ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Acute lung injury is responsible for mortality in seriously ill patients. Previous studies have shown that systemic inflammation is attenuated by remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) via reducing nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB). Therefore, we investigated whether lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced indirect acute lung injury (ALI) can be protected by RIPC. METHODS: RIPC was accomplished by 10 minutes of occlusion using a tourniquet on the right hind limb of mice, followed by 10 minutes of reperfusion. This process was repeated three times. Intraperitoneal LPS (20 mg/kg) was administered to induce indirect ALI. Inflammatory cytokines in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were analyzed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Pulmonary tissue was excised for histological examination, and for examining NF-κB activity and phosphorylation of inhibitor of κBα (IκBα). RESULTS: NF-κB activation and LPS-induced histopathological changes in the lungs were significantly alleviated in the RIPC group. RIPC reduced phosphorylation of IκBα in lung tissue of ALI mice. CONCLUSIONS: RIPC attenuates endotoxin-induced indirect ALI. This attenuation might occur through modification of NF-κB mediation of cytokines by modulating phosphorylation of IκBα.
Subject(s)
Acute Lung Injury/prevention & control , Cytokines/metabolism , Ischemic Preconditioning/methods , Lipopolysaccharides/toxicity , NF-KappaB Inhibitor alpha/metabolism , NF-kappa B/metabolism , Acute Lung Injury/chemically induced , Acute Lung Injury/metabolism , Acute Lung Injury/pathology , Animals , Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Mice, Nude , Phosphorylation , Signal TransductionABSTRACT
Self-assembly structure, stability, hydrogen-bonding interaction, and optical properties of a new class of low molecular weight organogelators (LMOGs) formed by salicylanilides 3 and 4 have been investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV/Vis absorption and photoluminescence, as well as theoretical studies by DFT and semiempirical calculations with CI (AM1/PECI=8) methods. It was found that salicylanilides form gels in nonpolar solvents due to pi-stacking interaction complemented by the presence of both inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonding. The supramolecular arrangement in these organogels predicted by XRD shows lamellar and hexagonal columnar structures for gelators 3 and 4, respectively. Of particular interest is the observation of significant fluorescence enhancement accompanying gelation, which was ascribed to the formation of J-aggregates and inhibition of intramolecular rotation in the gel state.
ABSTRACT
Experiments were performed to investigate various adsorbents for their mercury removal capabilities from incineration flue gases. Four different materials were tested; Zeolite, Bentonite, activated carbon (AC), and wood char. Real incineration off-gas and in-lab simulated combustion flue gases (N2 + Hg) were used. Three cylindrical-shaped sorbent columns with 5 cm in diameter and 20 cm in length were used. The gas flow rate was fixed at 660 l/h at all times. Concentrations of NO, CO, O2, CO2, SO2, H2O, HCl, and mercury were continuously monitored. Mercury removal efficiencies of natural Zeolite and Bentonite were found to be much lower than those of the referenced AC. Amount of Hg removed were 9.2 and 7.4 microg/g of Zeolite and Bentonite, respectively. Removal efficiencies of each layer consisted of inorganic adsorbents were no higher than 7%. No significant improvement was observed with sulfur impregnation onto the inorganic adsorbents. Organic adsorbents (wood char and AC) showed much higher mercury removal efficiencies than those of inorganic ones (Zeolite and Bentonite). Mercury removal efficiency of wood char reached over 95% in the first layer, showing almost same effectiveness as AC which currently may be the most effective adsorbents for mercury. Amount of mercury captured by wood char was approximately 0.6 mg/g of wood char, close to the amount captured by AC tested in this study. Hence, wood char, made from the waste woods through a gasification process, should be considered as a possible alternative to relatively expensive AC.
