Effects of superficial gas velocity on the performance of an air-lift internal circulation partial nitrification-anammox granular sludge reactor.

The airlift internal circulation reactor for partial nitrification-anammox (PNA-ALR) has the advantages of a small footprint, high mass transfer efficiency, and the ease of formation of granular sludge, thus making it an effective biological treatment for ammonia-containing wastewater. Although superficial gas velocity (SGV) is an essential parameter for PNA-ALR, it is unclear how the magnitude of SGV impacts nitrogen removal performance. In this study, the nitrogen removal efficiencies of five PNA-ALRs with different SGV were measured during feeding with synthetic municipal wastewater. At an optimal SGV of 2.35 cm s-1, the PNA-ALR consistently maintained the total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) removal efficiency at 76.31% and the effluent TIN concentration was less than 10 mg L-1. By increasing or decreasing the SGV, the nitrogen removal efficiency decreased to a range between 30% and 50%. At lower SGV, the dead space in the PNA-ALR was increased by 21.15%, and the feast/famine ratio of sludge increased to greater than 0.5, which caused a disruption in the structure, and a large loss of, granular sludge. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations showed operation at a higher SGV, resulting in excessive shear stress of 3.25 N m-2 being generated from bubble rupture in the degassing section. Fluorescent staining determined a decrease of 26.5% in viable bacteria. These results have improved our understanding of the effects of SGV on a PNA-ALR during mainstream wastewater treatment.

Exploring the sulfate patterns of chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate and keratan sulfate in human pancreatic cancer.

This study was designed to explore the sulfation patterns of chondroitin sulfate (CS)/dermatan sulfate (DS), and keratan sulfate (KS) and the expression of carbohydrate sulfotransferases (CHSTs) in 26 pancreatic tumor and normal tissues. CS/DS and KS profiles were simultaneously determined. Pancreatic tumor tissues exhibited increased ΔDi-0S, ΔDi-4S, and ΔDi-6S levels, with absolute ΔDi-4S content being highest, followed by ΔDi-6S. However, as for the contents of KS-6S and KS-6S,6'S, there were no significant regular change. The expression levels of CHST1 and CHST4 were 37 and 15 times higher than those in normal tissues. PCA and OPLS-DA revealed that ΔDi-4S and ΔDi-6S levels could be reliably used to differentiate between healthy and cancerous tissues. The up-regulation of CHST3, CHST12, CHST13, and CHST15 was directly correlated with C-4 and C-6 sulfation. These data provide a foundation for future studies of the role of ΔDi-4S and ΔDi-6S in the progression of pancreatic cancer.

The relationship between integrin avbeta6 and HBV infection in patients with liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma: a preliminary report

OBJECTIVE: the aim of this study was to investigate the expression of integrin αvβ6 in normal, hepatitis B, HBV-associated cirrhosis and HBV-associated HCC liver tissues. METHODS: immunohistochemistry and real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) were used to study the expression of integrin αvβ6 in HBV-associated cirrhosis (n = 88), chronic hepatitis B ( n= 11), HBV-associated HCC (n = 84) and normal (n = 10) human liver tissues. RESULTS: the expression of integrin αvβ6 was significantly upregulated in HBV-associated liver cirrhosis and the expression increased with an increase in severity of cirrhosis. Furthermore, it was moderately or weakly expressed in chronic hepatitis B and HBV-associated HCC liver tissues when compared to normal liver tissue. CONCLUSION: integrin αvβ6 could be a predictive marker for the progression of liver cirrhosis associated with HBV infection. Further studies are needed to determine the association between the expression of integrin αvβ6 in hepatitis B and HBV-associated HCC liver tissues

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The relationship between integrin avß6 and HBV infection in patients with liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma: a preliminary report.

OBJECTIVE: the aim of this study was to investigate the expression of integrin αvß6 in normal, hepatitis B, HBV-associated cirrhosis and HBV-associated HCC liver tissues. METHODS: immunohistochemistry and real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) were used to study the expression of integrin αvß6 in HBV-associated cirrhosis (n = 88), chronic hepatitis B ( n= 11), HBV-associated HCC (n = 84) and normal (n = 10) human liver tissues. RESULTS: the expression of integrin αvß6 was significantly upregulated in HBV-associated liver cirrhosis and the expression increased with an increase in severity of cirrhosis. Furthermore, it was moderately or weakly expressed in chronic hepatitis B and HBV-associated HCC liver tissues when compared to normal liver tissue. CONCLUSION: integrin αvß6 could be a predictive marker for the progression of liver cirrhosis associated with HBV infection. Further studies are needed to determine the association between the expression of integrin αvß6 in hepatitis B and HBV-associated HCC liver tissues.

Palliative bypass surgery in elderly patients with resectable periampullary carcinoma: a report of 45 cases.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to determine whether palliative bypass surgery (choledochojejunostomy and gastrojejunostomy), which has a lower incidence of complications and mortality, remains an option for elderly patients with resectable periampullary carcinoma. METHODS: The clinical data of elderly patients with resectable periampullary carcinoma who had been admitted to Qilu Hospital and had undergone palliative bypass surgery in recent years was collected. Factors concerning these patients, including surgical duration, intraoperative haemorrhage, the incidence of complications, mortality, and survival rate, were compared to those in patients who had received radical surgery. RESULTS: Surgical duration, intraoperative haemorrhage, the incidence of complications, pancreatic fistula, abdominal infections, pneumonia, and postoperative hospital stay were found to be more apparent in patients in the radical surgery group than in patients in the palliative bypass surgery group and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). However, regarding blood transfusions, deaths, biliary fistula, postoperative haemorrhage, wound infection, delayed gastric emptying, and heart disease, the difference was not statistically significant (P≥0.05). CONCLUSIONS: For elderly patients with periampullary carcinoma, palliative bypass surgery offers safety, low risks, a quick recovery, a shorter surgery duration, less intraoperative haemorrhage, and a lower incidence of complications compared to radical surgery. Although it has a lower long-term survival rate compared to radical surgery, palliative surgery remains an option for elderly patients who prefer not to undergo the invasive procedure of radical surgery.

miR-377-3p drives malignancy characteristics via upregulating GSK-3ß expression and activating NF-κB pathway in hCRC cells.

MicroRNA (miRNA) dysregulation has been associated with carcinogenesis in many cancers, including human colorectal cancer (hCRC). However, the effect and mechanism of miR-377-3p on CRC remains elusive. Herein, we first found that miR-377-3p was upregulated in CRC tissues and promoted tumorigenic activity by accelerating the G1 -S phase transition, promoting cell proliferation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) while repressing apoptosis in CRC cells. Glycogen synthase kinase-3ß (GSK-3ß) was a direct target of miR-377-3p, and upregulated by miR-377-3p. Knockdown of GSK-3ß partly rescued miR-377-3p-mediated malignancy characteristics. Most importantly, we showed that miR-377-3p promoted carcinogenesis by activating NF-κB pathway. Taken together, our results first reported that miR-377-3p functions as an oncogene and promotes carcinogenesis via upregulating GSK-3ß expression and activating NF-κB pathway in hCRC cells.

miR-429 is involved in regulation of NF-κBactivity by targeting IKKß and suppresses oncogenic activity in cervical cancer cells.

Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) can contribute to tumorigenesis in cancers. In this study, we found that miR-429 was downregulated in cervical cancer (CC) tissues and suppressed cell viability and proliferation while promoting apoptosis in CC cells. IKKß was a novel target gene of miR-429 and ectopic expression of IKKß abrogated the phenotypes induced by miR-429. When IKKß was downregulated by miR-429, nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) pathway activation, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interferon-ß (IFN-ß) production were decreased in CC cells. These findings indicate that miR-429 is involved in regulation of the NF-κB pathway by targeting IKKß and functions as a tumor suppressor in cervical carcinogenesis.

[Adriamycin enhances the sonodynamic effect of chlorin e6 against the proliferation of human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells in vitro].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of adriamycin (ADM) in enhancing the sonodynamic effect of chlorin e6 against the proliferation of human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells in vitro. METHODS: MDA-MB-231 cells were treated with ultrasound/Chlorin e6 alone or in combination with ADM, and the changes in the cell proliferation was determined by MTT assay. RESULTS: Ultrasound (1.0 MHz) at the power intensity of 0.5-2.0 W/cm2 inhibited the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells in an intensity-dependent manner, and chlorin-e6 (0.05-1.6 mg/ml) and ADM (0.1-0.4 g/ml) alone both inhibited the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells dose-dependently. Compared with ultrasound (0.5 W/cm2, 1.0 MHz, 60 s) or chlorin-e6 (0.05-0.2 mg/ml) alone, a combined treatment with ultrasound and chlorin e6 significantly enhanced the inhibitory effect on the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells (P<0.05). ADM significantly enhanced the sonodynamic effect of chlorin e6 (0.1 mg/ml) against the cell proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells (P<0.05), and the effect was schedule-dependent, which was greater when ADM was added after the sonodynamic treatment (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: ADM can enhance the sonodynamic effect of chlorin e6 against the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells in vitro.