Fecal Metabolomics and Potential Biomarkers for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

The role of metabolomics in autoimmune diseases has been a rapidly expanding area in researches over the last decade, while its pathophysiologic impact on systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) remains poorly elucidated. In this study, we analyzed the metabolic profiling of fecal samples from SLE patients and healthy controls based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with mass spectrometry for exploring the potential biomarkers of SLE. The results showed that 23 differential metabolites and 5 perturbed pathways were identified between the two groups, including aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, thiamine metabolism, nitrogen metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, and cyanoamino acid metabolism. In addition, logistic regression and ROC analysis were used to establish a diagnostic model for distinguishing SLE patients from healthy controls. The combined model of fecal PG 27:2 and proline achieved an area under the ROC curve of 0.846, and had a good diagnostic efficacy. In the present study, we analyzed the correlations between fecal metabolic perturbations and SLE pathogenesis. In summary, we firstly illustrate the comprehensive metabolic profiles of feces in SLE patients, suggesting that the fecal metabolites could be used as the potential non-invasive biomarkers for SLE

Simplified HIV Testing and Treatment in China: Analysis of Mortality Rates Before and After a Structural Intervention.

BackgroundMultistage stepwise HIV testing and treatment initiation procedures can result in lost opportunities to provide timely antiretroviral therapy (ART). Incomplete patient engagement along the continuum of HIV care translates into high levels of preventable mortality. We aimed to evaluate the ability of a simplified test and treat structural intervention to reduce mortality.Methods and findingsIn the "pre-intervention 2010" (from January 2010 to December 2010) and "pre-intervention 2011" (from January 2011 to December 2011) phases, patients who screened HIV-positive at health care facilities in Zhongshan and Pubei counties in Guangxi, China, followed the standard-of-care process. In the "post-intervention 2012" (from July 2012 to June 2013) and "post-intervention 2013" (from July 2013 to June 2014) phases, patients who screened HIV-positive at the same facilities were offered a simplified test and treat intervention, i.e., concurrent HIV confirmatory and CD4 testing and immediate initiation of ART, irrespective of CD4 count. Participants were followed for 6-18 mo until the end of their study phase period. Mortality rates in the pre-intervention and post-intervention phases were compared for all HIV cases and for treatment-eligible HIV cases. A total of 1,034 HIV-positive participants (281 and 339 in the two pre-intervention phases respectively, and 215 and 199 in the two post-intervention phases respectively) were enrolled. Following the structural intervention, receipt of baseline CD4 testing within 30 d of HIV confirmation increased from 67%/61% (pre-intervention 2010/pre-intervention 2011) to 98%/97% (post-intervention 2012/post-intervention 2013) (all p < 0.001 [i.e., for all comparisons between a pre- and post-intervention phase]), and the time from HIV confirmation to ART initiation decreased from 53 d (interquartile range [IQR] 27-141)/43 d (IQR 15-113) to 5 d (IQR 2-12)/5 d (IQR 2-13) (all p < 0.001). Initiation of ART increased from 27%/49% to 91%/89% among all cases (all p < 0.001) and from 39%/62% to 94%/90% among individuals with CD4 count ≤ 350 cells/mm3 or AIDS (all p < 0.001). Mortality decreased from 27%/27% to 10%/10% for all cases (all p < 0.001) and from 40%/35% to 13%/13% for cases with CD4 count ≤ 350 cells/mm3 or AIDS (all p < 0.001). The simplified test and treat intervention was significantly associated with decreased mortality rates compared to pre-intervention 2011 (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.385 [95% CI 0.239-0.620] and 0.380 [95% CI 0.233-0.618] for the two post-intervention phases, respectively, for all newly diagnosed HIV cases [both p < 0.001], and aHR 0.369 [95% CI 0.226-0.603] and 0.361 [95% CI 0.221-0.590] for newly diagnosed treatment-eligible HIV cases [both p < 0.001]). The unit cost of an additional patient receiving ART attributable to the intervention was US$83.80. The unit cost of a death prevented because of the intervention was US$234.52.ConclusionsOur results demonstrate that the simplified HIV test and treat intervention promoted successful engagement in care and was associated with a 62% reduction in mortality. Our findings support the implementation of integrated HIV testing and immediate access to ART irrespective of CD4 count, in order to optimize the impact of ART

Solar-thermal conversion and steam generation: a review

Recently, steam generation systems based on solar-thermal conversion have received much interest, and this may be due to the widespread use of solar energy and water sources such as oceans and lakes. The photo-thermal desalination system becomes attractive as it can convert absorbed solar light energy into thermal energy and realise the desalination and water purification of saline water through the evaporation process. In this paper, the research status of solar-thermal conversion materials such as metal-based materials, semiconductor materials, carbon-base materials, organic polymer materials, composite photo-thermal materials and their solar-thermal conversion mechanism in recent years are reviewed. The physical process and evaluation principle of solar-thermal conversion are both carefully introduced. The methods of optimising thermal management and increasing the evaporation rate of a hybrid system are also introduced in detail. Four main applications of solar-thermal conversion technologies (seawater desalination, wastewater purification, sterilisation and power generation) are discussed. Finally, based on the above analysis, the prospects and challenges for future research in the field of desalination are discussed from an engineering and scientific viewpoint to promote the direction of research, in order to stimulate future development and accelerate commercial application

Enhancement of Proton Conductivity Performance in High Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane, Processed the Adding of Pyridobismidazole

A pyridobisimidazole unit was introduced into a polymer backbone to obtain an increased doping level, a high number of interacting sites with phosphoric acid and simple processibility. The acid uptake of poly(pyridobisimidazole) (PPI) membrane could reach more than 550% (ADL = 22), resulting in high conductivity (0.23 S·cm−1 at 180 °C). Along with 550% acid uptake, the membrane strength still held 10 MPa, meeting the requirement of Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM). In the Fenton Test, the PPI membrane only lost around 7% weight after 156 h, demonstrating excellent oxidative stability. Besides, PPI possessed thermal stability with decomposition temperature at 570 °C and mechanical stability with a glass transition temperature of 330 °C

The Design and Experimentation of a Corn Moisture Detection Device Based on Double Capacitors

Detecting the moisture content of grain accurately and rapidly has important significance for harvesting, transport, storage, processing, and precision agriculture. There are some problems with the slow detection speeds, unstable detection, and low detection accuracy of moisture contents in corn harvesters. In that case, an online moisture detection device was designed, which is based on double capacitors. A new method of capacitance complementation and integration was proposed to eliminate the limitation of single data. The device is composed of a sampling mechanism and a double-capacitor sensor consisting of a flatbed capacitor and a cylindrical capacitor. The optimum structure size of the capacitor plates was determined by simulation optimization. In addition to this, the detection system with software and hardware was developed to estimate the moisture content. Indoor dynamic measurement tests were carried out to analyze the influence of temperature and porosity. Based on the influencing factors and capacitance, a model was established to estimate the moisture content. Finally, the support vector machine (SVM) regressions between the capacitance and moisture content were built up so that the R2 values were more than 0.91. In the stability test, the standard deviation of the stability test was 1.09%, and the maximum relative error of the measurement accuracy test was 1.22%. In the dynamic verification test, the maximum error of the measurement was 4.62%, less than 5%. It provides a measurement method for the accurate, rapid, and stable detection of the moisture content of corn and other grains

Separation and Enrichment of Catechol and Sugars from Bio-oil Aqueous Phase

Aiming at obtaining greater value from the complicated composition of the bio-oil aqueous phase, solvents of increasing polarity were employed to sequentially separate the bio-oil aqueous phase using column chromatography. This not only relieved the catalyst deactivation, but also made it possible to obtain fractions rich in different chemical families to produce high-grade liquid fuels and valuable chemicals. Gas chromatography was adopted as a monitoring technology, and 11 fractions rich in different chemical families were obtained. The phenolic compounds in the aqueous phase were primarily eluted using dichloromethane. The strong polar benzenediols were enriched gradually in a dichloromethane fraction, and a high catechol content of 62.81% was achieved with the subsequent combination of a pH control method. Ethyl acetate gave three fractions, and pyrolytic sugars were the predominant compounds, whose highest content reached 67.86% in the third fraction. Further separation of the sugar-rich fraction using column chromatography could remove the residual phenolic compounds and furans and acquire a sugar fraction suitable for fermentation

Attribution Analysis of Runoff in the Upper Reaches of Jinsha River, China

The upper Jinsha River is an important ecological reserve and hydropower energy base in China. This paper uses relative importance analysis to analyze the causes of runoff changes from the perspectives of early runoff, rainfall, snowfall, evaporation and soil water content. The results show that the factors influencing runoff in the upper Jinsha River are complex and have significant spatial and temporal heterogeneity. From November to March, the main factor is the runoff in the preceding month, the contribution of which can be more than 85%; from April to May, the runoff is significantly affected by snow, and its contribution in May is more than 65%. The snow affecting the runoff is mainly located near Gangtuo station and Batang station, and its influence has a time lag of about one month, In June, the influence factors of the runoff are quite complicated, and the contribution of the early runoff, rainfall, snow, evaporation and soil water content is relatively close; from July to September, the runoff is mainly influenced by the rainfall above Batang station, its average contribution being more than 50% and higher than 80% in August. Runoff in July and August is mainly affected by the rainfall in the same period, and in September is mainly affected by the rainfall in the preceding month. In October, the main influence factors are runoff and rainfall of the preceding month, and their contributions are more than 70%

Characterization of TsDAF-21/HSP90 protein from the parasitic nematode Trichinella spiralis

Natural Science Foundation of China [30972181, 30470881]; Xiamen Science Technology program [3502Z20061098]; New Century Talents Support Program from Xiamen UniversityThe Tsdaf-21 cDNA was cloned into pET-32a and subsequently expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant protein TsDAF-21 was purified and evaluated as an antigen in Western blot. The serum from mouse 14, 21, and 28 days after being infected with Trichinella spiralis recognized rTsDAF-21, but the serum from mouse 7 days post infection of T. spiralis could not react with rTsDAF-21. It implied that the antibody of TsDAF-21 did appear in the host 14 days after infection of T. spiralis. Western blot analysis revealed that the expression of TsDAF-21 in the muscle larvae incubated at room temperature for 8 h and at 37 A degrees C for 4 and 8 h was increased compared to the muscle larvae incubated at 4 A degrees C for 4 and 8 h. The results imply that the expression of TsDAF-21 could be induced at high temperature, not by the cold stress. The expression of TsDAF-21 could be attenuated under the different concentrations of geldanamycin (GA) treatment. Western blot showed that the expression of TsDAF-21 was reduced in the muscle larvae of T. spiralis treated with GA compared to Ampicillin and Gentamycin sulfate treated as control, and this inhibition effect was GA dependent. Other antibiotic treatments did not show any inhibition effects. Immunolocalization showed that TsDAF-21 was expressed in the different stages of T. spiralis including newborn larvae, muscle larvae, and adult worms. TsDAF-21 was mostly localized in nuclei of the cells in the worm. These results suggest that the expression of TsDAF-21 could be induced by the heat stress and attenuated by GA treatment, and TsDAF-21 might be a diagnostic marker for Trichinellosis