Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a commonly used short‐chain synthetic perfluoroalkyl agent. Immature Leydig cells (ILCs) are localized in the testis and responsible for androgen biosynthesis and ...metabolism. Although PFOA shows toxicity in the reproductive system, it is not clear if it disrupts the function of ILCs. In the present study, primary ILCs were isolated from 35‐day‐old rats and exposed to a range of PFOA concentrations (0, 0.01, 0.1, or 1 μM). It was determined that 0.1 or 1 μM PFOA reduced total androgen biosynthesis in ILCs. Specifically, 22R‐hydroxycholesterol (22R), and pregnenolone (P5) mediated androgen biosynthesis were reduced by 0.1 μM PFOA. PFOA also selectively downregulated mRNA and protein expressions of steroidogenic enzymes including LHCGR, CYP11A1, 3β‐HSD1, and NR5A1 at 0.01, 0.1, or 1 μM. Further analysis revealed that 0.1 μM PFOA inhibited CYP11A1 and 3β‐HSD1 enzyme activities. However, PFOA did not significantly affect androgen metabolism and turnover under any of the conditions tested. And PFOA gavaging to 35‐day‐old rats at 5 or 10 mg/kg for 7 or 14 days also reduced serum androgen levels secreted by ILCs. Moreover, PFOA gavaging also downregulated the mRNA and protein expression levels of LHCGR, CYP11A1, 3β‐HSD1, and NR5A1 in vivo. Taken together, these findings suggest that PFOA inhibits androgen biosynthesis in ILCs by selectively targeting key enzymes in the synthesis pathway.
AIM To evaluate a levofloxacin-doxycycline-basedtriple therapy with or without a susceptibility culturetest in non-responders to Helicobacter pylori （H. pylori ）eradication.METHODS： A total of 142 ...（99 women, 43 men; mean53.0 ± 12.7 years） non-responders to more than twoH. pylori eradication therapies underwent susceptibilityculture tests or were treated with a seven-day tripletherapy consisting of esomeprazole, 20 mg b.i.d.,levofloxacin, 500 mg b.i.d., and doxycycline, 100 mgb.i.d., randomly associated with （n = 71） or without（n = 71） Lactobacillus casei DG. H. pylori status waschecked in all patients at enrollment and at least 8 wkafter the end of therapy. Compliance and tolerability ofregimens were also assessed.RESULTS： H. pylori eradication was achieved in 〈 50%of patients per prototol （PP） = 49%; intention to treat（ITT） = 46%. Eradication rate was higher in patientsadministered probiotics than in those without （PP =55% vs 43%; ITT = 54% vs 40%）. Estimated primaryresistance to levofloxacin was 18% and multipleresistance was 31%. Therapy was well tolerated, andside effects were generally mild, with only one patientexperiencing severe effects.CONCLUSION： Third-line levofloxacin-doxycyclinetriple therapy had a low H. pylori eradication efficacy,though the success and tolerability of this treatmentmay be enhanced with probiotics.
To reduce the leakage current of the Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 film and improve its energy storage properties, the sol-gel method was implemented to prepare (1-x)Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-xBiFeO3 (NBT-xBFO) (x = 0.00, ...0.05, 0.10, 0.15) lead-free perovskite-phase solid solution films. The point defects formed by Fe3+ occupying Ti4+ and oxygen vacancies formed composite defects FeTi′−Vo··−FeTi′, which reduced oxygen vacancies, cut down the domain wall pinning, and improved the polarization, thereby enhancing the recoverable energy density. Among all the films, the NBT-0.10BFO film exhibited a high recoverable energy density of 38.5 J/cm3 and an energy storage efficiency of 52.0% under an electric field of 2000 kV/cm. In addition, this film had fatigue resistance up to 1 × 109 cycles and suitable thermal stability within a wide temperature range of 20~110 °C. The NBT-0.10BFO film is expected to have broad application prospects in the field of energy storage.
The present text deals with the deployment of images of a mutilated body as means of expressing, celebrating, and overcoming pain, loss and trauma. Based on a true story, a violent crime against a ...52-year-old woman shot at point-blank by a former boyfriend, her 20-year-old daughter, trying to initiate a form of healing process, depicted in a series of photographs and literary references the unfathomed manner her mother’s life was shattered, on a February night in 2020. The visual story will be analysed under the notions presented by Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Susan Sontag, and Rita Charon, among others, bearing in mind the concepts of illness, perception, the body as narrative, and the underlying urge to produce an enduring artistic testament to illustrate and crystallize that epistemological break marking life before and after the tragedy.
Herein, the effect of iron (Fe) ions impurities in alkaline electrolyte is investigated for enhancing the activity of nickel‐oxyhydroxide (NiOOH) for electrochemical oxidation of glycerol (EOG). ...Cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry analyses show that Fe impurities have a significant effect on both EOG activity and product distribution. We found the presence of Fe impurities in the electrolyte enhance the C−C cleavage bonds within glycerol and its intermediates, thereby favoring the formation of C2 and C1 products. Our results deviate from the conventional observations in Ni‐based catalysis for EOG, which instead of the anticipated glycolate and formate products resulting from the C−C scission of glycerate, we observe the generation of oxalate (C2) and formate (C1), therefore suggesting the involvement of aldehyde intermediates in the reaction mechanism, providing a novel perspective on the higher faradaic efficiency of formic acid compared to glycolic acid. These results show the importance of eliminating iron ions from the electrolyte solution, as this step is pivotal in comprehending the cation effect on the electrochemical oxidation of glycerol in alkaline environments.
This study offers a systematic investigation into the influence of iron (Fe) impurities on the electrochemical oxidation of glycerol (EOG) on Ni(OH)2/NiOOH electrodes, shedding light on their impact on the activity, mechanism, and the interplay between the EOG and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER).
•Soil quality index (SQI) successfully discriminated different tillage systems.•Reduced tillage (RT) systems increased SQI over time, in particular chisel plow.•Geometric means of both microbial ...activity and enzyme activity contributed to SQI.•RT effect on SQI was more evident during the later years of tillage treatments.•Impact of tillage year on SQI was larger than that of tillage practices in Calcixerepts.
Tillage is known to potentially affect soil quality in various ways. In this study, a soil quality index (SQI) was developed by quantifying several soil attributes either sensitive or insensitive to physical disturbance, using factor analysis as a dimension reduction technique, in order to discriminate different tillage systems. Soil properties including physical (MWD), chemical (pH, organic C, total N, available P and POM contents) and microbial (MBC, MBN, PCM, PNM and three enzymes) parameters were measured to establish a minimum data set (MDS) for the assessment of overall SQI. The soil attributes were determined on samples (0–20cm depth) collected under moldboard (MP) and disk (DP) plows as conventional tillage (CT), and rotary (RP) and chisel (CP) plows as reduced tillage (RT) systems with a similar plant C input rate and cover crop over a period of six years (2005–2011) in a semi-arid calcareous soil (Calcixerepts) from Central Iran. Results indicated a clear difference in soil quality among the tillage systems with a significant increase of SQI under RT over time, particularly under CP practices. Although RT improved most soil microbial attributes, not all attributes contributed to SQI because of their close interrelationship. The final SQI consisted only of geometric mean of microbial activity (GMA, the square root of the product of PCM and PNM) and geometric mean of enzyme activity (GME, the cube root of the product of enzyme activities). Soil GME and GMA were found to be as key indicators contributing 55% and 36% to SQI, respectively. Therefore, the GME and GMA were the most important indicators effectively discriminating tillage systems, and could be used to monitor the enhancement of soil quality under RT in this semiarid environment. The influence of tillage year on SQI was greater than that of tillage practices. In conclusion, RT systems were characterized by a higher value of SQI, suggesting a good recovery of soil capacity and functions after abandoning CT in the studied area. Smallholder farmers should therefore be aware of the potential for high soil quality in future as a result of continuing RT systems, especially with surface tillage using CP practices.
is a widespread bacterium in the marine environment and is responsible for gastroenteritis in humans. Foodborne infections are mainly associated with the consumption of contaminated raw or ...undercooked fish and shellfish. The aim of this study was to determine the antimicrobial resistance, virulence factors, and genetic profiles of
isolates from seafood originating from different countries. A total of 104 (17.5%) isolates were recovered from 595 analyzed samples. The isolates were tested for the presence of the
and
genes, involved in the pathogenesis of
infections in humans, and these genes were detected in 3 (2.9%) and 11 (10.6%) isolates, respectively. The
-positive isolates also possessed the
gene, which is responsible for urease production. Moreover, the activity of protease A was identified in all
strains. Antimicrobial resistance revealed that most isolates were resistant to ampicillin (75.0%) and streptomycin (68.3%), whereas all strains were sensitive to chloramphenicol and tetracyclines. Most of the isolates (55.8%) showed resistance against two classes of antimicrobials, mainly to ampicillin and streptomycin (46.2%). Only one isolate displayed a multiresistant pattern. Genotypic analysis of
revealed a high degree of diversity among the isolates tested. The pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) method distinguished 73 clonal groups, and the most numerous group consisted of 7 strains. Sequencing by the multilocus sequence typing (MLST) method showed 76 sequence types (STs), of which ST481 and ST1361 were most frequently identified. In addition, 51 (67.1%) new sequence types were discovered and added to the PubMLST international database.
The presence of
in seafood may pose a risk for consumers, especially in countries where shellfish are eaten raw. In recent years, a significant increase of food poisoning caused by these bacteria has been also observed in Europe. Our results highlight the high level of
contamination of seafood, along with the isolates being potentially pathogenic for humans. However, the first-line antimicrobials, such as tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones, remained highly effective against
The monitoring of antimicrobial resistance of isolates is important to ensure the high efficacy in the treatment of human infections. Most of
strains possessed new sequence types (STs), which showed the high genetic diversity of the isolates tested.
Multi‐modal combination therapy for tumor is expected to have superior therapeutic effect compared with monotherapy. In this study, a super‐small bismuth/copper‐gallic acid coordination polymer ...nanoparticle (BCN) protected by polyvinylpyrrolidone is designed, which is co‐encapsulated with glucose oxidase (GOX) by phospholipid to obtain nanoprobe BCGN@L. It shows that BCN has an average size of 1.8 ± 0.7 nm, and photothermal conversion of BCGN@L is 31.35% for photothermal imaging and photothermal therapy (PTT). During the treatment process of 4T1 tumor‐bearing nude mice, GOX catalyzes glucose in the tumor to generate gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which reacts with copper ions (Cu2+) to produce toxic hydroxyl radicals (•OH) for chemodynamic therapy (CDT) and new fresh oxygen (O2) to supply to GOX for further catalysis, preventing tumor hypoxia. These reactions increase glucose depletion for starvation therapy , decrease heat shock protein expression, and enhance tumor sensitivity to low‐temperature PTT. The in vitro and in vivo results demonstrate that the combination of CDT with other treatments produces excellent tumor growth inhibition. Blood biochemistry and histology analysis suggests that the nanoprobe has negligible toxicity. All the positive results reveal that the nanoprobe can be a promising approach for incorporation into multi‐modal anticancer therapy.
A super‐small bismuth/copper‐gallic acid coordination polymer nanoparticle presents good abilities of photothermal‐treatment combined with glucose oxidase for chemodynamic‐starvation therapy in vivo. The ≈2nm Bi and Cu in the depolymerized nanoparticle can be released and flowed through the kidney with the blood. The probe can be used in real‐time monitoring or precision treatment of tumor in vivo through EPR effect.
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