Strong influence of surfactants on virgin hydrophobic microplastics adsorbing ionic organic pollutants.

Microplastic (MP) pollution has become an area of increasing concern because MPs accumulate various types of pollutants. Many previous studies have explored the interactions between MPs and hydrophobic pollutants. However, little research has been conducted on hydrophilic pollutants, which are of much higher concentration and ubiquitous in environment. Surfactants cause hydrophobic MPs to become hydrophilic, which may significantly enhance their capacities to adsorb hydrophilic pollutants. This study explored the influence of co-existing surfactants on the adsorption of ionic organic pollutants by MPs, and found that the presence of an ionic surfactant could significantly enhance the capacity of polyvinyl chloride (PVC, 0.2 mm) MPs to adsorb pollutants with opposite charges. The Langmuir methylene blue adsorption capacity of PVC could be increased from 172 to 4417 ppm in the presence of a sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate surfactant. Nonionic surfactants impeded the adsorption of both cationic and anionic pollutants due to the steric resistance of the hydrophilic polyethelene glycol chains. The electrostatic interaction mechanism dominated the interfacial behaviors of ionic pollutants on surfactant-adsorbed MP interfaces. The effects of the surfactants were further verified using four different model pollutants and six surfactants. The adsorption capacities of real environmental MPs, including PVC, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS), increased by three to twenty-six times. The adsorption properties of MPs may be determined by the presence of co-existing surfactants, rather than their polymer species or additives.

Surfactant stealth effect of microplastics in traditional coagulation process observed via 3-D fluorescence imaging.

Microplastics (MPs) have aroused rising social concerns. Although amounts of surfactants exist in wastewater and are expected to alter the surface properties of MPs significantly as they are designed to be adsorbed by hydrophobic particles. However, rare works have been done on the influence of surfactants on the coagulation removal process of MPs which was thought to be an effective way to remove MPs together with other natural particles, such as clay. We used 3-D fluorescence imaging to track the coagulation removal process of polystyrene MPs. Our results indicate that nonionic surfactant, tween 20 in ppm scale, could inhibit the coagulation removal of polystyrene MPs significantly. Residue MPs in the effluent is proportional with the surfactant concentration and increases up to tens of times, which will lead to a dramatic increase in their potential environmental risks. Apparent size effect exists in the coagulation in which smaller MPs can escape from the coagulation removal more easily. Mechanism study suggests that the steric resistance of the hydrophilic flexible polyethylene glycol (PEG) layer formed by tween 20 adsorbed on MP surface inhibits clay deposition and thus hinders subsequent agglomeration and precipitation. A surfactant stealth effect, which is used in the design of nanomedicine to avoid the human immune recognition and clearance of nano-drugs from blood circulation, also exists in the coagulation removal process of MPs. Our finding not only proves the strong influence of surfactants on MPs but also will stimulate related studies on other latent surfactant effects of MPs.

Development of a robust reporter gene-based assay for the bioactivity determination of recombinant human follicle stimulating hormone (rhFSH) pharmaceutical products.

FSH plays a key role in the function of the reproductive system of human beings and is widely used both diagnostically and therapeutically in reproductive medicine. With the growing incidence of infertility, the demand for FSH pharmaceutical products is increasing. For this reason, the quality control process for FSH products is becoming more stringent. An accurate determination of bioactivity is crucial for the safety and efficacy of recombinant human follicle stimulating hormone (rhFSH). Up to now, in-vivo bioassay based on FSH-induced increases in rat ovarian weight has been the only method widely accepted by different pharmacopoeias. However this method has such drawbacks as the complex procedures, long assay period and high variability. Here, we established a reporter gene assay (RGA) based on the CHO-K1-FSHR-CRE-Luc cell line that stably expresses human follicle stimulating hormone receptor (hFSHR), as well as a luciferase reporter under the control of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) response elements (CRES). Our study showed that our new assay not only has good dose-dependent responsiveness to rhFSH, but it also performs excellently in terms of specificity, precision, linearity, and simplicity compared with in-vivo rat bioassays. These results implied that this robust reporter gene assay may be a viable supplement to the animal in-vivo bioassay and may be employed in potency determination of rhFSH pharmaceutical products.

Comparison of the antioxidant effects of carnosic acid and synthetic antioxidants on tara seed oil.

BACKGROUND: In the present study, tara seed oil was obtained by supercritical fluid extraction and used to investigate the antioxidant strength of carnosic acid (CA) compared with conventional synthetic antioxidants. METHODS: The antioxidants were added to the tara seed oil at 0.2 mg of antioxidant per gram of oil. The samples were then submitted to at 60 °C 15 days for an accelerated oxidation process, with samples taken regularly for analysis. After oxidation, the samples were analyzed to determine the peroxide value, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, conjugated diene content, and free fatty acid content. CA was investigated at three purity levels (CA20, CA60, CA99), and compared with three synthetic antioxidants (butylatedhydroxyanisole, butylatedhydroxytoluene, and tert-butylhydroquinone). RESULTS: The oxidation indicators showed that CA was a strong antioxidant compared to the synthetic antioxidants. The antioxidant activities decreased in the order: tert-butylhydroquinone > CA99 > CA60 > CA20 > butylatedhydroxyanisole > butylatedhydroxytoluene. These results show that CA could be used to replace synthetic antioxidants in oil products, and should be safer for human consumption and the environment.

LiFePO4 microcrystals as an efficient heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst in degradation of rhodamine 6G.

We present a novel heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst of LiFePO4 (LFP). LFP has been widely used as an electrode material of a lithium ion battery, but we observed that commercial LFP (LFP-C) could act as a good Fenton-like catalyst to decompose rhodamine 6G. The catalytic activity of LFP-C microparticles was much higher than a popular catalyst, magnetite nanoparticles. Furthermore, we found that the catalytic activity of LFP-C could be further increased by increasing the specific surface area. The reaction rate constant of the hydrothermally synthesized LFP microcrystals (LFP-H) is at least 18 times higher than that of magnetite nanoparticles even though the particle size of LFP is far larger than magnetite nanoparticles. The LFP catalysts also exhibited a good recycling behavior and high stability under an oxidizing environment. The effects of the experimental parameters such as the concentration of the catalysts, pH, and the concentration of hydrogen peroxide on the catalytic activity of LFP were also analyzed.

Genome sequence comparative analysis of long arm and short arm of human X chromosome.

30% of the genes tested on Xp escaped inactivation, whereas less than 3% of the genes on Xq escaped inactivation. To investigate the molecular mechanism involved in the propagation and maintenance of X chromosome inactivation and escape, the long arm and short arm of the X chromosome were compared for RNA binding density. Nucleotide sequences on the X chromosome were divided into 50 kb per segment that was recorded as a set of frequency values of 7-nucleotide (7 nt) strings using all possible 7 nt strings (4(7) = 16 384). 120 genes highly expressed in the tonsil germinal center B cells were selected for calculating the 7 nt string frequency values of all introns (intron 7nt). Intron 7nt was considered RNAs (RNA population) that simulated the total of small RNA fragments in cells. Knowing the 7 nt frequency values of DNA segments and the intron 7nt, we can calculate the binding density of DNA segments to the intron 7nt that was termed as RNA binding density. The RNA binding density was determined by the amount of complement sequences. The more amount of complement sequences, the more density of RNA binding. The RNA binding density simulated the total of small RNA fragments bound to the DNA segment. Several principal characteristics were observed for the first time: (1) The mean value of RNA binding density of DNA segments on Xp was significantly higher than that on Xq ( P < 0.001); (2) The numbers of DNA segments highly binding RNAs were more on Xp than on Xq (P < 0.001); (3) The clusters of RNA highly binding DNA segments were associated with regions in which genes escape inactivation. It has been suggested that RNAs activate genes and the interaction of RNA-DNA in cells are extensive, for example, RNAs increase DNase I sensitivity of DNA, there is plenty of nonprotein-coding RNAs in cells, the binding specificity of DNA-RNA is far higher than that of DNA-protein and the affinity of DNA with RNA is increased, as compared with DNA. The nonrandom properties of distribution of RNA highly binding segments between Xp and Xq, combined with the finding of RNA activating genes, provide a strong evidence that RNA highly binding segments may serve as DNA signals to propagate activation along a chromosome and vice versa, the DNA segments that less bind RNAs may silence the genes.