plant by a combined tidal and subsurface flow constructed wetland.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is an important constituent of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent. A novel combined tidal and subsurface flow constructed wetland (TF-SSF-CW) of 90 L was constructed for a ten-month trial of advanced treatment of the WWTP effluent. Excitation emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy, parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis and a two end-member mixing model were employed to characterize the composition and removal process of the effluent DOM (EfOM) from the WWTP. The results showed that the TF-SSF-CW performed an efficient EfOM removal with dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal rate of 88% and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) removal rate of 91%. Further analysis demonstrated that the EfOM consisted mainly of two protein moieties and two humic-like groups; protein moieties (76%) constituted the main content of EfOM in raw water and humic-like groups (57%) became the dominating contributor after treatment. The EfOM from the WWTP was mainly of aquatic bacterial origin and evolved to a higher proportion of terrigenous origin with higher humification in the TF-SSF-CW effluent. A common controlling treatment-related factor for determining the concentrations of the same kind of substances (protein groups or humic-like groups) was revealed to exist, and the ratio of removal rates between the same substances in treatment was calculated. Our study demonstrates that the TF-SSF-CW can be a novel and effective treatment method for the EfOM from WWTPs, and is helpful for understanding of the character of EfOM in wetland treatment.

[An optimization method of weighted network module partition based on TCM theory of "monarch, minister, assistant and guide"].

The disease-gene-drug multi-level network constructed by network pharmacology can predict drug targets and has been widely used in the study of material basis and mechanism of action of Chinese medicinal prescriptions. However, most of the current studies have normalized the efficacies of Chinese herbal medicines in the compounds during the construction of the network. There is also a lack of in-depth exploration of the mechanism of synergy among multiple components. This study proposed a network module partition method based on group collaboration and the pharmacological network was weighed according to the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) theory of "monarch, minister, assistant and guide". Taking the Tanyu Tongzhi Prescription as an example, we constructed its pharmacological network for the treatment of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. The group collaboration module in the network was identified and the network changes before and after the weighting were compared based on the network topology analysis to explore a new method to find the core nodes of the network as well as the core drugs that affected the efficacy of the compounds. The results showed that the module partition method based on group collaboration could be used to identify and partition group collaboration mo-dules in pharmacological networks of compounds. The proposed weighted network based on the TCM theory of "monarch, minister, assistant, and guide" could identify and partition the modules based on the characteristics of the pharmacological network. The identification and partition results of modules of Tanyu Tongzhi Prescription in the weighted network were superior to those in the unweighted network. The weighted closeness centrality(WCC) evaluation method was conducive to finding key nodes and relations in the network as compared with traditional methods, thereby providing a basis for analyzing the core components of drugs and extracting more accurate drug components and targets.

[Hotspots and trends of Ophiopogonis Radix based on CiteSpace knowledge map].

Ophiopogonis Radix is an important Yin-nourishing drug in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), with the effects of nourishing Yin, promoting fluid production, clearing away heart-fire, and relieving restlessness. It is widely used in clinical practice due to its multiple chemical components and pharmacological effects. The technique "mapping knowledge domains" is an effective tool to quantitatively and objectively visualize the development frontiers and trends of certain disciplines. In this study, TCM research papers related to Ophiopogonis Radix were retrieved from Web of Science(WoS) and CNKI, and the research institutions, journals, and keywords involved were visualized and analyzed using the scientometric software CiteSpace. The co-occurrence network of related research on Ophiopogonis Radix was constructed, and the Ophiopogonis Radix-disease-target network was plotted using Cytoscape 3.8.2. The hot topics in Chinese and English papers were analyzed and the shortcomings in the research on Ophiopogonis Radix were summed up. Furthermore, the development trends were discussed. A total of 1 403 Chinese papers and 292 English papers were included in this study. The analysis of research institutions showed that Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and China Pharmaceutical University were the two research institutions with the largest numbers of papers published. The analysis of journals showed that Hebei Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Journal of Asian Natural Products Research were the two journals with the highest numbers of papers concerning Ophiopogonis Radix. The keyword analysis showed that the research contents of Chinese papers focused on the analysis of medication regularity and clinical observation trials, while the English papers focused on component analysis and pharmacological investigation. Data mining and apoptosis-based pharmacological mechanism might be the research trends in the future.

Enantioseparation of chiral pharmaceuticals by vancomycin-bonded stationary phase and analysis of chiral recognition mechanism.

The drug chirality is attracting increasing attention because of different biological activities, metabolic pathways, and toxicities of chiral enantiomers. The chiral separation has been a great challenge. Optimized high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods based on vancomycin chiral stationary phase (CSP) were developed for the enantioseparation of propranolol, atenolol, metoprolol, venlafaxine, fluoxetine, and amlodipine. The retention and enantioseparation properties of these analytes were investigated in the variety of mobile phase additives, flow rate, and column temperature. As a result, the optimal chromatographic condition was achieved using methanol as a main mobile phase with triethylamine (TEA) and glacial acetic acid (HOAc) added as modifiers in a volume ratio of 0.01% at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/minute and at a column temperature of 5°C. The thermodynamic parameters (eg, ΔH, ΔΔH, and ΔΔS) from linear van 't Hoff plots revealed that the retention of investigated pharmaceuticals on vancomycin CSP was an exothermic process. The nonlinear behavior of lnk' against 1/T for propranolol, atenolol, and metoprolol suggested the presence of multiple binding mechanisms for these analytes on CSP with variation of temperature. The simulated interaction processes between vancomycin and pharmaceutical enantiomers using molecular docking technique and binding energy calculations indicated that the calculated magnitudes of steady combination energy (ΔG) coincided with experimental elution order for most of these enantiomers.

Resource Allocation in Cognitive Radio Wireless Sensor Networks with Energy Harvesting.

The progress of science and technology and the expansion of the Internet of Things make the information transmission between communication infrastructure and wireless sensors become more and more convenient. For the power-limited wireless sensors, the life time can be extended through the energy-harvesting technique. Additionally, wireless sensors can use the unauthored spectrum resource to complete certain information transmission tasks based on cognitive radio. Harvesting enough energy from the environments, the wireless sensors, works as the second users (SUs) can lease spectrum resource from the primary user (PU) to finish their task and bring additional transmission cost to themselves. To minimize the overall cost of SUs and to maximize the spectrum profit of the PU during the information transmission period, we formulated a differential game model to solve the resource allocation problem in the cognitive radio wireless sensor networks with energy harvesting, considering the SUs as the game players. By solving the proposed resource allocation game model, we found the open loop Nash equilibrium solutions and feedback Nash equilibrium solutions for all SUs as the optimal control strategies. Ultimately, series numerical simulation experiments have been made to demonstrate the rationality and effectiveness of the game model.

Clinical efficacy and safety of benzbromarone in elderly hypertensive patients with hyperuricemia.

To analyze the efficacy and safety of benzbromarone in elderly hypertensive patients with hyperuricemia. Sixty-six elderly hypertensive patients with hyperuricemia admitted to Beijing Civil Aviation General Hospital from February 2017 to February 2018 were enrolled in the study. According to computer randomization method, they were divided into two groups: The control group and the treatment group and there were 33 cases in each group. The routine treatment was used in the control group. The conventional treatment combined with benzbromarone treatment was applied to the treatment group. The clinical efficacy, blood pressure, blood uric acid level, inflammatory factor level and adverse event rate were analyzed. Clinical efficacy of the treatment group was higher than that of the control group (P<0.05); blood pressure, blood uric acid level, and inflammatory factor level in the treatment group was better than that of the control group (P<0.05); the incidence of adverse events in the treatment group was lower than that of the control group (P<0.05). Elderly hypertensive patients with hyperuricemia treated with benzbromarone have a significant clinical effect, which has a positive effect on improving clinical symptoms and reducing the probability of adverse events and has a high clinical promotion value.

Key blackening and stinking pollutants in Dongsha River of Beijing: Spatial distribution and source identification.

Elimination of black-stinking water contamination has been listed as an urgent task in the Water pollution prevention action plan promulgated by State Council of China. However, the key blackening and stinking pollutants and their sources are still unclear. In this study, water quality of a black-stinking urban river in Beijing, Dongsha River, was evaluated firstly; then the distribution of the blackening and stinking pollutants was investigated, and the key pollutants and their potential sources were identified; and finally, the health risk of those pollutants was assessed. The results showed that NH3N, total phosphorus, dissolved oxygen and chemical oxygen demand ranged from 1.3 to 5.3 mg/L, 0.7-3.0 mg/L, 1.0-3.2 mg/L and 29-104 mg/L, respectively. The value of TP-based trophic level index indicated that Dongsha River reached severe eutrophication level; the maximum value of chroma and odor level reached 32 and 4, respectively. The main dissolved organic compounds included aromatic protein II, soluble microbiological metabolites, fulvic acids and humic acids. The blackening pollutants Fe, Mn, Cu and S2- were extensively detected, with significantly spatial differences along the river. Dimethyl sulfide, ß-ionone, 2-methylisoborneol and geosmin were identified to be the stinking pollutants. Their concentrations covered wide ranges, and even the lowest concentration value was thousands of times higher than its olfactory threshold. Correlation analysis indicated that in the overlaying water S2- was the key blackening pollutant, while ß-ionone and geosmin were the key stinking pollutants. Principal components analysis combining with the site survey revealed their potential sources. S2- was mainly associated with the decomposition of endogenous sulfur-containing organics; ß-ionone might be generated by the endogenous ß-carotene bio-conversion and the exogenous discharges, while geosmin might originate from the endogenous humus bio-conversion and anthropic wastes. Furthermore, multi-metals in the sediment posed health risks to children, while dimethyl sulfide had non-cancer health risk for adults and children.

Developing an Agent-Based Drug Model to Investigate the Synergistic Effects of Drug Combinations.

The growth and survival of cancer cells are greatly related to their surrounding microenvironment. To understand the regulation under the impact of anti-cancer drugs and their synergistic effects, we have developed a multiscale agent-based model that can investigate the synergistic effects of drug combinations with three innovations. First, it explores the synergistic effects of drug combinations in a huge dose combinational space at the cell line level. Second, it can simulate the interaction between cells and their microenvironment. Third, it employs both local and global optimization algorithms to train the key parameters and validate the predictive power of the model by using experimental data. The research results indicate that our multicellular system can not only describe the interactions between the microenvironment and cells in detail, but also predict the synergistic effects of drug combinations.

Characterisation of betatrophin concentrations in childhood and adolescent obesity and insulin resistance.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Betatrophin, a novel hormone, is correlated with insulin resistance and promotes pancreatic ß-cell growth in mice. The aim of this study was to determine circulating betatrophin levels in overweight or obese children and adolescents. METHODS: The following pairs of subjects were included: (i) normal-weight healthy (n = 27) and overweight or obese (n = 28); (ii) non-insulin-resistant overweight or obese (n = 25) and insulin-resistant obese (n = 15); (iii) normal-weight males (n = 18) and females (n = 20); (4) 5 to 8 yr olds (n = 20) and 8 to 14 yr olds (n = 18). Circulating betatrophin levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In addition, clinical data were recorded and anthropometrical measurements were performed. RESULTS: Circulating betatrophin levels were increased significantly in obese children and adolescents with insulin resistance (365.77 ± 30.86 pg/mL) compared with overweight or obese subjects without insulin resistance (274.25 ± 26.52 pg/mL; p < 0.05). However, no differences in betatrophin levels were seen between lean and overweight or obese children (323.18 ± 25.91 vs. 348.27 ± 18.91 pg/mL, respectively; p > 0.05). In the normal-weight cohort, males had higher serum betatrophin level than did females, and subjects <8 yr old had lower serum betatrophin levels compared with those >8 yr. Surprisingly, betatrophin concentrations were correlated negatively with body mass index (BMI), but not with the BMI Z-score, in non-insulin-resistant children and adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrated that circulating betatrophin levels were increased in insulin-resistant obese children or adolescents and might act as a potential biomarker of insulin resistance in these populations. Furthermore, serum betatrophin concentrations might vary during the development of children and adolescents, as well as between genders.

Synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy combined with two-dimensional correlation and principle component analysis to characterize dissolved organic matter in an urban river.

Synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy (SFS) combined with two-dimensional correlation and principle component analysis (PCA) can provide an excellent challenge to capture fluorescent components of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and reveal its spatial variations in an urban river. Water samples were collected from Baitapuhe River along human impact gradient, i.e., the rural, town, and urban regions. DOM in Baitapuhe River was composed of protein-like, microbial humic-like, fulvic-like, and humic-like fluorescent components. The protein-like was the dominant component, which consisted of tyrosine-like and tryptophan-like components. In the rural region, the variation of the microbial humic-like was higher than that of the protein-like according to the band changing order of 335 â†’ 281 nm, and both components changed in the same direction. In the town region, the variation of the microbial humic-like was the highest followed by the protein-like and fulvic-like on the basis of the changing band order of 335 â†’ 281 â†’ 369 nm, and these components varied in the same trend too. In the urban region, the variation of the protein-like was the highest, followed by the microbial humic-like, fulvic-like, and humic-like based on the changing band order of 282 â†’ 335 â†’ 369 â†’ 470 nm, and the protein-like variation was opposite to the other components. The SFS combined with PCA and two-dimensional correlation can be used as a powerful tool in investigating fluorescent components of DOM and revealing spatial variations of these fluorescent components.

Placental DNA methylation of peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor-γ co-activator-1α promoter is associated with maternal gestational glucose level.

Intrauterine exposure to hyperglycaemia may increase the risk of later-life metabolic disorders. Although the underlying mechanism is not fully understood, epigenetic dysregulation in fetal programming has been implicated. With regard to energy homoeostasis, PGC-1α (peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor γ co-activator-1α, encoded by the PPARGC1A gene) plays a regulatory role in several biochemical processes. We hypothesized that maternal gestational glucose levels would positively correlate with DNA methylation of the PPARGC1A promoter in placental tissue. We undertook a cross-sectional study of 58 mothers who underwent uncomplicated Caesarean delivery in a university hospital. Maternal gestational glucose concentration was determined after a 75-g OGTT (oral glucose tolerance test) at 24-28 weeks of gestation. Placenta tissue and cord blood were collected immediately after delivery. Genomic DNA was extracted and thereafter bisulfite conversion was performed. After PCR amplification, the DNA methylation of the PPARGC1A promoter was quantified using a pyrosequencing technique. The protein level of PGC-1α was evaluated by Western blotting. For all participants as a whole, including the GDM (gestational diabetes mellitus) and normoglycaemia groups, the maternal gestational glucose level was positively correlated with placental DNA methylation, and negatively correlated with cord blood DNA methylation of the PPARGC1A promoter in a CpG site-specific manner. In the GDM group alone, the placental CpG site-specific methylation of the PPARGC1A promoter strongly correlated with gestational 2-h post-OGTT glycaemia. Epigenetic alteration of the PPAGRC1A promoter may be one of the potential mechanisms underlying the metabolic programming in offspring exposed to intrauterine hyperglycaemia.

IUGR with infantile overnutrition programs an insulin-resistant phenotype through DNA methylation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α in rats.

BACKGROUND: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) followed by postnatal accelerated growth (CG-IUGR) is associated with long-term adverse metabolic consequences, and an involvement of epigenetic dysregulation has been implicated. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) is a key orchestrator in energy homeostasis. We hypothesized that CG-IUGR programed an insulin-resistant phenotype through the alteration in DNA methylation and transcriptional activity of PGC-1α. METHODS: A CG-IUGR rat model was adopted using maternal gestational nutritional restriction followed by infantile overnutrition achieved by reducing the litter size. The DNA methylation was determined by pyrosequencing. The mRNA expression and mitochondrial content were assessed by real-time PCR. The insulin-signaling protein expression was evaluated by western blotting. RESULTS: Compared with controls, the CG-IUGR rats showed an increase in the DNA methylation of specific CpG sites in PGC-1α, and a decrease in the transcriptional activity of PGC-1α, mitochondrial content, protein level of PI3K and phosphorylated-Akt2 in liver and muscle tissues. The methylation of specific CpG sites in PGC-1α was positively correlated with fasting insulin concentration. CONCLUSION: IUGR followed by infantile overnutrition programs an insulin-resistant phenotype, possibly through the alteration in DNA methylation and transcriptional activity of PGC-1α. The genetic and epigenetic modifications of PGC-1α provide a potential mechanism linking early-life nutrition insult to long-term metabolic disease susceptibilities.

Appling fluorescence spectroscopy with absolute principal component coefficient to explore dynamic migration of DOM fractions from an urbanized river during torrential rainfall.

This research delves into the dynamic interplay between urbanization and the characteristics of Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) in the Anyang River, particularly under the stress of torrential rain. The motivation stems from a critical need to decipher how urban landscapes influence water quality, focusing on the intricate transformations and movements of DOM. Employing advanced fluorescence spectroscopy techniques like Excitation-Emission Matrices (EEM) and Parallel Factor Analysis (PARAFAC), the study meticulously differentiates DOM compositions in urban and agricultural settings. It unveils a pronounced distinction, with urban streams showing elevated proteinaceous DOM from wastewater, contrasting with the humic substances prevalent in agricultural runoff. The analysis also captures how intense rainfall events catalyze significant shifts in DOM profiles, thereby emphasizing the need for tailored water quality management strategies in urbanized catchments. This comprehensive approach not only bridges gaps in understanding the urban impact on riverine ecosystems but also sets a foundation for future research and policy development in the face of escalating environmental changes.