Search

• Serum activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule levels were elevated in the allergic rhinitis patients. • Serum activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule levels were correlated with disease severity of allergic rhinitis. • Serum activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule can predict efficacy of SLIT in allergic rhinitis. Activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) plays an important role in T cell activation and immune response, but the role of ALCAM in allergic rhinitis (AR) remains unclear. The objective of the current study was to validate serum ALCAM as a biomarker in assessing disease severity and predicting the efficacy of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) in AR patients. We recruited 40 healthy controls (HC group), 38 mild AR patients (MAR group) and 80 moderate-severe AR patients (MSAR group) in this study. Serum levels of ALCAM were determined by ELISA, and the association between ALCAM levels and disease severity was evaluated. In the MSAR group, 68 patients underwent and finished 3-years of SLIT, and were divided into effective group and ineffective group, the relationship between ALCAM levels and efficacy of SLIT was exampled. ALCAM levels were elevated in the serum of AR patients in comparison with HC. Moreover, serum ALCAM concentrations were higher in MSAR group than in MAR group and HC group, and levels of ALCAM significantly correlated with AR total nasal symptom score (TNSS) (r = 0.330, P < 0.001), visual analogue scale (VAS) (r = 0.387, P < 0.001) and serum total IgE levels (r = 0.442, P < 0.001). In the effective group, the ALCAM levels were significantly lower than in the ineffective group. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve exhibited good accuracy for predicting clinical efficacy of SLIT (area under the curve = 0.805, P < 0.001). The serum ALCAM maybe a novel biomarker for assessing disease severity and predicting clinical efficacy of SLIT in AR patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Microcystis blooms play an important role in N reduction with different mechanisms. • N isotope test indicated nitrate was reduced mainly by denitrification in the bottom. • Microcystis is able to reduce N from the overlying water through denitrification. • 4 Field study also supported the enhancing effect of Microcystis on denitrification. • This study provided insights into the feedback of Microcystis bloom on N cycle. During the bloom seasons, the dissolved inorganic nitrogen declines, which results in the occurrence of nitrogen limitation. It is unclear where the nitrogen goes. Our enclosure experiments and batch tests suggested that Microcystis blooms could significantly reduce the nitrogen in water bodies and the key mechanisms for the nitrogen reduction in different layers were different. The assimilation was the main pathway for nitrogen reduction in the surface layer, while denitrification played an important role both at the sediment-water interface and in the overlying water. Stable nitrogen isotope experiments showed that the nitrate reduction efficiency at sediment-water interface was enhanced by Microcystis , reaching to 76.5∼84.7 %. Dissimilation accounted for 63.8∼67.3 % of the nitrate reduction, and the denitrification rate was 7.4∼8.5 times of DNRA rate. In the water column, the Microcystis bloom facilitated the formation of dark/anoxic condition, which favored the denitrification. The Microcystis aggregates collected from the field showed a great potential in removing nitrogen, and the TN in the overly water was reduced by 3.76∼6.03 mg L−1 within two days. This study provided field evidences and deeper insights into the relationship between Microcystis blooms and nitrogen reduction in the whole water column and gave more details about the enhancing effects of Microcystis on nitrogen reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• CO 2 curing improved early age strength and water resistance of MOS cement. • PFA/GGBS improved long-term strength and water resistance of CO 2 cured MOS cement. • Adding GGBS presented a more favorable effect than PFA for CO 2 cured MOS cement. This paper aims to investigate the influence of pulverized fuel ash (PFA) and ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) on compressive strength and water resistance of magnesium oxysulfate (MOS) cement with and without CO 2 curing treatment. Hydration products and microstructure of typical samples were also evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential thermal analysis-thermogravimetry (DTA-TG), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) facilities. The results showed that compressive strength of MOS cement was decreased by the addition of PFA or GGBS. The CO 2 curing resulted in a negative effect on compressive strength of MOS cement other than Portland cements. The decreased compressive strength of MOS cement induced by CO 2 curing can be alleviated by incorporation of suitable dosages of PFA or GGBS. Both PFA and GGBS behaved an improvement on the water resistance of MOS due to the formation of magnesium silica hydrate gel (M-S-H gel). Therefore, the coupling effect of PFA or GGBS as partial substitution of magnesium oxide (MgO) and CO 2 curing treatment provides a potential method to manufacture MOS cement with higher durability and lower environmental impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cells of Microcystis are associated with heterotrophic bacteria and organized in colonies in natural environment, which are basic elements in the mass occurrence of cyanobacterial species. Analyzing these colonies by using metagenomics is helpful to understand species composition and relationship. Meanwhile, the difference in population abundance among Microcystis colonies could be used to recover genome bins from metagenome assemblies. Herein, we designed a pipeline to obtain high-quality genomes of mutualistic bacteria from single natural Microcystis colonies. Single colonies were lysed, and then amplified by using multiple displacement amplification to overcome the DNA quantity limit. A two-step assembly was performed after sequencing and scaffolds were grouped into putative bins based on their differential-coverage among species. We analyzed six natural colonies of three prevailing Microcystis species from Lake Taihu. Clustering results proved that colonies of the same species were similar in the microbial community composition. Eight putative population genome bins with wide bacterial diversity and different GC content were identified based on coverage difference among colonies. At the phylum level, proteobacteria was the most abundant besides cyanobacteria. Six of the population bins were further refined into nearly complete genomes (completeness > 90%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Facile and Convenient Synthesis of N'1,N'3-Dialkyl-N'1,N'3-bis(arylcarbonothioyl)-malonohydrazides via Propylphosphonic Anhydride Coupling" by Zhiqiang Xia and colleagues is presented.