Dual-purpose elemental sulfur for capturing and accelerating biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in anaerobic environment.

Hydrophobic organic pollutants in aqueous environments are challenging to biodegrade due to limited contact between microorganisms, the pollutants and the electron acceptor, particularly under anaerobic or anoxic conditions. Here, we propose a novel strategy that uses inexpensive, dual-function elemental sulfur (S) to enhance biodegradation. Using petroleum hydrocarbons as the target pollutants, we demonstrated that hydrophobic and nonpolar S° can concentrate hydrocarbons while simultaneously serving as an electron acceptor to enrich hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria.

RegionSizeR- A Novel App for Regional Sample Size Planning in MRCTs.

In multi-regional clinical trials, planning the sample size for participating regions is essential for the evaluation of the treatment effect consistency across regions. Based on the MRCT design and sample size allocation to regions, consistency probability is usually used to predict the consistent trend between regions and the overall population, while preserving a certain proportion of the overall treatment effect. Specific enrollment characteristics in a region of interest should also be considered during the time of the sample size planning.

Highly sensitive standardized toxicity biosensors for rapid water quality warning.

Microbial electrochemical sensor (MES) using electroactive biofilm (EAB) as the sensing element represents a broad-spectrum technology for early warning of biotoxicity of water samples. However, its commercial application is impeded by limited sensitivity and repeatability. Here, we proposed a layered standardized EAB (SEAB) with enriched Geobacter anodireducens SD-1 in the inner layer and self-matched outer layer.

Understanding the Tail Current Behavior of Electroactive Biofilms Realizes the Rapid Measurement of Biochemical Oxygen Demand.

The use of microbial electrochemical sensors, with electroactive biofilms (EABs) as sensing elements, is a promising strategy to timely measure the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of wastewater. However, accumulation of Coulombic yield over a complete degradation cycle is time-consuming. Therefore, understanding the correlation between current output and EAB metabolism is urgently needed.

High Selectivity Cofactor NADH Regeneration Organic Iridium Complexes Used for High-Efficiency Chem-Enzyme Cascade Catalytic Hydrogen Transfer.

Our research demonstrated that novel pentamethylcyclopentadienyl (Cp*) iridium pyridine sulfonamide complex PySONPh-Ir () could highly specifically catalyze nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) into the corresponding reducing cofactor NADH in cell growth media containing various biomolecules. The structures and catalytic mechanism of were studied by single-crystal X-ray, NMR, electrochemical, and kinetic methods, and the formation of iridium hydride species Ir-H was confirmed to be the plausible hydride-transfer intermediate of . Moreover, benefiting from its high hydrogen-transfer activity and selectivity for NADH regeneration, was used as an optimal metal catalyst to establish a chem-enzyme cascade catalytic hydrogen-transfer system, which realized the high-efficiency preparation of l-glutamic acid by combining with l-glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH).

Layered Design of a Highly Repeatable Electroactive Biofilm for a Standardized Biochemical Oxygen Demand Sensor.

Microbial electrochemical sensors are promising to monitor bioavailable organics in real environments, but their application is restricted by the unpredictable performance of the electroactive biofilm (EAB), which is randomly acclimated from environmental microflora. With a long-term stable EAB as a template, we successfully designed EAB (DEAB) by the sequential growth of and automatched microbes, achieving a reproducible high current than those naturally acclimated from wastewater (NEAB). Pre-inoculation of planktonic aerobes as oxygen bioscavengers was necessary to ensure the colonization of in the inner layer, and the abundant (50%) in DEAB guaranteed 4 times higher current density with a 15-fold smaller variation among 20 replicates than those of NEAB.

Degradation of pefloxacin by hybrid hydrodynamic cavitation with HO and O.

The degradation of toxic chemicals, antibiotics and other residues in organic wastewater has attracted much attention. Among various degradation technologies, hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) reactors have the advantage of being simple to operate. Through the combination of HC and other oxidants, the removal efficiency and energy efficiency of organic matter can be greatly improved, and the consumption of chemicals and the processing costs can be reduced.

Praseodymia-titania mixed oxide supported gold as efficient water gas shift catalyst: modulated by the mixing ratio of oxides.

Modulating the active sites for controllable tuning of the catalytic activity has been the goal of much research, however, this remains challenging. The O vacancy is well known as an active site in reducible oxides. To modify the activity of O vacancies in praseodymia, we synthesized a series of praseodymia-titania mixed oxides.

Non-Stacked γ-FeO/C@TiO Double-Layer Hollow Nanoparticles for Enhanced Photocatalytic Applications under Visible Light.

Herein, a non-stacked γ-FeO/C@TiO double-layer hollow nano photocatalyst has been developed with ultrathin nanosheets-assembled double shells for photodegradation phenol. High catalytic performance was found that the phenol could be completely degraded in 135 min under visible light, due to the moderate band edge position (VB at 0.59 eV and CB at -0.

A split G-quadruplex-specific dinuclear Ir(III) complex for label-free luminescent detection of transcription factor.

A group of luminescent dinuclear Ir(III) complexes were synthesized to study the application possibility as luminescent G-quadruplex (G4) sensors. According to the results, the dinuclear Ir(III) complexes 1-5 were assessed as selective G4 sensors. Among them, complex 5 not only demonstrates the highest specificity towards G4, but also shows linearly enhanced luminescent intensity with the increase of split G4 concentration.

Monitoring matrix metalloproteases based on the selective interaction between an Ir(iii) solvent complex and a histidine-rich polypeptide.

A luminescent biosensor has been developed for matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) assays based on the selective interaction between an Ir(iii) solvent complex and a histidine-rich peptide, which avoids the complicated double labeling of substrate polypeptides commonly-used in FRET MMP detections and provides a promising strategy for MMP detection in clinical applications.

Development of a Luminescent Dinuclear Ir(III) Complex for Ultrasensitive Determination of Pesticides.

To improve the G-quadruplex specificity of Ir(III) complexes, a novel dinuclear Ir(III) complex (Din Ir(III)-1) was designed and synthesized through connecting two mononuclear Ir(III) complexes via a diphenyl bridge. Din Ir(III)-1 presents 3.4-4.

Ultrasensitive Homogeneous Electrochemical Detection of Transcription Factor by Coupled Isothermal Cleavage Reaction and Cycling Amplification Based on Exonuclease III.

The assay and monitoring of transcription factors (TFs) has attracted extensive attention due to their important roles in regulation of gene expressions. Herein, a simple, low cost, rapid, and highly sensitive homogeneous electrochemical method utilizing the coupled isothermal cleavage reaction and cycling amplification based on exonuclease III (Exo III) was explored for the analysis of transcription factor NF-κB p50 in aqueous solution. In the assay, a 3'-methylene blue (MB)-labeled hairpin probe is designed, which can be opened up by the single stranded DNA (ssDNA) protected by NF-κB p50 from the Exo III cleavage, to trigger the subsequent Exo III-assisted digestion, thus a large amount of MB-labeled mononucleotides are liberated to result in the greatly amplified electrochemical signal.

antibody responses in association with eradication outcome and recurrence: a population-based intervention trial with 7.3-year follow-up in China.

Objective: To identify serum biomarkers that may predict the short or long term outcomes of anti- () treatment, a follow-up study was performed based on an intervention trial in Linqu County, China.

Methods: A total of 529 subjects were selected randomly from 1,803 participants to evaluate total anti- immunoglobulin G (IgG) and 10 specific antibody levels before and after treatment at 1-, 2- and 7.3-year.

Sus scrofa miR-204 and miR-4331 Negatively Regulate Swine H1N1/2009 Influenza A Virus Replication by Targeting Viral HA and NS, Respectively.

The prevalence of swine pandemic H1N1/2009 influenza A virus (SIV-H1N1/2009) in pigs has the potential to generate novel reassortant viruses, posing a great threat to human health. Cellular microRNAs (miRNAs) have been proven as promising small molecules for regulating influenza A virus replication by directly targeting viral genomic RNA. In this study, we predicted potential (ssc-, swine) miRNAs targeting the genomic RNA of SIV-H1N1/2009 by RegRNA 2.

Construction of a thermo-sensitive pRI857 vector for efficient DNA capturing in Escherichia coli.

Objectives: To establish a positive cloning system with a zero background for high-throughput DNA cloning purpose.

Results: The cloning vector, pRI857, and the genomic-library construction vector, pRI857-BAC, were constructed based on the mechanism of expression of the thermo-sensitive cI857 repressor gene that can stringently repress the P promoter and kanamycin resistance gene (P-kan ) at 30 °C, but have no effect on P-kan gene at 37 °C or at higher temperatures. When the pRI857 vectors were transformed into E.

Methylation status of COX-2 in blood leukocyte DNA and risk of gastric cancer in a high-risk Chinese population.

Background: Methylation is a common epigenetic modification which may play a crucial role in cancer development. To investigate the association between methylation of COX-2 in blood leukocyte DNA and risk of gastric cancer (GC), a nested case-control study was conducted in Linqu County, Shandong Province, a high risk area of GC in China.

Methods: Association between blood leukocyte DNA methylation of COX-2 and risk of GC was investigated in 133 GCs and 285 superficial gastritis (SG)/ chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG).

Methylation status of blood leukocyte DNA and risk of gastric cancer in a high-risk Chinese population.

Background: To evaluate the relationship between methylation status of blood leukocyte DNA and risk of gastric cancer, a population-based study was conducted in Linqu County.

Methods: Methylation levels of IGFII and N33 were determined by quantitative methylation-specific PCR. The temporal trend of methylation levels during gastric cancer development was investigated in 133 gastric cancer cases from two cohorts with pre- and/or post-gastric cancer samples.

Genetic polymorphisms of miR-146a and miR-27a, H. pylori infection, and risk of gastric lesions in a Chinese population.

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in various human diseases. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in inflammation-related miRNA may play an important role in Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)-induced gastric lesions.

Identification of serum microRNAs as novel non-invasive biomarkers for early detection of gastric cancer.

Background: To investigate the potential of serum miRNAs as biomarkers for early detection of gastric cancer (GC), a population-based study was conducted in Linqu, a high-risk area of GC in China.

Methodology/principal Findings: All subjects were selected from two large cohort studies. Differential miRNAs were identified in serum pools of GC and control using TaqMan low density array, and validated in individual from 82 pairs of GC and control, and 46 pairs of dysplasia and control by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.

[The correlation between polymorphisms of Toll-like receptor 2 and Toll-like receptor 9 and susceptibility to gastric cancer].

Objective: To explore the relationship between the polymorphisms of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR9 and the susceptibility to gastric cancer.

Methods: A population-based case-control study was conducted at Linqu county, Shandong province, China, including a total of 248 cases of gastric cancer. Another total of 496 age and sex-matched controls were randomly selected from the same cohorts.

Genetic variants of toll-like receptor 2 and 5, helicobacter pylori infection, and risk of gastric cancer and its precursors in a chinese population.

Background: Genetic polymorphisms of Toll-like receptors (TLR) may influence the outcome of Helicobacter pylori infection and play important roles in gastric carcinogenesis. To screen the genetic variants of TLR2 and TLR5, and evaluate their associations with gastric cancer (GC) and its precursors, a population-based study was conducted in Linqu County, Shandong Province, China.

Methods: Genetic variants were identified by PCR-based denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis in 248 GC cases, 846 subjects with advanced gastric lesions including 350 dysplasia and 496 intestinal metaplasia, and 496 superficial gastritis/mild chronic atrophic gastritis controls.

[Simultaneous determination of 4 major components in semen cassiae obtusifoline by HPLC].

Objective: To establish a HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of 4 major components in semen cassiae obtusifoline and provide valuable data for quality control of semen cassiae obtusifoline.

Method: Kromasil 100-5 C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm).