UV-induced photooxidation of phenyl urea pesticides toxicology aspects

Phenylurea herbicides, like diuron, monuron, linuron, are photosynthesis inhibitors killing the entire plant by this effect. These pesticides and their intermediates formed due to their UV induced transformation could be toxic and carcinogenic to animals and humans. Thus, the investigation of the UV induced transformation of these phenyl urea pesticides from toxicology aspects is suitable. In this work, the ecotoxicology effect of the multicomponent solutions formed during the UV photolysis (254 nm) was investigated by Daphtoxkit F™ Magna and Algaltoxkit F™. The genotoxicology effect of the multicomponent solutions was investigated using the Ames tests

Construction of quantum states by special superpositions of coherent states

We consider the optimal approximation of certain quantum states of a harmonic oscillator with the superposition of a finite number of coherent states in phase space placed either on an ellipse or on a certain lattice. These scenarios are currently experimentally feasible. The parameters of the ellipse and the lattice and the coefficients of the constituent coherent states are optimized numerically, via a genetic algorithm, in order to obtain the best approximation. It is found that for certain quantum states the obtained approximation is better than the ones known from the literature thus far

OTUB1 Overexpression in Mesangial Cells Is a Novel Regulator in the Pathogenesis of Glomerulonephritis through the Decrease of DCN Level

BACKGROUND: OTUB1 is a member of OTUs (Ovarian-tumor-domain-containing proteases), a deubiquitinating enzymes family (DUBs), which was shown as a proteasome-associated DUB to be involved in the proteins Ub-dependent degradation. It has been reported that OTUB1 was expressed in kidney tissue. But its concrete cellular location and function in the kidney remain unclear. Decorin (DCN) in mesangial cells (MC) is considered to be a potentially important factor for antagonizing glomerulonephritides, and its degradation is mediated by ubiquitination. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of OTUB1 expression in MC and its relationship with DCN during glomerulonephritis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot, we demonstrated that OTUB1 mRNA and protein were constitutively expressed in cultured rat MC and found to be upregulated by the stimulation of IL-1β or ATS. OTUB1 overexpression was detected in the mesangial area of glomeruli in some immunocomplex mediated nephritides such as IgA nephropathy, acute diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis and lupus nephritis by immunohistochemistry. The immunoprecipitation assay demonstrated that OTUB1 interacted with DCN. The overexpression of OTUB1 enhanced the ubiquitination and degradation of DCN in MC. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: These data showed the inflammatory injury could up-regulate OTUB1 expression in MC, which might attribute the promoting effect of OTUB1 on glomerulonephritides to the decrease of DCN level

Adaptive Protection of Scientific Backbone Networks Using Machine Learning

In this article, we propose a new protection scheme for backbone networks to guarantee high service availability. The presented scheme does not require any reconfiguration immediately after the failure (i.e., it is proactive). At the same time, it does not require any reserved backup network resources either. To achieve these seemingly contradictory goals, we utilize the recent advancements in Machine Learning (ML) to implement a network intelligence that periodically re-allocates the unused capacity as protection bandwidth to meet the service availability requirements of each connection. Our goal is achieved by two components (1) predicting the traffic for the next period on each link, and (2) intelligently selecting the best fit dedicated protection scheme for the next period depending on the estimated unused (spare) bandwidth and the previous service availability violations. Note that re-allocating protection bandwidth affects neither the operational connections nor the current best practice of operators to over-provision network bandwidth to support elephant flows. Finally, we provide a case study on the real traffic from Energy Sciences Network (ESnet), a high-speed, international scientific backbone network. The key benefit of our framework is that adaptively utilizing the over-provisioned bandwidth for spare capacity is sufficient to improve the availability from three-nines to five-nines (in ESnet for the 30 examined connections). The drawback is negligible bandwidth limitations; the user perceives a minor and very temporal bandwidth limitation in less than 0.1% of the time

Comparison of the photocatalytic efficiencies of bare and doped rutile and anatase TiO2 photocatalysts under visible light for phenol degradation and E. coli inactivation

This study aimed at comparing the photocatalytic efficiencies of various TiO2 based photocatalysts for phenol degradation and bacteria inactivation under illumination with visible light. Commercial undoped anatase and rutile (both from Aldrich), Aeroxide P25 (Evonik Industries), nitrogen-doped anatase (Sumitomo TP-S201, Sumitomo Chemical Inc.), nitrogen and sulphur co-doped anatase (Kronos VLP7000, Kronos Titan GmbH), and our custom-synthesized nitrogen- and iron-doped TiO2, as well as nitrogen and sulphur co-doped Aeroxide P25 and silver- and gold-deposited Aeroxide P25 were studied. The photocatalytic efficiency of different types of titanium dioxide based photocatalysts was determined by inactivation of Escherichia coli K12 bacteria and by phenol decomposition. Electron spin resonance (ESR) in combination with spin trapping was used to get insight into the reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated photocatalytic processes in the presence of TiO2-based photocatalysts. ESR results confirmed that titanias which generated OH radicals were efficient in E. coli disinfection, whereas titanias that were unable to produce OH radicals did not reveal significant bactericidal action. Three of our home-made titanias (iron-, nitrogen-, nitrogen/sulphur) as well as the commercial nitrogen/sulphur codoped Kronos VLP7000 TiO2 showed higher efficiency of phenol degradation than the well-established reference photocatalyst, Aeroxide P25, but showed much lower (if any) activity for bacteria inactivation, including Kronos VLP7000, which revealed extremely high efficiency for phenol decomposition. Interestingly undoped Aldrich rutile (with large particles - 100-700nm) had the highest efficiency for inactivation of E. coli and also had fairly high activity of phenol degradation. © 2012 Elsevier B.V

Highly efficient bacteria inactivation and phenol degradation by visible light irradiated iodine doped TiO2

In this study visible light active iodine doped titanium dioxide samples prepared by sol-gel method were investigated. Photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XFS), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area technique.Different iodine/titanium ratios (nI/nTi=0.0-2.6) were applied during the synthesis and the optimum value was determined by phenol degradation under UV and VIS irradiations. The photocatalytic efficiency towards phenol degradation and the inactivation of Escherichia coli (E. coli) contaminated water under visible light illumination (conventional 24W energy-saving compact fluorescence lamps) of the most active iodine-doped TiO2 (nI/nTi=0.5; 79.5m2/g; 98wt% anatase) was compared with well known reference photocatalysts, that are Aeroxide P25 and Aldrich anatase (>85nm primary crystallite size). Results showed that our iodine doped TiO2 was far more efficient at inactivating the E. coli and decomposing the phenol than Aeroxide P25. Electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements confirmed the formation of highly reactive OH radicals by the iodine doped titania under VIS irradiation. In contrast, singlet oxygen and superoxide radical ions were not detected. The performed experiments also proved that dissolved iodine was produced in very low concentrations (about 0.01-0.025mg/L) from the irradiated titanium dioxide. The dissolved iodine could have some contribution to the phenol oxidation and the disinfection effects. This study demonstrated this property of iodine-doped titanias for the first time. © 2012 Elsevier B.V