Integrative Analysis of Core Genes and Biological Process Involved in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common gynecological endocrine disordered disease, affecting the function of the ovaries in women of reproductive age. However, there are limited curative therapies for PCOS due to lack of reliable candidates. Hence, this study aimed to identify hub pathogenic genes and potential therapeutic targets for PCOS using bioinformatics tools. We obtained the expression profiles of 29 PCOS samples and 24 normal samples from three Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets. Then, the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened, which were subjected to functional enrichment analyses. Moreover, we found 30 ferroptosis-related genes out of the 89 DEGs. Among the top 10 significant ferroptosis-related DEGs, 8 genes showed good predictive performance. We constructed interaction network of top three ferroptosis-related DEGs (SLC38A1, ACO1, DDIT3). Finally, real-time PCR was performed to test the relative expression of these genes. In conclusions, we have identified ferroptosis-related DEGs as core genes and potential therapeutic targets of PCOS based on comprehensive bioinformatics analysis. The findings are conducive to understanding of the pathogenesis of PCOS and paving the way towards curative therapies.

Adsorption behavior of dyes from an aqueous solution onto composite magnetic lignin adsorbent.

Magnetic lignosulfonate functional materials that were known to remove several types of dye from water effectively were prepared. The surface of an iron (II,III) oxide (Fe3O4) sample was coated with a layer of organic carbon, and magnetic lignosulfonate (FCS) was synthesised by a crosslinking agent. The morphology, structure, stability and magnetic properties of the materials were characterised by various testing methods. Under experimental conditions, the solution's acidity, alkalinity, contact time, temperature, desorption and dye concentration were measured. The experimental results show that the material reached the highest adsorption capacity at pH = 7. In addition, the adsorption data was similar to that of a single layer, Langmuir adsorption model. The maximum adsorption capacities were 198.24 mg g-1 (Congo Red) and 192.51 mg g-1 (Titan Yellow), respectively. Based on its desorption performance, the material had good recyclability. Therefore, these studies could be used in wastewater treatment. Hopefully, the proposed magnetic composites will inspire more scholars to investigate solutions to the problem of contaminated water resources.

Adsorption behavior of heavy metal ions from aqueous solution onto composite dextran-chitosan macromolecule resin adsorbent.

Dextran-chitosan (DC) macromolecule resin was synthesized by ultrasonic heating and applied to adsorb various heavy metal ions (Cu2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Pb2+, Cd2+). The morphology and structure of the samples were characterized by various testing methods. The effects of five factors on the adsorption properties were studied. The adsorption kinetics, thermodynamics and isotherm models were discussed theoretically. The results show that the adsorption of heavy metal ions by DC resin is a spontaneous single molecule chemical adsorption, and the adsorption capacities of DC resin for Cu2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Pb2+ and Cd2+ were 342 mg g-1, 232 mg g-1, 184 mg g-1, 395 mg g-1, and 269 mg g-1, respectively at 20 °C, pH = 7 and adsorbent dose is 0.01 g. In addition, DC resin adsorbent has good reusability.

Construction of composite chitosan-glucose hydrogel for adsorption of Co2+ ions.

Glucose and chitosan are compounded on a hydrogel (GC hydrogel) by an initiator and a crosslinking agent, and GC hydrogel are applied to treat Co2+ in wastewater. The samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). In the study of adsorption process, the influence of five factors on the adsorption process was studied. On this basis, the adsorption thermodynamics, kinetics and adsorption mechanism of isotherm were discussed. The results showed that the adsorption capacities of GC hydrogels for Co2+ 202mgg-1 at 20°C, pH=7 and adsorbent dosage is 0.01g. The study shows that the adsorption of heavy metal ions by GC hydrogel adsorbent is a single molecule chemisorption of the spontaneous process. In addition, GC hydrogel adsorbent has good cyclic stability.

Fabrication of Z-scheme Ag3PO4/TiO2 Heterostructures for Enhancing Visible Photocatalytic Activity.

In this paper, a synthetical study of the composite Ag3PO4/TiO2 photocatalyst, synthesized by simple two-step method, is carried out. Supplementary characterization tools such as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy were adopted in this research. The outcomes showed that highly crystalline and good morphology can be observed. In the experiment of photocatalytic performance, TiO2400/Ag3PO4 shows the best photocatalytic activity, and the photocatalytic degradation rate reached almost 100% after illuminating for 25 min. The reaction rate constant of TiO2400/Ag3PO4 is the largest, which is 0.02286 min-1, twice that of Ag3PO4 and 6.6 times that of the minimum value of TiO2400. The degradation effect of TiO2400/Ag3PO4 shows good stability after recycling the photocatalyst four times. Trapping experiments for the active catalytic species reveals that the main factors are holes (h+) and superoxide anions (O·- 2), while hydroxyl radical (·OH) plays partially degradation. On this basis, a Z-scheme reaction mechanism of Ag3PO4/TiO2 heterogeneous structure is put forward, and its degradation mechanism is expounded.

Anchoring Plasmonic Ag@AgCl Nanocrystals onto ZnCo2O4 Microspheres with Enhanced Visible Photocatalytic Activity.

In this work, a comprehensive investigation of the composite Ag@AgCl/ZnCo2O4 microspheres photocatalyst, prepared by a facile two-step method, is presented, and using complementary characterization tools such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). Results show that the composite Ag@AgCl/ZnCo2O4 photocatalyst has good microspheres morphology and high crystalline and its absorption intensity in the whole spectrum range is higher than that of pure ZnCo2O4. It is observed that the specific surface area of the composite Ag@AgCl/ZnCo2O4 photocatalyst and the adsorption efficiency of rhodamine B (RhB) increase as a result of deposition of Ag@AgCl. In the Ag@AgCl/ZnCo2O4 degradation system of RhB, the photocatalytic degradation rate of 0.2Ag@AgCl/ZnCo2O4 becomes 99.4% within 120 min, and RhB is almost completely degraded. The reaction rate constant of composite 0.2Ag@AgCl/ZnCo2O4 photocatalyst is found to be 0.01063 min-1, which is 1.6 times that of Ag@AgCl and 10 times of the minimum value of ZnCo2O4. In addition, the radical capture experiment indicates that, in the reaction system of Ag@AgCl/ZnCo2O4, the main oxidative species of Ag@AgCl/ZnCo2O4 photocatalyst are superoxide anion (O·- 2- 2) and hole (h+) and not hydroxyl radical (·OH). Based on the results, a Z-scheme plasmon photocatalytic mechanism of Ag@AgCl/ZnCo2O4 composite system is proposed, to elucidate the RhB degradation.

Optimized synthesis of novel hydrogel for the adsorption of copper and cobalt ions in wastewater.

Metal ions in wastewater endanger the environment and even human life. In this study, an optimized method was used to synthesize an excellent hydrogel to treat these metal ions. The samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and applied to treat the Cu(ii) and Co(ii) ions in wastewater. In the adsorption experiment, the influential factors such as pH, adsorption time, adsorbent dosage and concentration of heavy metal ions and regeneration efficiency were evaluated, and the adsorption kinetics, isotherms and thermodynamics were studied. The orthogonal optimization results show that the best condition for synthesis was when the degree of neutralization of acrylic acid (A) was 70%, the quantity of glucose (B) was 0.2 g, the quantity of chitosan (C) was 0.05 g, and the quantity of initiator (D) was 0.03 g. The influence of the four factors was in the order D > B > C > A. The adsorption performance was optimal under neutral conditions and the dosage of 0.02 g adsorbent was chosen as the best. Experiments show that the composite hydrogels exhibited excellent performance under optimal conditions: at 20 °C and pH = 7, the adsorption capacity of 100 mg L-1 of Cu(ii) by 0.01 g hydrogel was 286 mg g-1. The adsorption process of heavy metal ions by hydrogels conforms to pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm model, which indicate a spontaneous endothermic reaction. Moreover, after five cycles, the removal rates of Cu(ii) and Co(ii) were 81% and 74.8%, respectively.

Theoretical insight into the solvent effect of H2O and formamide on the cooperativity effect in HMX complex.

The cooperativity effects of the H-bonding interactions in HMX (1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazacyclooctane)∙∙∙HMX∙∙∙FA (formamide), HMX∙∙∙HMX∙∙∙H2O and HMX∙∙∙HMX∙∙∙HMX complexes involving the chair and chair-chair HMX are investigated by using the ONIOM2 (CAM-B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p):PM3) and ONIOM2 (M06-2X/6-31++G(d,p):PM3) methods. The solvent effect of FA or H2O on the cooperativity effect in HMX∙∙∙HMX∙∙∙HMX are evaluated by the integral equation formalism polarized continuum model. The results show that the cooperativity and anti-cooperativity effects are not notable in all the systems. Although the effect of solvation on the binding energy of ternary system HMX∙∙∙HMX∙∙∙HMX is not large, that on the cooperativity of H-bonds is notable, which leads to the mutually strengthened H-bonding interaction in solution. This is perhaps the reason for the formation of different conformation of HMX in different solvent. Surface electrostatic potential and reduced density gradient are used to reveal the nature of the solvent effect on cooperativity effect in HMX∙∙∙HMX∙∙∙HMX. Graphical abstract RDG isosurface and electrostatic potential surface of HMX∙∙∙HMX∙∙∙HMX.