Preparation of biochar/iron mineral composites and their adsorption of methyl orange.

Biochar-supported iron-containing minerals have received much attention due to their synergistic mechanism of decontamination in environmental pollution remediation. In this work, two types of iron/biochar were prepared from different biomasses using ferric chloride as the Fe source and rice husks and peanut shell as biomasses. The formation of fayalite (FeSiO) and magnetite (FeO) in rice husk and peanut shell derived biochar was proved by X-ray diffraction.

Combination therapy enhances efficacy and overcomes toxicity of metal-based anti-diabetic agent.

Background And Purpose: Metal-based therapeutic agents are limited by the required concentration of metal-based agents. Hereby, we determined if combination with 17β-oestradiol (E2) could reduce such levels and the therapy still be effective in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Experimental Approach: The metal-based agent (vanadyl acetylacetonate [VAC])- 17β-oestradiol (E2) combination is administered using the membrane-permeable graphene quantum dots (GQD), the vehicle, to form the active GQD-E2-VAC complexes, which was characterized by fluorescence spectra, infrared spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Cerebrospinal fluid efflux through dynamic paracellular pores on venules as a missing piece of the brain drainage system.

The glymphatic system plays a key role in the clearance of waste from the parenchyma, and its dysfunction has been associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, questions remain regarding its complete mechanisms. Here, we report that efflux of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)/interstitial fluid (ISF) solutes occurs through a triphasic process that cannot be explained by the current model, but rather hints at the possibility of other, previously undiscovered routes from paravenous spaces to the blood.

Disseminated tuberculosis in a child during the COVID-19 pandemic: a case report and literature review.

Background: Disseminated tuberculosis is an uncommon but devastating form of tuberculosis, possibly developing with the immune response of patients. COVID-19 infection may produce an immunosuppressive effect with possible implications for tuberculosis dissemination.

Case Presentation: A 17-year-old female patient with a history of tuberculous pleurisy presented to the hospital with a high fever and life-threatening dyspnea after contracting a COVID-19 infection.

Different photoreduction processes of Cr(VI) on cellulose-rich and lignin-rich biochar.

In this study, a series of biochar were prepared via pyrolyzing cellulose-rich pakchoi (PBC) and lignin-rich corncob (CBC) to explore the photoreduction process of Cr(VI). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed higher oxygenated functional groups in PBC (48.9%-57.

Oxygen-containing groups in cellulose and lignin biochar: their roles in U(VI) adsorption.

The adsorption behaviors of cellulose and lignin biochar depend on the evolution of their oxygen-containing groups to some extent. In this study, cellulose-rich pakchoi and lignin-rich corncob were selected to prepare the pyrolytic biochar at variable temperatures, named PBC and CBC, respectively. Their structure-function relationships were in-depth studied via the combination of the adsorption experiments of U(VI) and comprehensive spectral analyses.

Vanadium coordination compounds loaded on graphene quantum dots (GQDs) exhibit improved pharmaceutical properties and enhanced anti-diabetic effects.

Vanadium compounds are promising anti-diabetic agents, and graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are emerging as potential drug delivery systems to improve drug solubility in water and membrane transport. Using highly dispersible and water-soluble GQDs, we herein prepared a novel GQD-VO (p-dmada) complex, in which vanadium coordination compounds [VO(p-dmada)] were packed closely on one side of the GQD sheets possibly via the π-π stacking mechanism. The in vitro tests showed that GQD-VO(p-dmada) exhibited membrane permeability (Papp) as good as that of GQDs with reduced cytotoxicity.

Coniferaldehyde attenuates Alzheimer's pathology activation of Nrf2 and its targets.

: Alzheimer's disease (AD) currently lacks a cure. Because substantial neuronal damage usually occurs before AD is advanced enough for diagnosis, the best hope for disease-modifying AD therapies likely relies on early intervention or even prevention, and targeting multiple pathways implicated in early AD pathogenesis rather than focusing exclusively on excessive production of β-amyloid (Aβ) species. : Coniferaldehyde (CFA), a food flavoring and agonist of NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), was selected by multimodal screening, followed by investigation of several downstream effects potentially involved.

Anti-diabetic vanadyl complexes reduced Alzheimer's disease pathology independent of amyloid plaque deposition.

Association of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with cerebral glucose hypometabolism, likely due to impairments of insulin signaling, has been reported recently, with encouraging results when additional insulin is provided to AD patients. Here, we tested the potential effects of the anti-diabetic vanadium, vanadyl (IV) acetylacetonate (VAC), on AD in vitro and in vivo models. The experimental results showed that VAC at sub-micromolar concentrations improved the viability of neural cells with or without increased β-amyloid (Aβ) burden; and in APP/PS1 transgenic mice, VAC treatment (0.

Nano-Delivery Vehicles/Adjuvants for DNA Vaccination Against HIV.

More than 75 million people has been infected HIV and it is responsible for nearly 36 million deaths on a global scale. As one of the deadliest infectious diseases, HIV is becoming the urgent issue of the global epidemic to tackle. In order to settle this problem from the source, some effective prevention strategies should be developed to control the pandemic of HIV.

Site-Specific Drug-Releasing Polypeptide Nanocarriers Based on Dual-pH Response for Enhanced Therapeutic Efficacy against Drug-Resistant Tumors.

To enhance effective drug accumulation in drug-resistant tumors, a site-specific drug-releasing polypeptide system (PEG-Phis/Pasp-DOX/CA4) was exploited in response to tumor extracellular and intracellular pH. This system could firstly release the embedded tumor vascular inhibitor (CA4) to transiently 'normalize' vasculature and facilitate drug internalization to tumors efficiently, and then initiate the secondary pH-response to set the conjugated active anticancer drug (DOX) free in tumor cells. The encapsulated system (PEG-Phis/DOX/CA4), both CA4 and DOX embedding in the nanoparticles, was used as a control.

Resveratrol induces apoptosis of human chronic myelogenous leukemia cells in vitro through p38 and JNK-regulated H2AX phosphorylation.

Aim: The phosphorylation of histone H2AX, a novel tumor suppressor protein, is involved in regulation of cancer cell apoptosis. The aim of this study was to examine whether H2AX phosphorylation was required for resveratrol-induced apoptosis of human chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cells in vitro.

Methods: K562 cells were tested.

H2AX phosphorylation regulated by p38 is involved in Bim expression and apoptosis in chronic myelogenous leukemia cells induced by imatinib.

Increasing evidence suggests that histone H2AX plays a critical role in regulation of tumor cell apoptosis and acts as a novel human tumor suppressor protein. However, the action of H2AX in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cells is unknown. The detailed mechanism and epigenetic regulation by H2AX remain elusive in cancer cells.

Thulium ion promotes apoptosis of primary mouse bone marrow stromal cells.

Bone is one of the main target organs for the lanthanides (Ln). Biodistribution studies of Tm-based compounds in vivo showed that bone had significant uptake. But the effect of Tm(3+) on primary mouse bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) has not been reported.

Genome-wide transcriptional analysis of apoptosis-related genes and pathways regulated by H2AX in lung cancer A549 cells.

Histone H2AX is a novel tumor suppressor protein and plays an important role in apoptosis of cancer cells. However, the role of H2AX in lung cancer cells is unclear. The detailed mechanism and epigenetic regulation by H2AX remain elusive in cancer cells.

Screening patients with diabetes mellitus for tuberculosis in China.

Objective: There is a high burden of both diabetes (DM) and tuberculosis (TB) in China, and as DM increases the risk of TB and adversely affects TB treatment outcomes, there is a need for bidirectional screening of the two diseases. How this is best performed is not well determined. In this pilot project in China, we aimed to assess the feasibility and results of screening DM patients for TB within the routine healthcare setting of five DM clinics.