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Cochlear hair cells are the sensory cells responsible for transduction of acoustic signals. In mammals, damaged hair cells do not regenerate, resulting in permanent hearing loss. Reprogramming of the surrounding supporting cells to functional hair cells represent a novel strategy to hearing restoration. However, cellular processes governing the efficient and functional hair cell reprogramming are not completely understood. Employing the mouse cochlear organoid system, detailed metabolomic characterizations of the expanding and differentiating organoids are performed. It is found that hair cell differentiation is associated with increased mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) activity and reactive oxidative species generation. Transcriptome and metabolome analyses indicate reduced expression of oxidoreductases and tricyclic acid (TCA) cycle metabolites. The metabolic decoupling between ETC and TCA cycle limits the availability of the key metabolic cofactors, α‐ketoglutarate (α‐KG) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). Reduced expression of NAD+ in cochlear supporting cells by PGC1α deficiency further impairs hair cell reprogramming, while supplementation of α‐KG and NAD+ promotes hair cell reprogramming both in vitro and in vivo. These findings reveal metabolic rewiring as a central cellular process during hair cell differentiation, and highlight the insufficiency of key metabolites as a metabolic barrier for efficient hair cell reprogramming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, Fe/Mn/Mg2-LDH was utilized for the first time as a catalyst for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation to facilitate the removal of Orange II. This composite was characterized using various techniques, such as XRD, FTIR, SEM-EDS, BET, and XPS. The results revealed a well-defined lamellar structure of Fe/Mn/Mg2-LDH with a metal molar ratio of Fe/Mn/Mg at 1:1:2. Moreover, the structural stability of Fe/Mn/Mg2-LDH was confirmed through the XRD, FTIR, and SEM. Fe/Mn/Mg2-LDH exhibited a good adsorption capacity towards Orange II and highly efficient PMS activation. The optimal removal efficiency of Orange II (98%) was achieved under the conditions of pH 7.0, [PMS] = 1.0 mmol L−1, [Fe/Mn/Mg₂-LDH] = 1.6 g L−1, and [Orange II] = 50 μM. Additionally, this system demonstrated good adaptability across a wide pH range. The presence of Cl− and humic acids (HA) did not significantly inhibit Orange II removal, whereas inhibitory effects were observed in the presence of CO32− and PO43−. The removal mechanism of Orange II was attributed to a synergy of adsorption and oxidation processes, wherein the generated surface radicals (SO4•−ads and HO•ads) on the surface of the Fe/Mn/Mg2-LDH played a predominant role. Furthermore, the Fe/Mn/Mg2-LDH exhibited good reusability, maintaining a removal rate of 90% over five cycles of recycling. The Fe/Mn/Mg2-LDH/PMS system shows promising potential for the treatment of wastewater contaminated with refractory organic pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cingulin (CGN) is a cytoskeleton‐associated protein localized at the apical junctions of epithelial cells. CGN interacts with major cytoskeletal filaments and regulates RhoA activity. However, physiological roles of CGN in development and human diseases are currently unknown. Here, we report a multi‐generation family presenting with autosomal dominant non‐syndromic hearing loss (ADNSHL) that co‐segregates with a CGN heterozygous truncating variant, c.3330delG (p.Leu1110Leufs*17). CGN is normally expressed at the apical cell junctions of the organ of Corti, with enriched localization at hair cell cuticular plates and circumferential belts. In mice, the putative disease‐causing mutation results in reduced expression and abnormal subcellular localization of the CGN protein, abolishes its actin polymerization activity, and impairs the normal morphology of hair cell cuticular plates and hair bundles. Hair cell‐specific Cgn knockout leads to high‐frequency hearing loss. Importantly, Cgn mutation knockin mice display noise‐sensitive, progressive hearing loss and outer hair cell degeneration. In summary, we identify CGN c.3330delG as a pathogenic variant for ADNSHL and reveal essential roles of CGN in the maintenance of cochlear hair cell structures and auditory function. Synopsis: The tight junction‐related protein Cingulin (CGN) is a novel deafness gene required for maintenance of cochlear hair cell cuticular plates and hair bundles. A frameshift mutation in CGN results in progressive hearing loss in human and mouse model. A frameshift mutation in CGN co‐segregates with autosomal dominant non‐syndromic hearing loss in a Chinese family.CGN is enriched at the apical cuticular plates and circumferential belts of cochlear hair cells.CGN mutation impairs its expression and localization, alters the morphology of hair cell cuticular plates and hair bundles.CGN mutation results in progressive and noise‐sensitive hearing loss in the disease mouse model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is a critical aspect of overall well-being for patients with lung cancer, particularly those with metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC). However, there is currently a lack of universal evaluation of HRQoL in this specific patient population. The aim of this study was to develop a nomogram that can accurately predict HRQoL outcomes in patients with lung cancer-related MSCC. Methods: A total of 119 patients diagnosed with MSCC secondary to lung cancer were prospectively collected for analysis in the study. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis, along with 10-fold cross-validation, was employed to select the most significant variables for inclusion in the nomogram. Discriminative and calibration abilities were assessed using the concordance index (C-index), discrimination slope, calibration plots, and goodness-of-fit tests. Net reclassification index (NRI) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) analyses were conducted to compare the nomogram's performance with and without the consideration of comorbidities. Results: Four variables were selected to construct the final nomogram, including the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score, targeted therapy, anxiety scale, and number of comorbidities. The C-index was 0.87, with a discrimination slope of 0.47, indicating a favorable discriminative ability. Calibration plots and goodness-of-fit tests revealed a high level of consistency between the predicted and observed probabilities of poor HRQoL. The NRI (0.404, 95% CI: 0.074-0.734, p = 0.016) and the IDI (0.035, 95% CI: 0.004-0.066, p = 0.027) confirmed the superior performance of the nomogram with the consideration of comorbidities. Conclusions: This study develops a prediction nomogram that can assist clinicians in evaluating postoperative HRQoL in patients with lung cancerrelated MSCC. This nomogram provides a valuable tool for risk stratification and personalized treatment planning in this specific patient population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the prevalence and influencing factors of symptomatic dry eye disease (DED) in Chinese coal workers. Methods: The prevalence of symptomatic DED in coal workers was investigated by using the questionnaire of Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) and the influencing factors were explored. Results: The prevalence of symptomatic DED was 50.7% in coal workers. Of the influencing factors of symptomatic DED, the level of dust exposure had an odds ratio (OR) of 1.26, the time of dust exposure had an OR of 1.02, and the age had an OR of 1.03. Conclusion: There was a high morbidity of symptomatic DED among coal workers and the level and the time of dust exposure and the age of coal workers had important effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zygotic genome activation (ZGA) is the first transcription event in life1. However, it is unclear how RNA polymerase is engaged in initiating ZGA in mammals. Here, by developing small-scale Tn5-assisted chromatin cleavage with sequencing (Stacc–seq), we investigated the landscapes of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) binding in mouse embryos. We found that Pol II undergoes 'loading', 'pre-configuration', and 'production' during the transition from minor ZGA to major ZGA. After fertilization, Pol II is preferentially loaded to CG-rich promoters and accessible distal regions in one-cell embryos (loading), in part shaped by the inherited parental epigenome. Pol II then initiates relocation to future gene targets before genome activation (pre-configuration), where it later engages in full transcription elongation upon major ZGA (production). Pol II also maintains low poising at inactive promoters after major ZGA until the blastocyst stage, coinciding with the loss of promoter epigenetic silencing factors. Notably, inhibition of minor ZGA impairs the Pol II pre-configuration and embryonic development, accompanied by aberrant retention of Pol II and ectopic expression of one-cell targets upon major ZGA. Hence, stepwise transition of Pol II occurs when mammalian life begins, and minor ZGA has a key role in the pre-configuration of transcription machinery and chromatin for genome activation. Binding of RNA polymerase II during zygotic genome activation in mouse embryos is determined using the newly developed method Stacc–seq. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonia-ethanol-water (AEW) pretreatment was adopted to treat wheat straw for ameliorating saccharification with the integrated preparation of submicron lignin spheres (SLS). Results showed that AEW pretreatment could remove 77% of lignin and 90% of extractives, thus increasing specific surface area and porosity of the substrate and finally enhancing the release of fermentable sugars in saccharification. Under the optimal pretreatment conditions (170 °C for 2 h, ethanol concentration 55% (v/v), ammonia concentration 7.5 wt%), the final total sugar yield reached 81.7% after pretreatment and saccharification, which was 2.25 times higher compared to the conventional ethanol organosolv pretreatment. Moreover, washing could be excluded for AEW-pretreated wheat straw before saccharification, and both ethanol and ammonia could be readily recovered and reused, making the AEW pretreatment clean and sustainable. In addition, SLS with hollow structure and average diameter of 161.2 ± 53.6 nm were fabricated using the fractionated lignin, which could offset the overall cost of AEW pretreatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of a clean and sustainable pretreatment is of great importance for the production of fermentable sugars. In this study, an ammonium sulfite (AS) pretreatment of wheat straw was optimized based on response surface methodology with a three-level, three-factor Box-Behnken design. The investigated factors were AS dosage, pretreatment time, and pretreatment temperature. The effectiveness of the AS pretreatment was evaluated using the standard enzymatic hydrolysis procedure. A second-order polynomial fit was performed to fit the experimental data, and the model analysis showed that the effect of the AS dosage on the final total sugar yields was much more significant than that of the other two factors. Under the optimum pretreatment conditions (27% of the AS dosage (based on the dry wheat straw) at 160 °C for 63 min), the final total sugar yield achieved was 74.4% after saccharification, which was in agreement with the predicted value (76.5%). Furthermore, it was found that pre-impregnation with acetic acid before AS pretreatment or the post-mechanical refining after AS pretreatment could further increase the fermentable sugar yields to approximately 77%. In addition, the spent liquor containing nitrogen could be used for the production of lignin-based fertilizer, thus making the whole process clean and sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a two-dimensional infinite dipole array system with a mushroom-like high-impedance surface (HIS) ground plane with wide-angle scanning capability in the E-plane. The unit cell of the proposed antenna array consists of a dipole antenna and a four-by-four HIS ground. The simulation results show that the proposed antenna array can achieve a wide scanning angle of up to 65° in the E-plane with an excellent impedance match and a small S11. Floquet mode analysis is utilized to analyze the active impedance and the reflection coefficient. Good agreement is obtained between the theoretical results and the simulations. Using numerical and theoretical analyses, we reveal the mechanism of such excellent wide scanning properties. For the range of small scanning angles, these excellent properties result mainly from the special reflection phase of the HIS ground, which can cause the mutual coupling between the elements of the real array to be compensated by the mutual coupling effect between the real array and the mirror array. For the range of large scanning angles, since the surface wave (SW) mode could be resonantly excited by a high-order Floquet mode TM−1,0 from the array and since the SW mode could be converted into a leaky wave (LW) mode by the scattering of the array, the radiation field from the LW mode is nearly in phase with the direct radiating field from the array. Therefore, with help from the special reflection phase of the HIS and the designed LW mode of the HIS ground, the antenna array with an HIS ground can achieve a wide-angle scanning performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Arachidonic acid (ARA, C20:4, n-6), which belongs to the omega-6 series of polyunsaturated fatty acids and has a variety of biological activities, is commercially produced in Mortierella alpina. Dissolved oxygen or oxygen utilization efficiency is a critical factor for Mortierella alpina growth and arachidonic acid production in large-scale fermentation. Overexpression of the Vitreoscilla hemoglobin gene is thought to significantly increase the oxygen utilization efficiency of the cells. Results: An optimized Vitreoscilla hemoglobin (VHb) gene was introduced into Mortierella alpina via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. Compared with the parent strain, the VHb-expressing strain, termed VHb-20, grew faster under both limiting and non-limiting oxygen conditions and exhibited dramatic changes in cell morphology. Furthermore, VHb-20 produced 4- and 8-fold higher total lipid and ARA yields than those of the wild-type strain under a microaerobic environment. Furthermore, ARA production of VHb-20 was also 1.6-fold higher than that of the wild type under normal conditions. The results demonstrated that DO utilization was significantly increased by expressing the VHb gene in Mortierella alpina. Conclusions: The expression of VHb enhances ARA and lipid production under both lower and normal dissolved oxygen conditions. This study provides a novel strategy and an engineered strain for the cost-efficient production of ARA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selective oxidation of aliphatic C-H bonds in alkylphenols serves significant roles not only in generation of functionalized intermediates that can be used to synthesize diverse downstream chemical products, but also in biological degradation of these environmentally hazardous compounds. Chemo-, regio-, and stereoselectivity; controllability; and environmental impact represent the major challenges for chemical oxidation of alkylphenols. Here, we report the development of a unique chemomimetic biocatalytic system originated from the Gram-positive bacterium Corynebacterium glutamicum. The system consisting of CreHI (for installation of a phosphate directing/anchoring group), CreJEF/CreG/CreC (for oxidation of alkylphenols), and CreD (for directing/anchoring group offloading) is able to selectively oxidize the aliphatic C-H bonds of p- and m-alkylated phenols in a controllable manner. Moreover, the crystal structures of the central P450 biocatalyst CreJ in complex with two representative substrates provide significant structural insights into its substrate flexibility and reaction selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cost-efficient saccharification is one of the main bottlenecks for industrial lignocellulose conversion. Clostridium thermocellum naturally degrades lignocellulose efficiently using the cellulosome, a multiprotein supermolecular complex, and thus can be potentially used as a low-cost catalyst for lignocellulose saccharification. The industrial use of C. thermocellum is restrained due largely to the inhibition of the hydrolysate cellobiose to its cellulosome. Although the supplementation of beta-glucosidase may solve the problem, the production of the enzymes greatly complicates the process and may also increase the cost of saccharification. Results: To conquer the feedback inhibition and establish an efficient whole-cell catalyst for highly efficient cellulose saccharification, we constructed a recombinant strain of C. thermocellum ΔpyrF::CaBglA which produced a secretory exoglucanase CelS-bearing heterologous BGL using a newly developed seamless genome editing system. Without the extra addition of enzymes, the relative saccharification level of ΔpyrF::CaBglA was stimulated by over twofolds compared to its parent strain ΔpyrF through a two-stage saccharification process with 100 g/L Avicel as the carbon source. The production of reducing sugars and the relative saccharification level were further enhanced to 490 mM and 79.4%, respectively, with increased cell density. Conclusions: The high cellulose-degrading ability and sugar productivity suggested that the whole-cell-catalysis strategy for cellulose saccharification is promising, and the C. thermocellum strain ΔpyrF::CaBglA could be potentially used as an efficient whole-cell catalyst for industrial cellulose saccharification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The efficiency of implantable intra-arterial interventional chemotherapy before the operation for synovial sarcoma on limbs was evaluated.Materials and Methods: Drug delivery device (chemotherapy pumps) was implanted percutaneously for 36 patients, and the interventional chemotherapy was conducted for 3-4 cycles. The surgical resection was carried out after obvious improvement was observed by clinical and imaging examination. The evaluation standard for the efficiency of chemotherapy was tumor cell necrosis rate obtained from postoperative pathological test.Results: The response rate (RR) of pain alleviation was 91% (32/36), and the RR of the changing of lesion imaging was 83% (30/36). Thirty cases received extensive tumor excision, and six cases received amputation because of poor response to tumor chemotherapy and local carcinelcosis. The postoperative pathological test showed 81% moderate and severe chemotherapy response (29/36). The average follow-up time was 39 months. There were three cases presenting with local tumor recurrence, and seven deaths due to pulmonary metastasis.Conclusion: Intra-arterial interventional chemotherapy before operation for synovial sarcoma can effectively control pain. After chemotherapy, the imaging performance significantly changed, and tumor cells were necrotized extensively. The pathological changes were obvious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clostridium cellulolyticum and other cellulolytic Clostridium strains are natural producers of lignocellulosic biofuels and chemicals via the consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) route, and systems metabolic engineering is indispensable to meet the cost-efficient demands of industry. Several genetic tools have been developed for Clostridium strains, and an efficient and stringent inducible genetic operation system is still required for the precise regulation of the target gene function. Results: Here, we provide a stringent arabinose-inducible genetic operation (ARAi) system for C. cellulolyticum, including an effective gene expression platform with an oxygen-independent fluorescent reporter, a sensitive MazF-based counterselection genetic marker, and a precise gene knock-out method based on an inducible ClosTron system. A novel arabinose-inducible promoter derived from Clostridium acetobutylicum is employed in the ARAi system to control the expression of the target gene, and the gene expression can be up-regulated over 800-fold with highly induced stringency. The inducible ClosTron method of the ARAi system decreases the off-target frequency from 100% to 0, which shows the precise gene targeting in C. cellulolyticum. The inducible effect of the ARAi system is specific to a universal carbon source L-arabinose, implying that the system could be used widely for clostridial strains with various natural substrates. Conclusions: The inducible genetic operation system ARAi developed in this study, containing both controllable gene expression and disruption tools, has the highest inducing activity and stringency in Clostridium by far. Thus, the ARAi system will greatly support the efficient metabolic engineering of C. cellulolyticum and other mesophilic Clostridium strains for lignocellulose bioconversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Clostridium thermocellum is a thermophilic anaerobic bacterium that degrades cellulose by using a highly effective cellulosome, a macromolecular complex consisting of multiple cellulose degrading enzymes organized and attached to the cell surface by non-catalytic scaffoldins. However, due largely to lack of efficient methods for genetic manipulation of C. thermocellum, it is still unclear how the different scaffoldins and their functional modules contribute to cellulose hydrolysis. Results We constructed C. thermocellum mutants with the primary scaffoldin CipA (cellulosomeintegrating protein A) truncated at different positions or lacking four different secondary scaffoldins by using a newly developed thermotargetron system, and we analyzed cellulose hydrolysis, cellulosome formation, and cellulose binding of the mutants. A CipA truncation that deletes six type I cohesin modules, which bind cellulolytic enzymes, decreased cellulose hydrolysis rates by 46%, and slightly longer truncations that also delete the carbohydrate binding module decreased rates by 89 to 92%, indicating strong cellulosome-substrate synergy. By contrast, a small CipA truncation that deletes only the C-terminal type II dockerin (XDocII) module detached cellulosomes from the cells, but decreased cellulose hydrolysis rates by only 9%, suggesting a relatively small contribution of cellulosome-cell synergy. Disruptants lacking any of four different secondary scaffoldins (OlpB, 7CohII, Orf2p, or SdbA) showed moderately decreased cellulose hydrolysis rates, suggesting additive contributions. Surprisingly, the CipA-ΔXDocII mutant, which lacks cell-associated polycellulosomes, adheres to cellulose almost as strongly as wild-type cells, revealing an alternate, previously unknown cellulose-binding mechanism. Conclusions Our results emphasize the important role of cellulosome-substrate synergy in cellulose degradation, demonstrate a contribution of secondary scaffoldins, and suggest a previously unknown, non-cellulosomal system for binding insoluble cellulose. Our findings provide new insights into cellulosome function and impact genetic engineering of microorganisms to enhance bioconversions of cellulose substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The molecular links between shock-response and adaptation remain poorly understood, particularly for extremophiles. This has hindered rational engineering of solvent tolerance and correlated traits (e.g., productivity) in extremophiles. To untangle such molecular links, here we established a model that tracked the microevolution from shock to adaptation in thermophilic bacteria. Method: Temporal dynamics of genomes and transcriptomes was tracked for Thermoanaerobacter sp. X514 which under increasing exogenous ethanol evolved from ethanol-sensitive wild-type (Strain X) to tolerance of 2%- (XI) and eventually 6%-ethanol (XII). Based on the reconstructed transcriptional network underlying stress tolerance, genetic engineering was employed to improve ethanol tolerance and production in Thermoanaerobacter. Results: The spontaneous genome mutation rate (μg) of Thermoanaerobacter sp. X514, calculated at 0.045, suggested a higher mutation rate in thermophile than previously thought. Transcriptomic comparison revealed that shock-response and adaptation were distinct in nature, whereas the transcriptomes of XII resembled those of the extendedly shocked X. To respond to ethanol shock, X employed fructose-specific phosphotransferase system (PTS), Arginine Deiminase (ADI) pathway, alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) and a distinct mechanism of V-type ATPase. As an adaptation to exogenous ethanol, XI mobilized resistance-nodulation-cell division (RND) efflux system and Adh, whereas XII, which produced higher ethanol than XI, employed ECF-type σ24, an alcohol catabolism operon and phase-specific heat-shock proteins (Hsps), modulated hexose/pentose-transport operon structure and reinforced membrane rigidity. Exploiting these findings, we further showed that ethanol productivity and tolerance can be improved simultaneously by overexpressing adh or σ24 in X. Conclusion: Our work revealed thermophilic-bacteria specific features of adaptive evolution and demonstrated a rational strategy to engineer co-evolving industrial traits. As improvements of shock-response, stress tolerance and productivity have been crucial aims in industrial applications employing thermophiles, our findings should be valuable not just to the production of ethanol but also to a wide variety of biofuels and biochemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The indolocarbazole (ICZ) alkaloids have attracted much attention due to their unique structures and potential therapeutic applications. A series of ICZs were recently isolated and identified from a marine-derived actinomycete strain, Streptomyces sanyensis FMA. To elucidate the biosynthetic machinery associated with ICZs production in S. sanyensis FMA, PCR using degenerate primers was carried out to clone the FAD-dependent monooxygenase gene fragment for ICZ ring formation, which was used as a probe to isolate the 34.6-kb DNA region containing the spc gene cluster. Sequence analysis revealed genes for ICZ ring formation (spcO, D, P, C), sugar unit formation (spcA, B, E, K, J, I), glycosylation (spcN, G), methylation (spcMA, MB), as well as regulation (spcR). Their involvement in ICZ biosynthesis was confirmed by gene inactivation and heterologous expression in Streptomyces coelicolor M1152. This work represents the first cloning and characterization of an ICZ gene cluster isolated from a marine-derived actinomycete strain and would be helpful for thoroughly understanding the biosynthetic mechanism of ICZ glycosides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the inhibitory effect of Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) on the responsive hyperplasia of damaged astrocytes in vitro. We prepared damaged model of astrocytes to simulate the responsive hyperplasia of damaged astrocytes in vivo by culturing astrocytes in vitro; After the first day of Ad-HGF transfection, astrocytes were scratched, then after the first, the third, and the fifth day of scratch, we detect the expression amount of astrocytes specific glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and the ratio of S-phase cells with flow cytometry, both of which can reflect the proliferation status of damaged astrocytes; After HGF was added in scratched astrocytes, the activity of SPK and MAPK (P42/44) were detected by autoradiography and immunoblotting test; After adding different concentrations of HGF protein in astrocytes cultured in different serum concentrations and adding diverse concentrations of HGF protein, SPK and SPK inhibitor DMS in scratched astrocytes, we detect cell proliferation with 3H-TDR incorporation. The first day after Ad-HGF transfected astrocytes were scratched, the amount of GFAP secreted by astrocytes were decreased significantly ( P < 0.05), and the cells in S phase were declined obviously. HGF has bidirectional regulation on SPK of scratched astrocytes: increases the SPK activity when HGF in low dose, while inhibits when in high dose. In addition, DMS can block the signal passage; HGF had no effects on MAPK (P42/44) of damaged astrocytes cells. In conclusion, after the transfection of Ad-HGF, it can inhibit the responsive hyperplasia of damaged astrocytes by the means of blocking SPK passage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domestic wastewater was treated by combined anaerobic biofilm-aerobic membrane bioreactor(MBR) process, and part biomass in MBR was withdraws to treat with ozone, than the ozonated sludge was returned to anaerobic inlet. In aerobic MBR, MLSS and DO were controlled at 3000--3500 mg/L and 0.8 mg/L respectively. Comparing the experimental results of two stages, it was noticed that ozonation did not affect the removal efficiency for organics but had a significant on the removals of NH[sub3] -N and TN. During the ozonation period of two months, no excess sludge was wasted, and a zero sludge yield was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The choroid is the most common site for intraocular tumor metastasis because of its abundant vascular supply. However, choroidal metastasis in penile cancer is highly unusual. Here, we report the first case of diagnosis of choroidal metastasis at presentation in a patient with penile squamous cell carcinoma.Case Presentation: A 43-year-old Asian man with a 3-year history of penile cancer presented with metastasis in the right intraocular sites. Magnetic resonance imaging showed hyperintensity in the T1-weighted images and hypointensity in the T2-weighted images of the right eye. After enucleation of his right eye, histopathological analysis led to a diagnosis of metastatic, moderately differentiated penile squamous cell carcinoma.Conclusions: Penile cancer typically occurs as penile squamous cell carcinoma, and its most common metastatic sites are the inguinal lymph nodes. Hemorrhagic transfer of tumor cells is extremely rare, especially to intraocular sites. Intraocular metastatic tumors have a unique presentation on imaging, as observed on magnetic resonance imaging and histopathological analysis. This novel finding of intraocular metastasis in penile squamous cell carcinoma is of great significance to optic surgeons and oncologists as it has new implications in the diagnosis of and timely intervention for penile cancer metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a letter to the editor on resonance assignments and secondary structure of the Ssh10b from hyperthermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus shibatae.

1,5-Diphenyl-1-pentanone (A) and 1,5-diphenyl-2-penten-1-one (B) arenatural products extracted for the first time from Stellera chamaejasme. Laboratory bioassay showed that the two products have strong contact activity and very good anti-feedant activity against Aphis gossypii and Schizaphis graminum. Both products showed dose-dependent relationships for both forms of activity against the two aphids, the contact activity of B being about twice that of A. Both products were inferior to methomyl in contact activity but superior in anti-feedant activity against the two aphids. This is the first report of aphicidal activity in these two compounds, which may represent a new class of aphicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]