Improving the purification of aqueous solutions by controlling the production of reactive oxygen species in non-thermal plasma; a systematic review.

Treatment with non-thermal plasma is a reliable technology to oxidize chemical impurities that exist in polluted water, wastewater, and leachate, those degradation-resistant and cannot be removed by conventional treatment methods. In this study, the effective factors affecting in the formation ofreactive oxygen species in non-thermal plasma treatment process, as a new advanced oxidation process method explianed. In this manner, all associated manuscripts existed in the main databases including Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, and Open Access Journal Directory from 1990 until 2022 were explored. The utilized keywords were involved non-thermal plasma, Cold plasma, Measurement, •OH, O3 and UV. Overall, 8,813 articles were gathered and based on the relevance titles and abstracts, 18 paper were selected for further reviewing. In several studies, plasma techniques have been used to treat water, wastewater and leachate, but few studies have evaluated the factors influencing the production of ROS species by non-thermal plasma. The non-thermal plasma destroys pollutants by reactive free radicals spices (hydroxyl, hydrogen atoms, etc.) a combination effect of strong electric fields, energetically charged particles, and ultrasound. Some factors such as water vapor, hydraulic retention time, inter-electrode spacing, discharge power density, and aeration of the effluent as well as use of catalyst have direct effect on the reactive oxygen species formation. If these factors controlled within the best ranges, it will promote the oxidizing radical production and system performance. Also, high-energy electrons and oxidizing species produced in the cold plasma system can well degrade most of pollution in water and wastewater.

Plasma MicroRNAs (miR-146a, miR-103a, and miR-155) as Potential Biomarkers for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Disease Activity in Iranian Patients.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that several microRNAs (miRNAs) are dysregulated in the whole blood as well as diverse cells and tissues from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. The aim of the current study was to determine if the expression of miR-146a, miR-103a, and miR-155 in whole blood of RA patients could confer potential markers in evaluating of activity-severity of the disease in RA patients with established disease. METHODS: Whole blood samples were obtained from 30 RA patients and 30 healthy subjects. The RNA content of blood samples was isolated, cDNA was synthesized, and transcript levels of miR-146a, miR-103a, and miR-155 were determined using Real-time PCR. The clinicopathological characteristics of the patients were also evaluated. RESULTS: It was detected that expression level of miR-146a (fold change=1.85, P=0.004), miR-103a (fold change=2.44, P=0.0018), and miR-155 (fold change=1.94, P=0.0025) were significantly upregulated in the whole blood samples of RA patients in comparison to that of healthy subjects. Expression level of miRNAs was correlated with clinicopathological characteristics of the patients, including Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28), Simple Disease Activity Index (SDAI), 28Tender Joint Count (TJC-28), 28Swollen Joint Count (SJC-28), C-reactive protein (CRP), Rheumatoid factor (RF), and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies. CONCLUSIONS: Upregulated levels of miR-146a, miR-103a, and miR-155 in the whole blood samples of RA patients could confer a potential marker of activity-severity of the disease in RA patients with established disease.

Factors affecting aerobic granule sludge formation in leachate treatment - a systematic review.

The biological treatment of landfill leachate due to high concentration of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), ammonia, and other toxic compounds is so difficult. One of the leachate treatment technology is the sludge biogranulation, that containing the two aerobic and anaerobic process. The aim of this study was conducted for determining the main factors affecting aerobic granule sludge formation in leachate treatment. In this study, all related papers in international databases were evaluated including Google Scholar, Science Direct, and PubMed, Also Open Access Journal Directory from 1990 until 2020 were investigated. The keywords used included Aerobic Granule Sludge (AGS), leachate treatment, Wastewater treatment, Granular Sequential Batch Reactors (GSBR), Formation Extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). Overall, 2,658 articles were retrieved of which 71 were selected after revising the titles and abstracts. Aerobic granulation has been only lately studied and a limited number of studies have been devoted to identification aspects of the process such as the organic source, and other factor affecting on formation granules. Some factors as shear stress, settling time, and the effluent discharge site have direct effect on the efficiency of aerobic granules reactor and other factors such as divalent metal ions, dissolved oxygen concentration, the ratio of height to diameter of the reactor, temperature affecting on the granulation process. If suitable conditions provide, the aerobic granule sludge process can be useful for leachate treatment.

The effects of transplanted mesenchymal stem cells treated with 17-b estradiol on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

The present study was conducted aimed at exploring the modulatory effects of 17-b estradiol (17-bED) on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the EAE (experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis) animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS). Following the isolation of bone marrow-derived MSCs from the bilateral femurs and tibias of the male Wistar rats, the cells were harvested and cultured in the presence of 100 nM 17-bED for 24 h. EAE was induced in male Wistar rats (8-12 weeks old) using guinea pig spinal cord homogenate, in combination with the complete Freund's adjuvant. The MSC therapy was triggered when all of the animals obtained a disability score. The symptoms were monitored on a daily basis throughout the study until the rats were euthanized. The mRNA expression of cytokines, including IL-17, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-10, IL-4, and TGF-ß together with MMP8 and MMP9 as the family members of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the brain and spinal cord tissues were examined using real-time PCR. The levels of splenocytes-originated IL-10 and IFN-γ cytokines were also measured by ELISA. The MTT-based research findings showed that the infiltration of lymphocytes into the spleen decreased considerably. It was also observed that the mRNA expression of proinflammatory cytokines decreased significantly, while the mRNA levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines increased remarkably. It was also found that the mRNA levels of the examined matrix metalloproteinases (MMP8 and MMP9) were downregulated significantly. The findings of the present study indicated that the administration of 17-bED enhanced the efficacy of MSCs transplantation and modulated immune responses relatively in the EAE model, via the regulation of either pro- or anti-inflammatory cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases.

Green synthesis of fluorescent PEG-ZnS QDs encapsulated into Co-MOFs as an effective sensor for ultrasensitive detection of copper ions in tap water.

In this work, a novel and highly fluorescent (FL) metal-organic framework (MOF)-based host-guest hybrid system was developed through encapsulation of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-capped ZnS quantum dots (QDs) into zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF)-67 at ambient temperature. This new composite material was characterized by FT-IR, XRD, TEM, UV-Vis absorption and FL spectroscopy, and then exploited as fluorescence sensor for highly sensitive and selective detection of Cu (II) ions in water samples. The as-prepared PEG-ZnS QDs@ZIF-67 nanohybrids took advantages of both accumulation effect in ZIF-67 and FL sensitivity and selectivity in ZnS QDs toward analyte-Cu2+. In this regard, ZIF-67 was treated as absorbents to capture and enrich Cu (II) ions, and ZnS QDs were exploited as tentacle to selectively and sensitively sense the bonding interactions between ZIF-67 and Cu (II) ions, and further transduce these chemical events to the detectable fluorescence signals. By this approach, Cu2+ could be detected in a wide concentration range of 3 to 500 nM with a LOD as low as 0.96 nM. The proposed FL-sensor can be promising in the field of preparation of various QDs@MOFs platforms for application in high-performance optical sensing.