Biotransformation of chloramphenicol by white-rot-fungi Trametes versicolor under cadmium stress

Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UABThe recalcitrant chloramphenicol (CAP) combined with heavy metals cadmium (Cd) commonly co-existed in the environment, posing threat to environment health. The capacity of Trametes versicolor to remove/biodegrade CAP in air-pulse fluidized-bed reactor was evaluated, even under Cd stress. T. versicolor could remove 44 % CAP of 5 mg/L in 15 days, even 51 % CAP under 1 mg/L Cd stress. Sustained Cd stress inhibited CAP biodegradation and Cd removal in a 5-batches of a 5-days cycle sequential batch reactor. Nine transformation products and two novel pathways were proposed, with initial multi-step transformation reaction into CP2 and allylic alcohol, respectively. Furthermore, the main mechanism of Cd removal by T. versicolor was extracellular surface bioadsorption and intracellular accumulation. This study filled the gap of the mechanism of simultaneous CAP removal/biodegradation and Cd removal by white-rot fungi T. versicolor, which offer a theoretical basis for future application of biological removal of CAP containing wastewater

A study of sustainable practices in the sustainability leadership of international contractors

With an increasing global need for sustainable development, numerous world‐leading construction corporations have devoted significant efforts to implementing sustainable practices. However, few previous studies have shared these valuable experiences in a systematic and quantitative way. RobecoSAM has published The Sustainability Yearbook annually since 2004, which lists the sustainability leaders in various industries, including the construction industry. Learning from those sustainability leaders in the construction industry can provide useful references for construction‐related companies when developing their sustainable development strategies. Based on a comprehensive literature review, this paper identified 51 methods used for improving sustainability performance and 34 outcomes achieved via these methods. These methods and outcomes are used for coding the sustainable practices of sustainability leaders in the construction sector. Using the coding system, 133 annual sustainability reports issued by 22 sustainability leaders (The Sustainability Yearbook, RobecoSAM 2010–2016) in the construction sector were analyzed using content analysis. Social network analysis was then employed to identify the key adopted methods and achieved outcomes (KAMAO) of these leaders. The dynamic trend and regional analysis of KAMAO are also presented. These KAMAO findings provide valuable guidance for international contractors to develop a better understanding of the primary sustainable methods adopted by sustainability leaders in the construction sector and the top outcomes achieved by these leaders. The findings also provide a useful reference for international contractors to evaluate their current sustainability‐related strategies and make improvements.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156206/2/sd2020.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156206/1/sd2020_am.pd

A fuzzy approach for adaptive reuse selection of industrial buildings in Hong Kong

With rapid economic development and restructuring, there are an increasing number of aged or obsolete buildings in large cities, such as Hong Kong. Adaptive reuse of these buildings provides an alternative for property stakeholders towards more sustainable practices instead of redevelopment or destruction. Adaptive reuse can also make great contributions to sustainable development by reducing construction waste and saving natural resources. As a result of industrial restructuring, manufacturing plants were migrated from Hong Kong to Mainland China during the 1980s and 1990s. Many industrial buildings then became vacant or under-utilised. Adaptive reuse of these industrial buildings is considered a viable way forward for all parties, including government, property stakeholders and the community. However, the problem is how to deal with multiple criteria to assess how these buildings can be reused for residential living, retail, training centres, or other purposes. Adaptive reuse of industrial buildings is discussed in this paper, and a fuzzy adaptive reuse selection model is developed for decision-making. A hypothetical example is used to demonstrate the application of the method and show its effectiveness

Forecasting property price indices in Hong Kong based on grey models

The real estate market in Hong Kong plays an important role in its economy. The property prices have been increasing a lot since 2009, which have become a major concern. However, few studies have been done to forecast the property price indices in Hong Kong. In this paper, two grey models, GM(1,1) and GM(0,N), are introduced for the forecasting. The results show that GM(1,1) has a better performance when forecasting with stable trend data, while GM(0,N) is more suitable for forecasting data in fluctuating trend. The sensitivity analysis for GM(0,N) shows that Population(POP) and Best Lending Rate(BLR) are significantly sensitive factors for data in stable trend. While for the fluctuating data, sensitivity of each factor presents uncertainties. This study also compares the forecasting performance of grey models with the ANN model and ARIMA model. The study demonstrates that grey models are more suitable for forecasting the Hong Kong property price indices than others

Efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant immunotherapy in resectable esophageal or gastroesophageal junction carcinoma: A pooled analysis of prospective clinical trials

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) plus radical esophagectomy is currently the standard treatment for resectable esophageal or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) carcinoma. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant immunotherapy in resectable esophageal or GEJ carcinoma. Prospective clinical trials investigating efficacy and/or safety of neoadjuvant immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) followed by radical esophagectomy in patients with newly diagnosed resectable esophageal or GEJ carcinoma were identified through literature search. Quality assessment was performed by using the Newcastle–Ottawa scale. Preliminary treatment outcomes of pathologically complete response (pCR, ypT0N0) and grade 3-4 adverse effects (AEs) were pooled together and then compared with standard NCRT of the historical control CROSS study by Chi-square (χ2) test. A two-sided P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. A total of 17 eligible non-randomized trials with 455 participants were included into analysis. The most common primary endpoint was pCR (n = 7, 41%), and the median sample size and follow-up period was 23 patients and 7.9 months, respectively. For patients receiving neoadjuvant immunotherapy, the overall pCR, R0 resection, and grade 3-4 AE rates were 33.2%, 95.5%, and 35.1%, respectively. For esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and adenocarcinoma (EAC), neoadjuvant immunochemoradiotherapy showed no significant improvement in pCR rate than NCRT (ESCC, 50% vs 48.7%, P = 0.9; EAC, 32.6% vs 23.1%, P = 0.22). Grade 3-4 AEs were the most common in patients with neoadjuvant immunochemoradiotherapy, significantly higher than immunochemotherapy (46.7% vs 32.8%, P = 0.04) and NCRT (46.7% vs 18.1%, P < 0.0001). In conclusion, for patients with resectable esophageal or GEJ carcinoma, the addition of ICIs to standard NCRT could not improve pCR rate in both ESCC and EAC, but significantly increased the risk of severe AEs. Large-scale phase 3 randomized trials were urgently needed to further confirm the survival benefit and safety profile of neoadjuvant immunotherapy

Ascl2 Knockdown Results in Tumor Growth Arrest by miRNA-302b-Related Inhibition of Colon Cancer Progenitor Cells

Background: Achaete scute-like 2 (Ascl2), a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor, controls the fate of intestinal stem cells. However, the role of Ascl2 in colon cancer progenitor cells remains unknown. The cell line HT-29 (47.5–95 % of CD133 + population) and LS174T (0.45 % of CD133 + population) were chosen for functional evaluation of Ascl2 in colon cancer progenitor cells after gene knockdown by RNA interference. Methodology/Principal Findings: Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that Ascl2 was significantly increased in colorectal adenocarcinomas. Downregulation of Ascl2 using RNA interference in cultured colonic adenocarcinoma HT-29 and LS174T cells reduced cellular proliferation, colony-forming ability, invasion and migration in vitro, and resulted in the growth arrest of tumor xenografts in vivo. The Ascl2 protein level in CD133 + HT-29 cells was significantly higher than in CD133 2 HT-29 cells. Ascl2 blockade via shRNA interference in HT-29 cells (shRNA-Ascl2/HT-29 cells) resulted in 26.2 % of cells staining CD133 + compared with 54.7 % in control shRNA-Ctr/HT-29 cells. The levels of ‘stemness ’ associated genes, such as CD133, Sox2, Oct4, Lgr5, Bmi1, and C-myc, were significantly decreased in shRNA-Ascl2/HT-29 and shRNA-Ascl2/LS174T cells in vitro as well as in the corresponding tumor xenograft (CD133 was not performed in shRNA-Ascl2/LS174T cells). The shRNA-Ascl2/ HT-29 cells had inhibited abilities to form tumorspheres compared with control. The microRNA (miRNAs) microarrays, identified 26 up-regulated miRNAs and 58 down-regulated miRNAs in shRNA-Ascl2/HT-29 cells. Expression levels of let-7b

Response strategies to the competition in the Chinese construction market

The Chinese construction market is composed of 31 local markets which differ from each other in various aspects such as competition intensity. Contractors moving from one market to another need to consider the competition strategies and make due response to new competition situation in order to survive. Nevertheless, the research into response strategies to competition situations has been limited. Effective response strategies can assist contractors to respond to different competition environments. Based on the data collected from major cities in China, five typical competition situations are identified and six strategies are found effective to guide contractors’ response to various competition situations. For instance, a closer cooperation between main contractors helps contractors respond effectively where safety accidents occur frequently in the market. The research findings present new perspectives of developing competitive strategies in the Chinese construction market and provide recommendations for adopting a conduct–performance approach for examining response strategies in other construction markets.Competition, response strategies, market performance indicators, coefficient analysis, China,