Application of roadside air purifiers in urban street canyons: A pilot-scale study in Hong Kong.

The implementation of roadside air purifiers has emerged as an effective active control measure to alleviate air pollution in urban street canyons. However, technical questions raised under real conditions remain challenging. In this study, we conducted a pilot-scale investigation involving seven units of self-designed roadside air purifiers in an urban street canyon in Hong Kong.

Constructing Active Cu-O-Fe Sites at the CuO-FeO Interface to Promote Activation of Surface Lattice Oxygen.

Activating surface lattice oxygen (O) through the modulation of metal-oxygen bond strength has proven to be an effective route for facilitating the catalytic degradation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Although this strategy has been implemented the construction of the TM-O-TM (TM represents a transition metal) structure in various reactions, the underlying principle requires exploration when using different TMs. Herein, the Cu-O-Fe structure was created by developing CuO-FeO composites with enhanced interfacial effect, which exhibited superior catalytic activity to their counterparts, with (the temperature of toluene conversion reaching 90%) decreasing by approximately 50 °C.

Progress in construction and release of natural polysaccharide-platinum nanomedicines: A review.

Natural polysaccharides are natural biomaterials that have become candidate materials for nano-drug delivery systems due to their excellent biodegradability and biocompatibility. Platinum (Pt) drugs have been widely used in the clinical therapy for various solid tumors. However, their extensive systemic toxicity and the drug resistance acquired by cancer cells limit the applications of platinum drugs.

Polysaccharide‑platinum complexes for cancer theranostics.

Platinum anticancer drugs have been explored and developed in recent years to reduce systematic toxicities and resist drug resistance. Polysaccharides derived from nature have abundant structures as well as pharmacological activities. The review provides insights on the design, synthesis, characterization and associating therapeutic application of platinum complexes with polysaccharides that are classified by electronic charge.

Lymphangiogenesis in kidney and lymph node mediates renal inflammation and fibrosis.

Lymphangiogenesis is associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and occurs following kidney transplant. Here, we demonstrate that expanding lymphatic vessels (LVs) in kidneys and corresponding renal draining lymph nodes (RDLNs) play critical roles in promoting intrarenal inflammation and fibrosis following renal injury. Our studies show that lymphangiogenesis in the kidney and RDLN is driven by proliferation of preexisting lymphatic endothelium expressing the essential C-C chemokine ligand 21 (CCL21).

Evaluation of the safety and tolerability of tamoxifen for ischemia-incited renal injury in mice.

Tamoxifen is used to activate tamoxifen-dependent Cre recombinase (CreER) to generate time- and tissue-specific genetically mutant mice. However, tamoxifen is also an active estrogen analogue that binds with higher affinity to estrogen receptors and exhibits anti-apoptosis, anti-inflammation, and antifibrotic properties. Renal ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury is characterized by increased apoptosis and inflammation, so optimal utility of tamoxifen-inducible CreER genetic systems in I/R model is important.

Cancer killers in the human gut microbiota: diverse phylogeny and broad spectra.

Cancer as a large group of complex diseases is believed to result from the interactions of numerous genetic and environmental factors but may develop in people without any known genetic or environmental risks, suggesting the existence of other powerful factors to influence the carcinogenesis process. Much attention has been focused recently on particular members of the intestinal microbiota for their potential roles in promoting carcinogenesis. Here we report the identification and characterization of intestinal bacteria that exhibited potent anti-malignancy activities on a broad range of solid cancers and leukemia.

Impact of arteriovenous fistula blood flow on serum il-6, cardiovascular events and death: An ambispective cohort analysis of 64 Chinese hemodialysis patients.

Flows (Qa) of arteriovenous fistula (AVF) impact the dialysis adequacy in hemodialysis (HD) patients. However, data for different access flow levels on outcomes related to long-term dialysis patients, especially in Chinese patients, are limited. Herein, we performed an ambispective, mono-centric cohort study investigating the association between the AVF flows and inflammation, cardiovascular events and deaths in Chinese hemodialysis patients bearing a radio-cephalic fistula (AVF) from 2009 to 2015.

Continuous AMD3100 Treatment Worsens Renal Fibrosis through Regulation of Bone Marrow Derived Pro-Angiogenic Cells Homing and T-Cell-Related Inflammation.

AMD3100 is a small molecule inhibitor of chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4), which is located in the cell membranes of CD34+ cells and a variety of inflammatory cells and has been reported to reduce organ fibrosis in the lung, liver and myocardium. However, the effect of AMD3100 on renal fibrosis is unknown. This study investigated the impact of AMD3100 on renal fibrosis.

Biliverdin Reductase A (BVRA) Mediates Macrophage Expression of Interleukin-10 in Injured Kidney.

Biliverdin reductase A is an enzyme, with serine/threonine/tyrosine kinase activation, converting biliverdin (BV) to bilirubin (BR) in heme degradation pathway. It has been reported to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect in monocytes and human glioblastoma. However, the function of BVRA in polarized macrophage was unknown.