Highly Enantioselective Synthesis of Heteroaromatic Alcohols Catalyzed by Chiral Diaminodiphosphine-Ruthenium(II) Complexes

Chiral diaminodiphosphine-ruthenium(II) complexes were found to be excellent catalysts for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of heteroatomic ketones in propan-2-ol. In the presence of potassium hydroxide, the enantioselective reduction of heteroaromatic ketones procceded smoothly to give chiral alcohols with excellent enantiomeric excess (up to 97% ee) under mild conditions without reduction of the heterocycle.National Natural Science Foundation of China [20423002, 20703034]; Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province of China [2008J0235]; State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surface

Effects of Influent Organic Loading Rates and Electrode Locations on the Electrogenesis Capacity of Constructed Wetland-Microbial Fuel Cell Systems

Three novel constructed wetland-microbial fuel cells (CW-MFCs), based on electrode location, were developed for wastewater treatment and sustainable electricity production by embedding a MFC into a CW system. In the three CW-MFCs, electrodes were placed in different locations, including bottom anode-rhizosphere cathode CW-MFC (BA-RC-CW-MFC), rhizosphere anode-air cathode CW-MFC (RA-AC-CW-MFC), and bottom anode-air cathode CW-MFC (BA-AC-CW-MFC), to investigate the combined effects of organic loading rates (OLRs) and reactor configurations on the electrogenesis capacity of the hybrid system. All the systems operated continuously to treat five types of synthetic wastewater with increasing OLRs: 9.2, 18.4, 27.6, 55.2, and 92.0 g chemical oxygen demand (COD) m(-2) d(-1). The BA-RC-CW-MFC failed to produce electricity at any OLR, whereas the maximum power densities of 0.79 +/- 0.01 and 10.77 +/- 0.52 mW m(-2) were achieved in the RA-AC-CW-MFC with 18.4 g COD m(-2) d(-1) influent OLR and in the BA-AC-CW-MFC with 27.6 g COD m(-2) d(-1) influent OLR, respectively. The coulombic efficiencies of the RA-AC-CW-MFC and BA-AC-CW-MFC decreased gradually with the increase in influent OLRs. (C) 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 36: 435-441, 2017</p

Branched DNA-based Alu quantitative assay for cell-free plasma DNA levels in patients with sepsis or systemic inflammatory response syndrome

AbstractCell-free circulating DNA (cf-DNA) can be detected by various of laboratory techniques. We described a branched DNA–based Alu assay for measuring cf-DNA in septic patients. Compared to healthy controls and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) patients, serum cf-DNA levels were significantly higher in septic patients (1426.54 ± 863.79 vs 692.02 ± 703.06 and 69.66 ± 24.66 ng/mL). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of cf-DNA for normal vs sepsis and SIRS vs sepsis were 0.955 (0.884-1.025), and 0.856 (0.749-0.929), respectively. There was a positive correlation between cf-DNA and interleukin 6 or procalcitonin or Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II. The cf-DNA concentration was higher in intensive care unit nonsurviving patients compared to surviving patients (2183.33 ± 615.26 vs 972.46 ± 648.36 ng/mL; P < .05). Branched DNA–based Alu assays are feasible and useful to quantify serum cf-DNA levels. Increased cf-DNA levels in septic patients might complement C-reactive protein and procalcitonin in a multiple marker format. Cell-free circulating DNA might be a new marker in discrimination of sepsis and SIRS

Development of Retinal Pigment Epithelium from Human Parthenogenetic Embryonic Stem Cells and MicroRNA Signature

PURPOSE. We investigated the potential of human parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells (hPESCs) to differentiate into RPE cells, and identified development-regulating microRNAs (miRNAs). METHODS. RPE cells were derived from hPESCs. The expression of markers and miRNA expression profiles during differentiation were studied by immunocytochemistry, real-time RT-PCR, and miRNA expression array at three time points. Human fetal RPE (hfRPE) cells also were analyzed. The target genes of candidate miRNAs then were validated. RESULTS. hPESC-derived RPE cells exhibited similar morphology and pigmentation to hfRPE cells. The expression of markers during differentiation indicated that the hPESC-derived RPE cells were immature. Most specific miRNAs had a role at some time point during the differentiation and maturation of RPE from hPESCs, except for two miRNAs (miR-204 and the miR-302 family). The miR-204 was upregulated and miR-302 was down-regulated throughout the process. Subsequently, pigmented clusters and RPE signature gene expression increased significantly in the miR-204 overexpression group and miR-302 inhibition group compared to the control groups. CTNNBIP1 and TGFBR2 were confirmed to be the target genes of miR-204 and miR-302, respectively. CONCLUSIONS. hPESCs can develop into RP

Comparative Metabonomic Investigations of Schistosoma japonicum From SCID Mice and BALB/c Mice: Clues to Developmental Abnormality of Schistosome in the Immunodeficient Host

The growth and development of schistosome has been affected in the immunodeficient hosts. But it remains unresolved about the molecular mechanisms involved in the development and reproduction regulation of schistosomes. This study tested and compared the metabolic profiles of the male and female Schistosoma japonicum worms collected from SCID mice and BALB/c mice at 5 weeks post infection using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) platform, in which the worms from SCID mice were the investigated organisms and the worms from BALB/c mice were used as the controls. There were 1015 ion features in ESI+ mode and 342 ion features in ESI- mode were identified after filtration by false discovery rate. Distinct metabolic profiles were found to clearly differentiate both male and female worms in SCID mice from those in BALB/c mice using multivariate modeling methods including the Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA), and Orthogonal Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA). There were more differential metabolites in female worms than in male worms between SCID mice and BALB/c mice. And common and uniquely perturbed metabolites and pathways were identified among male and female worms from SCID mice when compared with BALB/c mice. The enriched metabolite sets of the differential metabolites in male worms between SCID mice and BALB/c mice included bile acid biosynthesis, taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, retinol metabolism, purine metabolism, etc. And the enriched metabolite sets of differential metabolites in female worms included retinol metabolism, alpha linolenic acid and linoleic acid metabolism, purine metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, glutamate metabolism, etc. Further detection and comparison in transcript abundance of genes of the perturbed retinol metabolism and its associated meiosis process in worms identified clues suggesting accumulated retinyl ester and perturbed meiotic process. These findings suggested an association between the schistosome with retarded growth and development in SCID mice and their perturbed metabolites and metabolic pathways, and provided a new insight into the growth and development regulation of S. japonicum worms from the metabolic level, which indicated great clues for discovery of drugs or vaccines against the parasites and disease with more researches