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Background: Most of the biological functions of circular RNAs (circRNAs) and the potential underlying mechanisms in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not yet been discovered. Methods: In this study, using circRNA expression data from HCC tumor tissues and adjacent tissues from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, we identified out differentially expressed circRNAs and verified them by qRT-PCT. Functional experiments were performed to evaluate the effects of circFAM13B in HCC in vitro and in vivo. Results: We found that circFAM13B was the most significantly differentially expressed circRNA in HCC tissue. Subsequently, in vitro and in vivo studies also demonstrated that circFAM13B promoted the proliferation of HCC. Further studies revealed that circFAM13B, a sponge of miR-212, is involved in the regulation of E2F5 gene expression by competitively binding to miR-212, inhibits the activation of the P53 signalling pathway, and promotes the proliferation of HCC cells. Conclusions: Our findings revealed the mechanism underlying the regulatory role played by circFAM13B, miR-212 and E2F5 in HCC. This study provides a new theoretical basis and novel target for the clinical prevention and treatment of HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Neural precursor cell-expressed developmentally down-regulated gene 4 (NEDD4) plays an important role in tumor cell growth, yet its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. This study is to establish NEDD4 as a prognostic biomarker by which the survival of HCC patients can be predicted and to reveal the role of NEDD4 in hepatocellular carcinoma cell growth. Methods: The expression of NEDD4 in 219 HCC specimens was assessed by immunohistochemistry. Postoperative overall survival and time to recurrence were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses. The roles of NEDD4 in hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation and invasion were determined. Results: The patients with low NEDD4 expression tumors had an average cumulative survival of 64.9 ± 6.5 months during follow-up while the patients with high NEDD4 expression tumors had an average cumulative survival of 20.3 ± 15.8 months. NEDD4 silencing inhibited Huh7 cell proliferation and altered cell cytoskeletal assembly, and NEDD4 depletion furthermore seemed to suppress cell migration and invasion. A possible molecular mechanism for the observed effects might be that NEDD4 silence led to an increase in PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homologue) expression, which in turn resulted in the inactivation of STAT3, AKT, and ERK1/2. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that NEDD4 may participate in the HCC progression and may therefore be a potential target for HCC therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application of membrane filtration to sugarcane juice refining is appealing because it can eliminate the usage of chemicals, achieve continuous and automated production, as well as produce superior quality of juice. However, some technical problems, such as low permeate flux, high sucrose loss in membrane retentate and serious membrane fouling, are impeding this technological upgrading in sugar industry. In this work, an integrated membrane process consisting of a tubular loose ultrafiltration (UF), a spiral-wound tight UF and a spiral-wound NF was developed to refine the raw sugarcane juice at pilot-plant scale. With a super high volume reduction ratio (VRR) of 20, the loose UF was able to be operated at a flux from 30 to 70 L m −2 h −1 , and the tight UF could run at a flux from 10 to 40 L m −2 h −1 ; at the same time, the color removal kept more than 95%. Moreover, diafiltration operation could recover most of sugar in the UF concentrates, leading to a high sucrose recovery of up to 98% in two-stage UF. A novel cascade diafiltration mode was proposed to save water by 25% compared with the separated diafiltration. Mathematical models could well predict the diafiltration efficiency for the loose UF but not for the tight UF. Permeate flux of the loose UF was dominated by membrane fouling while for the tight UF, osmotic pressure played a more important role in the flux decline. With a suitable cleaning strategy, the performance of this integrated membrane process can be nearly regenerated although the temperature jump between filtration and cleaning (60–30 °C) might result in some foulants accumulating in the membrane system. These results would serve as a valuable guide for process design and practical operation in subsequent industrial application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small molecular inhibitors in combination with or without interferon have improved sustained antiviral responses against Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection. Nonetheless, resistance to these inhibitors is expected to emerge rapidly due to the high mutation rate of the virus. Thus, new antiviral drugs, in combination with currently available therapies, are urgently needed to treat HCV infection. In the present study, we evaluated the antiviral efficacy of cuprous oxide nanoparticles (CO-NPs) against HCV in the HCVcc/Huh7.5.1 cell culture system. CO-NPs were able to significantly inhibit the infectivity of HCVcc at a non-cytotoxic concentration. In addition, CO-NPs inhibited the entry of HCV pseudoparticle (HCVpp), including genotypes 1a, 1b, and 2a, while no effect on HCV replication was observed. Further time-of-addition experiment indicated that CO-NPs blocked HCV infection both at the attachment and entry stages. In conclusion, we report that CO-NPs can act as an anti-HCV agent by targeting the binding of infectious HCV particles to hepatic cells and the virus entry into the cells. These findings suggest that CO-NPs may have novel roles in the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recovery of water and soluble substances from soybean soaking water (SSW) was carried out using an integrated membrane system consisting of ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO). It was found that even using the four-stage UF-UF-RO-RO process with pH adjustment, the quality of RO permeate did not satisfy the emission standard, while the RO permeate from the two-stage UF-RO treatment could be reused for soybean soaking. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) of RO permeate from this process was 1700-2800 mg/L including acetic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid, lactic acid, alcohol, and other unidentified soybean extract with -C═O or -N-H groups, which had negligible effect on the subsequent soybean soaking. The RO permeate was reused for five cycles with addition of tap water (RO permeate/tap water = 1:1.5), and the soaked soybeans were used for Koji making, which showed the similar properties with Koji made from soybeans soaked by tap water. Furthermore, the concentrates in the integrated UF-RO system provided a raw material for culturing algae or preparing animal feed. This work demonstrated that through UF-RO treatment, the wastewater pollution from food industry could be eliminated by resource recovery and utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) is a persistent chemical that has been detected globally in the natural aquatic environment, while the waste discharge of fluoropolymer industry is one of the major sources of PFOA pollution. In this study, the removal and recovery of PFOA by nanofiltration (NF) were investigated with ammonium perfluorooctanoate model solutions under a wide range of PFOA concentrations. Performances of two commercially available NF membranes, namely NF270, NF90, were evaluated. The results show that the NF90 membrane offered a higher PFOA rejection (almost 100% at a PFOA concentration below 800 mg L −1 ). Using NF90 membrane, a model solution with a higher initial PFOA concentration of 1000 mg L −1 was used to further test the membrane performance. Both stable osmotic pressure at membrane surface and high PFOA rejection (99.3%) were obtained when the PFOA concentration was larger than a certain value due to the formation of micelles. Furthermore, membrane operation parameters (i.e. stirring speed, pH, temperature, and permeate flux) on the TMP and the PFOA concentration in permeate were investigated under a much higher initial PFOA concentration (10,000 mg L −1 ). The experimental results clearly confirm that recovery of highly concentrated PFOA of more than 117073.7 mg L −1 could be achieved by one-step NF treatment, while the permeate could be further treated by multi-stage NF to fully recover the PFOA. It was also found that the permeability of membrane could be recovered completely by simple water rinse, suggesting that NF is highly applicable for recovery of PFOA from wastewater in fluoropolymer production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transcription of the covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is subject to dual regulation by host factors and viral proteins. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can regulate the expression of target genes at the post-transcriptional level. Systematic investigation of miRNA expression in HBV infection and the interaction between HBV and miRNAs may deepen our understanding of the transcription mechanisms of HBV cccDNA, thereby providing opportunities for intervention. miRNA sequencing and real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) were used to analyze miRNA expression after HBV infection of cultured cells. Clinical samples were analyzed for miRNAs and HBV transcription-related indicators, using qRT-PCR, enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA), and Western blot. miRNA mimics or inhibitors were used to study their effects on the HBV life cycle. The target genes of miR-3188 and their roles in HBV cccDNA transcription were also identified. The expression of 10 miRNAs, including miR-3188, which was significantly decreased after HBV infection, was measured in clinical samples from patients with chronic HBV infection. Overexpression of miR-3188 inhibited HBV transcription, whereas inhibition of miR-3188 expression promoted HBV transcription. Further investigation confirmed that miR-3188 inhibited HBV transcription by targeting Bcl-2. miR-3188 is a key miRNA that regulates HBV transcription by targeting the host protein Bcl-2. This observation provides insights into the regulation of cccDNA transcription and suggests new targets for anti-HBV treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), as a group of micropollutants with high toxicity, are commonly detected in the environment and difficult to remove. In this work, five commercial polyamide (PA) nanofiltration (NF) membranes were used to treat three PAHs in the synthetic solution or coking wastewater and their removal mechanisms were discussed. By comparing water permeability and PAHs rejections of the NF membranes before and after PAHs adsorption, we found that the PAHs adsorption into the membrane was the dominant rejection mechanism at the initial filtration stage. Due to the limited adsorption capacity and increasing diffusion of PAHs in the membrane, the PAHs rejections would drop rapidly and then reach steady. Size exclusion mechanism was also important to PAHs removal by NF, especially for PAHs with weaker polarity and higher molecular weight. Although the polysulfone intermediate layer could adsorb substantial PAHs resulting in an increase of filtration resistance, the pore blocking and narrowing effects on the PA separation layer were still the main reasons for the permeability loss of NF membranes. However, the glucose rejection did not change obviously after the PAHs adsorption in the membrane. Through analyzing porosity and pore size distribution of the NF membranes before and after PAHs adsorption, we found that for the NF membrane with small pore size and narrow pore size distribution (e.g. NF270), PAHs adsorption produced indiscriminate pore blocking effect, and thus the average pore size and its distribution as well as glucose rejection did not change obviously after fouling formation; while for the NF membrane with large pore size and wide pore size distribution (e.g. NF10), PAHs adsorption occurred more seriously in the larger pores leading to a pore narrowing effect, but the reduced pore size was still too large to affect glucose rejections. The outcomes of this work suggested that the PAHs adsorption in both separation and intermediate layers of NF membranes should be avoided, and the NF membrane with narrow pore size distribution was preferred for PAHs removal. Image 1 • PAHs adsorption and size exclusion are the main mechanisms of PAHs removal by NF. • PAHs adsorb in both polyamide separation layer and polysulfone intermediate layer. • Membrane permeability loss is mainly attributed to the porosity decrease by PAHs adsorption. • PAHs adsorption produces pore blocking and narrowing effects on NF270 and NF10, respectively. • PAHs adsorbed in the membrane are eluted by chemical cleaning and release to the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interrelationship between physicochemical properties and separation performance of nine commercial nanofiltration (NF) membranes was systematically investigated. Seven NF membranes, NT103 and NT102 from Microdyn-Nadir, DF90 and DF30 from OriginWater, NF70, NF40-I and NF40-II from Hangzhou Development Center of Water Treatment Technology, were reported for the first time. FTIR spectra demonstrated that the skin layer of NF90, NT103 and DF90 was made from fully aromatic polyamide, while other membranes were the semi-aromatic ones. The fully aromatic membranes had rougher, thicker and less hydrophilic polyamide layer as well as lower permeability than the semi-aromatic ones. When applying these membranes to concentrate the pretreated dairy wastewater, NF270, DF30 and NF40-I with high lactose rejection, low salt rentention low transmembrane pressure (TMP) and negligible irreversible fouling (IF) are preferable. Furthermore, it was found that the pore size and skin thickness dominated the membrane permeability. Meanwhile, the pore size and TMP produced a negligible effect on the IF, while the higher roughness and contact angle resulted in the higher IF, implying that the main fouling mechanism in this case is the foulants adsorption at membrane surface rather than pore blocking (affected by pore size) or cake formation (its compressibility was influenced by TMP). Moreover, the retentions of both lactose and salts by the tight NF membranes appeared to be governed by steric hindrance. Thus, this work provides a new method to study membrane separation and fouling mechanisms by correlating the physiochemical properties and separation performance of different membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An outbreak of COVID-19 in Shanghai, China, in March 2022 was caused by the Omicron variant. The epidemic lasted for more than 3 months, and the cumulative number of infected people reached 626,000. We investigated the impact of clinical factors on disease outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Using a case-control study design, we examined cases from fever clinics with confirmed Omicron variant infection, analyzed their population and laboratory diagnostic characteristics, and provided theoretical support for subsequent epidemic prevention and control. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with infection with the Omicron variant. The results of this study show that the COVID-19 vaccine can protect against infection with the Omicron variant, and more than 50% of infected people had not been vaccinated. Compared with the epidemic in Wuhan 2 years ago, most of the patients in the hospital in the Shanghai epidemic had underlying diseases (P = 0.006). A comparison of patients infected with the Omicron variant in Shanghai and patients with other respiratory tract infections showed no significant difference in the levels of neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, white blood cells, hemoglobin, or platelets (P > 0.05). People over 60 years old and those with underlying diseases were at risk for pneumonia (OR = 14.62 (5.49-38.92), P < 0.001; OR = 5.29 (2.58-10.85), P < 0.001, respectively), but vaccination was a protective factor (OR = 0.24 (0.12-0.49), P < 0.001). In summary, vaccination has a potential effect on infection with Omicron variant strains and provides protection against pneumonia. The severity of illness caused by the Omicron variant in 2022 was significantly lower than that of the original SARS-CoV-2 variant from two years previously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selenium supplements are beneficial to human health, however, concerns regarding the toxicity of inorganic selenium have stimulated research on safer organic compounds. The main objective of this study was to develop a novel glucosamine-selenium compound (Se-GlcN), clarify its structure, and subsequently investigate its oral toxicity and in vitro anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) activity. Electron microscopy, infrared, ultraviolet spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance and thermogravimetric analyses revealed a unique binding mode of Se-GlcN, with the introduction of the Se-O bond at the C6 position, resulting in the formation of two carboxyl groups. In acute toxicity studies, the median lethal dose (LD 50) of Se-GlcN in ICR mice was 92.31 mg/kg body weight (BW), with a 95 % confidence interval of 81.88–104.07 mg/kg BW. A 30-day subchronic toxicity study showed that 46.16 mg/kg BW Se-GlcN caused livers and kidneys damage in mice, whereas doses of 9.23 mg/kg BW and lower were safe for the livers and kidneys. In vitro studies, Se-GlcN at 1.25 μg/mL exhibited good anti -HBV activity, significantly reducing HBsAg, HBeAg, 3.5 kb HBV RNA and total HBV RNA by 45 %, 54 %, 84 %, 87 %, respectively. In conclusion, the Se-GlcN synthesized in this study provides potential possibilities and theoretical references for its use as an organic selenium supplement. [Display omitted] • A novel selenium glucosamine was developed and structurally characterized. • Selenium glucosamine was safe and low-toxic, with safe doses below 9.23 mg/kg. • The Se-O bond in glucosamine selenium conferred anti -HBV activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of high-performance nanofiltration (NF) membranes with extreme chemical stability is urgently needed for the recovery of spent lithium. In this study, a series of polyurea membranes with high lithium recovery efficiency and pH stability were fabricated by zone-regulated interfacial polymerization (IP). The reaction inhibitor Cu2+ in the bulk aqueous phase reduces IP intensity by reversibly binding to the amino groups of polyethyleneimine monomers through chelate bonds. Meanwhile, surfactant promote the uniform diffusion of macromolecular aqueous monomers at the phase interface. The milder polymerization reaction and the more stable phase interface endow the polyurea membrane (NF 10k PEI-SDS-Cu 2+) with higher water permeance (2.1 L m−2 h−1 bar−1), desirable MgCl 2 rejection (94.7 %), and excellent fabrication repeatability. Moreover, the membrane demonstrates stable separation selectivity for Co2+/Li+ and SO 4 2−/Li+ under conditions of 0.05 mol L−1 H 2 SO 4 and 2 mol L−1 LiOH, respectively. Our study provides a facile method for constructing NF membranes with extreme pH stability and confirms the feasibility of membrane-based lithium recovery. [Display omitted] • The diffusion behavior of aqueous monomers is zone-regulated by adding Cu2+ and SDS. • PEI monomer chelated by Cu2+ reduces its diffusion in bulk phase and the intensity of IP reaction. • SDS improves distribution and diffusion of macromolecular monomers at the phase interface. • Milder IP reaction endows the membrane with better fabrication repeatability, especially for larger PEI. • The PU NF membrane is used for purification of Li + at extreme pH in spent lithium-ion battery recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clarification operations are vital to extract high-quality products from cane molasses. Ultrafiltration (UF) is very efficient for this purpose, although membrane fouling limits its large-scale application. In this work, five commercially available polyethersulfone UF membranes were evaluated for the clarification of molasses, whereby 30–100 kDa membranes were found to be the most suitable for this purpose. In order to minimise fouling formation during molasses clarification, the threshold flux concept was for the first time applied to dilution–concentration membrane processes. The threshold flux in concentration mode could be determined by correlating the average transmembrane pressure, average fouling rate, and specific energy consumption with the permeate flux at the same feed. An optimal dilution factor of eight was found based on such threshold flux concept and, only above the threshold flux, higher retentate concentrations and longer concentration times resulted in obvious fouling aggravation. Moreover, polydopamine coating and subsequent polymer (polyethyleneimine, chitosan oligosaccharide, alginate dialdehyde) grafting were used to tune the membrane surface properties to further control the membrane fouling. It was found that membranes modified with positive charges were more prone to molasses fouling, where the effect of the membrane surface properties on fouling was significant only above the threshold flux. However, pore narrowing after surface modification may increase the foulant retention and accumulation on the membrane, thus exerting certain influence on the threshold flux. The threshold flux value for the clarification of molasses with 50 and 100 kDa UF membranes was found to be 27–32 L m−2 h−1. The outcome of this work not only provides a guide to study threshold fluxes for industrial fluids at high concentrations, but also clarifies the effect of surface modification on the concentration polarisation/fouling formation during the clarification of cane molasses. Image 1 • The threshold flux was determined in dilution–concentration mode for the first time. • Correlation of the pump energy consumption with the permeate flux allows threshold flux determination. • This threshold flux concept can help find the optimal molasses dilution factor. • The negatively charged modified membrane exhibits the greatest antifouling performance. • Above the threshold flux, fouling is more sensitive to the feed and membrane properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Green and sustainable utilization of cane molasses can be achieved by an integrated resin adsorption and nanofiltration process. Highlights • Extracting pigments by nonpolar resin adsorption reduces fouling of loose PES NF. • PES1 membrane has stronger long-term chlorine resistance than polyamide NF membrane. • Short-term chlorine cleaning improves antifouling performance of PES1 membrane. • Tight NF operation can lessen the burden of ion exchange resin adsorption. • The cost of syrup desalination was estimated as 34 USD/ton molasses. Abstract Molasses-based fermentation produces a large amount of wastewater with high salinity and recalcitrant pigments, and thus alternative strategies to efficiently utilize molasses are required. In this study, the clarified molasses were treated by nonpolar resin adsorption to recover caramel pigments, and this operation also greatly alleviated fouling formation on loose nanofiltration (NF) membranes used for molasses decolorization, especially the polyethersulphone (PES) membrane. PES1 membrane (molecular weight cut-off ∼1000 Da, AMFOR) was selected as a substitute for NF5 membrane (340–460 Da, self-made) with a polyamide (PA) separation layer thanks to its stronger long-term chlorine resistance than NF5. The short-term chlorine cleaning at pH 12 could improve the hydrophilicity of PES1 and mitigate its irreversible fouling formation, but such effect decreased color retention by PES1 because the fouling-induced pore narrowing was weakened. The decolorized molasses (the PES1 permeate) were further treated by a tight NF and ion exchange resin adsorption, and the tight NF could not only separate sucrose and reducing sugar, but also retain most divalent ions and residual pigments lessening the burden of the subsequent resin adsorption. The sucrose-rich liquid could be used for sugar crystallization while the desalted reducing sugar was expected to be concentrated to produce syrup. This work offered a complete technological route for green and sustainable utilization of cane molasses from practical application point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel integrated isoelectric precipitation–nanofiltration (NF)–anaerobic fermentation process was proposed for fully recycling model dairy wastewater (MDW). Isoelectric precipitation at pH 4.80 and subsequent centrifugation could remove most proteins. Acetic and butyric acids from anaerobic fermentation were available for acidic precipitation, and the performance was comparable to that of hydrochloric acid. The pretreatment of MDW by precipitation could greatly retard NF membrane fouling, especially at pH 7.09 owing to the electrostatic repulsion between solutes and membrane. NF270 membrane was preferred for MDW concentration due to its high antifouling performance, high permeability and acceptable permeate quality. Anaerobic fermentation fed with model NF retentate without caseins produced higher proportion of acetate, butyrate and hydrogen, and this effluent with shorter-chain volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and lower pH was more suitable for casein precipitation in dairy wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Furfural, found in the lignocellulosic prehydrolyzates at high concentration, is a strong inhibitor of growth and ethanol fermentation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Removal of furfural and concentration of monosaccharides were investigated by using two commercial nanofiltraton (NF) membranes with synthetic glucose–xylose–furfural solution as model. The effects of main operating parameters such as feed pH, permeation flux, temperature and feed concentration on the rejections of the three solutes, were studied. Results showed that rejections of the three solutes decreased with increasing feed pH and temperature, and increased with increasing permeation flux for both membranes. The concentrations of the three solutes had interaction effect on the rejection of furfural by NF90 membrane and rejections of the three solutes by NF270 membrane. Furthermore, the effects of two filtration modes, concentration and diafiltration, on the separation of furfural from monosaccharides were also investigated. With the two commercial NF membranes, concentration and purification of monosaccharides in the model solution can be accomplished. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]