Biodegradable plastics, as alternatives to conventional plastics, are increasingly used, but their interactions with organic pollutants are still unknown. In this study, the sorption and desorption ...behaviors on a type of biodegradable plastic−poly(butylene adipate co-terephtalate) (PBAT) were investigated, and at the same time two types of conventional plastics−polyethylene (PEc and PEv) and polystyrene (PS) were used for comparison. Phenanthrene (PHEN) was chosen as one of representative organic pollutants. Results indicated that the sorption and desorption capacities of PBAT were not only higher than those of the other types of microplastics, but also higher than those of carbonaceous geosorbents. The surface area normalized results illustrated that sorption and desorption of the microplastics were positively correlated with their abundance of rubbery subfraction. The sorption kinetic results showed that the sorption rates of PBAT and PEc were higher than PEv and PS. The effects of water chemistry factors including salinity, dissolved organic matter and Cu2+ ion on the sorption process displayed the same trend, but the degrees of influence on the four microplastics differed. The degrees of influence were mainly dependent on the abundance of rubbery subfraction for microplastics. These findings indicate that the biodegradable poly(butylene adipate co-terephtalate) microplastics are actually stronger vectors than the conventional microplastics, and crystallization characteristics of the microplastics have great influences on the vector effect.
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•Biodegradable microplastics sorbed/desorbed more PHEN than conventional ones.•Sorption/desorption capacities depended on the content of rubbery subfraction.•Plastic additives didn't alter the microplastics adsorption process.•High salinity and low DOM strengthen the sorption of PHEN onto microplastics.
Obtaining strong interfacial affinity between filler and polymer is critical to the preparation of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) with high separation efficiency. However, it is still a challenge for ...micron-sized metal organic frameworks (MOFs) to achieve excellent compatibility and defect-free interface with polymer matrix. Thin layer of ionic liquid (IL) was immobilized on micron-sized HKUST-1 to eliminate the interfacial nonselective voids in MMMs with minimized free ionic liquid (IL) in polymer matrix, and then the obtained IL decorated HKUST-1 was incorporated into 4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphthalic anhydride–2,3,5,6-tetramethyl-1,3-phenyldiamine (6FDA-Durene) to fabricate MMMs. Acting as a filler/polymer interfacial binder, the favorable MOF/IL and IL/polymer interaction can facilitate the enhancement of MOF/polymer affinity. Compared to MMM with only HKUST-1 incorporation, MMM with IL decorated HKUST-1 succeeded in restricting the formation of nonselective interfacial voids, leading to an increment in CO2 selectivity. The IL decoration method can be an effective approach to eliminate interfacial voids in MMMs, extending the filler selection to a wide range of large-sized fillers.
Orexin is a member of neuropeptides which is involved in the central motor control. The substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) is an important nucleus participating in motor control under both ...physiological and pathological conditions. Morphological studies reveal that orexinergic neurons located in lateral hypothalamus innervate the SNc. Both orexin‐1 receptors (OX1R) and orexin‐2 receptors (OX2R) are expressed in the SNc. To investigate the effects of orexins on SNc, single unit in vivo extracellular recordings and behavioral tests were performed in this study. Micro‐pressure administration of orexin A and orexin B significantly increased the spontaneous firing rate of nigral DAergic neurons by 65.87 ± 7.73% and 90.49 ± 17.83%, respectively. The excitatory effects of orexin A on nigral DAergic neurons were mainly mediated by OX1R, while OX2R were involved in the increase in firing rate induced by orexin B. Selectively blocking OX1R and OX2R significantly decreased the firing rate of nigral DAergic neurons by 36.77 ± 6.26% and 32.04 ± 6.12%, respectively, which suggested that endogenous orexins modulated the spontaneous firing activity of nigral DAergic neurons. Finally, both elevated body swing test and haloperidol‐induced postural behavioral test showed that unilateral microinjection of orexin A and orexin B induced significantly contralateral‐biased swing and deflection behavior. Meanwhile, the specific OX1R and OX2R antagonists produced opposite effects. The present electrophysiological and behavioral studies suggested that orexins increased the firing activity of nigral DAergic neurons and participated in central motor control.
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Orexin‐1 receptors (OX1R) and orexin‐2 receptors (OX2R) are expressed in DAergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). Orexin A increases the spontaneous firing activity of DAergic neurons mainly via OX1R, while orexin B increases the firing rate via OX2R. The orexins‐induced excitation of nigral DAergic neurons in turn increases the excitability of motor cortex through basal ganglia circuit. Therefore, microinjection of orexins into the SNc enhances motor performance in elevated body swing test (EBST) and improves haloperidol‐induced catalepsy.
Ischemia–reperfusion injury (IRI) is the major cause of acute kidney injury (AKI). The previous studies demonstrated that Oridonin can protect kidney against IRI-induced AKI, but the underlying ...molecular mechanism is unclear. In this study, it showed that Oridonin significantly improved kidney damage, and inhibited the expression of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and MCP-1, as well as macrophage marker F4/80 in kidney and the secretion of inflammatory cytokins in serum of AKI mice in vivo. In addition, Oridonin also effectively reduced the expression and secretion of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory factors in macrophage cell line RAW264.7 in vitro. Notably, Oridonin strongly downregulated Mincle and AKT/nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) signaling both in vivo and in vitro, and the results of cellular recovery experiments of overexpression of Mincle in macrophage suggested that Oridonin suppressed inflammatory response of macrophage through inhibiting Mincle, which may be the underlying mechanism of Oridonin improving injury in kidney of AKI mice. In summary, the above results indicated that Oridonin can protect kidney from IRI-induced inflammation and injury by inhibiting the expression of Mincle in macrophage.
Problem
The clinical value of endometrial receptivity array (ERA), endometrial immune profiling, or a combination of both for multiple implantation failure patients is unclear.
Method of study
One ...hundred and seventy‐two women with a history of at least two or more consecutive implantation failures in IVF/ICSI treatment were included. According to patients’ willingness, they were divided into four groups, ‘no treatment’, ‘Immune Profiling’, ‘ERA’ and ‘ERA + Immune Profiling’. Endometrial biopsy was examined by ERA, immune profiling alone, or combination, and intention was adopted accordingly. Pregnancy outcomes were compared, and the association between ERA phases and endometrial immune profiling was also assessed.
Results
The overall incidence rate of the displaced window of implantation (WOI) and endometrial immune dysregulations were 84.9% and 75.3%, respectively. Implantation rate was significantly higher in the ‘ERA + Immune Profiling’ group than the ‘no treatment’ group (P = .007). Clinical pregnancy rate was somewhat improved in the three treatment groups but with a borderline significance (P = .071). After controlling for other confounders, ‘ERA + Immune Profiling’ treatment was associated with a higher pregnancy rate aOR (95%CI) = 3.412 (1.387–8.395), P = .008. There was no association between endometrial immune profiling and ERA phases.
Conclusions
Our findings highlight the high incidence of displaced WOI and endometrial immune dysregulation in multiple implantation failure patients. The combination of ERA and endometrial immune profiling is more likely to have clinical value than ERA or immune profiling alone. These data suggested the unsubstitutability of ERA and endometrial immune profiling on the treatment outcome for multiple implantation failure patients.
Ellagic acid (EA), a plant polyphenol mainly found in nuts and fruits, exhibits various biological effects. However, the effects of EA on intestinal health remain poorly understood. Hence, the ...present study aimed to assess the effects of EA supplementation on jejunal morphology, digestive enzyme activities, antioxidant capacity, and microbiota in C57BL/6J mice. A total of 144 mice were randomly assigned to three treatments groups: the control (CON) group received a standard pellet diet, the 0.1% EA group received a standard pellet diet plus 0.1% EA, and the 0.3% EA group received a standard pellet diet plus 0.3% EA. The mice were killed at the end of the experimental period, and jejunal samples were collected. The results revealed that the mice in the 0.3% EA group had higher (
< 0.05) average daily gain and greater (
< 0.05) jejunal villus height than those in the CON group. In addition, the jejunal lactase and sucrase activities were higher (
< 0.05) in the 0.1% EA and 0.3% EA groups, and the alkaline phosphatase activity was higher (
< 0.05) in the 0.3% EA group than in the CON group. Compared with the CON group, the administration of EA increased (
< 0.05) the superoxide dismutase and catalase activities but decreased (
< 0.05) the malonaldehyde content in the jejunum. Moreover, the jejunal messenger RNA expression levels of nuclear factor-E2-related factor 2 (
) and haem oxygenase-1 (
) were higher (
< 0.05) in the 0.3% EA group than in the CON group. Furthermore, compared with the CON group, the count of
decreased (
< 0.05), and that of
species increased (
< 0.05) in the 0.3% EA group. In general, our findings indicate that the administration of EA can enhance the growth of mice, promote intestinal development, increase the antioxidant capacity, and regulate the intestinal microbiota.
A three-dimensional Eu-MOF was synthesized and characterized. It has high selectivity and sensitivity to ofloxacin antibiotic, exhibiting Ksv of 4.1 × 104 M−1 and a detection limit of 2.4 × 10−6 M.
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Antibiotic overuse, a critical global concern, poses significant threats to both the eco-environment and human health. Thus, selective and sensitive detection of antibiotics is an extremely important issue. Herein, a europium(III) metal-organic framework Eu2(FA)3(H2O)4·2DMAC (1) (FA = fumaric acid, DMAC = dimethylacetamide) was synthesized by solvothermal strategy. Single-crystal structural analyses indicate that Eu3+ ions are double-bridged by carboxylate groups of fumarate ligands to create one-dimensional (1D) infinite chains, which further form a 3D pillared-layer framework. 1 exhibits superior fluorescence detection performance toward ofloxacin (OFLX) with a high quenching efficiency Ksv of 4.1 × 104 M−1 and low detection limit of 2.4 × 10−6 M, and demonstrates excellent anti-interference properties and durability. Furthermore, the mechanism of fluorescence quenching was mainly attributed to static quenching process and internal filtration effect.
In this study, bentonite-supported nZVI (B-nZVI) was used as a catalyst to activate H2O2 for atrazine (ATZ) degradation in the presence of FeS2. Results indicated that ATZ degradation by B-nZVI/H2O2 ...process was significantly enhanced when FeS2 was introduced, and nearly 98% of ATZ was degraded by B-nZVI/FeS2/H2O2 process within 60 min under the optimum conditions. ATZ degradation of B-nZVI/FeS2/H2O2 process was much higher than the sum of B-nZVI and FeS2/H2O2 processes. The presence of HCO3−, PO43− and F− exhibited significant negative effects on the ATZ degradation, whereas both Cu2+ and Ni2+ exhibited positive effects on that. Both citric acid (CA) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) with lower concentration enhanced ATZ degradation rate, but significant suppression effects on that with higher concentration. The degradation of ATZ and 2,4-Dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) could be simultaneously achieved in B-nZVI/FeS2/H2O2 process under certain conditions. High soluble Fe2+ induced an excellent decomposition of H2O2 by B-nZVI and FeS2. OH was dominant radical, and contributed to nearly 86% of the overall ATZ removal. A total of five intermediate products of ATZ were identified, and ATZ degradation was achieved via de-alkylation and hydroxylation processes. An enhanced reaction mechanism for ATZ degradation by B-nZVI/FeS2/H2O2 process was proposed, and B-nZVI/FeS2/H2O2 process exhibited an excellect catalytic performance within four successive runs.
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•ATZ degradation by B-nZVI/H2O2 process was enhanced in the presence of FeS2.•High Fe2+ was favorable to H2O2 decomposition by B-nZVI/FeS2/H2O2 process.•OH was dominant radical, and contributed to 86.1% of the overall ATZ removal.•Possible pathways of ATZ degradation were proposed based on intermediate products.•Enhanced mechanism for ATZ degradation by B-nZVI/FeS2/H2O2 process was proposed.
A comparative study on organic geochemistry and kinetics was performed on two representative coal measure mudstone and coal samples of the Eocene Pinghu Formation in the Xihu Sag, East China Sea ...Shelf Basin, China. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of the aliphatic fractions of the source rock extracts was performed to characterize the maturity, depositional conditions, and source materials in the samples. The kerogens isolated from the mudstone and coal were pyrolyzed in a closed-system at two heating rates to determine the kinetics for natural gas generation, and the results were extrapolated to geological conditions. Biomarker assemblages show that the mudstone (type III kerogen) and coal (type II/III kerogen) contain predominantly terrigenous source materials with the effect of microbial reworking, and were deposited under oxic conditions within an unstratified water column. The mudstone has slightly more algal material input and less oxic conditions during deposition than the coal. The rocks are at the early-mature stage but the coal is slightly more mature than the mudstone. The activation energies for natural gas generation from the mudstone and coal distribute mainly in the range of 47–62 kcal/mol and 50–69 kcal/mol with a frequency factor of 2.0 × 1011 s−1 and 1.0 × 1013 s−1, respectively. The lower activation energies for the mudstone than the coal suggests an earlier onset of natural generation. Assuming a constant burial heating rate of 3 °C/Ma for the calculated activation energy distributions, the calculated temperature for a given transformation ratio can differ by > 60 °C, indicating varying kinetic stability due to different kerogen composition and structure. This significant and unexpected difference suggests that more attentions should be paid to the kinetic heterogeneity of coal bearing source rocks, and we must be particularly cautious about selecting appropriate kinetic models in petroleum system modeling.
•Biomarker assemblages of coal measure mudstone and coal were analysed.•Mudstone and coal were pyrolyzed to obtain kinetics for gas generation.•Mudstone requires lower activation energy than coal for generating natural gas.•Temperature for onset of gas generation by mudstone is lower than coal by 60 °C.
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