The highest incidence and mortality rate of lung cancer in rural area of Fuyuan has been a research hotspot, and the pathogenesis is still unclear. Therefore, atmospheric particulate matters (APMs) ...samples were collected between 18 February and 01 March 2017, exploring water-soluble potentially toxic metals (WSPTMs) and water-soluble inorganic ionic species (WSIIs) levels, size distribution, sources, acidity and alkalinity, and potential carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks, hoping to provide scientific basic data to solve this problem. In our study, the average ratio of nitrate ion (NO
3
−
)/sulfate ion (SO
4
2−
) within PM
1.1
, PM
1.1–2.0
, PM
2.0–3.3
, PM
3.3–7.0
, and PM
>7.0
were 0.22, 0.18, 0.15, 0.34 and 0.36, respectively, that revealed that combustion sources contributed to PM were more significant. The anions in equilibrium (ANE) / cations in equilibrium (CAE) < 1 for all samples within PM
1.1
, PM
2.0–3.3
, PM
3.3–7.0
indicate that the APMs were alkaline, but PM
1.1–2.0
particulate matter shows weak acidity. SO
4
2−
prefers to combine with NH
4
+
to form (NH
4
)
2
SO
4
, which hinders the formation of NH
4
NO
3
, the remaining SO
4
2−
and NO
3
−
to neutralize the K
+
, KNO
3
was formed at all particulate, however, K
2
SO
4
can only be formed in PM
<3.3
. Arsenic (As) and Selenium (Se) were identified as the most enriched WSPTMs in all PM sizes, predominantly from anthropogenic emissions, were suggested that coal combustion is a significant source of PM-bound WSPTMs. Total WSPTMs exhibited high total carcinogenic risks (TCR) values (9.98 × 10
–6
, 1.06 × 10
–5
, and 1.19 × 10
–5
for girls, boys and adults, respectively) in the smaller particles (< 1.1 μm). Se was considered as the major contributor (63.60%) to carcinogenic risk (CR) in PM
2.0
and had an inverse relationship with PM size that should be of prime concern.
Cities worldwide are experiencing rapid urbanization and an increasing population, creating a pressing need for smart infrastructure to enhance citizen services. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, ...faces similar technological and socio-economic challenges, making it crucial to transform it into a sustainable smart city. This research analyzes the opportunities and challenges of smart cities and Dhaka through SWOT and PESTEL analyses. The study employs a fuzzy rule-based inference system in a MATLAB simulation to calculate the smart city index based on parameters such as governance, transportation, waste management, utility management, healthcare, and industrial automation. The findings reveal that good governance has the highest impact on the smart city index, followed by transportation. The paper proposes a sustainable smart city transportation framework and management technique, outlining future research directions. The proposed framework is expected to impact socio-economic, technological, and environmental aspects positively.
Microplastic contamination in agricultural soil is an emerging problem worldwide as it contaminates the food chain. Therefore, this research investigated the distribution of microplastics (MPs) in ...agricultural soils without mulch at various depths (0–5, 5–10, and 10–15 cm) across different zones: rural, local market, industrial, coastal, and research areas. The detection of MP types and morphology was conducted using FTIR and fluorescence microscopy, respectively. Eight types of MPs were identified, including high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyvinyl fluoride (PVF), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), with concentrations ranging from 0.6 ± 0.21 to 3.71 ± 2.36 MPs/g of soil. The study found no significant trends in MP concentration, with ranges of 0–2.1 ± 0.38, 0–2.87 ± 0.55, and 0–2.0 ± 0.34 MPs/g of soil at depths of 0–5 cm, 5–10 cm, and 10–15 cm, respectively. The highest MP quantity was recorded at 8.67 in coastal area, while the lowest was 6.44 in the local market area. Various MP shapes, e.g., fiber, film, pellet, fragment, and irregular, were observed across all layers. PCA suggested irrigation and organic manure as potential sources of MPs. The estimated concentrations of MPs possessed low non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks to the farming community of Bangladesh.
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and microplastics (MPs) removal is one of the main technical measures in these emerging pollutant control and MPs can sorb PFAS acting as carriers. In order ...to explore the sorption process of polyethylene (PE MPs) for different PFAS, Grand Canonical Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulation was used. Seven commonly found PFAS compounds including PFNA (Perfluorononanoic acid), PFHxS (Perfluorohexanesulphonic acid), PFHxA (Perfluorohexanoic acid), PFDA (Perfluorodecanoic acid), PFOS (Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid), PFBS (Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid) and Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) were selected. The sorption on PE MPs was based on fixed loading and the sorption (PE MPs+PFAS) average total energy for all simulation steps followed PFHxA (−29.17 kcal/mol) < PFBS (−52.71 kcal/mol) < PFOA (−57.12 kcal/mol) < PFNA (−70.58 kcal/mol) < PFDA (−78.27 kcal/mol) < PFHxS (−80.06 kcal/mol) < PFOS (−102.30 kcal/mol). However, the binding/interaction energies followed PFHxS > PFOS > PFNA > PFDA > PFOA > PFBS > PFHxA. The MD simulation was carried out under NVT ensemble at 298 K, the thermodynamic states and relaxation pretreatment procedures were then examined quantitatively by radial distribution function, X-ray scattering, relative concentration profile, mean square displacement and space time correlation function. The results show that effective sorption of PFAS molecule by PE MPs involves hydrogen or chemical bonding as well non-bond energy such as Van der Waals (VdW), electrostatic and intramolecular energies. The cell volume did not change during single and multicomponent sorption while the sorption density increased about threefold the single component (0.36 g/cm
3
), suggesting that as the pollutant number increased the sorption capacity increased. This study showed that PE MPs can used for single and multicomponent sorption of PFASs effectively and also provided theoretical support for our knowledge of the sorption mechanism at the molecular level, which will help in better understanding of PFAS removal by MPs.
Propolis, a resinous substance produced by honeybees, has been used in folk medicine since ancient times due to its many biological benefits such as antitumor, antioxidant, antimicrobial, ...anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. Propolis contains flavonoids, terpenoids, aromatic aldehydes, and alcohols, which vary with different climate and environmental conditions. In our study, we examined the antiallergic activity of Brazilian green propolis (BGP) and isolated the active compound that can suppress an allergy-sensitive gene, IL-33, expression and eosinophilia. Ethanolic extract of BGP freeze-dried powder was fractionated with several solvent systems, and the active fractions were collected based on activity measurement. The single active compound was found by thin-layer chromatography. Using column chromatography and NMR, the active compound was isolated and identified as 3,5,7-trihydroxy-6,4’-dimethoxyflavone, also known as betuletol. Further, the antiallergic activity of that has been examined in PMA-induced up-regulation of IL-33 gene expression in Swiss 3T3 cells. Our data showed the IL-33 gene suppression both by BGP and the isolated active compound, betuletol. We also found that betuletol suppressed ERK phosphorylation, suggesting it could be effective in suppressing IL-33 mediated eosinophilic chronic inflammation and will provide new insights to develop potent therapeutics against allergic inflammations.
Regulatory T cells that express the transcription factor Foxp3 (Treg cells) are a highly heterogenous population of immunoregulatory cells critical for maintaining immune homeostasis and preventing ...immunopathology during infections. Tissue resident Treg (TR-Treg) cells are maintained within nonlymphoid tissues and have been shown to suppress proinflammatory tissue resident T cell responses and promote tissue repair. Human populations are repetitively exposed to influenza infections and lung tissue resident effector T cell responses are associated with flu-induced long-term pulmonary sequelae. The kinetics of TR-Treg cell development and molecular features of TR-Treg cells during repeated and/or long-term flu infections are unclear. Utilizing a Foxp3
RFP
/IL-10
GFP
dual reporter mouse model along with intravascular fluorescent
in vivo
labeling, we characterized the TR-Treg cell responses to repetitive heterosubtypic influenza infections. We found lung tissue resident Treg cells accumulated and expressed high levels of co-inhibitory and co-stimulatory receptors post primary and secondary infections. Blockade of PD-1 or ICOS signaling reveals that PD-1 and ICOS signaling pathways counter-regulate TR-Treg cell expansion and IL-10 production, during secondary influenza infection. Furthermore, the virus-specific TR-Treg cell response displayed distinct kinetics, when compared to conventional CD4
+
tissue resident memory T cells, during secondary flu infection. Our results provide insight into the tissue resident Foxp3
+
regulatory T cell response during repetitive flu infections, which may be applicable to other respiratory infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and COVID.
Abstract Food preservation involves different food processing steps to maintain food quality at a desired level so that maximum benefits and nutrition values can be achieved. Food preservation ...methods include growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, and distribution of foods. The key objectives of food preservation are to overcome inappropriate planning in agriculture, to produce value-added products, and to provide variation in diet. Food spoilage could be caused by a wide range of chemical and biochemical reactions. To impede chemical and microbial deterioration of foods, conventional and primitive techniques of preserving foods like drying, chilling, freezing, and pasteurization have been fostered. In recent years, the techniques to combat these spoilages are becoming sophisticated and have gradually altered to a highly interdisciplinary science. Highly advanced technologies like irradiation, high-pressure technology, and hurdle technology are used to preserve food items. This review article presents and discusses the mechanisms, application conditions, and advantages and disadvantages of different food preservation techniques. This article also presents different food categories and elucidates different physical, chemical, and microbial factors responsible for food spoilage. Furthermore, the market economy of preserved and processed foods has been analyzed in this article.
Water leakage in the supply system is a silent problem that costs billions of dollars yearly. As these supply pipes are mostly underground, this leakage remains undetected for a long time. In 2019, ...Liemberger and Wyatt estimated an annual loss of thirty-nine billion dollars due to water leakage in the supply pipe. In this systematic review, we have analyzed forty-seven articles about water leakage detection and location research. The aim is to find the new technology, trends, and possible direction in this research field. We have derived four research questions. The first question was about how the research evolved over time, and we have observed that researchers focus more on experimental data collection, ML algorithms, and IoT technology. The second question was about the sensor the researcher was using. The most popular sensors researchers have used are: vibration, acoustic, and flow sensors, as they are cheap and easy to install. We can also see some novel applications of image and optical fiber sensors. The third question was about the trend in the algorithm. ML and threshold-based algorithms are dominating the field. The fourth question was about the communication technology trend, and WIFI, cellular IoT, and LoRa technology are leading the space capturing 80% of the research.
Despite high fatality following paraquat ingestion, a few percentages of patients survive even after organ damage appears. We need to focus more on careful clinical and laboratory monitoring. Early ...diagnosis and Supportive therapy are crucial.
Despite high fatality following paraquat ingestion, a few percentages of patients survive even after organ damage appears. We need to focus more on careful clinical and laboratory monitoring. Early diagnosis and Supportive therapy are crucial.
As expression level of allergic disease‐sensitive genes are correlated with allergic symptom severity, suppression of these gene expressions could be good therapeutics. We have demonstrated that PKCδ ...signaling and NFAT signaling, involve in histamine H1 receptor (H1R) and IL‐9 gene expressions, respectively, are responsible for the pathogenesis of allergic rhinitis. We explore anti‐allergic compounds that suppress these signaling pathways and found that wild grape (WG) contains such compounds. Here, we investigated the effect of WG hot water extract (WGE) on the signaling pathways for PKCδ‐mediated H1R and NFAT‐mediated IL‐9 gene expressions. WGE suppressed histamine/PMA‐induced H1R gene up‐regulation in HeLa cells. Toluene‐2,4‐diisocyanate (TDI)‐induced H1R mRNA elevation in TDI‐sensitized rats was also suppressed by WGE treatment. Treatment with WGE in combination with Awa‐tea, suppresses NFAT signaling‐mediated IL‐9 gene, markedly alleviated nasal symptoms. Furthermore, WGE suppressed PMA‐induced IL‐33 gene up‐regulation in Swiss 3T3 cells. Data suggest that combination of WGE, suppresses PKCδ signaling with Awa‐tea, suppresses NFAT signaling would have distinct clinical and therapeutic advantages as a substitute for anti‐allergic drugs. In addition, as the expression level of IL‐33 mRNA was correlated with the blood eosinophils number in patients with pollinosis, WG could alleviate eosinophilic inflammation through the suppression of IL‐33 gene expression. J. Med. Invest. 65:242‐250, August, 2018
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