The Effect of Preozonation on the Anaerobic Biodegradability of Resistant Phenolic Compounds

Ozone pretreatment studies of four model phenolic compounds were conducted to evaluate the effects of ozonation on the anaerobic biodegradability and toxicity of these compounds. Two types of batch studies, the Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) and the Anaerobic Toxicity Assay (ATA), were performed on samples ozonated upon phenol, o-cresol, 2,5-dichlorophenol, and 2,4-dinitrophenol. Experimental results showed that toxic and refractory phenolic compounds were converted to methane gas by means of preozonation. In general, the biodegradable fraction of the oxidation products increased as the ozone dose was increased. However, ozonation to achieve at least 60% COD reduction was necessary to faciliate methane production. Ozonation reduced the toxicity of 2,5-DCP and 2,4-DNP on both acetate utilization and phenol degradation. The early ozonation products of o-cresol and phenol, however, were more toxic than the initial compounds. The rates of COD and DOC reduction through ozonation were faster and products formed were less inhibitory in the basic pH range than in the acid pH range

Effects of Aromatic Concentration on Methane Fermentation

The anaerobic biodegradability and toxicity of fourteen aromatic compounds were evaluated over a wide range of concentrations using a serum bottle technique. Benzene, toluene, and all three isomers of xylene were not significantly degraded to methane in a phenol-enriched culture. Complete degradation of 1000 mg/L phenol, 800 mg/L catechol, 100 mg/L 2-NP, 100 mg/L 3- NP, and 100 mg/L 4-NP was observed within two months while depletion of 100 mg/L resorcinol and 1000 mg/L hydroquinone required more than six and eight months incubation, respectively. None of the three isomers of chlorophenol were degraded in the phenol-enriched culture. Batch toxicity assay revealed that the phenol-enriched culture was more susceptible to inhibition caused by substituted phenols than the acetate-enriched culture. In general, the inhibitory effects on both phenol degradation and acetate utilization did not vary significantly with the isomer but rather with the substituted group. The degree of inhibition was in the order of nitrophenols \u3e chlorophenols \u3e hydroxyphenols. The Haldane inhibition model was used to fit experimental data from phenol and catechol. The inhibition of phenol degradation by chlorophenols, resorcinol, and hydroquinone was described rather well by a Monod-type, noncompetitive model

Letter to the Editor: Authors’ Response

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141389/1/jper1035.pd

Modulation of Serum Antinuclear Antibody Levels by Levamisole Treatment in Patients With Oral Lichen Planus

Background/PurposeSerum autoantibodies, including antinuclear antibodies (ANAs), have been found in patients with oral lichen planus (OLP). This study evaluated whether Taiwanese OLP patients had significantly higher frequencies of serum ANAs than healthy control subjects, and whether levamisole treatment could modulate the antibody levels.MethodsThis study used an indirect immunofluorescence technique to measure the baseline serum levels of ANA in a group of 583 Taiwanese OLP patients and 53 healthy control subjects. Seventy-nine ANA-positive OLP patients were treated with levamisole under a regular follow-up schedule in our dental clinic, and their serum ANA levels were measured after treatment.ResultsWe found that the frequencies of serum ANA in patients with OLP (23.2%), erosive OLP (EOLP, 23.8%), major EOLP (31.5%), and minor EOLP (18.1%) were all significantly higher than that (5.7%) in healthy control subjects. In addition, major EOLP patients had a significantly higher serum ANA positive rate than minor EOLP or non-erosive OLP patients. Of 135 ANA-positive OLP patients, 79 were treated with levamisole under a regular follow-up schedule. We found that treatment with levamisole for a period of 2–38 months (mean, 12 ± 9 months) effectively reduced the high mean serum ANA titer (557 ± 98) at baseline to an undetectable level (0) in all ANA-positive OLP patients, regardless of different high initial serum titers of ANA.ConclusionThere was a significantly higher frequency of serum ANA (23.2%) in Taiwanese OLP patients than in healthy control subjects. Treatment with levamisole for 2–38 months reduced the high serum ANA to an undetectable level, and significantly improved the signs and symptoms in all treated OLP patients

Introduction of an Aliphatic Ketone into Recombinant Proteins in a Bacterial Strain that Overexpresses an Editing-Impaired Leucyl-tRNA Synthetase

Like leucine? A leucine analogue containing a ketone has been incorporated into proteins in E. coli. Only E. coli strains overexpressing an editing-deficient leucyl-tRNA synthetase were capable of synthesizing proteins with the aliphatic ketone amino acid. Modification of ketone-containing proteins under mild conditions has been demonstrated

Effects of a Mineralized Human Cancellous Bone Allograft in Regeneration of Mandibular Class II Furcation Defects

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141918/1/jper0416.pd

Batch Fabrication of High-Performance Planar Patch-Clamp Devices in Quartz

The success of the patch-clamp technique has driven an effort to create wafer-based patch-clamp platforms. We develop a lithographic/electrochemical processing scheme that generates ultrasmooth, high aspect ratio pores in quartz. These devices achieve gigaohm seals in nearly 80% of trials, with the majority exhibiting seal resistances from 20-80 GΩ, competing with pipette-based patch-clamp measurements

Comparing glycemic traits in defining diabetes among rural Chinese older adults

The protocol of MIND-China was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR, www.chictr.org.cn; registration no.: ChiCTR1800017758).Background: We sought to identify the optimal cut-off of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) for defining diabetes and to assess the agreements of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting serum glucose (FSG), and HbA1c in defining diabetes among rural older adults in China. Methods: This population-based cross-sectional study included 3547 participants (age ≥61 years, 57.8% women) from the Multidomain Interventions to Delay Dementia and Disability in Rural China from 2018-2019; of these, 3122 had no previously diagnosed diabetes. We identified the optimal cut-off of HbA1c against FPG ≥7.0 mmol/L for defining diabetes by using receiver operating characteristic curve and Youden index. The agreements of FPG, FSG, and HbA1c in defining diabetes were assessed using kappa statistics. Results: Among participants without previously diagnosed diabetes (n = 3122), the optimal HbA1c cut-off for defining diabetes was 6.5% (48 mmol/mol), with the sensitivity of 88.9%, specificity of 93.7%, and Youden index of 0.825. The correlation coefficients were 0.845 between FPG and FSG, 0.574 between FPG and HbA1c, and 0.529 between FSG and HbA1c in the total sample (n = 3547). The kappa statistic for defining diabetes was 0.962 between FSG and FPG, and 0.812 between HbA1c and FPG. Conclusions: The optimal cut-off of HbA1c for diagnosing diabetes against FPG >7.0 mmol/L is ≥6.5% in Chinese rural-dwelling older adults. The agreement in defining diabetes using FPG, FSG, and HbA1c is nearly perfect. These results have relevant implications for diabetes research and clinical practice among older adults in China. Clinical trial registration: The protocol of MIND-China was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR, www.chictr.org.cn; registration no.: ChiCTR1800017758).Y Du was supported by the major grant from the National Key R&D Program of the Ministry of Sciences and Technology of China (Grant No.: 2017YFC1310100) and by additional grants from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grants No.: 81861138008 and 82011530139), the Academic Promotion Program of Shandong First Medical University (2019QL020), and the Taishan Scholar Program of Shandong Province, China (Tsqn201909182). C Qiu received grants from the Swedish Research Council (Grants No.: 2017-05819 and 2020-01574), the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT) (Grant No.: CH2019-8320) for the Joint China-Sweden Mobility program, and the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. The funding agency had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, the writing of this manuscript, and in the decision to submit the work for publication.S