Analysis of Heavy Metals Concentration in Textile Wastewater in Batik Industry Center

The textile industry is the main source of environmental pollution in terms of quality and quantity. It consumes large amounts of water (200 m3/ tonne of products), and around 90% of the quantity is wastewater. Improper disposal of textile wastewater will cause serious environmental problems due to the presence of heavy metals in the waste which will adversely affect aquatic organisms. To analyze, the concentration of heavy metals in textile (batik) wastewater was collected from 15 small, medium, and large-scale textile industry waste disposal centers located at the Batik Industry Center of Kampoeng Batik Laweyan Surakarta, Indonesia August 2019. Standard methods of 22nd Edition 2012 APHA -AWWA-WEF with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) was used to analyze the concentration of Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Chromium (Cr), Cadmium (Cd), Lead (Pb) and Nickel (Ni) in the sample. The results of the analysis showed that from 15 sample locations, several locations had levels of Cu, Pb, Ni, Cr, and Cd below the detection limit, i.e.  2 (<0.01 ppm), 13 (<0.02 ppm), 13 (<0.01 ppm), 15 (<0.01 ppm), and 15 (<0.02 ppm) locations for each metal respectively, while Fe levels were above the detection limit at all locations. The mean levels and number of locations for Fe, Cu, Pb, and Ni were 2.63 ± 5.01 (n = 15), 0.48 ± 0.99 (n = 13), 0.05 ± 0.03 (n = 2) and 0.02 ± 0.00 (n = 2) and the ranges of each metal level were 0.07-19.4 ppm, 0.01-3.73 ppm, 0.02-0.07 ppm, and 0.01-0.02 ppm respectively. Among these heavy metals, the highest concentration was Fe, and all samples had Cr and Pb levels below the detection limit. By comparing the results of this study with the safe limit for industrial wastewater according to Central Java Provincial Regulation No. 5 of 2012, only wastewater originating from two sampling locations can be used for irrigation and aquaculture, namely at locations B2 and B

Neuroprotective effects of Ocimum basilicum extract against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress in SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease are characterized by the progressive loss of neurons. One of the contributing factors for these diseases is oxidative stress, characterized by the imbalance of free radicals production and antioxidant defense mechanisms. In the present study, the neuroprotective effects of Ocimum basilicum var. thyrsiflora against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced oxidative stress in SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells were evaluated. The exposure of SK-N-SH cells to 50 μM H2O2 for 24 h induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis as measured by cell viability and flow cytometry, respectively. Pretreatment with ethyl acetate (ObEA) fraction at 3.1-25 μg/mL showed the highest protection against H2O2-induced cell death compared to other fractions and crude extract by increasing cell viability and reducing apoptosis. The evaluation of antioxidant capacity via 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylahydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) assays showed ObEA possessed the highest antioxidative properties. The intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production of H2O2 in untreated cells increased by 2.39-fold compared to the control and was significantly attenuated by the 2 h pre-treatment of O. basilicum (p<0.05). The reduction in intracellular superoxide dismutase (SOD) induced by H2O2 was also abrogated by the pretreatment of O. basilicum. These findings suggested that O. basilicum is potentially neuroprotective against oxidative damage in neuronal cells by scavenging free radicals, restoring SOD activities and eventually prevent cell death

Monitoring moisture content for various kind of tea leaves in drying processes using rf reflectometer-sensor system

This paper presents tea leaves moisture monitoring system based on RF reflectometry techniques. The system was divided into two parts which are the sensor and reflectometer parts. The large coaxial probe was used as a sensor for the system. The reflectometer part plays a role as signal generator and also data acquisition. The reflectometer-sensor system was operated with a graphical user interface at 1.529 GHz at room temperature. The system was able to measure the moisture content of tea leaves ranging 0% m.c to 50% m.c on a wet basis. In this study, up to five kinds of tea leaves bulk were tested. The mean of absolute errors in the moisture measurement for tea leaves was ±2

Herbal Formulation C168 Attenuates Proliferation and Induces Apoptosis in HCT 116 Human Colorectal Carcinoma Cells: Role of Oxidative Stress and DNA Damage

The use of herbal formulations has gained scientific interest, particularly in cancer treatment. In this study, the herbal formulation of interest, denoted as C168, is a mixture of eight genera of plants. This study aims to investigate the antiproliferative effect of C168 methanol extract (CME) on various cancer cells and its underlying mechanism of action on the most responsive cell line, namely, HCT 116 cells. CME exerted antiproliferative activities on HCT 116 colorectal carcinoma cells and HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells but not on CCD-841-CoN normal colon epithelial cells, Jurkat E6.1 lymphoblastic leukemic cells, and V79-4 Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts. Further investigation on HCT 116 cells showed that CME induced G2/M cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis. Treatment of CME induced oxidative stress in HCT 116 cells by increasing the superoxide anion level and decreasing the intracellular glutathione. CME also increased tail moment value and H2AX phosphorylation in HCT 116 cells, suggesting DNA damage as an early signal of CME induced apoptosis. Loss of mitochondrial membrane potential in CME-treated cells also indicated the involvement of mitochondria in CME induced apoptosis. This study indicated the selectivity of CME toward colon cancer cells with the involvement of oxidative damage as its possible mechanism of action

Immunomodulatory potential of Clinacanthus nutans extracts in the co-culture of triple-negative breast cancer cells, MDA-MB-231, and THP-1 macrophages

Triple-negative breast cancer is the main type of breast carcinoma that causes mortality among women because of the limited treatment options and high recurrence. Chronic inflammation has been linked with the tumor microenvironment (TME) in breast cancer progression. Clinacanthus nutans (CN) has gained much attention because of its anticancer properties, but its mechanism remains unclear. We aimed to study the qualitative phytochemical content and elucidate the cytotoxicity effects of CN on human triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), MDA-MB-231 and human macrophage-like cells such as THP-1 by using sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. As highly metastatic cells, MDA-MB-231 cells can migrate to the distal position, the effect of CN on migration were also elucidated using the scratch assay. The CN effects on ameliorating chronic inflammation in TME were studied following the co-culture of MDA-MB-231/THP-1 macrophages. The cytokine expression levels of IL-6, IL-1β and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were determined using ELISA assays. The results showed that both ethanolic and aqueous CN extracts contained alkaloid, phenol and tannin, flavonoid, terpenoid, glycoside and steroid. However, saponin was only found in the aqueous extract of CN. CN was not cytotoxic to both MDA-MB-231 and THP-1 cells. The ability of MDA-MB-231 to migrate was also not halted by CN treatment. However, CN ethanol extract decreased IL-6 at 25 μg/mL (p = 0.02) and 100 μg/mL (p = 0.03) but CN aqueous extract increased IL-6 expression at 50 μg/mL (p = 0.08) and 100 μg/mL (p = 0.02). IL-1β showed decreased expression after treated with CN ethanol and CN aqueous both at 25 μg/mL (p = 0.03). TNF-α were significantly decreased after CN ethanol treatment at concentration 25- (p = 0.001), 50- (p = 0.000) and 100 μg/mL (p = 0.000). CN aqueous extract slightly inhibited TNF-α at all 25-50- and 100 μg/mL (p = 0.001, p = 0.000, p = 0.000, respectively). Overall, CN acts by ameliorating the pro-inflammatory condition in the TME and may be a potential strategy for its anticancer mechanism on highly metastatic breast cancer condition. The major pathways that link both cancer and inflammation were NF-κB and STATs thus further study on the upstream and downstream pathways is needed to fully understand the mechanism of CN extracts in cooling the inflamed TME in breast cancer

CCN1, a Pro-Inflammatory Factor, Aggravates Psoriasis Skin Lesions by Promoting Keratinocyte Activation

Psoriasis is a common chronic skin disease characterized by epidermal hyperplasia and inflammation. The pathogenesis of psoriasis is multifactorial and is not fully understood. Here we demonstrate that CCN1 (also called Cyr61, which is short for cysteine-rich 61), an extracellular matrix protein that is also considered a pro-inflammatory factor, is highly expressed in the lesional skin of psoriasis patients, as well as in that of imiquimod (IMQ)- and IL-23-treated psoriasis-like mice. Then we show that blocking CCN1 function in vivo attenuates epidermal hyperplasia and inflammation in psoriasis-like mice. Further, in primary cultured normal human keratinocytes and HaCaT (human keratinocyte cell line) cells, CCN1 promotes keratinocyte activation, including the proliferation and expression of immune-related molecules. Finally, we observe that integrin α6β1 is the receptor of CCN1 in keratinocytes, and CCN1 stimulation activates the downstream phosphoinositide-3 kinase/Akt/NF-κB signaling pathway. Taken together, our findings reveal that CCN1 has a critical role in psoriasis pathogenesis. Moreover, as CCN1 is a secreted extracellular matrix (ECM) protein, our study also provides evidence that ECM, which is involved in psoriatic pathogenesis, could be a potent target for psoriasis treatment

Microbial exposure during early human development primes fetal immune cells

Human fetal immune system begins to develop early during gestation, however factors responsible for fetal immune-priming remain elusive. We explored potential exposure to microbial agents in-utero and their contribution towards activation of memory T cells in fetal tissues. We profiled microbes across fetal organs using 16S-rRNA gene sequencing and detected low but consistent microbial signal in fetal gut, skin, placenta and lungs, in 2nd trimester of gestation. We identified several live bacterial strains including Staphylococcus and Lactobacillus in fetal tissues, which induced in vitro activation of memory T cells in fetal mesenteric lymph-node, supporting the role of microbial exposure in fetal immune-priming. Finally, using SEM and RNA-ISH, we visualised discrete localisation of bacteria-like structures and eubacterial-RNA within 14th week fetal gut lumen. These findings indicate selective presence of live-microbes in fetal organs during 2nd trimester of gestation and have broader implications towards establishment of immune competency and priming before birt

Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology Consensus Recommendations on the Use of MitraClip for Mitral Regurgitation

Transcatheter mitral valve repair with the MitraClip, a catheter-based percutaneous edge-to-edge repair technique to correct mitral regurgitation (MR), has been demonstrated in Western studies to be an effective and safe MR treatment strategy. However, randomised clinical trial data on its use in Asian-Pacific patients is limited. Hence, the Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology convened an expert panel to review the available literature on MitraClip and to develop consensus recommendations to guide clinicians in the region. The panel developed statements on the use of MitraClip for the management of degenerative MR, functional MR, and other less common indications, such as acute MR, dynamic MR, hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, and MR after failed surgical repair. Each statement was voted on by each panel member and consensus was reached when 80% of experts voted ‘agree’ or ‘neutral’. This consensus-building process resulted in 10 consensus recommendations to guide general cardiologists in the evaluation and management of patients in whom MitraClip treatment is being contemplated

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities

Kandungan makronutrien rumpai laut merah Kappaphycus alvarezii dan Kappaphycus striatum

Rumpai laut mempunyai pelbagai kandungan nutrien yang berpotensi untuk menjadi sumber makanan yang berkhasiat, namun hanya sedikit kajian yang dilakukan terhadap rumpai laut merah di Malaysia. Oleh itu, kajian ini dilakukan untuk menentukan kandungan makronutrien, profil asid amino dan komponen asid lemak Kappaphycus alvarezii dan Kappaphycus striatum. Hasil kajian mendapati julat kandungan lembapan, lemak, abu, protein, gentian dan karbohidrat bagi kedua-dua rumpai laut merah adalah masing-masing dalam lingkungan 6.9% - 7.3%, 0.5% - 2.6%, 29.4% - 30.9%, 2.5% - 5.7%, 5.3% - 5.5% dan 50.1% - 53.3%. Sebanyak 16 jenis asid amino telah dikenal pasti di mana kandungan asid amino perlu bagi K. alvarezii dan K. striatum masing-masing adalah sebanyak 41.11% dan 36.15%. Sebanyak 34 komponen asid lemak telah dikenal pasti di mana kandungan asid lemak tepu (SFA) adalah paling tinggi (42.7% - 72.8%) diikuti dengan asid lemak mono tidak tepu (MUFA) (13.8% - 36.2%) dan kandungan asid lemak poli tidak tepu (PUFA) adalah paling rendah (13.5% - 21.2%). Secara kesimpulannya, kajian ini mencadangkan bahawa K. alvarezii dan K. striatum berpotensi digunakan sebagai bahan mentah atau ramuan makanan untuk meningkatkan nilai pemakanan dalam diet manusia