Efficient reduction of nitrobenzene by sulfate-reducer enriched biocathode in microbial electrolysis cell

This study aimed to enhance treatment of wastewater containing nitrobenzene (NB) and sulfate using biocathode enriched with sulfate-reducing bacteria in microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). Artificial wastewater with 50 mg L^-1 NB and 200 mg L^-1 sulfate was used as the catholyte. With 0.8 V applied voltage, removal efficiencies of NB and sulfate reached 98% and 34%, respectively, within 36 h. Aniline and sulfide were the main reductive products in the catholyte with concentrations increased to 0.32 and 0.51 mM, which accounted for 97% and 78% of the removed NB and sulfate, respectively. Sulfate-reducer Desulfovibrio sp. and Wolinella sp. played the dominant role in the biocathode for the reductions of sulfate and NB. Analyses of scanning electron microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed the formation of elemental S on the biocathode surface. The relative abundance of sulfur-oxidizing bacterium Thioclava sp. reached 24% on the biocathode. The results indicated that the oxidation process from S^2- to S⁰ occurred on the biocathode, which provided electrons to biofilm for NB reduction. The MEC with sulfate-reducer enriched biocathode can be used as an alternative to treat complex wastewater containing NB and sulfate.

Enhanced sulfate reduction accompanied with electrically-conductive pili production in graphene oxide modified biocathodes

This study aimed to investigate the graphene oxide (GO) conversion by the sulfate-reducing biocathode and its modified effects on performance of the microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). Biocathodes were acclimated with autotrophic sulfate-reducing cultures using medium containing 500 mg L^-1 sulfate. Sulfate reductive rate in the MEC was 230 and 135 g m^-3 d^-1, respectively, with and without 30 mg L^-1 GO addition. Raman measurements showed that GO was efficiently reduced to graphene by the biocathode within 24 h. Higher electrochemical activity and smaller charge transfer resistance were detected on biofilm with GO affected. With high electrical conductivity of 307 ± 36 μS cm^-1, pili substance were observed on GO affected biofilm. As dominated by Desulfovibrio sp., the biocathode could use GO as the sole electron acceptor and maintained high activity. The results from this study should provide useful information for applications of nanomaterials in the biocathode MEC.

Intra-articular corticosteroids and the risk of knee osteoarthritis progression: results from the Osteoarthritis Initiative

OBJECTIVE

A recent randomized clinical trial reported that repeated intra-articular corticosteroids (IACs) were associated with a greater cartilage loss. This study aimed to examine the relation of IACs to knee radiographic osteoarthritis (ROA) progression in a real-world setting.

DESIGN

A cohort that initiated IACs and a comparison cohort without IACs from participants with mild to moderate knee ROA in the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) were assembled (from 0-month to 48-month). Two measures of knee ROA progression were assessed during the follow-up period: (1) an increase in Kellgren and Lawrence (KL) grade by ≥1 grade or having a knee replacement (i.e., KL grade worsening); and (2) a decrease in joint space width (JSW) by ≥0.7 mm or having a knee replacement (i.e., JSW worsening). The associations of IACs initiation using a propensity-score matched cohort study and continuous IACs using marginal structural models with the risk of knee ROA progression were examined.

RESULTS

Among 684 propensity-score matched participants at baseline (148 IACs initiators, 536 comparators), 65 knees (21.7/100 person-years) in the IACs initiation cohort and 90 knees (7.1/100 person-years) in the comparison cohort experienced KL worsening. The hazard ratios (HRs) of KL worsening from IACs initiation and continuous IACs were 3.02 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.19-4.16) and 4.67 (95% CI, 2.92-7.47), respectively. The corresponding HRs of JSW worsening were 2.93 (95% CI, 2.13-4.02) and 3.26 (95% CI, 1.78-5.96), respectively. All HRs for continuous use of IACs were further away from the null.

CONCLUSIONS

IACs, especially continuous IACs, may be associated with an increased risk of knee ROA progression.

[Vascular endothelial growth factor is up-regulated by leukemia inhibitory factor and interleukin-6 in human endometriotic stromal cells]

Objective: To compare the expression of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in tissue and fluid samples from patients with endometriosis, and investigate whether LIF and IL-6 regulate VEGF in human endometriotic stromal cells (ESC). Methods: The levels of VEGF, LIF, IL-6 in serum, peritoneal fluid of patients with and without endometriosis were measured by ELISA. The mRNA of these three factors in the ectopic and eutopic endometrial tissue and stromal cells were measured by real-time PCR. ESC derived from ovarian endometriomas were cultured using the method of primary cell culture with LIF and IL-6, and the level of VEGF mRNA and protein were measured by the method of real-time PCR and ELISA respectively. Results: VEGF and IL-6 concentration were 1.2 and 1.3 times higher in the serum of patients with endometriosis than in the control group [(94±19) versus (78±17) ng/L; (45±14) versus (35±9) ng/L; all P<0.05]. VEGF and IL-6 concentration were 1.2 and 1.4 times higher in the peritoneal fluid of patients with endometriosis than in the control group [(110±25) versus (91±21) ng/L; (69±20) versus (49±15) ng/L; all P<0.05]. VEGF and IL-6 concentrations in peritoneal fluid of patients with endometriosis were 1.2 and 1.5 times higher than in serum (all P<0.01). VEGF, LIF and IL-6 mRNA expression were 2.2, 8.6, 44.7 times higher in ESC compared with the matching eutopic endometrial stromal cells (all P<0.01). LIF and IL-6 mRNA were 2.0 and 64.8 times higher in ectopic endometrial tissue than the matching eutopic endometrial tissue (all P<0.05).ESC cultured with LIF, IL-6 and LIF+IL-6 induce VEGF protein secretion [(106±18), (124±30), (140±27) ng/L] by 1.3, 1.5 and 1.7 times (all P<0.05). Conclusion: Overexpression of LIF and IL-6 may synergistically contribute to upregulation of VEGF in ESC and promote development of endometriosis.

Risk factor heterogeneity for medial and lateral compartment knee osteoarthritis: analysis of two prospective cohorts

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the etiologic heterogeneity between medial and lateral tibiofemoral radiographic osteoarthritis (ROA).

METHODS

Knees without medial or lateral tibiofemoral ROA at baseline were followed for 60-month in Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) and for 48-month in Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI). We examined the relation of previously reported risk factors to incident medial and lateral tibiofemoral ROA separately and determined the etiology heterogeneity with a ratio of rate ratios (RRs) (i.e., the RR for medial tibiofemoral ROA divided by the RR for lateral tibiofemoral ROA) using a duplication method for Cox proportional hazard regression.

RESULTS

Of 2,016 participants in MOST, 436 and 162 knees developed medial or lateral tibiofemoral ROA, respectively. Obesity and varus malalignment were 95% and 466% more strongly associated with incident medial tibiofemoral ROA than with lateral tibiofemoral ROA, respectively (ratios of RRs, 1.95 [95% confidence interval (CI):1.05-3.62] and 5.66 [95% CI:3.20-10.0]). In contrast, the associations of female sex and valgus malalignment with incident medial tibiofemoral ROA were weaker or in an opposite direction compared with lateral tibiofemoral Osteoarthritis (OA) (ratios of RRs, 0.40 [95% CI:0.26-0.63] and 0.20 [95% CI:0.12-0.34], respectively). Older age tended to show a weaker association with incident medial tibiofemoral ROA than with incident lateral tibiofemoral ROA. No heterogeneity was observed for the relation of race, knee injury, or contralateral knee ROA. These findings were closely replicated in OAI.

CONCLUSION

Risk factor profiles for medial and lateral tibiofemoral ROA are different. These results can provide a framework for the development of targeted prevention and potential treatment strategies for specific knee OA subtypes.

Development of methanogens within cathodic biofilm in the single-chamber microbial electrolysis cell

The aim of this study was to investigate the development of cathodic biofilm and its effect on methane production in a single-chamber microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). The MEC with 1 g/L acetate was successfully operated within 31 cycles (∼2400 h). The maximum methane production rate and average current capture efficiency in the MEC reached 93 L/m³·d and 82%, respectively. Distinct stratification of Methanobacteriaceae within cathodic biofilm was observed after 9 cycles of operation. The relative abundance of Methanobacteriaceae in the microbial community increased from 45.3% (0-15 μm), 57.6% (15-30 μm), 66.9% (30-45 μm) to 77.2% (45-60 μm) within the cathodic biofilm. The methane production rates were positively correlated with the mcrA gene copy numbers in the cathodic biofilm. Our results should be useful to understand the mechanism of methane and hydrogen production in the MEC.

Improved hydrogen production in the single-chamber microbial electrolysis cell with inhibition of methanogenesis under alkaline conditions

The aim of this study was to investigate hydrogen production enhanced by methanogenesis inhibition in the single-chamber microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) under alkaline conditions. With 50 mM bicarbonate buffer and 1 g L⁻¹ acetate, the MEC was tested at pH = 8.5, 9.5, 10.5, and 11.2, respectively, within 124 d operation. Effective methanogenesis inhibition in the MEC increased with pH from 8.5 to 11.2. At pH 11.2, Methanobacteriaceae reached the lowest absolute quantity (i.e., biomass and mcrA gene copy number of methanogens) within the microbial community in the cathodic biofilm among the pH values. Under the alkaline conditions, a hydrogen percentage of 85–90% and a methane percentage < 15% were achieved within 25 cycles (50 d) of operation. The maximum current density in the MEC reached 83.7 ± 1.5 A m⁻³ with the average electrical recovery of 171 ± 18% and overall energy recovery of 72 ± 3%. The excellent performance of the MEC at pH = 11.2 was attributed to the low abundance of methanogens within the cathodic biofilm (2.23 ± 0.46 copy per cm²), low cathodic biomass (0.12 ± 0.01 mg protein per g), and low anode potential (−0.228 mV vs. saturated calomel electrode). Results from this study should be valuable to expand applications of the MEC with methanogenesis inhibition in alkaline wastewater treatment.

Effective methanogenesis inhibition was achieved in a single-chamber MEC at pH 11.2 with the H₂ percentage of 85–90% for 50 days.

Mechanical stress contributes to osteoarthritis development through the activation of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1)

Objectives

The role of mechanical stress and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) is important in the initiation and progression of osteoarthritis (OA). However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not clearly known.

Methods

In this study, TGF-β1 from osteoclasts and knee joints were analyzed using a co-cultured cell model and an OA rat model, respectively. Five patients with a femoral neck fracture (four female and one male, mean 73.4 years (68 to 79)) were recruited between January 2015 and December 2015. Results showed that TGF-β1 was significantly upregulated in osteoclasts by cyclic loading in a time- and dose-dependent mode. The osteoclasts were subjected to cyclic loading before being co-cultured with chondrocytes for 24 hours.

Results

A significant decrease in the survival rate of co-cultured chondrocytes was found. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labelling (TUNEL) assay demonstrated that mechanical stress-induced apoptosis occurred significantly in co-cultured chondrocytes but administration of the TGF-β1 receptor inhibitor, SB-505124, can significantly reverse these effects. Abdominal administration of SB-505124 can attenuate markedly articular cartilage degradation in OA rats.

Conclusion

Mechanical stress-induced overexpression of TGF-β1 from osteoclasts is responsible for chondrocyte apoptosis and cartilage degeneration in OA. Administration of a TGF-β1 inhibitor can inhibit articular cartilage degradation.

Cite this article: R-K. Zhang, G-W. Li, C. Zeng, C-X. Lin, L-S. Huang, G-X. Huang, C. Zhao, S-Y. Feng, H. Fang. Mechanical stress contributes to osteoarthritis development through the activation of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1). Bone Joint Res 2018;7:587–594. DOI: 10.1302/2046-3758.711.BJR-2018-0057.R1.

Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production from aqueous sulfide/sulfite solution by ZnO0.6S0.4 with simultaneous dye degradation under visible-light irradiation

Photocatalytic hydrogen (H₂) production was performed by visible-light-driven (VLD) ternary photocatalyst, zinc oxysulfide (ZnO_0.6S_0.4) in the presence of sulfide/sulfite (S₂^2-/SO₃^2-) sacrificing system, with simultaneous azo-dye Reactive Violet 5 (RV5) degradation. Enhancement in both RV5 degradation and H₂ production was achieved, with the promotion of H₂ production after decolorization of RV5. The effect of initial concentration of RV5 was found to be influential on the enhancement of H₂ during the simultaneous processes, with a maximum of 110% increase of H₂ produced. The mechanism of the simultaneous system was investigated by scavenger study and intermediate analysis, including Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and total organic carbon (TOC) analysis. It was confirmed that the partial degradation of RV5 and presence of dynamic organic intermediates contributed to the enhancement in H₂ production. The present study revealed the feasibility of developing VLD photocatalysis as a sustainable and environmentally friendly technology for concurrent organic pollutant degradation with energy generation.

Potential benefit of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate for macrovascular complications in diabetes

Vascular problems are the most common complications in diabetes. Substantial evidence from epidemiological and pathophysiological studies show that hyperglycemia is a major risk factor for macrovascular complications in patients with diabetes. (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the major catechin derived from green tea, is known to exert a variety of cardiovascular beneficial effects. The protective effects of EGCG in diabetes are also evident. However, whether EGCG is beneficial against macrovascular complications that occur in diabetes remains unknown. Our previous studies demonstrated that treatment of EGCG inhibits high glucose-induced vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and suppresses high glucose-mediated vascular inflammation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Therefore, we hypothesize that EGCG might be an effective potential candidate to reduce the macrovascular complications in diabetes.

mTORC1 activation downregulates FGFR3 and PTH/PTHrP receptor in articular chondrocytes to initiate osteoarthritis

OBJECTIVE

Articular chondrocyte activation, involving aberrant proliferation and prehypertrophic differentiation, is essential for osteoarthritis (OA) initiation and progression. Disruption of mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) promotes chondrocyte autophagy and survival, and decreases the severity of experimental OA. However, the role of cartilage mTORC1 activation in OA initiation is unknown. In this study, we elucidated the specific role of mTORC1 activation in OA initiation, and identify the underlying mechanisms.

METHOD

Expression of mTORC1 in articular cartilage of OA patients and OA mice was assessed by immunostaining. Cartilage-specific tuberous sclerosis complex 1 (Tsc1, mTORC1 upstream inhibitor) knockout (TSC1CKO) and inducible Tsc1 KO (TSC1CKO^ER) mice were generated. The functional effects of mTORC1 in OA initiation and development on its downstream targets were examined by immunostaining, western blotting and qPCR.

RESULTS

Articular chondrocyte mTORC1 was activated in early-stage OA and in aged mice. TSC1CKO mice exhibited spontaneous OA, and TSC1CKO^ER mice (from 2 months) exhibited accelerated age-related and DMM-induced OA phenotypes, with aberrant chondrocyte proliferation and hypertrophic differentiation. This was associated with hyperactivation of mTORC1 and dramatic downregulation of FGFR3 and PPR, two receptors critical for preventing chondrocyte proliferation and differentiation. Rapamycin treatment reversed these phenotypes in KO mice. Furthermore, in vitro rescue experiments demonstrated that p73 and ERK1/2 may mediate the negative regulation of FGFR3 and PPR by mTORC1.

CONCLUSION

mTORC1 activation stimulates articular chondrocyte proliferation and differentiation to initiate OA, in part by downregulating FGFR3 and PPR.

Photoelectrochemical performance of birnessite films and photoelectrocatalytic activity toward oxidation of phenol

Birnessite films on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass were prepared by cathodic reduction of aqueous KMnO₄. The deposited birnessite films were characterized with X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The photoelectrochemical activity of birnessite films was investigated and a remarkable photocurrent in response to visible light was observed in the presence of phenol, resulting from localized manganese d-d transitions. Based on this result, the photoelectrocatalytic oxidation of phenol was investigated. Compared with phenol degradation by the electrochemical oxidation process or photocatalysis separately, a synergetic photoelectrocatalytic degradation effect was observed in the presence of the birnessite film coated FTO electrode. Photoelectrocatalytic degradation ratios were influenced by film thickness and initial phenol concentrations. Phenol degradation with the thinnest birnessite film and initial phenol concentration of 10mg/L showed the highest efficiency of 91.4% after 8hr. Meanwhile, the kinetics of phenol removal was fit well by the pseudofirst-order kinetic model.

Catching a virus in a molecular net

A metal-organic molecular net composed of tannic acid (TA) and iron(iii) was constructed around the brome mosaic virus (BMV) particle to determine whether the added net could act as a transport barrier for water, and if the net could stabilize the virus in physically or chemically challenging environments. This new virus engineering strategy is expected to provide benefits both in the study and technological applications of viruses. For instance, a virus wrapped in a thin molecular layer could be extracted from solution either in air or vacuum, and its structure, composition and even internal dynamics could be interrogated by methods not compatible with a liquid environment. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies of Fe(iii)-TA coated BMV in liquid and in air supported a marked resistance to dehydration when compared to wtBMV. Native charge detection mass spectrometry (CDMS), was employed to estimate the number of molecules in the molecular net which wrapped the virus. The CDMS data suggested that less than one molecular monolayer wrapped the virus. Additionally, it was found, that this very thin molecular coat was sufficient to render the coated viruses resistant to storage conditions that typically lead to virus disassembly over time. A temporary coat imparting increased resistance to disassembly could be useful in adding time delay control or alleviate required storage conditions of engineered viruses for therapeutic purposes.

Human genome meeting 2016 : Houston, TX, USA. 28 February - 2 March 2016

O1 The metabolomics approach to autism: identification of biomarkers for early detection of autism spectrum disorder A. K. Srivastava, Y. Wang, R. Huang, C. Skinner, T. Thompson, L. Pollard, T. Wood, F. Luo, R. Stevenson O2 Phenome-wide association study for smoking- and drinking-associated genes in 26,394 American women with African, Asian, European, and Hispanic descents R. Polimanti, J. Gelernter O3 Effects of prenatal environment, genotype and DNA methylation on birth weight and subsequent postnatal outcomes: findings from GUSTO, an Asian birth cohort X. Lin, I. Y. Lim, Y. Wu, A. L. Teh, L. Chen, I. M. Aris, S. E. Soh, M. T. Tint, J. L. MacIsaac, F. Yap, K. Kwek, S. M. Saw, M. S. Kobor, M. J. Meaney, K. M. Godfrey, Y. S. Chong, J. D. Holbrook, Y. S. Lee, P. D. Gluckman, N. Karnani, GUSTO study group O4 High-throughput identification of specific qt interval modulating enhancers at the SCN5A locus A. Kapoor, D. Lee, A. Chakravarti O5 Identification of extracellular matrix components inducing cancer cell migration in the supernatant of cultivated mesenchymal stem cells C. Maercker, F. Graf, M. Boutros O6 Single cell allele specific expression (ASE) IN T21 and common trisomies: a novel approach to understand DOWN syndrome and other aneuploidies G. Stamoulis, F. Santoni, P. Makrythanasis, A. Letourneau, M. Guipponi, N. Panousis, M. Garieri, P. Ribaux, E. Falconnet, C. Borel, S. E. Antonarakis O7 Role of microRNA in LCL to IPSC reprogramming S. Kumar, J. Curran, J. Blangero O8 Multiple enhancer variants disrupt gene regulatory network in Hirschsprung disease S. Chatterjee, A. Kapoor, J. Akiyama, D. Auer, C. Berrios, L. Pennacchio, A. Chakravarti O9 Metabolomic profiling for the diagnosis of neurometabolic disorders T. R. Donti, G. Cappuccio, M. Miller, P. Atwal, A. Kennedy, A. Cardon, C. Bacino, L. Emrick, J. Hertecant, F. Baumer, B. Porter, M. Bainbridge, P. Bonnen, B. Graham, R. Sutton, Q. Sun, S. Elsea O10 A novel causal methylation network approach to Alzheimer’s disease Z. Hu, P. Wang, Y. Zhu, J. Zhao, M. Xiong, David A Bennett O11 A microRNA signature identifies subtypes of triple-negative breast cancer and reveals MIR-342-3P as regulator of a lactate metabolic pathway A. Hidalgo-Miranda, S. Romero-Cordoba, S. Rodriguez-Cuevas, R. Rebollar-Vega, E. Tagliabue, M. Iorio, E. D’Ippolito, S. Baroni O12 Transcriptome analysis identifies genes, enhancer RNAs and repetitive elements that are recurrently deregulated across multiple cancer types B. Kaczkowski, Y. Tanaka, H. Kawaji, A. Sandelin, R. Andersson, M. Itoh, T. Lassmann, the FANTOM5 consortium, Y. Hayashizaki, P. Carninci, A. R. R. Forrest O13 Elevated mutation and widespread loss of constraint at regulatory and architectural binding sites across 11 tumour types C. A. Semple O14 Exome sequencing provides evidence of pathogenicity for genes implicated in colorectal cancer E. A. Rosenthal, B. Shirts, L. Amendola, C. Gallego, M. Horike-Pyne, A. Burt, P. Robertson, P. Beyers, C. Nefcy, D. Veenstra, F. Hisama, R. Bennett, M. Dorschner, D. Nickerson, J. Smith, K. Patterson, D. Crosslin, R. Nassir, N. Zubair, T. Harrison, U. Peters, G. Jarvik, NHLBI GO Exome Sequencing Project O15 The tandem duplicator phenotype as a distinct genomic configuration in cancer F. Menghi, K. Inaki, X. Woo, P. Kumar, K. Grzeda, A. Malhotra, H. Kim, D. Ucar, P. Shreckengast, K. Karuturi, J. Keck, J. Chuang, E. T. Liu O16 Modeling genetic interactions associated with molecular subtypes of breast cancer B. Ji, A. Tyler, G. Ananda, G. Carter O17 Recurrent somatic mutation in the MYC associated factor X in brain tumors H. Nikbakht, M. Montagne, M. Zeinieh, A. Harutyunyan, M. Mcconechy, N. Jabado, P. Lavigne, J. Majewski O18 Predictive biomarkers to metastatic pancreatic cancer treatment J. B. Goldstein, M. Overman, G. Varadhachary, R. Shroff, R. Wolff, M. Javle, A. Futreal, D. Fogelman O19 DDIT4 gene expression as a prognostic marker in several malignant tumors L. Bravo, W. Fajardo, H. Gomez, C. Castaneda, C. Rolfo, J. A. Pinto O20 Spatial organization of the genome and genomic alterations in human cancers K. C. Akdemir, L. Chin, A. Futreal, ICGC PCAWG Structural Alterations Group O21 Landscape of targeted therapies in solid tumors S. Patterson, C. Statz, S. Mockus O22 Genomic analysis reveals novel drivers and progression pathways in skin basal cell carcinoma S. N. Nikolaev, X. I. Bonilla, L. Parmentier, B. King, F. Bezrukov, G. Kaya, V. Zoete, V. Seplyarskiy, H. Sharpe, T. McKee, A. Letourneau, P. Ribaux, K. Popadin, N. Basset-Seguin, R. Ben Chaabene, F. Santoni, M. Andrianova, M. Guipponi, M. Garieri, C. Verdan, K. Grosdemange, O. Sumara, M. Eilers, I. Aifantis, O. Michielin, F. de Sauvage, S. Antonarakis O23 Identification of differential biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma via transcriptome microarray meta-analysis S. Likhitrattanapisal O24 Clinical validity and actionability of multigene tests for hereditary cancers in a large multi-center study S. Lincoln, A. Kurian, A. Desmond, S. Yang, Y. Kobayashi, J. Ford, L. Ellisen O25 Correlation with tumor ploidy status is essential for correct determination of genome-wide copy number changes by SNP array T. L. Peters, K. R. Alvarez, E. F. Hollingsworth, D. H. Lopez-Terrada O26 Nanochannel based next-generation mapping for interrogation of clinically relevant structural variation A. Hastie, Z. Dzakula, A. W. Pang, E. T. Lam, T. Anantharaman, M. Saghbini, H. Cao, BioNano Genomics O27 Mutation spectrum in a pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) cohort and identification of associated truncating mutations in TBX4 C. Gonzaga-Jauregui, L. Ma, A. King, E. Berman Rosenzweig, U. Krishnan, J. G. Reid, J. D. Overton, F. Dewey, W. K. Chung O28 NORTH CAROLINA macular dystrophy (MCDR1): mutations found affecting PRDM13 K. Small, A. DeLuca, F. Cremers, R. A. Lewis, V. Puech, B. Bakall, R. Silva-Garcia, K. Rohrschneider, M. Leys, F. S. Shaya, E. Stone O29 PhenoDB and genematcher, solving unsolved whole exome sequencing data N. L. Sobreira, F. Schiettecatte, H. Ling, E. Pugh, D. Witmer, K. Hetrick, P. Zhang, K. Doheny, D. Valle, A. Hamosh O30 Baylor-Johns Hopkins Center for Mendelian genomics: a four year review S. N. Jhangiani, Z. Coban Akdemir, M. N. Bainbridge, W. Charng, W. Wiszniewski, T. Gambin, E. Karaca, Y. Bayram, M. K. Eldomery, J. Posey, H. Doddapaneni, J. Hu, V. R. Sutton, D. M. Muzny, E. A. Boerwinkle, D. Valle, J. R. Lupski, R. A. Gibbs O31 Using read overlap assembly to accurately identify structural genetic differences in an ashkenazi jewish trio S. Shekar, W. Salerno, A. English, A. Mangubat, J. Bruestle O32 Legal interoperability: a sine qua non for international data sharing A. Thorogood, B. M. Knoppers, Global Alliance for Genomics and Health - Regulatory and Ethics Working Group O33 High throughput screening platform of competent sineups: that can enhance translation activities of therapeutic target H. Takahashi, K. R. Nitta, A. Kozhuharova, A. M. Suzuki, H. Sharma, D. Cotella, C. Santoro, S. Zucchelli, S. Gustincich, P. Carninci O34 The undiagnosed diseases network international (UDNI): clinical and laboratory research to meet patient needs J. J. Mulvihill, G. Baynam, W. Gahl, S. C. Groft, K. Kosaki, P. Lasko, B. Melegh, D. Taruscio O36 Performance of computational algorithms in pathogenicity predictions for activating variants in oncogenes versus loss of function mutations in tumor suppressor genes R. Ghosh, S. Plon O37 Identification and electronic health record incorporation of clinically actionable pharmacogenomic variants using prospective targeted sequencing S. Scherer, X. Qin, R. Sanghvi, K. Walker, T. Chiang, D. Muzny, L. Wang, J. Black, E. Boerwinkle, R. Weinshilboum, R. Gibbs O38 Melanoma reprogramming state correlates with response to CTLA-4 blockade in metastatic melanoma T. Karpinets, T. Calderone, K. Wani, X. Yu, C. Creasy, C. Haymaker, M. Forget, V. Nanda, J. Roszik, J. Wargo, L. Haydu, X. Song, A. Lazar, J. Gershenwald, M. Davies, C. Bernatchez, J. Zhang, A. Futreal, S. Woodman O39 Data-driven refinement of complex disease classification from integration of heterogeneous functional genomics data in GeneWeaver E. J. Chesler, T. Reynolds, J. A. Bubier, C. Phillips, M. A. Langston, E. J. Baker O40 A general statistic framework for genome-based disease risk prediction M. Xiong, L. Ma, N. Lin, C. Amos O41 Integrative large-scale causal network analysis of imaging and genomic data and its application in schizophrenia studies N. Lin, P. Wang, Y. Zhu, J. Zhao, V. Calhoun, M. Xiong O42 Big data and NGS data analysis: the cloud to the rescue O. Dobretsberger, M. Egger, F. Leimgruber O43 Cpipe: a convergent clinical exome pipeline specialised for targeted sequencing S. Sadedin, A. Oshlack, Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance O44 A Bayesian classification of biomedical images using feature extraction from deep neural networks implemented on lung cancer data V. A. A. Antonio, N. Ono, Clark Kendrick C. Go O45 MAV-SEQ: an interactive platform for the Management, Analysis, and Visualization of sequence data Z. Ahmed, M. Bolisetty, S. Zeeshan, E. Anguiano, D. Ucar O47 Allele specific enhancer in EPAS1 intronic regions may contribute to high altitude adaptation of Tibetans C. Zeng, J. Shao O48 Nanochannel based next-generation mapping for structural variation detection and comparison in trios and populations H. Cao, A. Hastie, A. W. Pang, E. T. Lam, T. Liang, K. Pham, M. Saghbini, Z. Dzakula O49 Archaic introgression in indigenous populations of Malaysia revealed by whole genome sequencing Y. Chee-Wei, L. Dongsheng, W. Lai-Ping, D. Lian, R. O. Twee Hee, Y. Yunus, F. Aghakhanian, S. S. Mokhtar, C. V. Lok-Yung, J. Bhak, M. Phipps, X. Shuhua, T. Yik-Ying, V. Kumar, H. Boon-Peng O50 Breast and ovarian cancer prevention: is it time for population-based mutation screening of high risk genes? I. Campbell, M.-A. Young, P. James, Lifepool O53 Comprehensive coverage from low DNA input using novel NGS library preparation methods for WGS and WGBS C. Schumacher, S. Sandhu, T. Harkins, V. Makarov O54 Methods for large scale construction of robust PCR-free libraries for sequencing on Illumina HiSeqX platform H. DoddapaneniR. Glenn, Z. Momin, B. Dilrukshi, H. Chao, Q. Meng, B. Gudenkauf, R. Kshitij, J. Jayaseelan, C. Nessner, S. Lee, K. Blankenberg, L. Lewis, J. Hu, Y. Han, H. Dinh, S. Jireh, K. Walker, E. Boerwinkle, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs O55 Rapid capture methods for clinical sequencing J. Hu, K. Walker, C. Buhay, X. Liu, Q. Wang, R. Sanghvi, H. Doddapaneni, Y. Ding, N. Veeraraghavan, Y. Yang, E. Boerwinkle, A. L. Beaudet, C. M. Eng, D. M. Muzny, R. A. Gibbs O56 A diploid personal human genome model for better genomes from diverse sequence data K. C. C. Worley, Y. Liu, D. S. T. Hughes, S. C. Murali, R. A. Harris, A. C. English, X. Qin, O. A. Hampton, P. Larsen, C. Beck, Y. Han, M. Wang, H. Doddapaneni, C. L. Kovar, W. J. Salerno, A. Yoder, S. Richards, J. Rogers, J. R. Lupski, D. M. Muzny, R. A. Gibbs O57 Development of PacBio long range capture for detection of pathogenic structural variants Q. Meng, M. Bainbridge, M. Wang, H. Doddapaneni, Y. Han, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs O58 Rhesus macaques exhibit more non-synonymous variation but greater impact of purifying selection than humans R. A. Harris, M. Raveenedran, C. Xue, M. Dahdouli, L. Cox, G. Fan, B. Ferguson, J. Hovarth, Z. Johnson, S. Kanthaswamy, M. Kubisch, M. Platt, D. Smith, E. Vallender, R. Wiseman, X. Liu, J. Below, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs, F. Yu, J. Rogers O59 Assessing RNA structure disruption induced by single-nucleotide variation J. Lin, Y. Zhang, Z. Ouyang P1 A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of mitochondrial dna copy number A. Moore, Z. Wang, J. Hofmann, M. Purdue, R. Stolzenberg-Solomon, S. Weinstein, D. Albanes, C.-S. Liu, W.-L. Cheng, T.-T. Lin, Q. Lan, N. Rothman, S. Berndt P2 Missense polymorphic genetic combinations underlying down syndrome susceptibility E. S. Chen P4 The evaluation of alteration of ELAM-1 expression in the endometriosis patients H. Bahrami, A. Khoshzaban, S. Heidari Keshal P5 Obesity and the incidence of apolipoprotein E polymorphisms in an assorted population from Saudi Arabia population K. K. R. Alharbi P6 Genome-associated personalized antithrombotical therapy for patients with high risk of thrombosis and bleeding M. Zhalbinova, A. Akilzhanova, S. Rakhimova, M. Bekbosynova, S. Myrzakhmetova P7 Frequency of Xmn1 polymorphism among sickle cell carrier cases in UAE population M. Matar P8 Differentiating inflammatory bowel diseases by using genomic data: dimension of the problem and network organization N. Mili, R. Molinari, Y. Ma, S. Guerrier P9 Vulnerability of genetic variants to the risk of autism among Saudi children N. Elhawary, M. Tayeb, N. Bogari, N. Qotb P10 Chromatin profiles from ex vivo purified dopaminergic neurons establish a promising model to support studies of neurological function and dysfunction S. A. McClymont, P. W. Hook, L. A. Goff, A. McCallion P11 Utilization of a sensitized chemical mutagenesis screen to identify genetic modifiers of retinal dysplasia in homozygous Nr2e3^rd7 mice Y. Kong, J. R. Charette, W. L. Hicks, J. K. Naggert, L. Zhao, P. M. Nishina P12 Ion torrent next generation sequencing of recessive polycystic kidney disease in Saudi patients B. M. Edrees, M. Athar, F. A. Al-Allaf, M. M. Taher, W. Khan, A. Bouazzaoui, N. A. Harbi, R. Safar, H. Al-Edressi, A. Anazi, N. Altayeb, M. A. Ahmed, K. Alansary, Z. Abduljaleel P13 Digital expression profiling of Purkinje neurons and dendrites in different subcellular compartments A. Kratz, P. Beguin, S. Poulain, M. Kaneko, C. Takahiko, A. Matsunaga, S. Kato, A. M. Suzuki, N. Bertin, T. Lassmann, R. Vigot, P. Carninci, C. Plessy, T. Launey P14 The evolution of imperfection and imperfection of evolution: the functional and functionless fractions of the human genome D. Graur P16 Species-independent identification of known and novel recurrent genomic entities in multiple cancer patients J. Friis-Nielsen, J. M. Izarzugaza, S. Brunak P18 Discovery of active gene modules which are densely conserved across multiple cancer types reveal their prognostic power and mutually exclusive mutation patterns B. S. Soibam P19 Whole exome sequencing of dysplastic leukoplakia tissue indicates sequential accumulation of somatic mutations from oral precancer to cancer D. Das, N. Biswas, S. Das, S. Sarkar, A. Maitra, C. Panda, P. Majumder P21 Epigenetic mechanisms of carcinogensis by hereditary breast cancer genes J. J. Gruber, N. Jaeger, M. Snyder P22 RNA direct: a novel RNA enrichment strategy applied to transcripts associated with solid tumors K. Patel, S. Bowman, T. Davis, D. Kraushaar, A. Emerman, S. Russello, N. Henig, C. Hendrickson P23 RNA sequencing identifies gene mutations for neuroblastoma K. Zhang P24 Participation of SFRP1 in the modulation of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene in prostate cancer cell lines M. Rodriguez-Dorantes, C. D. Cruz-Hernandez, C. D. P. Garcia-Tobilla, S. Solorzano-Rosales P25 Targeted Methylation Sequencing of Prostate Cancer N. Jäger, J. Chen, R. Haile, M. Hitchins, J. D. Brooks, M. Snyder P26 Mutant TPMT alleles in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia from México City and Yucatán, Mexico S. Jiménez-Morales, M. Ramírez, J. Nuñez, V. Bekker, Y. Leal, E. Jiménez, A. Medina, A. Hidalgo, J. Mejía P28 Genetic modifiers of Alström syndrome J. Naggert, G. B. Collin, K. DeMauro, R. Hanusek, P. M. Nishina P31 Association of genomic variants with the occurrence of angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor (ACEI)-induced coughing among Filipinos E. M. Cutiongco De La Paz, R. Sy, J. Nevado, P. Reganit, L. Santos, J. D. Magno, F. E. Punzalan , D. Ona , E. Llanes, R. L. Santos-Cortes , R. Tiongco, J. Aherrera, L. Abrahan, P. Pagauitan-Alan; Philippine Cardiogenomics Study Group P32 The use of “humanized” mouse models to validate disease association of a de novo GARS variant and to test a novel gene therapy strategy for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2D K. H. Morelli, J. S. Domire, N. Pyne, S. Harper, R. Burgess P34 Molecular regulation of chondrogenic human induced pluripotent stem cells M. A. Gari, A. Dallol, H. Alsehli, A. Gari, M. Gari, A. Abuzenadah P35 Molecular profiling of hematologic malignancies: implementation of a variant assessment algorithm for next generation sequencing data analysis and clinical reporting M. Thomas, M. Sukhai, S. Garg, M. Misyura, T. Zhang, A. Schuh, T. Stockley, S. Kamel-Reid P36 Accessing genomic evidence for clinical variants at NCBI S. Sherry, C. Xiao, D. Slotta, K. Rodarmer, M. Feolo, M. Kimelman, G. Godynskiy, C. O’Sullivan, E. Yaschenko P37 NGS-SWIFT: a cloud-based variant analysis framework using control-accessed sequencing data from DBGAP/SRA C. Xiao, E. Yaschenko, S. Sherry P38 Computational assessment of drug induced hepatotoxicity through gene expression profiling C. Rangel-Escareño, H. Rueda-Zarate P40 Flowr: robust and efficient pipelines using a simple language-agnostic approach;ultraseq; fast modular pipeline for somatic variation calling using flowr S. Seth, S. Amin, X. Song, X. Mao, H. Sun, R. G. Verhaak, A. Futreal, J. Zhang P41 Applying “Big data” technologies to the rapid analysis of heterogenous large cohort data S. J. Whiite, T. Chiang, A. English, J. Farek, Z. Kahn, W. Salerno, N. Veeraraghavan, E. Boerwinkle, R. Gibbs P42 FANTOM5 web resource for the large-scale genome-wide transcription start site activity profiles of wide-range of mammalian cells T. Kasukawa, M. Lizio, J. Harshbarger, S. Hisashi, J. Severin, A. Imad, S. Sahin, T. C. Freeman, K. Baillie, A. Sandelin, P. Carninci, A. R. R. Forrest, H. Kawaji, The FANTOM Consortium P43 Rapid and scalable typing of structural variants for disease cohorts W. Salerno, A. English, S. N. Shekar, A. Mangubat, J. Bruestle, E. Boerwinkle, R. A. Gibbs P44 Polymorphism of glutathione S-transferases and sulphotransferases genes in an Arab population A. H. Salem, M. Ali, A. Ibrahim, M. Ibrahim P46 Genetic divergence of CYP3A5*3 pharmacogenomic marker for native and admixed Mexican populations J. C. Fernandez-Lopez, V. Bonifaz-Peña, C. Rangel-Escareño, A. Hidalgo-Miranda, A. V. Contreras P47 Whole exome sequence meta-analysis of 13 white blood cell, red blood cell, and platelet traits L. Polfus, CHARGE and NHLBI Exome Sequence Project Working Groups P48 Association of adipoq gene with type 2 diabetes and related phenotypes in african american men and women: The jackson heart study S. Davis, R. Xu, S. Gebeab, P Riestra, A Gaye, R. Khan, J. Wilson, A. Bidulescu P49 Common variants in casr gene are associated with serum calcium levels in koreans S. H. Jung, N. Vinayagamoorthy, S. H. Yim, Y. J. Chung P50 Inference of multiple-wave population admixture by modeling decay of linkage disequilibrium with multiple exponential functions Y. Zhou, S. Xu P51 A Bayesian framework for generalized linear mixed models in genome-wide association studies X. Wang, V. Philip, G. Carter P52 Targeted sequencing approach for the identification of the genetic causes of hereditary hearing impairment A. A. Abuzenadah, M. Gari, R. Turki, A. Dallol P53 Identification of enhancer sequences by ATAC-seq open chromatin profiling A. Uyar, A. Kaygun, S. Zaman, E. Marquez, J. George, D. Ucar P54 Direct enrichment for the rapid preparation of targeted NGS libraries C. L. Hendrickson, A. Emerman, D. Kraushaar, S. Bowman, N. Henig, T. Davis, S. Russello, K. Patel P56 Performance of the Agilent D5000 and High Sensitivity D5000 ScreenTape assays for the Agilent 4200 Tapestation System R. Nitsche, L. Prieto-Lafuente P57 ClinVar: a multi-source archive for variant interpretation M. Landrum, J. Lee, W. Rubinstein, D. Maglott P59 Association of functional variants and protein physical interactions of human MUTY homolog linked with familial adenomatous polyposis and colorectal cancer syndrome Z. Abduljaleel, W. Khan, F. A. Al-Allaf, M. Athar , M. M. Taher, N. Shahzad P60 Modification of the microbiom constitution in the gut using chicken IgY antibodies resulted in a reduction of acute graft-versus-host disease after experimental bone marrow transplantation A. Bouazzaoui, E. Huber, A. Dan, F. A. Al-Allaf, W. Herr, G. Sprotte, J. Köstler, A. Hiergeist, A. Gessner, R. Andreesen, E. Holler P61 Compound heterozygous mutation in the LDLR gene in Saudi patients suffering severe hypercholesterolemia F. Al-Allaf, A. Alashwal, Z. Abduljaleel, M. Taher, A. Bouazzaoui, H. Abalkhail, A. Al-Allaf, R. Bamardadh, M. Athar

Graphene-clad microfibre saturable absorber for ultrafast fibre lasers

Graphene, whose absorbance is approximately independent of wavelength, allows broadband light–matter interactions with ultrafast responses. The interband optical absorption of graphene can be saturated readily under strong excitation, thereby enabling scientists to exploit the photonic properties of graphene to realize ultrafast lasers. The evanescent field interaction scheme of the propagating light with graphene covered on a D-shaped fibre or microfibre has been employed extensively because of the nonblocking configuration. Obviously, most of the fibre surface is unused in these techniques. Here, we exploit a graphene-clad microfibre (GCM) saturable absorber in a mode-locked fibre laser for the generation of ultrafast pulses. The proposed all-surface technique can guarantee a higher efficiency of light–graphene interactions than the aforementioned techniques. Our GCM-based saturable absorber can generate ultrafast optical pulses within 1.5 μm. This saturable absorber is compatible with current fibre lasers and has many merits such as low saturation intensities, ultrafast recovery times, and wide wavelength ranges. The proposed saturable absorber will pave the way for graphene-based wideband photonics.

[Feasible study for evaluating upper cervical reduction by the clivo-axial angle]

OBJECTIVE

To measure the clivo-axial angle (CAA) and cervicomedullary angle (CMA) in upper cervical deformity patients who underwent computer-assisted posterior upper cervical reduction and fixation surgery, and analyze their correlation.

METHODS

In the study, 25 patients with symptomatic upper cervical deformity were chosen for measurement of preoperative and postoperative CMA and CAA using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and intraoperative C-arm. The angle between the clivus plane and the straight line parallel to that of the posterior margin of the C2 vertebral body was defined as CAA; moreover, the angle between the straight line parallel to the ventral side of the cervical spinal cord and the straight line parallel to that of the ventral side of the medulla oblongata was defined as CMA. Two experienced spinal surgeons performed the measurements. The CAA and CMA were measured three times, and the mean value was considered as the result.

RESULTS

Analyses of the CAA and CMA were performed with Wilcoxon rank test, which showed that there was consistency between the CAAs measured with MRI and intraoperative C-arm. The result showed that the postoperative CAA and CMA increased significantly compared with preoperation (P<0.001). Through Spearman rank correlation analysis, the preoperative CAA was positively correlative with the CMA (r=0.902, P<0.001), and so was the postoperative CAA (r=0.921, P<0.001).

CONCLUSION

Preoperative and postoperative CAA in upper cervical deformity patients is significantly correlative with preoperative and postoperative CMA. CAA can be measured during surgery using intraoperative CT or C-arm based three-dimension navigation, and may predict the patient's CMA, which cannot be measured during operation, but is essential for evaluating the decompression and reduction of the spinal cord.

Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and fractional ALFF in migraine patients: a resting-state functional MRI study

AIM

To evaluate the amplitude of low-frequency oscillations (LFOs) of the brain in migraine patients using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and fractional ALFF in the interictal period, in comparison to healthy controls (HCs).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 54 subjects, including 30 migraineurs and 24 gender- and age-matched HCs completed the fMRI. All the data and ALFF, fALFF analyses were preprocessed with the Data Processing Assistant for Resting-State fMRI (DPARSF). All of the statistical analyses were performed using the REST software to explore the differences in ALFF and fALFF between migraine patients and HCs.

RESULTS

In contrast to HCs, migraine patients showed significant ALFF increase in the left medulla and pons, the bilateral cerebellum posterior lobe and right insula. The regions showing decreased ALFF in migraine patients included the bilateral cerebellum posterior lobe, left cerebellum anterior lobe, bilateral orbital cortex, right middle frontal gyrus, bilateral occipital lobe, right fusiform gyrus, and bilateral postcentral gyrus. The fALFFs in migraine patients were significantly increased in the bilateral insular and left orbital cortex, but were decreased in the left occipital lobe and bilateral cerebellum posterior lobe.

CONCLUSION

These ALFF and fALFF alterations in the brain regions of migraineurs are in keeping with the domains associated with pain and cognition. Such brain functional alteration may contribute to further understanding of migraine-related network imbalances demonstrated in previous studies.

Abstract P5-01-06: 18F-radiolabeled PARP-1 inhibitor uptake as a marker of PARP-1 activity in breast cancer

Objectives: The nuclear enzyme PARP-1 plays a central role in sensing DNA damage and facilitating repair. Tumors with BRCA1/2 mutations are highly dependent on PARP-1 as an alternative mechanism for DNA repair, and PARP inhibitors generate synthetic lethality in tumors with BRCA mutations, resulting in cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Zhou et al. recently synthesized an 18F-labeled PARP-1 inhibitor (18F-FluorThanatrace) for PET, and demonstrated high specific tracer uptake in a xenograft model of breast cancer (Zhou, Bioorg Med Chem, 22:1700, 2014). The current study seeks to quantify the relationship between 18F-FluorThanatrace binding (both in vitro and on PET imaging of human tumor xenografts) and the level of constitutively active PARP-1, using multiple human breast cancer cell lines, including a BRCA1 defective line.

Methods: BRCA1 defective HCC1937, triple negative MDA-MB-231, and luminal A MCF-7 human breast cancer lines were assessed for constitutive PARP-1 activity via a chemiluminescent ELISA assay for PAR and by Western blot. The same cell lines were incubated with 18F-FluorThanatrace over various time increments, and tracer uptake was assayed via a gamma counter. Specificity of tracer binding was verified via co-incubation with competitive inhibitor Olaparib, and specific tracer uptake was calculated as the difference between uptake with and without Olaparib. Specific tracer uptake was compared to levels of constitutive PARP-1 activity in all cell lines. In addition, HCC1937 and MDA-MB-231 xenograft tumor models were imaged via 18F-FluorThanatrace-PET/CT, and PET uptake was correlated with PARP-1 activity.

Results: BRCA1-defective HCC1937 had higher constitutive PARP-1 activity than cell lines with intact BRCA1. In vitro levels of 18F-FluorThanatrace uptake correlated with constitutive PARP-1 activity across cell lines. In addition, 18F-FluorThanatrace measured by PET in xenograft breast cancer tumor models correlated with constitutive PARP-1 activity.

Conclusions: Tumor uptake of 18F-FluorThanatrace, both in vitro and on PET imaging of xenograft tumor models, quantitatively reflects differences in PARP-1 activity across different breast cancer cell lines, including BRCA1 defective. This motivates further studies of 18F-FluorThanatrace as an in vivo measure of PARP-1 activity and possibly as a predictive marker for PARP-1 therapy in patients, including those with BRCA1/2 mutations.

Citation Format: Edmonds CE, Lieberman BP, Xu K, Zeng C, Makvandi M, Li S, Hou C, Lee H, Greenberg RA, Mankoff DA, Mach RH. 18F-radiolabeled PARP-1 inhibitor uptake as a marker of PARP-1 activity in breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P5-01-06.

Graphene oxide and H2 production from bioelectrochemical graphite oxidation

Graphene oxide (GO) is an emerging material for energy and environmental applications, but it has been primarily produced using chemical processes involving high energy consumption and hazardous chemicals. In this study, we reported a new bioelectrochemical method to produce GO from graphite under ambient conditions without chemical amendments, value-added organic compounds and high rate H₂ were also produced. Compared with abiotic electrochemical electrolysis control, the microbial assisted graphite oxidation produced high rate of graphite oxide and graphene oxide (BEGO) sheets, CO₂, and current at lower applied voltage. The resultant electrons are transferred to a biocathode, where H₂ and organic compounds are produced by microbial reduction of protons and CO_2, respectively, a process known as microbial electrosynthesis (MES). Pseudomonas is the dominant population on the anode, while abundant anaerobic solvent-producing bacteria Clostridium carboxidivorans is likely responsible for electrosynthesis on the cathode. Oxygen production through water electrolysis was not detected on the anode due to the presence of facultative and aerobic bacteria as O₂ sinkers. This new method provides a sustainable route for producing graphene materials and renewable H₂ at low cost, and it may stimulate a new area of research in MES.

Aerobic and anaerobic reduction of birnessite by a novel Dietzia strain

BACKGROUND

Mn oxides occur in a wide variety of geological settings and exert considerable influences on the components and chemical behaviors of sediments and soils. Microbial reduction of Mn oxides is an important process found in many different environments including marine and freshwater sediments, lakes, anoxic basins, as well as oxic-anoxic transition zone of ocean. Although the pathway of Mn anaerobic reduction by two model bacteria, Geobacter and Shewanella, has been intensively studied, Mn bio-reduction is still the least well-explored process in nature. Particularly, reduction of Mn oxides by other bacteria and in the presence of O2 has been fewly reported in recent publishes.

RESULTS

A series of experiments were conducted to understand the capability of Dietzia DQ12-45-1b in bioreduction of birnessite. In anaerobic systems, Mn reduction rate reached as high as 93% within 4 weeks when inoculated with 1.0 × 10(10) cells/mL Dietzia DQ12-45-1b strains. Addition of AQDS enhanced Mn reduction rate from 53 to 91%. The anaerobic reduction of Mn was not coupled by any increase in bacterial protein concentration, and the reduction rate in the stable stage of day 2-14 was found to be in good proportion to the protein concentration. The anaerobic reduction of birnessite released Mn(II) either into the medium or adsorbed on the mineral or bacteria surface and resulted in the dissolution of birnessite as indicated by XRD, SEM and XANES. Under aerobic condition, the reduction rate was only 37% with a cell concentration of 1.0 × 10(10) cells/mL, much lower than that in parallel anaerobic treatment. Bacterial growth under aerobic condition was indicated by time-course increase of protein and pH. In contrast to anaerobic experiments, addition of AQDS decreased Mn reduction rate from 25 to 6%. The reduced Mn(II) combined with carbon dioxide produced by acetate metabolism, as well as an alkaline pH environment given by cell growth, finally resulted in the formation of Mn(II)-bearing carbonate (kutnohorite), which was verified by XRD and XANES results. The system with the highest cell concentration of 1.0 × 10(10) cells/mL gave rise to the most amount of kutnohorite, while concentration of Mn(II) produced with cell concentration of 6.2 × 10(8) cells/mL was too low to thermodynamically favor the formation of kutnohorite but result in the formation of aragonite instead.

CONCLUSION

Dietzia DQ12-45-1b was able to anaerobically and aerobically reduce birnessite. The rate and extent of Mn(IV) reduction depend on cell concentration, addition of AQDS or not, and presence of O2 or not. Meanwhile, Mn(IV) bioreduction extent and suspension conditions determined the insoluble mineral products.

Long-term renal outcomes in a cohort of 1814 Chinese patients with biopsy-proven lupus nephritis

In the present study, we observed the renal outcomes in a cohort of 1814 Chinese patients with biopsy-proven lupus nephritis (LN) and evaluated the risk factors associated with poor renal prognosis. The 5 -, 10 -, 15 - and 20-year renal survival rates were 93.1%, 87.9%, 81.0% and 68.3%, respectively. Gender, LN duration, mean arterial pressure (MAP), proteinuria, serum creatinine, haemoglobin and pathological classification at the time of biopsy were independent risk factors for end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The long-term renal outcomes of patients with class II LN were unfavorable as opposed to those with class V. Additionally, the time-average proteinuria (TA-Pro) and the time-average mean arterial pressure (TA-MAP) during the follow-up were important risk factors for ESRD, with better predictive values than the baseline proteinuria and MAP. The results underscore the need for proteinuria and blood pressure control during follow-up in patients with LN; proteinuria levels should be controlled at least to < 1.0 g/24 h, and optimally to < 0.5 g/24 h; MAP should not exceed 96.5 mmHg. More attention should be paid to class II LN and emphasis should be placed on recurrence prevention of class II LN.

Dopamine D1 and D5 receptors differentially regulate oxidative stress through paraoxonase 2 in kidney cells

BACKGROUND

The renal dopaminergic system plays an important role in the pathogenesis of hypertension. Dopamine D1-like receptors (D1R and D5R) decrease reactive oxygen species (ROS) production via inhibition of pro-oxidant enzymes such as NADPH oxidase. Paraoxonase 2 (PON2) is also involved in the inhibition of NADPH oxidase activity. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that D1R and D5R inhibit ROS production by increasing the expression of PON2, including those in membrane microdomains.

METHODS AND RESULTS

PON2 colocalized with D1R and D5R in mouse renal proximal tubules (RPTs), human RPT (hRPT) cells, and HEK293 cells heterologously expressing human D1R (HEK-hD1R) or D5R (HEK-hD5R). Fenoldopam, an agonist for both D1R and D5R, increased PON2 co-immunoprecipitation with D1R and D5R in HEK-hD1R and HEK-hD5R cells, respectively. Silencing PON2 increased ROS production and NADPH oxidase activity, and impaired the inhibitory effect of fenoldopam. Fenoldopam increased PON2 protein in both lipid rafts (LRs) and non-LRs in HEK-hD1R cells, but only in non-LRs in HEK-hD5R and hRPT cells. Long-term (hrs) fenoldopam stimulation increased PON2 protein in a time-dependent manner in HEK-hD5R, but not in HEK-hD1R cells. Because the effects of fenoldopam on non-LR and total PON2 expressions were similar in HEK-hD5R and hRPT cells, additional studies were performed to determine the relationship between D5R and PON2. Renal PON2 protein was decreased in D5(-/-) mice. In hRPT cells, silencing D5R decreased PON2 expression and increased ROS production.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that D1-like receptors inhibit ROS production by altering PON2 distribution in membrane microdomains in the short-term, and by increasing PON2 expression in the long-term.

Electrical stimulation for pain relief in knee osteoarthritis: systematic review and network meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the efficacy of different electrical stimulation (ES) therapies in pain relief of patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA).

METHOD

Electronic databases including MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane Library were searched through for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing any ES therapies with control interventions (sham or blank) or with each other. Bayesian network meta-analysis was used to combine both the direct and indirect evidence on treatment effectiveness.

RESULTS

27 trials and six kinds of ES therapies, including high-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (h-TENS), low-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (l-TENS), neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), interferential current (IFC), pulsed electrical stimulation (PES), and noninvasive interactive neurostimulation (NIN), were included. IFC is the only significantly effective treatment in terms of both pain intensity and change pain score at last follow-up time point when compared with the control group. Meanwhile, IFC showed the greatest probability of being the best option among the six treatment methods in pain relief. These estimates barely changed in sensitivity analysis. However, the evidence of heterogeneity and the limitation in sample size of some studies could be a potential threat to the validity of results.

CONCLUSION

IFC seems to be the most promising pain relief treatment for the management of knee OA. However, evidence was limited due to the heterogeneity and small number of included trials. Although the recommendation level of the other ES therapies is either uncertain (h-TENS) or not appropriate (l-TENS, NMES, PES and NIN) for pain relief, it is likely that none of the interventions is dangerous.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

LevelⅡ, systematic review and network meta-analysis of RCTs.

Comparison of the accuracy of transpulmonary thermodilution measurement using indicators of different temperatures

Transpulmonary thermodilution measurement is a convenient method for hemodynamic monitoring. However, the previously reported indicator temperature was not consistent. This study aimed to compare the accuracy of Pulse index Continuous Cardiac Output (PiCCO) monitoring using indicators of different temperatures. A total of 104 critically ill patients received PiCCO monitoring using indicators of either 0°C or 8°C. The PiCCO measurements, including general ejection fraction, global end-diastolic index, and cardiac index, were compared between the two temperatures, and were also correlated with that of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). The two indicator temperatures differed significantly in hemodynamic measurements (P<0.01). PiCCO measurements with either indicator temperatures showed positive correlation with TEE results (P<0.05). The 0°C indicator had universally higher correlation coefficients than the 8°C indicator. So, PiCCO monitoring with the 0°C indicator might have better accuracy than the 8°C indicator.

Responses of soil nutrient concentrations and stoichiometry to different human land uses in a subtropical tidal wetland

We studied the impacts of anthropogenic changes in land use on the stoichiometric imbalance of soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in Phragmites australis wetlands in the Minjiang River estuary. We compared five areas with different land uses: P. australis wetland (control), grassland, a mudskipper breeding flat, pond aquaculture and rice cropland. Human activity has affected the elemental and stoichiometric compositions of soils through changes in land use. In general, soil C and N concentrations were lower and total soil K concentrations were higher at the sites under human land uses relative to the control site, and total soil P concentrations were generally not significantly different. The close relationship between total soil C and N concentrations in all cases, including fertilization with N, suggested that N was the most limiting nutrient in these wetlands. Lower soil N concentrations and similar soil P concentrations and higher soil K concentrations under human land-use activities suggest that human activity has increased the role of N limitation in these wetlands. Only grassland use increases soil N contents (only in the 0-10 cm of soil). Despite N fertilization, lower soil N concentrations were also observed in the rice cropland, indicating the difficulty of avoiding N limitation in these wetlands. The observed lower soil N:P ratio, together with higher soil P and K availabilities in rice croplands, is consistent with the tendency of human activity to change the competitive relationships of plants, in this case favoring species adapted to high rates of growth (low N:P ratio) and/or favoring plants with high demands for P and K. Both, soil C storage and respiration were higher in grasslands, likely due to the introduction of grasses, which led to a high density of plants, increased grazing activity and soil compaction. Soil C storage and respiration were lower under human land uses, except in the rice cropland, with respect to natural wetland. Using overall data, soil C storage and respiration were correlated, indicating that soil respiration was correlated with plant productivity. In this wetland area the impacts of different human land-uses on soil stoichiometry and C-cycle can be very different depending on the activity. Further regeneration of natural communities can be determined by the previous type of land-use.