Synergetic treatment of dye contaminated wastewater using microparticles functionalized with carbon nanotubes/titanium dioxide nanocomposites

This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry. The highly efficient treatment of azo dye contaminated wastewater from the textile industry is an important but challenging problem. Herein, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microparticles, incorporating multiple-walled carbon nanotubes/titanium dioxide (MWCNTs/TiO2) nanocomposites, were successfully synthesized to treat wastewater containing Rhodamine B (RhB) dyes in a synergetic approach, by combining sorption and photocatalytic degradation. The surfactant wrapping sol-gel method was applied to synthesize MWCNTs/TiO2 nanocomposites with TiO2 nanoparticles evenly distributed on the surface of the MWCNTs. The PDMS microparticles were fabricated with an oil-in-water (O/W) single emulsion template, using needle-based microfluidic devices. MWCNTs/TiO2 nanocomposites (at a weight ratio of 1%, and 2%, respectively) were mixed with the PDMS precursor as the dispersed phase, and an aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was used as the continuous phase. Highly monodispersed microparticles, with average diameters of 692.7 μm (Coefficient of Variation, CV = 0.74%) and 678.3 μm (CV = 1.04%), were formed at an applied flow rate of the dispersed and continuous phase of 30 and 200 μL min-1, respectively. The fabricated hybrid microparticles were employed for the treatment of RhB, involving a dark equilibrium for 5 hours and UV irradiation for 3 hours. The experimental conditions of applied PDMS type, mass loading amount, treatment duration, photodegradation kinetics, initial concentration of pollutants and environmental pH values were investigated in this work. The PDMS microparticles with 2 wt% MWCNTs/TiO2 nanocomposites can exhibit a removal efficiency of 85%. Remarkably, an efficiency of 70% can be retained after the microparticles have been recycled and reused for 3 cycles. The PDMS-MWCNTs/TiO2 microparticles possess a superior performance over conventional treatment approaches for dye contaminated wastewater, especially in recyclability and the prevention of secondary pollution. This work provides a feasible and eco-friendly route for developing an efficient and low-cost microfluidic method for treating complicated water environmental systems

Microfluidic formation of highly monodispersed multiple cored droplets using needle-based system in parallel mode

© 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Scale-up in droplet microfluidics achieved by increasing the number of devices running in parallel or increasing the droplet makers in the same device can compromise the narrow droplet-size distribution, or requires high fabrication cost, when glass- or polymer-based microdevices are used. This paper reports a novel way using parallelization of needle-based microfluidic systems to form highly monodispersed droplets with enhanced production rates yet in cost-effective way, even when forming higher order emulsions with complex inner structure. Parallelization of multiple needle-based devices could be realized by applying commercially available two-way connecters and 3D-printed four-way connectors. The production rates of droplets could be enhanced around fourfold (over 660 droplets/min) to eightfold (over 1300 droplets/min) by two-way connecters and four-way connectors, respectively, for the production of the same kind of droplets than a single droplet maker (160 droplets/min). Additionally, parallelization of four-needle sets with each needle specification ranging from 34G to 20G allows for simultaneous generation of four groups of PDMS microdroplets with each group having distinct size yet high monodispersity (CV < 3%). Up to six cores can be encapsulated in double emulsion using two parallelly connected devices via tuning the capillary number of middle phase in a range of 1.31 × 10−4 to 4.64 × 10−4. This study leads to enhanced production yields of droplets and enables the formation of groups of droplets simultaneously to meet extensive needs of biomedical and environmental applications, such as microcapsules with variable dosages for drug delivery or drug screening, or microcapsules with wide range of absorbent loadings for water treatment

Detecting CD20-Rituximab interaction forces using AFM single-molecule force spectroscopy

The invention of atomic force microscopy (AFM) has provided new technology for measuring specific molecular interaction forces. Using AFM single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) techniques, CD20-Rituximab rupture forces were measured on purified CD20 proteins, Raji cells, and lymphoma patient B cells. Rituximab molecules were linked onto AFM tips using AFM probe functionalization technology, and purified CD20 proteins were attached to mica using substrate functionalization technology. Raji cells (a lymphoma cell line) or lymphoma patient cells were immobilized on a glass substrate via electrostatic adsorption and chemical fixation. The topography of the purified CD20 proteins, Raji cells, and patient lymphoma cells was visualized using AFM imaging and the differences in the rupture forces were analyzed and measured. The results showed that the rupture forces between the CD20 proteins on Raji cells and Rituximab were markedly smaller than those for purified CD20 proteins and CD20 proteins on lymphoma patient B cells. These findings provide an effective experimental method for investigating the mechanisms underlying the variable efficacy of Rituximab. © 2011 Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Association Between c-Myc and Colorectal Cancer Prognosis: A Meta-Analysis

Background: There is debate as to whether c-Myc predicts prognosis in colorectal cancer (CRC). In this study, we aimed to review the association between c-Myc and CRC prognosis.Methods: Pertinent studies were identified by searching electronic databases and carefully reviewing the reference lists of pertinent studies until March 2016. The summary hazard ratio (HR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to study the association between c-Myc and CRC prognosis.Results: Eight cohort studies (including seven studies about overall survival [OS] and one study about disease free survival [DFS]) were included. The pooled HR of OS was 1.13 (95% CI: 0.66–1.95). In subgroup analysis, no significant association between c-Myc and CRC prognosis was found in the studies either from Western countries (HR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.68–1.10) or Asian countries (HR: 1.89, 95% CI: 0.62–5.77). HRs were 0.86 (95% CI: 0.38–1.94) and 1.57 (95% CI: 0.73–3.39) for the studies using univariate analysis and multivariate analysis, respectively. HR from the studies that examined DNA level was significantly different (HR: 2.05, 95% CI: 1.22–3.46); while that about RNA level or protein level was not significantly different.Conclusion: c-Myc was not associated with CRC prognosis in this meta-analysis. However, the conclusion is preliminary and should be examined in future studies

Genetic Polymorphisms: A Novel Perspective on Acute Pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a complex disease that results in significant morbidity and mortality. For many decades, it has compelled researchers to explore the exact pathogenesis and the understanding of the pathogenesis of AP has progressed dramatically. Currently, premature trypsinogen activation and NF-κB activation for inflammation are two remarkable hypotheses for the mechanism of AP. Meanwhile, understanding of the influence of genetic polymorphisms has resulted in tremendous development in the understanding of the advancement of complex diseases. Now, genetic polymorphisms of AP have been noted gradually and many researchers devote themselves to this emerging area. In this review, we comprehensively describe genetic polymorphisms combined with the latest hypothesis of pathogenesis associated with AP

Breast-conserving surgery versus mastectomy for treatment of breast cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy

BackgroundTo compare recurrence and survival outcomes between breast-conserving surgery (BCS) and mastectomy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT).MethodsThe data of 730 patients who underwent NACT between 2000 and 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 104 (14.2%) patients received BCS and 626 (85.8%) received mastectomy. Locoregional recurrence (LRR), distant metastases (DM), disease-free survival (DFS), breast cancer–specific survival (BCSS), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed using the Kaplan–Meier method. The impact of BCS versus mastectomy on outcomes was assessed by multivariate Cox models. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was used to balance covariates between the two groups.ResultsThe median follow-up of BCS and mastectomy groups were 86.5 and 87.4 months, respectively. There were significant differences in distribution of most baseline characteristics between two groups. Compared with those who underwent mastectomy, the patients with BCS had similar 5-year LRR, DM, and DFS rates, but had significantly higher 5-year BCSS (98.9% vs. 90.4%, P = 0.005) and OS (98.9% vs. 90.1%, P = 0.003) rates. Multivariate analysis also showed that BCS significantly improved BCSS (HR = 0.27, 95% CI: 0.08-0.85, P = 0.025) and OS (HR = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.08-0.79, P = 0.018). After IPTW adjustment, the LRR, DM, DFS, BCSS and OS between two groups had no significant differences.ConclusionsThe recurrence and survival outcomes are comparable with BCS and mastectomy. Thus, BCS is a safe treatment option for selected breast cancer patients after NACT

Genomewide association study of leprosy.

BACKGROUND: The narrow host range of Mycobacterium leprae and the fact that it is refractory to growth in culture has limited research on and the biologic understanding of leprosy. Host genetic factors are thought to influence susceptibility to infection as well as disease progression. METHODS: We performed a two-stage genomewide association study by genotyping 706 patients and 1225 controls using the Human610-Quad BeadChip (Illumina). We then tested three independent replication sets for an association between the presence of leprosy and 93 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that were most strongly associated with the disease in the genomewide association study. Together, these replication sets comprised 3254 patients and 5955 controls. We also carried out tests of heterogeneity of the associations (or lack thereof) between these 93 SNPs and disease, stratified according to clinical subtype (multibacillary vs. paucibacillary). RESULTS: We observed a significant association (P<1.00x10(-10)) between SNPs in the genes CCDC122, C13orf31, NOD2, TNFSF15, HLA-DR, and RIPK2 and a trend toward an association (P=5.10x10(-5)) with a SNP in LRRK2. The associations between the SNPs in C13orf31, LRRK2, NOD2, and RIPK2 and multibacillary leprosy were stronger than the associations between these SNPs and paucibacillary leprosy. CONCLUSIONS: Variants of genes in the NOD2-mediated signaling pathway (which regulates the innate immune response) are associated with susceptibility to infection with M. leprae