Effect of Metformin on Plasma and Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers in Non-Diabetic Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment Related to Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complicated condition involving multiple metabolic and immunologic pathophysiological processes that can occur with the hallmark pathologies of amyloid-ß, tau, and neurodegeneration. Metformin, an anti-diabetes drug, targets several of these disease processes in in vitro and animal studies. However, the effects of metformin on human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma proteins as potential biomarkers of treatment remain unexplored. Objective: Using proteomics data from a metformin clinical trial, identify the impact of metformin on plasma and CSF proteins. Methods: We analyzed plasma and CSF proteomics data collected previously (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01965756, conducted between 2013 and 2015), and conduced bioinformatics analyses to compare the plasma and CSF protein levels after 8 weeks of metformin or placebo use to their baseline levels in 20 non-diabetic patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and positive AD biomarkers participants. Results: 50 proteins were significantly (unadjusted p < 0.05) altered in plasma and 26 in CSF after 8 weeks of metformin use, with 7 proteins in common (AZU1, CASP-3, CCL11, CCL20, IL32, PRTN3, and REG1A). The correlation between changes in plasma and CSF levels of these 7 proteins after metformin use relative to baseline levels was high (r = 0.98). The proteins also demonstrated temporal stability. Conclusions: Our pilot study is the first to investigate the effect of metformin on plasma and CSF proteins in non-diabetic patients with MCI and positive AD biomarkers and identifies several candidate plasma biomarkers for future clinical trials after confirmatory studies.

Separable alginate gel spheres encapsulated with La-Fe modified biochar for efficient adsorption of Sb(III) with high capacity.

Sb and its compounds have been widely used in various industrial applications. Therefore, the preparation of Sb adsorbents with easy recovery and excellent adsorption levels is an urgent problem that must be resolved. By calcining and treating La/Fe metal-organic frameworks (MOF) biochar as a precursor, a loaded La-Fe-modified water hyacinth biochar was synthesised and used as a filler to synthesise iron alginate composite gel spheres, MBC/algFe. Through a series of static adsorption experiments, the effects of different filler addition ratios, solution pH, reaction time, coexisting ions, and other factors on the adsorption of Sb(III) were investigated. According to the Langmuir model, the maximum adsorption capacity of MBC/algFe at 25 â„ƒ was 277.8 mg·g-1. The adsorption mechanism mainly involved hydrogen bonding and metal-organic complexation interactions.

Facile synthesis of sodium lignosulfonate/polyethyleneimine/sodium alginate beads with ultra-high adsorption capacity for Cr(VI) removal from water.

Chromium (VI) is a widely occurring toxic heavy metal ion in industrial wastewater that seriously impacts the environment. In this study, we used environmentally friendly sodium lignosulfonate (SL), polyethyleneimine (PEI), and sodium alginate (SA) to synthesize SL/PEI/SA beads by employing a simple crosslinking method with to develop a novel absorbent with excellent adsorption capacity and practical application in wastewater treatment. We studied the adsorption performance of SL/PEI/SA through batch adsorption and continuous dynamic adsorption experiments. SL/PEI/SA has ultra-high adsorption capacity (2500 mg·g-1) at 25 â„ƒ, which is much higher than that of existing adsorbents. Humic acids and coexisting anions commonly found in wastewater have minimal effect on the adsorption performance of SL/PEI/SA. In the column system, 1 g SL/PEI/SA can treat 8.1 L secondary electroplating wastewater at a flow rate of 0.5 mLmin-1, thereby enabling the concentration of Cr(VI) in secondary electroplating wastewater to meet the discharge standard (< 0.2 mg·L-1). It is worth noting that the concentration of competitive ions in secondary electroplating wastewater is more than 500 times higher than that of Cr(VI). These results demonstrate that the novel SL/PEI/SA beads can be effectively applied in the removal of Cr(VI) in wastewater.

Efficient pH-universal degradation of antibiotic tetracycline via Co2P decorated Neosinocalamus affinis biochar.

Considering the complexity of traditional cobalt phosphide (Co2P) loaded biochar synthesis research on a simple and efficient synthesis method has practical significance. In this study, after phosphoric acid activation, Neosinocalamus affinis biochar (NAB) and nanoplate Co3O4 quickly formed a Co2P-NAB composite material with high Co2P crystallinity and was uniformly dispersed on the surface of NAB in a microwave reactor. Co2P-NAB has an excellent catalytic degradation effect in the activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to degrade tetracycline (TC). The optimal TC degradation efficiency was achieved with the addition of 50 mg L-1 TC concentration, 0.2 g L-1 catalysts, 0.406 mM PMS and pH = 6.02. In addition, according to the pseudo-first-order reaction rate constant calculation, the composite of Co2P-NAB and PMS the synergy efficiency is 81.55 %. Compared with Co2P-NAB (10.83 %) and PMS (7.62 %) alone, the Co2P-NAB/PMS system has a significant promotion effect on the degradation of TC molecules. Additionally, the Co2P-NAB/PMS system had a TC mineralization rate of 68 % in 30 min. Furthermore, after a series of characterization, detection and analysis, and influencing factor experiments, we proposed a potential mechanism for the Co2P-NAB/PMS reaction system to degrade TC and found that singlet oxygen (1O2) plays an essential role in the non-radical degradation process. Finally, according to the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) detection of TC degradation intermediates, a possible degradation route was proposed. Therefore, this work uses microwave technology to present a novel and simple synthesis method for transition metal phosphides, which provides potential application value for the treatment of actual wastewater with heterogeneous catalysts.

Two-dimensional BCN nanosheets self-assembled with hematite nanocrystals for sensitively detecting trace toxic Pb(II) ions in natural water.

In the present work, hematite-boron-carbonitride (Fe2O3-BCN) nanosheets were synthesized by a simple hydrothermal reaction and the following high temperature treatment. The morphology, structure and chemical composition of the as-prepared material were carefully characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Fe2O3-BCN nanosheets were used to modified on the surface of the glassy carbon electrode to fabricate an electrochemical sensor for lead ions (Pb(II)) via differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV). At the same time, the influence of the modification concentration, solution acidity, deposition potential and deposition time on response peak current of Pb(II) at the Fe2O3-BCN-based electrochemical sensor was well investigated. Under the optimized conditions, the electrochemical signal and concentration of Pb(II) show two-stage linear relationship in the range of 0.5 - 40 µg/L and 40 -140 µg/L, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.129 µg/L. The Fe2O3-BCN-based electrochemical sensor shows excellent selectivity and anti-interference ability in the anti-interference experiments and actual sample analysis experiments, revealing its broad application in environmental monitoring of Pb(II).

Preparation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes based magnetic multi-template molecularly imprinted polymer for the adsorption of phthalate esters in water samples.

Taking the advantages of surface imprinting, multi-template imprinting and magnetic separation, a novel magnetic multi-template molecularly imprinted polymer (mag-MMIP@MWCNTs) was prepared by using MWCNTs as support material, Fe3O4 as magnetic core, and dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) as template molecules. This composite was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, and was used for the simultaneous adsorption of DMP, DEP, and DBP in aqueous solution. The effects of solution pH, contact time, PAEs initial concentration, temperature, adsorption selectivity, and reusability were investigated and discussed in detail. The results demonstrated that mag-MMIP@MWCNTs exhibited fast kinetics, good magnetic separation, and excellent selectivity for the adsorption of three phthalate esters (PAEs). The adsorption kinetics followed pseudo second-order kinetic model and the adsorption thermodynamics followed Langmuir isothermal model very well, and the maximum adsorption capacities (Qmax) of DMP, DEP, and DBP were obtained as 0.95, 1.38, and 7.09 mg g-1, respectively. The Scatchard analysis revealed that the template-polymer system had a two-site binding behavior. The adsorption thermodynamic studies indicated that the adsorption processes were exothermic and spontaneous, and dominated by physical adsorption relying on hydrogen bond, hydrophobic interaction, and van der Waals force. Mag-MMIP@MWCNTs also showed good reproducibility and reusability for simultaneous adsorption of the three PAEs. The potential application of mag-MMIP@MWCNTs was proved by the removal of DMP, DEP, and DBP spiked in environmental water samples.

A case of durvalumab-treated double primary cancers of the colon and lung.

Cases of double primary cancers of the colon and lung are rare, and the treatment regimens are highly individualized. Here, we report a case of double primary cancers of the colon and lung. The patient underwent radical resection for cancer of the left colon (pT4aN0Mx, IIb). Two months later, he sought treatment due to chest pain and painful swelling in his left axilla for one month and was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the right lung (cT4N3M1c, stage IVB). At the time before receiving radical resection of the left colon tumor, a chest computed tomography examination showed a space-occupying lesion in the upper lobe of the right lung, but the histological analysis was not performed at that time because abdominal computed tomography examination suggested the presence of incomplete obstruction, and emergency radical resection for colon cancer was conducted. Molecular pathological examination of the lung mass at the most recent admission suggested KRAS mutation and strongly positive programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1). Considering the patient's pain and compression symptoms, he was given palliative radiotherapy for the lung lesion, followed by sequential durvalumab maintenance therapy, along with a capecitabine plus oxaliplatin (CAPOX) regimen for colon cancer for 3 months. The patient signed informed consent forms for all treatments. After the treatments, the patient achieved partial remission of the lung lesion and complete remission of the lymph node metastases in the neck and left axilla. The only toxic effects were chemotherapy-related grade II bone marrow suppression and grade I radiation-induced lung injury. No recurrence or metastasis was observed during the 6-month follow-up. After a trade-off between the efficacy and toxicity of the treatment regimen of double cancers, this patient was given an individualized treatment regimen-maintenance treatment with the low-toxicity durvalumab for anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy following palliative radiotherapy and evidence-supported 3-month CAPOX chemotherapy after surgery for high-risk stage II colon cancer. The regimen not only avoided possible toxic effects but also achieved a sufficient treatment intensity. We believe that the combined use of radiotherapy, chemotherapy and lowtoxicity immune-targeted drugs has good application prospects in the individualized treatment of patients with multiple cancers.

Discovery of Raphidioptera (Insecta: Neuropterida) in Xizang, China, with description of a new species of Inocellia Schneider.

The holometabolous order Raphidioptera is recorded from Xizang Autonomous Region for the first time. A new species of the family Inocelliidae, Inocellia tibetana sp. nov., from southeastern Xizang is described and its two sexes illustrated. Based on the male gonocoxite 9 that is longer than width of its base, the new species belongs to the I. fulvostigmata species-group, and it appears to be closely related to I. fulvostigmata U. Aspöck, Rausch H. Aspöck, 1968. Both species are distributed near the southern edge of the Himalayas. The male of the new species is characterized in the genitalia by the presence of a membranous, short and digitiform gonostylus 9, the gonarcus (fused gonocoxites 11) subtriangular in caudal view dorsally with a pair of short tubercular processes, and the reduction of bristle tuft on the endophallus.