Treatment of the terephthalic acid-containing wastewater using a biological-aerated filter.

In this paper, the biological-aerated filter (BAF) was employed to treat the wastewater containing terephthalic acid (TA). Factors that affected the efficiency of TA and CODCr removal were evaluated experimetally, including pH, hydraulic loading, hydraulic retention time (HRT) and TA volume loading. At pH 7-8, hydraulic loading rate 0.067-0.48 m3/(m2 h), HRT more than 3.5h and TA loading 0.04-0.15g/(m3 d), the TA and CODCr removal efficiency was more than 93% and 87%, respectively. The mathematical model of matrix (TA) was obtained by Monod's relation and the experimental parameters of the model were 1.972 g/(m2d) and 9.782 mg/L.

Diagnostic value of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody for rheumatoid arthritis in a Chinese population: a meta-analysis.

To use meta-analysis to determine the accuracy of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibody in diagnosis of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a Chinese population, we searched MEDLINE and CNKI databases for studies published in English or Chinese between January 2000 and June 2010. Two investigators independently evaluated studies for inclusion, data extraction, and quality assessment. We used a random-effects model to combine estimates of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (LR+), negative likelihood ratio (LR-), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR). One hundred and eighteen studies met our inclusion criteria. All studies were of high quality. The summary estimates for anti-CCP antibody in the diagnosis of RA in a Chinese population were as follows: sensitivity 0.65 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.65-0.66), specificity 0.95 (95% CI 0.95-0.96), positive likelihood ratio (LR+) 15.84 (95% CI 13.55-18.54), negative likelihood ratio (LR-) 0.33 (95% CI 0.31-0.35), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) 51.60 (95% CI 43.64-61.01). With high specificity and moderate sensitivity, anti-CCP antibody tests play an important role in conforming the diagnosis of RA in a Chinese population.

[Effects of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Hsp16.3 protein on the autophagy function of mice macrophages].

AIM: To investisate the inhibition of Hsp-16.3 on the autophagosomes formation of macrophages. METHODS: Mouse RAW264.7 macrophages were induced by rapamycin (50 ng/µL) following infection with M.tuberculosis H37Rv strains, thereafter, co-incubated with Hsp16.3 protein (25 µg/mL). The effects of Hsp16.3 protein on the autophagosomes formation was observed with transmission electron microscope. The expression of autophagy-related genes (atg8) for macrophages was detected by Western blotting. RESULTS: It was found that rapamycin-induced autophagy of macrophages infected with M.tuberculosis H37Rv enhanced localization of mycobacteria with autophagosomes. Hsp16.3 protein inhibits autophagosome formation and affects M.tuberculosis survival inside infected macrophages. Furthermore, Hsp16.3 protein significantly increased M.tuberculosis colony forming units (CFU), and decreased the expression of microtubule-associated protein light chain-3 (LC3) expression level (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The results showed that Hsp16.3 protein inhibits the formation of autophagosomes by regulating the expression of LC3 protein.

Anti-C1q antibodies are associated with systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity and lupus nephritis in northeast of China.

This study aimed to investigate the associations of anti-C1q antibodies with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) disease activity and lupus nephritis (LN) in northeast of China. Ninety patients with SLE, 37 patients with other autoimmune diseases, and 40 healthy donors in northeast of China were enrolled. Serum anti-C1q antibodies were measured by ELISA with 20 RU/ml as the threshold of positive results. The prevalence and levels of anti-C1q antibodies in SLE group (50%, 20.54 ± 34.67 RU/ml) were significantly higher than those in autoimmune disease and healthy control groups (P < 0.05), yet no significant difference between LN patients and non-LN lupus patients (57.14% vs 41.46%, P > 0.05; 25.92 ± 39.94 vs 13.07 ± 27.39 RU/ml, P > 0.05). Anti-C1q antibody levels were positively correlated with levels of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) scores, anti-dsDNA, and anti-cardiolipin and negatively correlated with serum C3 and C4 (P < 0.05). The prevalence of anti-Sm and anti-nucleosome increased in anti-C1q-positive lupus patients (P < 0.05). Compared with anti-C1q-negative lupus patients, patients with 20-40 RU/ml anti-C1q antibodies had comparable disease activity (P > 0.05); patients with 40-80 RU/ml anti-C1q antibodies had significantly lower levels of serum complement (P < 0.05); patients with above 80 RU/ml anti-C1q antibodies had much more severe hypocomplementemia, increased SLEDAI scores, and higher incidence of hematuria and proteinuria (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the specificity and positive predictive value of 80 RU/ml anti-C1q antibodies for LN was 97.56% and 87.50%, respectively. In conclusion, anti-C1q antibodies are associated with SLE and LN disease activity, and the contribution hinges on the titers. Moreover, high-level anti-C1q antibodies are valuable for diagnosing LN.

Composition and phylogenetic analysis of wheat cryptochrome gene family.

Cryptochrome (CRY) gene family encodes photoreceptors mediating developmental responses to blue light throughout the life of plants. We report here the characterization of CRY gene family in hexaploid wheat. Degenerate PCR amplification of the regions encoding the conserved flavin-binding domain of CRY proteins yielded seven bands, resulting from amplification of CRY1a, CRY1b and CRY2 homologous genes. Assignment of individual amplicons to subgenomes was accomplished by comparing their sequence compositions with those from the ancestor species of wheat. ESTs coding for CRY-DASH like proteins were identified in wheat EST database in GenBank. Southern blot showed that TaCRY1a, TaCRY1b and TaCRY2 are single copy genes. We mapped TaCRY1a and TaCRY2 to chromosomes of homoeologous group 6, TaCRY1b to group 2, and TaCRY-DASH to group 7. Phylogenetic analysis showed that CRY subfamily diversification occurred before the divergence of monocots and dicots. The regulatory and functional changes of CRY members within subfamily are discussed.

[Effect of autophagy in MTB's infection and the expression of its related gene].

AIM: To study the effect of autophagy in MTB's infection and the expression of its related gene. METHODS: The formation of autophagy was induced by Rapamycin and observed by the transmission electron microscope. The cleaning role of autophagy to the MTB H37Rv virulent strain after its formation was detected by clone forming unit (CFU). Realtime PCR was used to detect the mRNA of the autophagy related gene was expressed. RESULTS: The RAW264.7 cell could form autophagosome under the induction of the Rapamycin, and it had the determinate cleaning role to the H37Rv strain in the cell after which formed. The mRNA of atg5, atg8 and atg12 which participated the formation of autophagy were expressed more, but the expression of atg7 had no change. CONCLUSION: Autophagy participated the process of immune response of anti-MTB. Atg5, atg8 and atg12 were the important molecule which control the formation of autophagy when MTB infected.