iTRAQ-Based Proteomics Screen identifies LIPOCALIN-2 (LCN-2) as a potential biomarker for colonic lateral-spreading tumors.

The improvement and implementation of a colonoscopy technique has led to increased detection of laterally spreading tumors (LSTs), which are presumed to constitute an aggressive type of colonic neoplasm. Early diagnosis and treatment of LSTs is clinically challenging. To overcome this problem, we employed iTRAQ to identify LST-specific protein biomarkers potentially involved in LST progression.

Circulating cell-free DNA indicates M1/M2 responses during septic peritonitis.

Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has been widely suggested as clinical indicator in diseases, including sepsis. It was thought that the cfDNA was coming from the cell lysis, necrosis and apoptosis caused by tissue damages during sepsis. M1 or M2 macrophage-type responses kill or repair in vivo, which is highly relevant with the tissue damages in sepsis.

Energy-efficient co-biodrying of dewatered sludge and food waste: Synergistic enhancement and variables investigation.

In this study, dewatered sludge (DS) and food waste (FW) were co-biodried by balancing substrate's property and microbial aspect. A series of experiments were conducted to explore the effects of mixing ratio, particle size of bulking agent, air-flow rate and initial moisture content (MC). A synergistic enhancement of co-biodrying of FW and DS was observed in terms of a stable temperature profile and long high-temperature duration.

Response of performance and ammonia oxidizing bacteria community to high salinity stress in membrane bioreactor with elevated ammonia loading.

Effect of elevated ammonia loading rate (ALR) and increasing salinity on the operation of membrane bioreactor (MBR) and the response of microbial community were investigated. Results showed that MBR started up with 1% NaCl stress achieved amazing nitrification performance at high salinity up to 4% when treating wastewater containing 1000mg/L NH(+)4-N. Further increasing salinity to 7% led to failure of MBR unrecoverably.

A New Group of Disinfection Byproducts in Drinking Water: Trihalo-hydroxy-cyclopentene-diones.

We report the detection, synthesis, preparative isolation, structure characterization and identification, and formation of a new group of drinking water disinfection byproducts (DBPs): trihalo-hydroxy-cyclopentene-diones (trihalo-HCDs). With ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC)/electrospray ionization-triple quadruple mass spectrometry analyses (full scans, multiple reaction monitoring, and product ion scans) and high-resolution mass spectrometry analyses (full scans), the new group of DBPs was identified with formulae and proposed with structures. However, due to a lack of commercially available standard compounds, structure identification of this new group of DBPs was challenging.

Application of portable online LED UV fluorescence sensor to predict the degradation of dissolved organic matter and trace organic contaminants during ozonation.

This work aims to correlate signals of LED UV/fluorescence sensor with the degradation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and trace-level organic contaminants (TOrCs) during ozonation process. Six sets of bench-scale ozonation kinetic experiments incorporated with three different water matrices and 14 TOrCs of different reactivity (group I ∼ V) were conducted. Calibrated by tryptophan and humic substances standards and verified by the lab benchtop spectroscopy, the newly developed portable/online LED sensor, which measures the UV280 absorbance, protein-like and humic-like fluorescence simultaneously, was feasible to monitor chromophores and fluorophores with good sensitivity and accuracy.

Endocrine disrupting compounds reduction and water quality improvement in reclaimed municipal wastewater: A field-scale study along Jialu River in North China.

Several ecological restoration projects have been constructed along urban rivers in North China to purify reclaimed municipal wastewater and improve the water quality of urban rivers. These projects attempt to address several environmental issues, including treating water contamination that is not fully remediated through standard wastewater treatment. This study investigated the efficiency of reducing endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and estrogenic activity in reclaimed municipal wastewater along an 18.

Oncogene FOXK1 enhances invasion of colorectal carcinoma by inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Transcriptional factor FOXK1 is a member of the FOX family, involved in the cell growth and metabolism. The higher expression of FOXK1 leads to a variety of diseases and may play an important role in the development of various tumors. However, the role of FOXK1 in the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unknown.

Unruptured Epileptogenic Brain Arteriovenous Malformations.

Aim: To determine whether specific clinical and radiographic factors predispose arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) presenting with seizure and to predict the seizure risk for individual AVM patients.

Material And Methods: Clinical features and cerebral angiograms of consecutive 45 unruptured AVM patients who were diagnosed in our center in a 2-year period were reviewed. Patient data (analysis cohort) was used to determine risk factors for seizure and to construct epileptogenic AVM groups.

Preparation of dual-function starch-based flocculants for the simultaneous removal of turbidity and inhibition of Escherichia coli in water.

A dual-function starch-based flocculant, carboxymethyl-starch-graft-aminomethylated-polyacrylamide (CMS-g-APAM), was designed and prepared by a simple method. The structure and solution properties of CMS-g-APAM were characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance, and zeta-potential measurements. CMS-g-APAM was then applied to flocculate a kaolin suspension and an Escherichia coli suspension as well as a combination thereof.

Comparison of Morphology and Physicochemical Properties of Starch Among 3 Arrowhead Varieties.

Arrowhead (Sagittaria trifolia var. sinensis) is a source of starch worldwide, but arrowhead starch has been rarely studied. In this work, starch was separated from arrowhead corm.

Effect of mesenchymal stem cell transplantation on brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in rats with Tourette syndrome.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in the striatum of Tourette syndrome (TS) rats. In addition, the possible mechanism of MSC transplantation in the treatment of TS was investigated. A total of 72 Wistar rats were randomly allocated into the control (sham surgery) group and the two experimental groups, including the TS+vehicle and TS+MSC.

Efficient adsorption of both methyl orange and chromium from their aqueous mixtures using a quaternary ammonium salt modified chitosan magnetic composite adsorbent.

A quaternary ammonium salt modified chitosan magnetic composite adsorbent (CS-CTA-MCM) was prepared by combination of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Various techniques were used to characterize the molecular structure, surface morphology, and magnetic feature of this composite adsorbent. CS-CTA-MCM was employed for the removal of Cr(VI) and methyl orange (MO), an anionic dye, from water in respective single and binary systems.

Evaluation of chain architectures and charge properties of various starch-based flocculants for flocculation of humic acid from water.

Three different starch-based flocculants with various chain architectures and charge properties have been prepared through etherification, graft copolymerization, or their combination. Two of the flocculants (starch-graft-poly[(2-methacryloyloxyethyl) trimethyl ammonium chloride] and starch-3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl triethyl ammonium chloride, denoted as STC-g-PDMC and STC-CTA respectively) are cationic, and another one (carboxymethyl starch-graft-poly[(2-methacryloyloxyethyl) trimethyl ammonium chloride], denoted as CMS-g-PDMC) is amphoteric. Those three flocculants have shown far different flocculation efficiency and floc properties for the removal of humic acid (HA) from water due to their distinct structural features.

Integrated adsorptive technique for efficient recovery of m-cresol and m-toluidine from actual acidic and salty wastewater.

An integrated adsorptive technique combining an m-cresol adsorption unit, an acid retardation unit and an m-toluidine adsorption unit in sequence was designed to recover m-cresol and m-toluidine from highly acidic and salty m-cresol manufacturing wastewater. In the first column packed with hypercrosslinked polymeric resin (NDA-99), most m-cresol was captured through π-π and hydrogen-bonding interactions as well as the salting-out effect, while m-toluidine was not absorbed due to protonation. To separate acid from salt, an acid retardation unit was introduced successively to adsorb sulfuric acid by strong base anion exchange resin (201×7).

Simultaneous nitrate and phosphate removal from wastewater lacking organic matter through microbial oxidation of pyrrhotite coupled to nitrate reduction.

This study investigated the efficiency of a pyrrhotite autotrophic denitrification biofilter (PADB) technology for simultaneous N and P removal from wastewater lacking organic matter. A PADB was constructed with natural pyrrhotite as the biofilter medium and inoculated with autotrophic denitrifies enriched from anaerobic sludge. Over an operating period of 247 days, PADB efficiently removed NO3(-) and PO4(3-) simultaneously from wastewater that lacked organic matter.

Increased expression of microRNA-503 and reduced expression of kangai-1 in B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The aim of the present study was to determine the expression levels of microRNA-503 (miR-503) and the tumor suppressor gene, kangai-1 (KAI1), in B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-NHL). A total of 45 patients with B-NHL (including 29 cases with stage III/IV disease and 16 cases with stage I/II disease) were enrolled in this study. In addition, 26 patients with reactive lymphoid hyperplasia (RLH) were enrolled as the control patients.

A review on chitosan-based flocculants and their applications in water treatment.

In recent years, the use of chitosan and its derivatives as flocculants in water treatment has received considerable attention due to their many advantages, including their widespread availability, environmental friendliness, biodegradability, and prominent structural features. However, it is a significant strategy for selection and design of the high-performance materials on the basis of their structure-activity relationships. Here we describe several of the chemical modification methods commonly used to prepare chitosan-based flocculants.

Mesodermal ALK5 controls lung myofibroblast versus lipofibroblast cell fate.

Background: Epithelial-mesenchymal cross talk is centerpiece in the development of many branched organs, including the lungs. The embryonic lung mesoderm provides instructional information not only for lung architectural development, but also for patterning, commitment and differentiation of its many highly specialized cell types. The mesoderm also serves as a reservoir of progenitors for generation of differentiated mesenchymal cell types that include αSMA-expressing fibroblasts, lipofibroblasts, endothelial cells and others.

Developing LED UV fluorescence sensors for online monitoring DOM and predicting DBPs formation potential during water treatment.

Online monitoring dissolved organic matter (DOM) is urgent for water treatment management. In this study, high performance size exclusion chromatography with multi-UV absorbance and multi-emission fluorescence scans were applied to spectrally characterize samples from 16 drinking water sources across Yangzi River and Huai River Watersheds. The UV absorbance indices at 254 nm and 280 nm referred to the same DOM components and concentration, and the 280 nm UV light could excite both protein-like and humic-like fluorescence.

Clonal Complex 17 Group B Streptococcus strains causing invasive disease in neonates and adults originate from the same genetic pool.

A significant proportion of group B Streptococcus (GBS) neonatal disease, particularly late-onset disease, is associated with strains of serotype III, clonal complex (CC) 17. CC17 strains also cause invasive infections in adults. Little is known about the phylogenetic relationships of isolates recovered from neonatal and adult CC17 invasive infections.

Combination of Na-modified zeolite and anion exchange resin for advanced treatment of a high ammonia-nitrogen content municipal effluent.

In this study, the exchange equilibrium and kinetic experiments of ammonia-nitrogen on the Na-form zeolite were conducted. The results indicated that the presence of humic acid have a negative effect on the equilibrium exchange capacity but have limited influence on the equilibrium time except shorten the sole intra-particle diffusion control time. The exchange equilibrium data could be well fitted by Freundlich model in the absence of humic acid but Langmuir model in the presence of humic acid.

MicroRNA-140-3p inhibits proliferation, migration and invasion of lung cancer cells by targeting ATP6AP2.

MicroRNAs are small noncoding RNA molecules that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Compelling evidence reveals that there is a causative link between microRNAs deregulation and lung cancer development and metastasis. The aim of present study was to explore the function of miR-140-3p in the development and metastasis of lung cancer cell.

Overexpression of TIP30 inhibits the growth and invasion of glioma cells.

Glioma is an aggressive malignancy with limited effective treatment and poor prognosis. Therefore, the identification of novel prognostic markers and effective therapeutic targets is important for the treatment of human glioma. TIP30 is a tumor suppressor involved in the regulation of numerous cellular processes, including tumor cell growth, metastasis, and angiogenesis in various human cancers.