Effect of Phosphogypsum Based Filler on the Performance of Asphalt Mortar and Mixture.

This study introduced phosphogypsum coupled with steel slag powder to prepare the phosphogypsum based filler (PF) for asphalt mixture. Penetration, penetration index, softening point, ductility, equivalent softening point, moisture stability of asphalt mortars with different steel slag powder content, filler-asphalt ratio, and PF content were studied. Mechanical properties of PF based asphalt mortar (P-AM) were then analyzed to determine the optimum steel slag content in PF. Overall desirability method was used to determine the optimum replacement ratio of PF content in limestone filler. Rheological properties of P-AM were also analyzed through dynamic shear rheometer. Volumetric performance, high-temperature performance, low-temperature performance, and moisture stability tests were carried out on PF based AC-20 asphalt mixture. Results showed that P-AM presented the optimum performance when the content of steel slag powder was 23% by mass of phosphogypsum. Fatigue and rutting factor of asphalt mortar were enhanced by PF. The optimum PF content in replacing limestone filler was 75% through overall desirability evaluation. PF developed the high-temperature performance and moisture stability of asphalt mixture. Additionally, volumetric and low-temperature performance were not significantly affected by PF. It is suggested that using PF which is based on phosphogypsum as a filler of asphalt mixture to partially replace traditional limestone filler was adequate.

Analysis on the impact of two winter precipitation episodes on PM2.5 in Beijing.

In this paper, the circulation background, the characteristics of meteorological elements configuration in the boundary layer and the stable meteorological conditions in two precipitation episodes (during February 19-21, 2015 and February 10-13, 2016, respectively) within the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region are compared and analyzed. Data from conventional meteorological observations, air quality monitoring, reanalysis and numerical models are used. The results show that before the two precipitation processes in 2015 and 2016, the circulations in the middle and high latitudes of Asia and Europe demonstrate "two troughs and one ridge". Besides, the weather is stable and the pollutant concentration is relatively high. During the precipitation, the circulation is relatively stable for the episode in 2015, and no obvious change in the synoptic system is observed. However, during the episode in 2016, the formation of blocking high and the enhancement of the average ridge in western Asia cause obvious change in the circulation. The simulation results show that significant removal can be detected in both cases, and the PM2.5 wet deposition fluxes are 647 g/ha and 486 g/ha, respectively, with the removal in 2015 slightly stronger than that in 2016. The removal and dissipation of pollutants is determined by the atmospheric diffusion conditions and the precipitation, especially in the former episode. In the case of February 2016, good diffusion conditions and the precipitation demonstrate obvious PM2.5 removal effect. In the case of February 2015, the longstanding calm wind with high humidity and the physical quantity configuration in the lower mixed layer lead to the poor pollutant removal.

Metabolomic profiling reveals serum L-pyroglutamic acid as a potential diagnostic biomarker for systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE: The spectrum of clinical manifestations and serological phenomena of SLE is heterogeneous among patients and even changes over time unpredictably in individual patients. For this reason, clinical diagnosis especially in complicated or atypical cases is often difficult or delayed leading to poor prognosis. Despite the medical progress nowadays in the understanding of SLE pathogenesis, disease-specific biomarkers for SLE remain an outstanding challenge. Therefore, we undertook this study to investigate potential biomarkers for SLE diagnosis. METHODS: Serum samples from 32 patients with SLE and 25 gender-matched healthy controls (HCs) were analysed by metabolic profiling based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry metabolomics platform. The further validation for the potential biomarker was performed in an independent set consisting of 36 SLE patients and 30 HCs. RESULTS: The metabolite profiles of serum samples allowed differentiation of SLE patients from HCs. The levels of arachidonic acid, sphingomyelin (SM) 24:1, monoacylglycerol (MG) 17:0, lysophosphatidyl ethanolamine (lysoPE) 18:0, lysoPE 16:0, lysophosphatidyl choline (lysoPC) 20:0, lysoPC 18:0 and adenosine were significantly decreased in SLE patients, and the MG 20:2 and L-pyroglutamic acid were significantly increased in SLE group. In addition, L-pyroglutamic acid achieved an area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of 0.955 with high sensitivity (97.22%) and specificity (83.33%) at the cut-off of 61.54 µM in the further targeted metabolism, indicating diagnostic potential. CONCLUSION: Serum metabolic profiling is differential between SLE patients and HCs and depicts increased L-pyroglutamic acid as a promising bitformatomarker for SLE.

Lower Expression of Gelsolin in Colon Cancer and Its Diagnostic Value in Colon Cancer Patients.

Colon cancer is one of the most common malignancies causing the majority of cancer-related deaths. Gelsolin (GSN) has been found to be dysregulated in various cancers. However, the secreted GSN in colon cancer remains largely unknown. In the present study, we explored the expression profile of GSN in colon cancer tissues and the diagnostic value of serum GSN in colon cancer. In addition, the effects of secreted GSN in colon cancer cells were studied. We thus found that immunoreactive GSN levels were significantly lower in colon cancer tissues than those in non-tumor colon tissues. Functional studies demonstrated that secreted GSN could restrain cell invasion and migration in vitro. Mechanistically, dose dependent recombinant GSN down-regulated the expression of MMP2 and MMP9, which might restrain the process of cell invasion and migration. Furthermore, serum levels of GSN were significantly lower in colon cancer patients than those in healthy volunteers, and ROC curves showed serum level of GSN had a better diagnostic value for colon cancer (AUC=0.932) than the traditional tumor biomarker Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA) or Carbohydrate Antigen 19-9 (CA199). In conclusion, our results suggest that the secreted GSN restrains the invasion and migration of colon cancer cells. Meanwhile, the serum GSN may be a new biomarker for the diagnosis of colon cancer.

NLRP3 in human glioma is correlated with increased WHO grade, and regulates cellular proliferation, apoptosis and metastasis via epithelial-mesenchymal transition and the PTEN/AKT signaling pathway.

Glioma is the most prevalent and fatal primary tumor of the central nervous system in adults, while the development of effective therapeutic strategies in clinical practice remain a challenge. Nucleotide-binding domain leucine-rich family pyrin-containing 3 (NLRP3) has been reported to be associated with tumorigenesis and progression; however, its expression and function in human glioma remain unclear. The present study was designed to explore the biological role and potential mechanism of NLRP3 in human glioma. The results demonstrated that overexpression of NLRP3, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase-recruitment domain (ASC), caspase­1 and interleukin (IL)­1ß protein in human glioma tissues were significantly correlated with higher World Health Organization grades. The in vitro biological experiments demonstrated that NLRP3 downregulation significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion, and promoted the apoptosis of SHG44 and A172 glioma cell lines. Furthermore, western blot assays revealed that the downregulation of NLRP3 significantly reduced the expression of ASC, caspase­1 and IL­1ß protein. Furthermore, NLRP3 knockdown caused the inhibition of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and inhibited the phosphorylation of AKT serine/threonine kinase (AKT) and phosphorylation of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN). Consistently, the upregulation of NLRP3 significantly increased the expression of ASC, caspase­1, IL­1ß and phosphorylated-PTEN, promoted proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT, inhibited apoptosis, and activated the AKT signaling pathway. The data of the present study indicate that NLRP3 affects human glioma progression and metastasis through multiple pathways, including EMT and PTEN/AKT signaling pathway regulation, enhanced inflammasome activation, and undefined inflammasome-independent mechanisms. Understanding the biological effects of NLRP3 in human glioma and the underlying mechanisms may offer novel insights for the development of glioma clinical therapeutic strategies.

Serum Levels of TRIM72 Are Lower among Patients with Colon Cancer: Identification of a Potential Diagnostic Marker.

Colon cancer is one of the most common malignancies causing the majority of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The tripartite motif family protein 72 (TRIM72), also known as mitsugumin 53, acts as an E3 ubiquitin ligase. TRIM72 is involved in insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, which are risk factors of colon cancer. However, the correlation between TRIM72 and colon cancer remains unknown. In the present study, we explored the expression profile of TRIM72 in colon cancer tissues and the diagnostic value of serum TRIM72 in colon cancer. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were applied for evaluating the diagnostic value of serum TRIM72. We thus found that immunoreactive TRIM72 levels were significantly lower in colon cancer tissues than those in normal colon tissues. Moreover, serum TRIM72 levels were significantly lower in colon cancer patients than those in healthy volunteers. Importantly, the lower serum TRIM72 levels were associated with advanced clinical stage, lymph node, and distant metastases in colon cancer patients. The ROC curve analysis showed that serum TRIM72 has a superior diagnostic value (the area under the curve (AUC) = 0.829) than the traditional tumor biomarkers, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (AUC = 0.707) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA199) (AUC = 0.750), and the combination of TRIM72 with CEA and CA199 showed the best diagnostic value for colon cancer (AUC = 0.928). In conclusion, serum TRIM72 may be a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and the prognosis of colon cancer.

Comprehensive circular RNA profiles in plasma reveals that circular RNAs can be used as novel biomarkers for systemic lupus erythematosus.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a novel class of widespread endogenous noncoding RNAs, have been involved in the development of various diseases, including atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and several types of cancers, but there is little knowledge about their associations with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study is aimed to identify the expression profiles of circRNAs in 6 paired SLE and normal participants plasma samples by using a circRNA microarray. The microarray analysis showed that 207 circRNAs were differentially expressed between these two groups, including 113 upregulated and 94 downregulated circRNAs. Then, we selected 8 circRNAs as candidate biomarkers from the microarray analysis and further verified them in another group of subjects consisting of 24 SLE patients and 24 normal controls using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assays (qRT-PCR). Finally, we confirmed four circRNAs that were consistent with the microarray results. In addition, bioinformatics was employed to predict the interaction between validated circRNAs and potential miRNA targets. Taken together, we firstly illustrate the comprehensive expression profiles of circRNAs in SLE patients plasma and lay the foundations to develop circRNAs as novel non-invasive biomarkers for SLE disease in the future.

Ginsenoside Rh2 inhibits human A172 glioma cell proliferation and induces cell cycle arrest status via modulating Akt signaling pathway.

Ginsenoside Rh2 (G­Rh2), the main bioactive component in American ginseng, is known to exert a wide variety of biological activities. Accumulating evidence suggests that G­Rh2 inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis of tumor cells. However, the possible mechanism through which G­Rh2 exerts its action on malignant glioma cells have not been completely elucidated. The findings of the present study demonstrated that G­Rh2 decreased the viability of glioma cells in a dose­ and time­dependent manner, and induced cell cycle arrest. G­Rh2­induced cell cycle arrest was accompanied by the downregulation of cyclin­dependent kinase 4 and Cyclin E. In addition, G­Rh2 markedly reduced the expression of total­ RAC­α serine/threonine­protein kinase (Akt) and the levels of phosphorylated­Akt. These findings provide mechanistic details of how G­Rh2 acts on glioma cells and suggest that G­Rh2 may function as a potential anti­cancer drug for glioma treatment.