Defect-free outer-selective hollow fiber thin-film composite membranes for forward osmosis applications

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. This study presents the successful fabrication of a novel defect-free outer-selective hollow fiber (OSHF) thin-film composite (TFC) membrane for forward osmosis (FO) applications. Thin and porous FO membrane substrates made of polyether sulfone (PES) with a dense and smooth outer surface were initially fabricated at different air-gap distances. A modified vacuum-assisted interfacial polymerization (VAIP) technique was then successfully utilised for coating polyamide (PA) layer on the hollow fiber (HF) membrane substrate to prepare OSHF TFC membranes. Experimental results showed that the molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of the surface of the membrane substrate should be less than 88 kDa with smooth surface roughness to obtain a defect-free PA layer via VAIP. The FO test results showed that the newly developed OSHF TFC membranes achieved water flux of 30.2 L m−2 h−1 and a specific reverse solute flux of 0.13 g L−1 using 1 M NaCl and DI water as draw and feed solution, respectively. This is a significant improvement on commercial FO membranes. Moreover, this OSHF TFC FO membrane demonstrated higher fouling resistance and better cleaning efficiency against alginate-silica fouling. This membrane also has a strong potential for scale-up for use in larger applications. It also has strong promise for various FO applications such as osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR) and fertilizer-drawn OMBR processes

Sulfur-containing air pollutants as draw solution for fertilizer drawn forward osmosis desalination process for irrigation use

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. This study investigated suitability and performance of the sulfur-based seed solution (SBSS) as a draw solution (DS), a byproduct taken from the photoelectrochemical (PEC) process where the SBSS is used as an electrolyte for H2 production. This SBSS DS is composed of a mixture of ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) and ammonium sulfite ((NH4)2SO3), and it can be utilized as fertilizer for fertilizer drawn forward osmosis (FDFO) desalination of saline water. The FDFO process employed with thin-film composite (TFC) membrane and showed that the process performance (i.e. water flux and reverse salt flux) is better than that with cellulose triacetate (CTA) membrane. In addition, it produced high water flux of 19 LMH using SBSS as DS at equivalent concentration at 1 M and 5 g/L NaCl of feed solution (model saline water). Experimental results showed that the reverse salt flux of SBSS increased with the increase in pH of the DS and that lowering the concentration of ammonium sulfite in the SBSS led to the higher water flux of feed solution. The result also demonstrated that this SBSS is practically suitable for the FDFO process toward development of water-energy-food nexus technology using sulfur chemicals-containing air pollutant

Attenuation of proinflammatory responses by S -[6]-Gingerol via inhibition of ROS/NF-Kappa B/COX2 activation in HuH7 cells

Introduction. Hepatic inflammation underlies the pathogenesis of chronic diseases such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. S-[6]-Gingerol has been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties. Important inflammatory mediators of interleukins include nuclear factor B (NFB) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2). We now explore the mechanism of anti-inflammatory effects of S-[6]-gingerol in liver cells. Methods. HuH7 cells were stimulated with IL1β to establish an in vitro hepatic inflammatory model. Results. S-[6]-Gingerol attenuated IL1β-induced inflammation and oxidative stress in HuH7 cells, as evidenced by decreasing mRNA levels of inflammatory factor IL6, IL8, and SAA1, suppression of ROS generation, and increasing mRNA levels of DHCR24. In addition, S-[6]-gingerol reduced IL1β-induced COX2 upregulation as well as NFB activity. Similar to the protective effects of S-[6]-gingerol, both NS-398 (a selective COX2 inhibitor) and PDTC (a selective NFB inhibitor) suppressed mRNA levels of IL6, IL8, and SAA1. Importantly, PDTC attenuated IL1β-induced overexpression of COX2. Of particular note, the protective effect of S-[6]-gingerol against the IL1β-induced inflammatory response was similar to that of BHT, an ROS scavenger. Conclusions. The findings of this study demonstrate that S-[6]-gingerol protects HuH7 cells against IL1β-induced inflammatory insults through inhibition of the ROS/NFB/COX2 pathway. © 2013 Xiao-Hong Li et al

Removal of organic micro-pollutants by conventional membrane bioreactors and high-retention membrane bioreactors

© 2020 by the authors. The ubiquitous presence of organic micropollutants (OMPs) in the environment as a result of continuous discharge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) into water matrices-even at trace concentrations (ng/L)-is of great concern, both in the public and environmental health domains. This fact essentially warrants developing and implementing energy-efficient, economical, sustainable and easy to handle technologies to meet stringent legislative requirements. Membrane-based processes-both stand-alone or integration of membrane processes-are an attractive option for the removal of OMPs because of their high reliability compared with conventional process, least chemical consumption and smaller footprint. This review summarizes recent research (mainly 2015-present) on the application of conventional aerobic and anaerobic membrane bioreactors used for the removal of organic micropollutants (OMP) from wastewater. Integration and hybridization of membrane processes with other physicochemical processes are becoming promising options for OMP removal. Recent studies on high retention membrane bioreactors (HRMBRs) such as osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBRs) and membrane distillation bioreactors (MDBRs) are discussed. Future prospects of membrane bioreactors (MBRs) and HRMBRs for improving OMP removal from wastewater are also proposed

Genetic Manipulation of Schistosoma haematobium, the Neglected Schistosome

More people are infected with Schistosoma haematobium than other major human schistosomes yet it has been less studied because of difficulty in maintaining the life cycle in the laboratory. S. haematobium might be considered the ‘neglected schistosome’ since minimal information on the genome and proteome of S. haematobium is available, in marked contrast to the other major schistosomes. In this report we describe tools and protocols to investigate the genome and genetics of this neglected schistosome. We cultured developmental stages of S. haematobium, and investigated the utility of introducing gene probes into the parasites to silence two model genes. One of these, firefly luciferase, was a reporter gene whereas the second was a schistosome gene encoding a surface protein, termed Sh-tsp-2. We observed that both genes could be silenced – a phenomenon known as experimental RNA interference (RNAi). These findings indicated that the genome of S. haematobium will be amenable to genetic manipulation investigations designed to determine the function and importance of genes of this schistosome and to investigate for novel anti-parasite treatments

Viral Etiology of Encephalitis in Children in Southern Vietnam: Results of a One-Year Prospective Descriptive Study

Viral encephalitis is associated with high morbidity and mortality in Vietnam. However little is known about the causes of the disease due to a lack of diagnostic facilities in this relatively resource-poor setting. Knowledge about the etiologies and clinical outcome of viral encephalitis is necessary for future design of intervention studies targeted at improvement of clinical management, treatment and prevention of the disease. We report the viral agents, clinical outcome and prognostic factors of mortality of encephalitis in children admitted to a referral hospital for children in southern Vietnam. We show that about one third of the enrolled patients die acutely, and that mortality is independently associated with patient age and Glasgow Coma Scale on admission. Japanese encephalitis, dengue virus and enterovirus (including enterovirus 71) are the major viruses detected in our patients. However, more than half of the patients remain undiagnosed, while mortality in this group is as high as in the diagnosed group. This study will benefit clinicians and public health in terms of clinical management and prevention of childhood encephalitis in Vietnam

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

SummaryBackground The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 provides an up-to-date synthesis of the evidence for risk factor exposure and the attributable burden of disease. By providing national and subnational assessments spanning the past 25 years, this study can inform debates on the importance of addressing risks in context. Methods We used the comparative risk assessment framework developed for previous iterations of the Global Burden of Disease Study to estimate attributable deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and trends in exposure by age group, sex, year, and geography for 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks from 1990 to 2015. This study included 388 risk-outcome pairs that met World Cancer Research Fund-defined criteria for convincing or probable evidence. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from randomised controlled trials, cohorts, pooled cohorts, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. We developed a metric that allows comparisons of exposure across risk factors—the summary exposure value. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk level, we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We decomposed trends in attributable burden into contributions from population growth, population age structure, risk exposure, and risk-deleted cause-specific DALY rates. We characterised risk exposure in relation to a Socio-demographic Index (SDI). Findings Between 1990 and 2015, global exposure to unsafe sanitation, household air pollution, childhood underweight, childhood stunting, and smoking each decreased by more than 25%. Global exposure for several occupational risks, high body-mass index (BMI), and drug use increased by more than 25% over the same period. All risks jointly evaluated in 2015 accounted for 57·8% (95% CI 56·6–58·8) of global deaths and 41·2% (39·8–42·8) of DALYs. In 2015, the ten largest contributors to global DALYs among Level 3 risks were high systolic blood pressure (211·8 million [192·7 million to 231·1 million] global DALYs), smoking (148·6 million [134·2 million to 163·1 million]), high fasting plasma glucose (143·1 million [125·1 million to 163·5 million]), high BMI (120·1 million [83·8 million to 158·4 million]), childhood undernutrition (113·3 million [103·9 million to 123·4 million]), ambient particulate matter (103·1 million [90·8 million to 115·1 million]), high total cholesterol (88·7 million [74·6 million to 105·7 million]), household air pollution (85·6 million [66·7 million to 106·1 million]), alcohol use (85·0 million [77·2 million to 93·0 million]), and diets high in sodium (83·0 million [49·3 million to 127·5 million]). From 1990 to 2015, attributable DALYs declined for micronutrient deficiencies, childhood undernutrition, unsafe sanitation and water, and household air pollution; reductions in risk-deleted DALY rates rather than reductions in exposure drove these declines. Rising exposure contributed to notable increases in attributable DALYs from high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, occupational carcinogens, and drug use. Environmental risks and childhood undernutrition declined steadily with SDI; low physical activity, high BMI, and high fasting plasma glucose increased with SDI. In 119 countries, metabolic risks, such as high BMI and fasting plasma glucose, contributed the most attributable DALYs in 2015. Regionally, smoking still ranked among the leading five risk factors for attributable DALYs in 109 countries; childhood underweight and unsafe sex remained primary drivers of early death and disability in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Interpretation Declines in some key environmental risks have contributed to declines in critical infectious diseases. Some risks appear to be invariant to SDI. Increasing risks, including high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, drug use, and some occupational exposures, contribute to rising burden from some conditions, but also provide opportunities for intervention. Some highly preventable risks, such as smoking, remain major causes of attributable DALYs, even as exposure is declining. Public policy makers need to pay attention to the risks that are increasingly major contributors to global burden. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Renal tubular HIF-2α expression requires VHL inactivation and causes fibrosis and cysts.

The Hypoxia-inducible transcription Factor (HIF) represents an important adaptive mechanism under hypoxia, whereas sustained activation may also have deleterious effects. HIF activity is determined by the oxygen regulated α-subunits HIF-1α or HIF-2α. Both are regulated by oxygen dependent degradation, which is controlled by the tumor suppressor "von Hippel-Lindau" (VHL), the gatekeeper of renal tubular growth control. HIF appears to play a particular role for the kidney, where renal EPO production, organ preservation from ischemia-reperfusion injury and renal tumorigenesis are prominent examples. Whereas HIF-1α is inducible in physiological renal mouse, rat and human tubular epithelia, HIF-2α is never detected in these cells, in any species. In contrast, distinct early lesions of biallelic VHL inactivation in kidneys of the hereditary VHL syndrome show strong HIF-2α expression. Furthermore, knockout of VHL in the mouse tubular apparatus enables HIF-2α expression. Continuous transgenic expression of HIF-2α by the Ksp-Cadherin promotor leads to renal fibrosis and insufficiency, next to multiple renal cysts. In conclusion, VHL appears to specifically repress HIF-2α in renal epithelia. Unphysiological expression of HIF-2α in tubular epithelia has deleterious effects. Our data are compatible with dedifferentiation of renal epithelial cells by sustained HIF-2α expression. However, HIF-2α overexpression alone is insufficient to induce tumors. Thus, our data bear implications for renal tumorigenesis, epithelial differentiation and renal repair mechanisms

First Data Release of the COSMOS Ly alpha Mapping and Tomography Observations: 3D Ly alpha Forest Tomography at 2.05 < z < 2.55

Faint star-forming galaxies at z ~ 2–3 can be used as alternative background sources to probe the Lyα forest in addition to quasars, yielding high sightline densities that enable 3D tomographic reconstruction of the foreground absorption field. Here, we present the first data release from the COSMOS Lyα Mapping And Tomography Observations (CLAMATO) Survey, which was conducted with the LRIS spectrograph on the Keck I telescope. Over an observational footprint of 0.157 deg2 within the COSMOS field, we used 240 galaxies and quasars at 2.17 < z < 3.00, with a mean comoving transverse separation of $2.37\,{h}^{-1}\,\mathrm{Mpc}$, as background sources probing the foreground Lyα forest absorption at 2.05 < z < 2.55. The Lyα forest data was then used to create a Wiener-filtered tomographic reconstruction over a comoving volume of $3.15\,\times {10}^{5}\,{h}^{-3}\,{\mathrm{Mpc}}^{3}$ with an effective smoothing scale of $2.5\,{h}^{-1}\,\mathrm{Mpc}$. In addition to traditional figures, this map is also presented as a virtual-reality visualization and manipulable interactive figure. We see large overdensities and underdensities that visually agree with the distribution of coeval galaxies from spectroscopic redshift surveys in the same field, including overdensities associated with several recently discovered galaxy protoclusters in the volume. Quantitatively, the map signal-to-noise is ${\rm{S}}/{{\rm{N}}}^{\mathrm{wiener}}\approx 3.4$ over a 3 h −1Mpc top-hat kernel based on the variances estimated from the Wiener filter. This data release includes the redshift catalog, reduced spectra, extracted Lyα forest pixel data, and reconstructed tomographic map of the absorption. These can be downloaded from Zenodo (10.5281/zenodo.1292459)