Adsorption of fluoride on a green adsorbent derived from wastepaper: Kinetic, isotherm and characterisation study

The excessive concentration of fluoride (F−) in water represents a grave problem for several countries, especially those that depend on groundwater as a main source of drinking water. Therefore, many treatment methods, such as chemical precipitation and membrane, were practised to remove F− from water. However, the traditional methods suffer from many limitations, such as the high cost and the slowness. Hence, many studies have been directed towards developing novel and effective water defluoridation methods. In this context, the current study investigates the development of an eco-friendly adsorbent by extracting Ca, Al, and Fe from industrial by-products, precipitating them on sand particles, and using this new adsorbent to remove F− from water. The removal experiments were commenced under different pH levels (3-10), contact times (0–240 minutes) and concentrations of F− (7.5–37.5 mg/L). X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction Investigator (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) methods were used to characterise the green adsorbent. Adsorption isotherm and kinetic studies were also conducted to define the adsorption type. The results confirmed that the new adsorbent could remove as high as 86% of F− at pH, contact time, agitation speed and adsorbent dose of 10, 180 minutes, 200 rpm and 15 mg/L, respectively. The characterisation studies prove the occurrence of the sorption process and the suitability of the morphology of the adsorbent for F− removal. Adsorption kinetics follow better with a pseudo-first-order model that indicates the predominance of physisorption, which agrees with the FTIR results. The isotherm study indicated that Langmuir isotherm is more suitable for representing data with an R2 value of 0.992, which means the adsorption of F− occurs as monolayer adsorption on homogeneous sites on the surface of the new adsorbent. In summary, it can be concluded that the developed adsorbent in this study could be a promising alternative to the traditional F− removal methods

Adaptive molecular evolution of the Major Histocompatibility Complex genes, DRA and DQA, in the genus Equus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) genes are central to vertebrate immune response and are believed to be under balancing selection by pathogens. This hypothesis has been supported by observations of extremely high polymorphism, elevated nonsynonymous to synonymous base pair substitution rates and trans-species polymorphisms at these loci. In equids, the organization and variability of this gene family has been described, however the full extent of diversity and selection is unknown. As selection is not expected to act uniformly on a functional gene, maximum likelihood codon-based models of selection that allow heterogeneity in selection across codon positions can be valuable for examining MHC gene evolution and the molecular basis for species adaptations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We investigated the evolution of two class II MHC genes of the Equine Lymphocyte Antigen (ELA), <it>DRA </it>and <it>DQA</it>, in the genus <it>Equus </it>with the addition of novel alleles identified in plains zebra (<it>E. quagga</it>, formerly <it>E. burchelli</it>). We found that both genes exhibited a high degree of polymorphism and inter-specific sharing of allele lineages. To our knowledge, <it>DRA </it>allelic diversity was discovered to be higher than has ever been observed in vertebrates. Evidence was also found to support a duplication of the <it>DQA </it>locus. Selection analyses, evaluated in terms of relative rates of nonsynonymous to synonymous mutations (<it>d</it>_N<it>/d</it>_S) averaged over the gene region, indicated that the majority of codon sites were conserved and under purifying selection (<it>d</it>_N<<it>d</it>_S). However, the most likely evolutionary codon models allowed for variable rates of selection across codon sites at both loci and, at the <it>DQA</it>, supported the hypothesis of positive selection acting on specific sites.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Observations of elevated genetic diversity and trans-species polymorphisms supported the conclusion that balancing selection may be acting on these loci. Furthermore, at the <it>DQA</it>, positive selection was occurring at antigen binding sites, suggesting that a few selected residues may play a significant role in equid immune function. Future studies in natural equid populations will be valuable for understanding the functional significance of the uniquely diverse <it>DRA </it>locus and for elucidating the mechanism maintaining diversity at these MHC loci.</p

Proteostasis Dysregulation in Pancreatic Cancer

The most common form of pancreatic cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), has a dismal 5-year survival rate of less than 5%. Radical surgical resection, in combination with adjuvant chemotherapy, provides the best option for long-term patient survival. However, only approximately 20% of patients are resectable at the time of diagnosis, due to locally advanced or metastatic disease. There is an urgent need for the identification of new, specific, and more sensitive biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction to improve the treatment options for pancreatic cancer patients. Dysregulation of proteostasis is linked to many pathophysiological conditions, including various types of cancer. In this review, we report on findings relating to the main cellular protein degradation systems, the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and autophagy, in pancreatic cancer. The expression of several components of the proteolytic network, including E3 ubiquitinligases and deubiquitinating enzymes, are dysregulated in PDAC, which accounts for approximately 90% of all pancreatic malignancies. In the future, a deeper understanding of the emerging role of proteostasis in pancreatic cancer has the potential to provide clinically relevant biomarkers and new strategies for combinatorial therapeutic options to better help treat the patients.Peer reviewe

Indicators of "Healthy Aging" in older women (65-69 years of age). A data-mining approach based on prediction of long-term survival

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Prediction of long-term survival in healthy adults requires recognition of features that serve as early indicators of successful aging. The aims of this study were to identify predictors of long-term survival in older women and to develop a multivariable model based upon longitudinal data from the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We considered only the youngest subjects (<it>n </it>= 4,097) enrolled in the SOF cohort (65 to 69 years of age) and excluded older SOF subjects more likely to exhibit a "frail" phenotype. A total of 377 phenotypic measures were screened to determine which were of most value for prediction of long-term (19-year) survival. Prognostic capacity of individual predictors, and combinations of predictors, was evaluated using a cross-validation criterion with prediction accuracy assessed according to time-specific AUC statistics.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Visual contrast sensitivity score was among the top 5 individual predictors relative to all 377 variables evaluated (mean AUC = 0.570). A 13-variable model with strong predictive performance was generated using a forward search strategy (mean AUC = 0.673). Variables within this model included a measure of physical function, smoking and diabetes status, self-reported health, contrast sensitivity, and functional status indices reflecting cumulative number of daily living impairments (HR ≥ 0.879 or RH ≤ 1.131; P < 0.001). We evaluated this model and show that it predicts long-term survival among subjects assigned differing causes of death (e.g., cancer, cardiovascular disease; P < 0.01). For an average follow-up time of 20 years, output from the model was associated with multiple outcomes among survivors, such as tests of cognitive function, geriatric depression, number of daily living impairments and grip strength (P < 0.03).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The multivariate model we developed characterizes a "healthy aging" phenotype based upon an integration of measures that together reflect multiple dimensions of an aging adult (65-69 years of age). Age-sensitive components of this model may be of value as biomarkers in human studies that evaluate anti-aging interventions. Our methodology could be applied to data from other longitudinal cohorts to generalize these findings, identify additional predictors of long-term survival, and to further develop the "healthy aging" concept.</p

Bacteria-inducing legume nodules involved in the improvement of plant growth, health and nutrition

Bacteria-inducing legume nodules are known as rhizobia and belong to the class Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria. They promote the growth and nutrition of their respective legume hosts through atmospheric nitrogen fixation which takes place in the nodules induced in their roots or stems. In addition, rhizobia have other plant growth-promoting mechanisms, mainly solubilization of phosphate and production of indoleacetic acid, ACC deaminase and siderophores. Some of these mechanisms have been reported for strains of rhizobia which are also able to promote the growth of several nonlegumes, such as cereals, oilseeds and vegetables. Less studied are the mechanisms that have the rhizobia to promote the plant health; however, these bacteria are able to exert biocontrol of some phytopathogens and to induce the plant resistance. In this chapter, we revised the available data about the ability of the legume nodule-inducing bacteria for improving the plant growth, health and nutrition of both legumes and nonlegumes. These data showed that rhizobia meet all the requirements of sustainable agriculture to be used as bio-inoculants allowing the total or partial replacement of chemicals used for fertilization or protection of crops

Результаты внедрения новой формы управляемой самостоятельной работы студентов в учебный процесс на кафедре патофизиологии

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Global, regional, and national burden of neurological disorders during 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

Background Comparable data on the global and country-specific burden of neurological disorders and their trends are crucial for health-care planning and resource allocation. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) Study provides such information but does not routinely aggregate results that are of interest to clinicians specialising in neurological conditions. In this systematic analysis, we quantified the global disease burden due to neurological disorders in 2015 and its relationship with country development level. Methods We estimated global and country-specific prevalence, mortality, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), years of life lost (YLLs), and years lived with disability (YLDs) for various neurological disorders that in the GBD classification have been previously spread across multiple disease groupings. The more inclusive grouping of neurological disorders included stroke, meningitis, encephalitis, tetanus, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, motor neuron disease, migraine, tension-type headache, medication overuse headache, brain and nervous system cancers, and a residual category of other neurological disorders. We also analysed results based on the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a compound measure of income per capita, education, and fertility, to identify patterns associated with development and how countries fare against expected outcomes relative to their level of development. Findings Neurological disorders ranked as the leading cause group of DALYs in 2015 (250·7 [95% uncertainty interval (UI) 229·1 to 274·7] million, comprising 10·2% of global DALYs) and the second-leading cause group of deaths (9·4 [9·1 to 9·7] million], comprising 16·8% of global deaths). The most prevalent neurological disorders were tension-type headache (1505·9 [UI 1337·3 to 1681·6 million cases]), migraine (958·8 [872·1 to 1055·6] million), medication overuse headache (58·5 [50·8 to 67·4 million]), and Alzheimer's disease and other dementias (46·0 [40·2 to 52·7 million]). Between 1990 and 2015, the number of deaths from neurological disorders increased by 36·7%, and the number of DALYs by 7·4%. These increases occurred despite decreases in age-standardised rates of death and DALYs of 26·1% and 29·7%, respectively; stroke and communicable neurological disorders were responsible for most of these decreases. Communicable neurological disorders were the largest cause of DALYs in countries with low SDI. Stroke rates were highest at middle levels of SDI and lowest at the highest SDI. Most of the changes in DALY rates of neurological disorders with development were driven by changes in YLLs. Interpretation Neurological disorders are an important cause of disability and death worldwide. Globally, the burden of neurological disorders has increased substantially over the past 25 years because of expanding population numbers and ageing, despite substantial decreases in mortality rates from stroke and communicable neurological disorders. The number of patients who will need care by clinicians with expertise in neurological conditions will continue to grow in coming decades. Policy makers and health-care providers should be aware of these trends to provide adequate services