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This study investigated the single-pass performance of a negative corona electrostatic precipitators (ESP) in removing suspended particulates (PM2.5 and PM10), formaldehyde (HCHO), and bioaerosols (bacteria and fungi) and measured the ozone (O3) concentration generated by ESP. The experimental results revealed that if the operational conditions for the ESP were set to high voltage (−10.5 kV) and low air flow rate (2.4 m3/min), ESP had optimal air pollutant removal efficiency. In the laboratory system, its PM2.5 and PM10 removal rates both reached 99% at optimal conditions, and its HCHO removal rate was 55%. In field tests, its PM2.5, PM10, HCHO, bacteria, and fungi removal rates reached 89%, 90%, 46%, 69%, and 85% respectively. The ESP in the laboratory system (−10.5 kV and 2.4 m3/min) generated 7.374 ppm of O3 under optimal conditions. Under the same operational conditions, O3 generated by ESP in the food waste storage room and the meeting room were 1.347 ppm and 1.749 ppm, respectively. The removal of HCHO and bioaerosols was primarily attributed to their destruction in the corona, as well as ozone oxidation, and collection on the dust collection plate.

Objectives Recently, the Gram-negative bacterium Klebsiella oxytoca has been identified as an emerging pathogen. Here we report the draft genome of a 2,3-butanediol-producing strain, K. oxytoca CCTCC M207023, isolated from soil in Nanjing, China. The tetracycline-resistant phenotype and the high yield of 2,3-butanediol was demonstrated. Methods The draft genome of K. oxytoca CCTCC M207023 was determined using an Illumina NovaSeq™ 6000 next-generation DNA sequencing platform. Clean sequencing data were subsequently assembled using SOAPdenovo. Results The draft genome of K. oxytoca CCTCC M207023, comprising 5 658 144 bp and with a GC content of 56.50%, was assembled into 5262 open-reading frames (ORFs). Antimicrobial resistance genes were also annotated. Conclusions The draft genome sequence of K. oxytoca CCTCC M207023 reported here will be a reference for comparative analysis with the antimicrobial resistance mechanisms for the safety of 2,3-butanediol industrial production.

D-alpha-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS1000) is the most active water-soluble derivative of vitamin E and has been widely used as a carrier of solvents, plasticizers, emulsifiers, absorbent agents and refractory drug delivery systems. However, its anti-hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) properties have not been explored. HCC cells were treated with different concentrations of TPGS1000. Cell survival was tested by CCK8 assay, and cell migration was tested by wound healing and Transwell assay. EdU staining verified cell proliferation, and signalling pathway was assayed by Western blot analysis. The BALB/c-nu mouse xenograft model was established to test HCC cell growth in vivo. In vitro TPGS1000 significantly inhibited the viability and mobility of HCC cells (HepG2, Hep3B and Huh7) in a dose-dependent manner. Cell cycle analysis indicated that TPGS1000 treatment arrested the HCC cell cycle in the G0/G1 phase, and induction of cell apoptosis was confirmed by TUNEL and Annexin V-7-AAD staining. Further pharmacological analysis indicated that collapse of the transmembrane potential of mitochondria, increased ROS generation, PARP-induced cell apoptosis and FoxM1-p21-mediated cell cycle arresting, were involved in the anti-HCC activity of TPGS1000. Moreover, treatment in vivo with TPGS1000 effectively impaired the growth of HCC xenografts in nude mice.

Terpenoids are a large class of natural compounds based on the C5 isoprene unit, with many biological effects such activity against cancer and allergies, while some also have an agreeable aroma. Consequently, they have received extensive attention in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic fields. With the identification and analysis of the underlying natural product synthesis pathways, current microbial-based metabolic engineering approaches have yielded new strategies for the production of highly valuable terpenoids. Yarrowia lipolytica is a non-conventional oleaginous yeast that is rapidly emerging as a valuable host for the production of terpenoids due to its own endogenous mevalonate pathway and high oil production capacity. This review aims to summarize the status and strategies of metabolic engineering for the heterologous synthesis of terpenoids in Y. lipolytica in recent years and proposes new methods aiming towards further improvement of terpenoid production.

Endophytic fungi usually establish a symbiotic relationship with the host plant and affect its growth. In order to evaluate the impact of endophytic fungi on the Chinese herbal medicinal plant Houttuynia cordata Thunb., three endophytes isolated from the rhizomes of H. cordata, namely Ilyonectria liriodendra (IL), unidentified fungal sp. (UF), and Penicillium citrinum (PC), were co-cultured individually with H. cordata in sterile soil for 60 days. Analysis of the results showed that the endophytes stimulated the host plant in different ways: IL increased the growth of rhizomes and the accumulation of most of the phenolics and volatiles, UF promoted the accumulation of the medicinal compounds afzelin, decanal, 2-undecanone, and borneol without influencing host plant growth, and PC increased the fresh weight, total leaf area and height of the plants, as well as the growth of the rhizomes, but had only a small effect on the concentration of major secondary metabolites. Our results proved that the endophytic fungi had potential practical value in terms of the production of Chinese herbal medicines, having the ability to improve the yield and accumulation of medicinal metabolites.

Background This study aims to explore the efficacy and safety of prostaglandina E1 (PE1) for the treatment of patients with thrombo-occlusive vasculitis (TOV). Methods Electronic databases (Cochrane Library, PUBMED, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, the Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure) will be sought from onset to the March 1, 2020 without language and publication status restrictions. We will include any potential randomized controlled trials that examined the efficacy of PE1 for the treatment of patients with TOV. We will appraise study quality using Cochrane risk of bias tool, and will assess the evidence quality using Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation. We will use RevMan 5.3 Software for statistical analysis. Results A high-quality synthesis of present evidence of PE1 for the treatment of patients with TOV will be provided in this study. Conclusion This study will provide evidence to judge whether PE1 is an effective intervention for TOV. Systematic review registration INPLASY202040081.

The filamentous fungus Fusarium fujikuroi is well-known for its production of natural plant growth hormones: a series of gibberellic acids (GAs). Some GAs, including GA1, GA3, GA4, and GA7, are biologically active and have been widely applied in agriculture. However, the low efficiency of traditional genetic tools limits the further research toward making this fungus more efficient and able to produce tailor-made GAs. Here, we established an efficient CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing tool for F. fujikuroi. First, we compared three different nuclear localization signals (NLS) and selected an efficient NLS from histone H2B (HTB

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)[1] is a type of metabolic disease caused by metabolic disorders in the endocrine system and characterized by hyperglycemia. Insufficient insulin secretion and insulin resistance are the basic pathologic characteristics of T2DM. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF),[2] the prevalence of diabetes among adults aged 20–79 in 2017 was 8.8% from a total population of 425 million, which will reach 629 million by 2045. Additionally, it is estimated that approximately half of all adult patients worldwide have not been diagnosed as of 2017. In 2017, approximately 4 million adults died of diabetes, and 46.1% of patients died before reaching the age of 60 years. These data show that the number of patients with diabetes is increasing at an alarming rate and have come to represent a challenge for human health. In addition, T2DM accounts for approximately 95% of the total population of diabetes, which leads to significant losses for human and economic health.[3] T2DM is a chronic disease that can cause a series of complications that can lead to death.[4] Therefore, preventing or delaying the occurrence of complications is the main purpose of treating T2DM, and the key link for those suffering from diabetes is to maintain blood glucose levels within the normal range.[5] At present, the treatment of T2DM mainly depends on lifestyle intervention[6] (such as nutrition therapy and physical activity), oral medication[7] (such as biguanides, sulfonylureas, and α-glucoside inhibitors), injected drugs[8] (such as insulin and glucagon-like peptide-1 [7–36] amide [GLP-1] agonists), surgical treatment,[9] and complementary and alternative treatment.[10] T2DM is known as a major “Xiao-Ke disease” in ancient Chinese books. And Chinese have used herbal medicines to treat the diseases for more than 1500 years. There is a growing body of research showing that herbal medicine can effectively treat T2DM.[11–13] In this study, we reviewed the therapeutic action of herbal medicine in T2DM via anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidation characteristics, regulation of blood lipid metabolism, anti-glucose effects, and other mechanisms [Figures ​[Figures11–5]. Open in a separate window Figure 1 The anti-inflammatory effect of herbal medicine in type 2 diabetes mellitus. TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor-α; TLR4-MyD88: toll-like receptor 4-myeloid differential protein-88; IL-1β: interleukin-1β; NLRP3: NACHT, LRR, and PYD domain-containing protein 3; WMW: Wu-Mei-Wan; NF-κB: nuclear transcription factor kappa B; IκBα: inhibitor of NF-κB; COX2: cyclo-oxgenase 2; IL-8: interleukin-8; IL-6: interleukin-6.

The dysregulation of proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) contributes to atherosclerosis (AS) and accumulating reports indicate the crucial role of long noncoding RNA in AS. However, the role of small nucleolar RNA host gene 12 (SNHG12) in regulating the phenotypes of VSMCs and AS remains largely unknown. Quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression levels of SNHG12 and miR-199a-5p in an in vivo AS model and VSMCs treated by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL). The proliferation ability, migration ability, and apoptosis of VSMCs were tested by cell counting kit-8, Transwell assay, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling assay, respectively. StarBase database was used to predict the binding sites between miR-199a-5p and SNHG12. The interaction between miR-199a-5p and SNHG12 was validated by qRT-PCR, western blot, and luciferase reporter assay. Western blot was used to examine the effects of SNHG12 and miR-199a-5p on the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α). We found that the expression level of SNHG12 was significantly increased in the animal model and VSMCs treated by ox-LDL. Knockdown of SNHG12 suppressed the proliferation and migration abilities of VSMCs, while overexpression of SNHG12 had the opposite effects. Mechanically, we validated that miR-199a-5p was a target of SNHG12, and the target gene of miR-199a-5p, HIF-1α could be indirectly and positively regulated by SNHG12. In conclusion, SHNG12 targeting miR-199a-5p/HIF-1α contributed to the pathophysiological process of AS by regulating the phenotypes of VSMCs, and could be a potential therapy target for this disease.

In recent years, eukaryotic microorganisms have been widely applied to offer many solutions for everyday life and have come to play important roles in agriculture, food, health care, and the fine-chemicals industry. However, the complex genetic background and low homologous recombination efficiency have hampered the implementation of large-scale and high-throughput gene editing in many eukaryotic microorganisms. The low efficiency of homologous recombination (HR) not only makes the modification process labor-intensive but also completely precludes the application of many otherwise very useful genome editing techniques. Thus, increasing the efficiency of HR is clearly an enabling technology for basic research and gene editing in eukaryotic microorganisms. In this review, we summarize the current strategies for enhancing the efficiency of HR in eukaryotic microorganisms (particularly yeasts and filamentous fungi), list some small molecules and candidate genes associated with homologous and non-homologous recombination, and briefly discuss the further development prospects of these strategies.

// Yue-Lun Zhang 1, 2 , Jin-Qiu Yuan 1, 2 , Kai-Feng Wang 3 , Xiao-Hong Fu 1, 2 , Xiao-Ran Han 1, 2 , Diane Threapleton 1 , Zu-Yao Yang 1, 2 , Chen Mao 1, 2 , Jin-Ling Tang 1, 2 1 Division of Epidemiology, The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China 2 Shenzhen Municipal Key Laboratory for Health Risk Analysis, Shenzhen Research Institute of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China 3 Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China Correspondence to: Chen Mao, email: maochen@cuhk.edu.hk Jin-Ling Tang, email: jltang@cuhk.edu.hk Keywords: non-small cell lung cancer, epidermal growth factor receptor, prevalence, systematic review, meta-analysis Received: May 17, 2016 Accepted: September 25, 2016 Published: October 12, 2016 ABSTRACT Objectives: Estimate the epidermal growth factor receptor ( EGFR ) mutation prevalence in all non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and patient subgroups. Results: A total of 456 studies were included, reporting 30,466 patients with EGFR mutation among 115,815 NSCLC patients. The overall pooled prevalence for EGFR mutations was 32.3% (95% CI 30.9% to 33.7%), ranging from 38.4% (95% CI: 36.5% to 40.3%) in China to 14.1% (95% CI: 12.7% to 15.5%) in Europe. The pooled prevalence of EGFR mutation was higher in females (females vs. males: 43.7% vs. 24.0%; OR: 2.7, 95% CI: 2.5 to 2.9), non-smokers (non-smokers vs. past or current smokers: 49.3% vs. 21.5%; OR: 3.7, 95% CI: 3.4 to 4.0), and patients with adenocarcinoma (adenocarcinoma vs. non-adenocarcinoma: 38.0% vs. 11.7%; OR: 4.1, 95% CI: 3.6 to 4.8). Materials and Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched to June 2013. Eligible studies reported EGFR mutation prevalence and the association with at least one of the following factors: gender, smoking status and histology. Random-effects models were used to pool EGFR mutation prevalence data. Conclusion: This study provides the exact prevalence of EGFR mutations in different countries and NSCLC patient subgroups.

This paper studied the phtodegradation behavior, mechanism and security of propranolol (PRO) in water under ultraviolet irradiation using the high pressure mercury lamp. The photodegradation mechanism was verified by reactive oxygen species (ROS) quenching method, and the photoproducts security was evaluated by luminescent bacteria toxicity test. The results showed that the rate of photolysis (k) of PRO decreased with increasing initial concentration, and showed a significant negative correlation (r20.95). The increasing k value was also accompanied with higher pH of the solution, and the k values were 0.0953-0.267 min(-1) under pH 5-9. ROS quenching experiments showed that the PRO UV photolysis process included a triplet PRO (3PRO*) direct photolysis participation, and self-sensitized photolysis participation caused by hydroxyl radical (·OH) and singlet oxygen (1O2). Direct photolysis rate was greater than the rate of self-sensitized photolysis. The result of 1O2 steady concentration measured by FFA as the probe was consistent with the quenching method. The toxicity evaluation illustrated the formation of some intermediate photoproducts, which were more toxic than PRO.