Photo-assisted degradation of Rhodamine B by a heterogeneous Fenton–like process: performance and kinetics

This study presents the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) by photo Fenton-like (PF-like) process under visible light irradiation (λ > 380 nm) using cobalt phosphate microparticles (CoP-MPs). The effects of the initial concentration of RhB, pH value, CoP-MPs dosage, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration, and salts found in textile wastewater (such as NaNO3, Na2SO4, and NaCl) were investigated in detail. It was found that CoP-MPs can maintain high catalytic activity with wide pH values varying from 4 to 8. This indicated that the use of CoP-MPs overcame the low efficiency of Fenton-like reaction at neutral and even weakly alkaline pH. The PF-like degradation of RhB followed pseudo-first order kinetics in various conditions. Moreover, a comparison of experimental results showed that the PF-like system has good degradation ability for RhB and methyl blue (MB) solution, but is poor for methyl orange (MO) solution. The repeat experiments indicated that the chemical structures of CoP-MPs were stable. Furthermore, the Co2+ ions leaching to the solutions were measured by an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). Analysis of UV-vis spectra suggested that RhB was degraded by the formation of a series of N-de-ethylated intermediates followed by cleavage of the whole conjugate chromophore structure.</p

Nitrogen and Phosphorus Dual-Doped Graphene/Carbon Nanosheets as Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction and Evolution

It is highly desirable but challenging to develop bifunctional catalysts for efficiently catalyzing both the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in energy storage and conversion systems. Here a simple yet cost-effective strategy is developed to fabricate nitrogen and phosphorus dual-doped graphene/carbon nanosheets (N,P-GCNS) with N,P-doped carbon sandwiching few-layers-thick graphene. The as-prepared N,P-GCNS shows outstanding catalytic activity toward both ORR and OER with a potential gap of 0.71 V between the OER potential at a current density of 10 mA cm^–2 and the ORR potential at a current density of −3 mA cm^–2, illustrating that it is the best metal-free bifunctional electrocatalysts reported to date. The superb bifunctional catalytic performance is attributed to the synergistic effects between the doped N and P atoms, the full exposure of the active sites on the surface of the N,P-GCNS nanosheets, the high conductivity of the incorporated graphene, and the large surface area and hierarchical pores for sufficient contact and rapid transportation of the reactants

Straw input can parallelly influence the bacterial and chemical characteristics of maize rhizosphere

The effects of straw input, including three strategies: chopped straw, straw-derived compost and biochar, on bacterial communities and chemical composition in maize rhizosphere were investigated according to a three-year field experiment. Illumina MiSeq sequencing showed that biochar input increased bacterial richness but decreased bacterial diversity in rhizosphere when compared with the results from no straw control. The functional prediction of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome pathways confirmed that soil subjected to straw input changed the abundance of microbiomes involved in carbohydrate metabolism significantly. Metabolomics analysis showed that straw input changed the metabolite profile of the rhizosphere soil of maize, which was most evident in the treatment of chopped-straw input. The match between the global metabolic profiles and bacterial distribution patterns was weak by performing Procrustes analysis (m2 = 0.851, R = 0.386, P P < 0.05).</p

Table_8_Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals the Immunosuppressive Targets of Mesalazine in Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Ulcerative Colitis.XLSX

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a complex inflammatory bowel disorder that can induce colonic and rectal dysfunction. Mesalazine, a first-line medicine, is routinely prescribed for UC treatment. However, the pharmacological targets of mesalazine against UC are not detailed in current publications. In the current study, a transcriptomics strategy was applied to reveal the therapeutic targets and molecular mechanisms of mesalazine for treating dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced UC in mice. Compared with the UC group, a total of 1,663 differentially expressed genes were identified in mesalazine-treated mice, of which 262 were upregulated and 1,401 were downregulated. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses indicated that the protective actions of mesalazine for treating UC were related to the functional regulation of immune inflammatory response, such as the regulation of T cells, white blood cells, and cytokine receptor pathways. In addition, ingenuity pathway analysis of the gene network further revealed the inhibitory action of mesalazine on C–C motif chemokine ligands (CCL11 and CCL21) and C–X–C motif chemokine ligands (CXCL3 and CXCR2). Taken together, the current transcriptomic findings revealed anti-UC pharmacological targets, including the newly discovered biotargets CCL11, CCL21, CXCL3, and CXCR2, of mesalazine against DSS-induced intestinal inflammation.</p

Table_3_Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals the Immunosuppressive Targets of Mesalazine in Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Ulcerative Colitis.XLSX

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a complex inflammatory bowel disorder that can induce colonic and rectal dysfunction. Mesalazine, a first-line medicine, is routinely prescribed for UC treatment. However, the pharmacological targets of mesalazine against UC are not detailed in current publications. In the current study, a transcriptomics strategy was applied to reveal the therapeutic targets and molecular mechanisms of mesalazine for treating dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced UC in mice. Compared with the UC group, a total of 1,663 differentially expressed genes were identified in mesalazine-treated mice, of which 262 were upregulated and 1,401 were downregulated. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses indicated that the protective actions of mesalazine for treating UC were related to the functional regulation of immune inflammatory response, such as the regulation of T cells, white blood cells, and cytokine receptor pathways. In addition, ingenuity pathway analysis of the gene network further revealed the inhibitory action of mesalazine on C–C motif chemokine ligands (CCL11 and CCL21) and C–X–C motif chemokine ligands (CXCL3 and CXCR2). Taken together, the current transcriptomic findings revealed anti-UC pharmacological targets, including the newly discovered biotargets CCL11, CCL21, CXCL3, and CXCR2, of mesalazine against DSS-induced intestinal inflammation.</p

Table_4_Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals the Immunosuppressive Targets of Mesalazine in Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Ulcerative Colitis.XLSX

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a complex inflammatory bowel disorder that can induce colonic and rectal dysfunction. Mesalazine, a first-line medicine, is routinely prescribed for UC treatment. However, the pharmacological targets of mesalazine against UC are not detailed in current publications. In the current study, a transcriptomics strategy was applied to reveal the therapeutic targets and molecular mechanisms of mesalazine for treating dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced UC in mice. Compared with the UC group, a total of 1,663 differentially expressed genes were identified in mesalazine-treated mice, of which 262 were upregulated and 1,401 were downregulated. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses indicated that the protective actions of mesalazine for treating UC were related to the functional regulation of immune inflammatory response, such as the regulation of T cells, white blood cells, and cytokine receptor pathways. In addition, ingenuity pathway analysis of the gene network further revealed the inhibitory action of mesalazine on C–C motif chemokine ligands (CCL11 and CCL21) and C–X–C motif chemokine ligands (CXCL3 and CXCR2). Taken together, the current transcriptomic findings revealed anti-UC pharmacological targets, including the newly discovered biotargets CCL11, CCL21, CXCL3, and CXCR2, of mesalazine against DSS-induced intestinal inflammation.</p

Table_1_Prognostic value of neutrophil extracellular trap signature in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.xlsx

IntroductionClear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most prevalent type of urological carcinoma. Although targeted therapy and immunotherapy are usually employed, they often result in primary and acquired resistance. There is currently a lack of dependable biomarkers that can accurately anticipate the prognosis of ccRCC. Recent research has indicated the critical role of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in the development, metastasis, and immune evasion of cancer. The aim of this study was to explore the value of NETs in the development and prognosis of ccRCC.MethodsClinical features and genetic expression information of ccRCC patients were acquired from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and E-MTAB-1980 database. NETs-related gene set were obtained from previous studies. A NETs-related gene signature was constructed based on TCGA data and validated using ICGC and E-MTAB-1980 databases. Furthermore, the immune microenvironment and responsiveness to anticancer medications in ccRCC patients with varying levels of NETs risks were investigated.ResultsA total of 31 NET-related genes were differently expressed between normal kidney and ccRCC tissues. 17 out of 31 were significantly associated with overall survival. After LASSO Cox regression analysis, nine NETs-related genes were enrolled to construct the NETs prognosis signature, and all the ccRCC patients from TCGA were divided into low and high risk group. This signature demonstrated excellent performance in predicting the overall survival of TCGA patients as well as the validation ICGC and E-MTAB-1980 patients. Additionally, the NETs signature was significantly correlated with immune infiltration and drug sensitivity.ConclusionsThe NETs signature established by the current study has prognostic significance in ccRCC, and may serve as a useful biomarker for patient stratification and treatment decisions. Further validation and clinical studies are required to fully translate these findings into clinical practice.</p

Table_6_Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals the Immunosuppressive Targets of Mesalazine in Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Ulcerative Colitis.XLSX

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a complex inflammatory bowel disorder that can induce colonic and rectal dysfunction. Mesalazine, a first-line medicine, is routinely prescribed for UC treatment. However, the pharmacological targets of mesalazine against UC are not detailed in current publications. In the current study, a transcriptomics strategy was applied to reveal the therapeutic targets and molecular mechanisms of mesalazine for treating dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced UC in mice. Compared with the UC group, a total of 1,663 differentially expressed genes were identified in mesalazine-treated mice, of which 262 were upregulated and 1,401 were downregulated. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses indicated that the protective actions of mesalazine for treating UC were related to the functional regulation of immune inflammatory response, such as the regulation of T cells, white blood cells, and cytokine receptor pathways. In addition, ingenuity pathway analysis of the gene network further revealed the inhibitory action of mesalazine on C–C motif chemokine ligands (CCL11 and CCL21) and C–X–C motif chemokine ligands (CXCL3 and CXCR2). Taken together, the current transcriptomic findings revealed anti-UC pharmacological targets, including the newly discovered biotargets CCL11, CCL21, CXCL3, and CXCR2, of mesalazine against DSS-induced intestinal inflammation.</p

Table_2_In Vivo and In Vitro Matured Oocytes From Mice of Advanced Reproductive Age Exhibit Alternative Splicing Processes for Mitochondrial Oxidative Phosphorylation.xls

The mean age of women seeking infertility treatment has gradually increased over recent years. This has coincided with the emergence of in vitro maturation (IVM), a method used in assisted reproductive technology for patients with special requirements. However, when compared with conventional in vitro fertilization, IVM is associated with poor embryonic development potential and low live birth rates, thus limiting the widespread application of this technique. In this study, we performed RNA-sequencing transcriptomic assays and identified a total of 2,627 significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between IVM oocytes and in vivo matured oocytes from mice of advanced reproductive age. Next, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis was used to identify the potential functions of the DEGs. The most significantly enriched pathway was oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). In addition, we constructed a protein-protein interaction network to identify key genes and determined that most of the hub genes were mtDNA-encoded subunits of respiratory chain complex I. Antioxidant supplementation lead to an increase in ATP production and reduced the gene expression profile of the OXPHOS pathway in the IVM group. Moreover, alternative splicing (AS) events were identified during in vivo or in vitro oocyte maturation; data showed that skipped exons were the most frequent type of AS event. A number of genes associated with the OXPHOS pathway exhibited alterations in AS events, including Ndufa7, Ndufs7, Cox6a2, Ndufs5, Ndufb1, and Uqcrh. Furthermore, the process of IVO promoted the skipping of exon 2 in Ndufa7 and exon 3 in Ndufs7 compared with the IVM oocytes, as determined by semi−quantitative RT−PCR. Collectively, these findings provide potential new therapeutic targets for improving IVM of aged women who undergo infertility treatment.</p

Table_1_Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals the Immunosuppressive Targets of Mesalazine in Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Ulcerative Colitis.XLSX

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a complex inflammatory bowel disorder that can induce colonic and rectal dysfunction. Mesalazine, a first-line medicine, is routinely prescribed for UC treatment. However, the pharmacological targets of mesalazine against UC are not detailed in current publications. In the current study, a transcriptomics strategy was applied to reveal the therapeutic targets and molecular mechanisms of mesalazine for treating dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced UC in mice. Compared with the UC group, a total of 1,663 differentially expressed genes were identified in mesalazine-treated mice, of which 262 were upregulated and 1,401 were downregulated. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses indicated that the protective actions of mesalazine for treating UC were related to the functional regulation of immune inflammatory response, such as the regulation of T cells, white blood cells, and cytokine receptor pathways. In addition, ingenuity pathway analysis of the gene network further revealed the inhibitory action of mesalazine on C–C motif chemokine ligands (CCL11 and CCL21) and C–X–C motif chemokine ligands (CXCL3 and CXCR2). Taken together, the current transcriptomic findings revealed anti-UC pharmacological targets, including the newly discovered biotargets CCL11, CCL21, CXCL3, and CXCR2, of mesalazine against DSS-induced intestinal inflammation.</p