Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is very persistent in the environment and widely detected in the water environment. Only some advanced methods with extreme reaction conditions are shown to be capable ...of degrading the compound efficiently, and almost all the earlier investigations used very high PFOA concentrations. The compound is detected normally at very low concentrations in the water environment, while mild reaction conditions for its degradation are preferable. This article aimed to elucidate photodegradation of PFOA in dilute aqueous solutions by combined UV wavelengths (185 nm+254 nm) and 254 nm using a newly designed UV jacket. PFOA degradation was greatly enhanced with the combined wavelengths with almost one hundred percent PFOA removals in four-hour reaction. The removals were well described by the first-order reaction kinetic. The removal efficiencies and rate values significantly decreased with smaller initial PFOA concentrations. But defluorination was greatly enhanced with smaller PFOA concentrations possibly due to accelerated decomposition of fluorinated intermediates of PFOA. Formic acid and acetic acid were two tentatively identified intermediates of PFOA photolysis while the former was a major intermediate predominantly controlling solution pH during the oxidation. The results demonstrated that PFOA photolysis by the combined wavelengths with mild reaction conditions can be greatly enhanced by proper design of UV jacket and reactor system.
The synthesis of designer solid-state materials by living organisms is an emerging field in bio-nanotechnology. Key examples include the use of engineered viruses as templates for cobalt oxide ...(Co(3)O(4)) particles, superparamagnetic cobalt-platinum alloy nanowires and gold-cobalt oxide nanowires for photovoltaic and battery-related applications. Here, we show that the earthworm's metal detoxification pathway can be exploited to produce luminescent, water-soluble semiconductor cadmium telluride (CdTe) quantum dots that emit in the green region of the visible spectrum when excited in the ultraviolet region. Standard wild-type Lumbricus rubellus earthworms were exposed to soil spiked with CdCl(2) and Na(2)TeO(3) salts for 11 days. Luminescent quantum dots were isolated from chloragogenous tissues surrounding the gut of the worm, and were successfully used in live-cell imaging. The addition of polyethylene glycol on the surface of the quantum dots allowed for non-targeted, fluid-phase uptake by macrophage cells.
Widespread detection of pharmaceutical compounds in water environment
has been a serious concern recently, while conventional sewage
treatments are ineffective for their elimination. But, advanced
...oxidation techniques are very promising to remove varieties of organic
contaminants in water. This research aims to elucidate oxidation
potentials of sixteen commonly used pharmaceutical compounds in mixed
solutions by seven advanced oxidation techniques in laboratory batch
experiments. The removal profiles exhibited four distinct patterns: a)
easily degradable by all seven techniques, b) not easily degradable by
all seven techniques, c) easily degradable by ozone-based techniques,
but not by ultraviolet radiation-based techniques and d) easily
degradable by ultraviolet radiation-based techniques, but not by
ozone-based techniques. Ozone-based techniques rather than ultraviolet
radiation-based techniques were very powerful for simultaneous removal
of the compounds efficiently. Moreover, ozonation combined with
ultraviolet radiation was the most appropriate technique for
simultaneous removal of the tested compounds efficiently. Increased
ozone dissolution and decomposition with ozone-based techniques did not
always enhance the compounds' removal. Physicochemical properties
of the compounds and solution pH also presumably played an important
role on the removal which merits further attention.
Type I Diabetes mellitus (T1D) is characterized by a specific destruction of β-cells by the immune system. During this process pro-inflammatory cytokines are released in the pancreatic islets and ...contribute for β-cells demise. Cytokine-induced iNOS activation, via NF-κB, is implicated in induction of β-cells death, which includes ER stress activation. Physical exercise has been used as an adjunct for better glycemic control in patients with T1D, since it is able to increase glucose uptake independent of insulin. Recently, it was observed that the release of IL-6 by skeletal muscle, during physical exercise, could prevent β-cells death induced by pro-inflammatory cytokines. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in this beneficial effect on β-cells are not yet completely elucidated. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of IL-6 on β-cells exposed to pro-inflammatory cytokines.
Pre-treatment with IL-6 sensitized INS-1E cells to cytokine-induced cell death, increasing cytokine-induced iNOS and Caspase-3 expression. Under these conditions, however, there was a decrease in cytokines-induced p-eIF2-α but not p-IRE1expression, proteins related to ER stress. To address if this prevention of adequate UPR response is involved in the increase in β-cells death markers induced by IL-6 pre-treatment, we used a chemical chaperone (TUDCA), which improves ER folding capacity. Use of TUDCA increased cytokines-induced Caspase-3 expression and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio in the presence of IL-6 pre-treatment. However, there is no modulation of p-eIF2-α expression by TUDCA in this condition, with increase of CHOP expression.
Treatment with IL-6 alone is not beneficial for β-cells, leading to increased cell death markers and impaired UPR activation. In addition, TUDCA has not been able to restore ER homeostasis or improve β-cells viability under this condition, suggesting that other mechanisms may be involved.
Few studies have evaluated the risk factors for chronic GVHD and organ involvement associated with different graft types, including unrelated cord blood (U-CB). We retrospectively studied 4818 adult ...patients who received their first allogeneic transplantation and survived for at least 100 days. The incidence of chronic GVHD at 2 years was 37%. The following factors were associated with the development of chronic GVHD: female donor/male recipient, CMV-Ab seropositivity, matched related peripheral blood grafts vs matched related BM grafts, no in vivo T-cell depletion and the occurrence of grade II-IV acute GVHD. Among these factors, the association with acute GVHD occurrence was consistently significant across donor subtypes. The use of U-CB was not associated with chronic GVHD, but was associated with a low incidence of extensive chronic GVHD. Chronic GVHD patients who had received U-CB transplants showed less frequent involvement of the oral cavity (28% vs 55%), eye (12% vs 26%), liver (20% vs 44%), lung (11% vs 25%) and joint (0% vs 6%) than those with matched related BM grafts. In conclusion, we found that U-CB transplants were associated with a low incidence of extensive chronic GVHD and less frequent involvement of the oral cavity, eye, liver, lung and joints.
Despite typically not being taken into account (usually in favour of the ‘global distillation’ process), the input of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) through biological activities can be indeed ...relevant at the local scale in terrestrial polar environments when seabird colonies are considered. Seabirds can bioaccumulate and biomagnify POPs, gather in large numbers and excrete on land during their reproductive season, thus making them locally as relevant secondary sources of POPs. The first part of this study indicated that these colonies act as so for several essential and non-essential trace elements, and this second part tests the same hypothesis concerning POPs using the very same samples. Lichens (n = 55), mosses (n = 58) and soil (n = 37) were collected from 13 locations in the South Shetlands Archipelago during the austral summers of 2013–14 and 2014–15. They were divided in colony (within the colony itself for soil and within and surrounding the colony for vegetation) and control (at least 150 m away from any colony interference) and analysed for POPs such as organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers and stable isotopes (C and N). Results showed that colonies act clearly as a secondary source for PCBs and likely for hexachlorobenzene. As in the first part, probable local sources other than the colonies themselves are hypothesised because of high concentrations found in control sites. Again, soil seemed the most adequate matrix for the intended purposes especially because of some particularities in the absorption of animal-derived organic matter by vegetation, pointed out by stable isotope analyses.
•Seabird colonies are verified as secondary POPs sources.•Soil and vegetation samples in/around colonies are compared to control away from them.•Seabird colonies act as a source of PCBs and likely of HCB.•SIA, C and N content confirm the animal-derived organic matter influence on results.•Other local sources, particularly of PCBs, are hypothesised.
Ru-based solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cermet anodes are presented. The preparation conditions of the Ru-based anodes are adjusted by preventing the sublimation of Ru-oxides at elevated temperatures ...by using an oxidizing atmosphere. SOFC single cells with zirconia-electrolyte and cathode are prepared, and the electrochemical performance is examined using realistic fuels containing low concentrations of higher hydrocarbons and trace sulfur impurities. The degradation rate is relatively high under simulated high fuel utilization operating conditions. However, under the operational condition near the fuel inlet of SOFC systems, the Ru-based anode satisfies 5000-h durability by using hydrocarbon-containing fuels. While a much higher durability is needed for stationary applications, the cells with the Ru-based anode may be applicable to e.g. automobile applications with hydrocarbon-containing fuels as high internal reforming activity, carbon deposition tolerance, and sulfur impurity tolerance have been verified.
•Applicability of the Ru-based anodes to SOFCs is systematically examined.•Internal reforming activity, carbon deposition tolerance, and sulfur tolerance are verified.•Ru-based anode satisfies 5000-h durability by using hydrocarbon-containing fuels.
Chronic moderate exercise has been reported to reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines. To analyze the molecular mechanisms by which training exerts these effects, the epigenetic influences of age and ...exercise on the ASC gene, which is responsible for IL-1beta and IL-18 secretion, were investigated by ASC gene methylation. Further, the relationship between carcinogenesis and exercise, and methylation of the P15 tumor suppressive gene was also analyzed. High-intensity interval walking exercise, consisting of 3 min low-intensity walking at 40% of peak aerobic capacity followed by a 3 min high-intensity walking period above 70% of peak aerobic capacity, was continued for 6 months. Peripheral blood DNA extracts from young control (n=34), older control (n=153), and older exercise (n=230) groups were then analyzed by pyrosequencing for DNA methylation. Methylation of ASC decreased significantly with age (young control vs. older control, p<0.01), which is indicative of an age-dependent increase in ASC expression. Compared to the older control group, the degree of ASC methylation was higher in the older exercise group (older control vs. older exercise: p<0.01), and presumably lower ASC expression. Neither exercise nor age affected the methylation of the P15. In summary, chronic moderate exercise appears to attenuate the age-dependent decrease in ASC methylation, implying suppression of excess pro-inflammatory cytokines through reduction of ASC expression.
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