Search

Partial oxidation of methane (CH4) to value-added products is significantly challenging due to the highly inert chemical property of CH4 at ambient conditions and easy over-oxidation into carbon dioxide (CO2) or carbon monoxide (CO) at elevated temperatures and pressures. Targeting this challenge, the efficient photocatalytic coupling of CO2 and CH4 into ethanol is demonstrated, using a cerium (Ce)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) photocatalyst with abundant Ce--O--Zn units. Under light illumination, CO2 is adsorbed on the Ce atoms and photo-reduced to CO, and CH4 is captured by the Zn atoms and photo-oxidized to hydroperoxymethane (CH3OOH). The close proximity of Ce and Zn atoms on the Ce--O--Zn units allowed to further efficiently couple the as-formed CO and CH3OOH into ethanol. Without additional Oxygen (O2) oxidant or sacrificial regent, the ethanol production rate reached 580 µmol g-1 h-1, substantially exceeding previously reports on photocatalytic CH4 oxidation. This work features to convert two greenhouse gases into value-added chemicals with adjacent and asymmetric reaction sites, suggesting attractive potentials for CH4 and CO2 utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the effects of an herbal formula, WL2, on weight loss, lipid metabolism, and associated angiogenesis status. Male SD rats were pre-fed a high-calorie-diet (HCD) for 6 wks to prior establish obesity. Obese rats were randomized to receive vehicle or WL2 (1.5 g/kg) by gavage for 10 wks. Reduced BW was seen with WL2 at Wk 2 and later weeks (p<0.05∼0.01). At Wk 10, BW and weight of abdominal fat pad and the liver were reduced with WL2 by 5.6%, 38% & 13% (p<0.01). Size and total number of adipocytes were reduced with WL2, represented by increased adipocyte number per microscopic view field and reduced total DNA in fat pad (p<0.05). Plasma LDL-c, VEGF, leptin, and adiponectin was decreased with WL2 by 39%, 33%, 35% & 27%, while HDL-c and glucagon increased by 18% & 17% (all p<0.01). Reduced liver weight associates with improvement of hepatic fatty degeneration and steatohepatitis (p=0.006). Gene expression array displays multiple changes in gene expression in many tissues, suggesting enhanced thermogenesis and adipocyte apoptosis, optimized glucose-lipid-protein metabolism, and improved muscle cell survival. In conclusion, WL2 intervention reduces BW and improves energy-glucose-lipid metabolism in DIO through multiple metabolic pathways. The reduced mass of adipose tissue associates with reduction of circulating leptin and adiponectin, inhibition of angiogenesis and optimization of multiple metabolic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wang, Jinxia, Jikun Huang, Lijuan Zhang, Qiuqiong Huang, and Scott Rozelle, 2010. Water Governance and Water Use Efficiency: The Five Principles of WUA Management and Performance in China. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(4): 665-685. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00439.x In recent years China has attempted to reform water management by decentralizing water management responsibilities. The overall goal of our paper is to better understand the emergence of water user associations (WUAs) in China and assess if they are adhering to the practices spelled out by the Five Principles, a set of recommended practices that are supposed to lead to successful WUA operation. Using four sets of different types of villages to examine implementation and performance, we find that World Bank-supported WUA villages (“Bank villages”) can be thought of as operating mostly according to the Five Principles. For example, the Bank villages were endowed with a more reliable water supply; were set up and were operating with a relatively high degree of farmer participation; and leaders were more consultative and the process more formal. When WUAs are run according to the Five Principals, we show that WUAs increase water use efficiency. The study also provides evidence that there is a perception in the Bank villages that water management is improving in general and that there is less conflict both within the village and among villages. Perhaps more importantly, we find that the Bank’s effort to promote WUAs extended beyond their own project villages. The openness, consultative nature, and transparency found in the Bank WUAs are also found (albeit at a somewhat lower level) in the non-Bank WUA villages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generalised space shift keying (GSSK) technique proposed for massive multi-input-multi-output systems has a higher information transmission rate due to the activation of multiple antennas at the same time, and also has significant advantage in terms of hardware cost. However, the maximum likelihood detector has a very high complexity which makes it computationally intractable for largescale GSSK systems. In this Letter, a sparse detector is proposed by exploiting the inherent property of sparsity in GSSK. Different from the existing compressed sensing (CS)-based detectors, the proposed detector utilises Euclidean distance instead of inner product operation for antenna matching. Moreover, it can remove erroneous antenna indices by backtracking to promote the detection performance. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme outperforms the existing CS-based detectors while maintaining low complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute peritonitis is an acute inflammatory response of the peritoneal cavity to physical injury and chemical stimulation. Timely resolution of this response is critical to prevent further damage to the body, which can eventually lead to more severe chronic inflammation. Arctigenin (ATG) is the main active ingredient of the Chinese medicine Arctium lappa. In recent years, there have been an increasing number of studies on the anti-inflammatory effect of ATG, but there have been few studies on the effect of ATG on acute inflammation, especially in acute peritonitis, which has not been reported. In this study, a mouse model of experimental acute peritonitis induced by thioglycolate (TG) solution was used to study the protective anti-inflammatory effect of ATG against acute peritonitis and the relevant mechanism. Our results showed that, after 12 hours of TG treatment, ATG significantly reduced inflammatory cell infiltration in mouse tissues and inhibited the secretion and expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in mice. ATG significantly reduced the percentage of CD11b+Ly6G+ neutrophils and F4/80+ macrophages in the spleen and peritoneal exudate. In addition, ATG significantly inhibited the expression of the chemokines CCL3 and CCL4 and the adhesion molecule CD62L on the surface of CD11b-positive monocytes. ATG was observed to inhibit the phosphorylation of p65 and p38 in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. In conclusion, ATG can improve the symptoms of TG-induced acute peritonitis through immune regulation. ATG can reduce the inflammatory response in TG-induced acute peritonitis in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We recently reported that epicatechin, a bioactive compound that occurs naturally in various common foods, promoted general health and survival of obese diabetic mice. It remains to be determined whether epicatechin extends health span and delays the process of aging. In the present study, epicatechin or its analogue epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) (0.25% w/v in drinking water) was administered to 20-mo-old male C57BL mice fed a standard chow. The goal was to determine the antiaging effect. The results showed that supplementation with epicatechin for 37 wk strikingly increased the survival rate from 39 to 69%, whereas EGCG had no significant effect. Consistently, epicatechin improved physical activity, delayed degeneration of skeletal muscle (quadriceps), and shifted the profiles of the serum metabolites and skeletal muscle general mRNA expressions in aging mice toward the profiles observed in young mice. In particular, we found that dietary epicatechin significantly reversed age-altered mRNA and protein expressions of extracellular matrix and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor pathways in skeletal muscle, and reversed the age-induced declines of the nicotinate and nicotinamide pathway both in serum and skeletal muscle. The present study provides evidence that epicatechin supplementation can exert an antiaging effect, including an increase in survival, an attenuation of the aging-related deterioration of skeletal muscles, and a protection against the aging-related decline in nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new spirostanol saponins, kingianoside I 1 and kingianoside K 2, corresponding to 3β,23S,25R23hydroxy12oxospirost5en3yl 4OβDglucopyranosylβDgalactopyranoside 1 and 3β,25R7oxospirost5en3yl αLarabinofuranosyl1→46deoxyαLmannopyranosyl1→2βDglucopyranoside 2, along with 13 known compounds, daucosterol, 25Rkingianoside G, 25RSkingianoside A, pratioside D1, 25RSpratioside D1, 25Skingianoside C, kingianoside C, ginsenoside Rb1, saponins Tb and Pb, dioscin, gracillin, and saponin Pa, were isolated from the processed rhizomes of Polygonatum kingianum.The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by detailed spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2DNMR techniques, and chemical methods. Compound 2contains a novel unusual spirostanol saponin aglycone. Ginsenoside Rb1and saponin Tb were isolated for the first time from the genus Polygonatum.The 13 known compounds were detected for the first time in the processed Polygonatum kingianum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Alcohol consumption is associated with the risk of progressive cancers including colon and breast cancer. The mechanisms for the alcohol-induced aggressive behavior of these epithelial cancer cells have not been fully identified. Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a developmental program recently shown to play a role in cancer progression and metastases. We hypothesized that alcohol might promote cancer progression by inducing EMT in cancer cells and tested this hypothesis by assessing alcohol-stimulated changes in phenotypic markers of EMT as well as the EMT transcription factor Snail and its related cell signaling. Methods: Colon and breast cancer cell lines and a normal intestinal epithelial cell line were tested as well as colonic mucosal biopsy samples from alcoholic subjects. Cells were treated with alcohol and assessed for EMT-related changes using immunofluorescent microscopy, western blotting, reporter assays, RT-PCR, and knockdown of Snail with siRNA. Results: We show alcohol upregulated the signature EMT phenotypic marker vimentin as well as matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-2, MMP-7, and MMP-9 and cell migration in colon and breast cancer cells—all characteristics of EMT. Alcohol also stimulated nuclear localization of Snail phosphorylated at Ser246, transcription from a Snail reporter plasmid, and Snail mRNA expression by RT-PCR. Snail siRNA knockdown prevented alcohol-stimulated vimentin expression. In vivo, Snail expression was significantly elevated in colonic mucosal biopsies from alcoholics. Also, we found alcohol stimulated activation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling and an EGFR inhibitor blocked alcohol-induced cell migration and Snail mRNA expression. Conclusions: Collectively, our data support a novel mechanism for alcohol promoting cancer progression through stimulating the EMT program in cancer cells via an EGFR-Snail mediated pathway. This study reveals new pathways for alcohol-mediated promotion of cancer that could be targeted for therapy or prevention of alcohol-related cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]