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Recently, an innovative method for wastewater treatment and nutrient removal was developed by combining the sequence batch reactor and membrane bioreactor to overcome pollution caused by shipboard sewage. This system is a modified form of the activated sludge process and involves repeated cycles of mixing and aeration. In the present study, the bacterial diversity and dominant microbial community in this wastewater treatment system were studied using the MACROGEN next generation sequencing technique. A high diversity of bacteria was observed in anaerobic and aerobic bioreactors, with approximately 486 species. Microbial diversity and the presence of beneficial species are crucial for an effective biological shipboard wastewater treatment system. The Arcobacter genus was dominant in the anaerobic tank, which mainly contained Arcobacter lanthieri (8.24%), followed by Acinetobacter jahnsonii (5.81%). However, the dominant bacterial species in the aerobic bioreactor were Terrimonas lutea (7.24%) and Rubrivivax gelatinosus (4.95%).

Yellow-soybean-leaf extract includes kaempferol glycosides and pheophorbides that reduce obesity and plasma glucose levels. This study researched the molecular mechanisms underlying the glucose-lowering effect of the extract of black-soybean leaves (EBL), which mainly contains quercetin glycosides and isorhamnetin glycosides, in mice with high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obesity and diabetes and in HepG2 cells. Twelve weeks of EBL supplementation decreased body weight and fasting glucose, glycated hemoglobin, insulin, triglyceride, and nonesterified fatty acid levels. Histological analyses manifested that EBL suppressed hepatic steatosis. Interestingly, EBL significantly improved plasma adiponectin levels and increased adiponectin-receptor-gene ( AdipoR1 and AdipoR2) expression in the liver. EBL restored the effects of HFD on hepatic AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and on the family of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARα, PPARδ, and PPARγ), which are associated with fatty acid metabolism and are downstream of the adiponectin receptors. Hence, EBL effectively diminished hyperglycemia and hepatic steatosis through enhancing adiponectin-induced signaling and AMPK activation in the liver.

Livestock manure treatments have become a more serious problem because massive environmental pollutions such as green and red tides caused by non-point pollution sources from livestock manures have emerged as a serious social issue. In addition, more food wastes are being produced due to population growth and increased income level. Since the London Convention has banned the ocean dumping of wastes, some other waste treatment methods for land disposal had to be developed and applied. At the same time, researches have been conducted to develop alternative energy sources from various types of wastes. As a result, anaerobic digestion as a waste treatment method has become an attractive solution. In this study has three objectives: first, to identify the physical properties of the mixture of livestock wastewater and food waste when combining food waste treatment with the conventional livestock manure treatment based on anaerobic mesophilic digestion; second, to find the ideal ratio of waste mixture that could maximize the collection efficiency of methane (CH4) from the anaerobic digestion process; and third, to promote CH4 production by comparing the biodegradability. As a result of comparing the reactors R1, R2, and R3, each containing a mixture of food waste and livestock manure at the ratio of 5:5, 7:3, and 3:7, respectively, R2 showed the optimum treatment efficiencies for the removal of Total Solids (TS) and Volatile Solids (VS), CH4 production, and biodegradability.

We aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms for low bioavailability of Platycodin D (PD) in rats. The bioavailability of PD was 1.89% with different half-lives depending on the administration route (2.14 ± 0.18 h for intravenous injection vs 5.42 ± 1.9 h for oral administration). The mean absorption time was 6.3 h calculated from the mean residence time of both administration routes. Consistent with these parameters, rat intestinal permeability using 3 different intestinal segments showed a low but greatest permeability in lower ileum (0.05 × 10−6 cm/s in jejunum and upper ileum vs 0.13 × 10−6 cm/s in lower ileum). The involvement of efflux system, probably Mrps, in upper ileum, could be explained from the efflux ratio of 6.4 and reduced efflux ratio by an Mrp inhibitor, MK571. The recovery of unchanged PD after the intravenous and oral administration was 50% and 5.2%, respectively, suggesting the contribution of gastrointestinal metabolism. In the gastrointestinal content, 4 metabolites of PD were identified: acetylated PD (m/z 1265.6), deglucose PD (m/z 1061.5), deapiose PD (m/z 1091.5), and deapiose-dexylose-derhamnose PD (m/z 813.4). In conclusion, the intestinal first-pass effect such as the presence of efflux functions in the upper ileum, limited but steady intestinal permeability, and gastrointestinal metabolism could explain the low bioavailability and prolonged absorption time of orally administered PD.

Soybeans, produced by Glycine max (L.) Merr., contain high levels of isoflavones, such as genistein and daidzein. However, soy leaves contain more diverse and abundant flavonol glycosides and coumestans, as compared to the soybean. This study investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of the major coumestans present in soy leaf (coumestrol, isotrifoliol, and phaseol) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cells. Coumestans significantly reduced LPS-induced nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production; isotrifoliol had the most potent anti-inflammatory activity. Isotrifoliol reduced LPS-mediated induction of mRNA expression of inducible nitric-oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), and chemokines, such as chemokine (C-C motif) ligand (CCL) 2, CCL3, and CCL4. Isotrifoliol prevented NF-κB p65 subunit activation by reducing the phosphorylation and degradation of the inhibitor of NF-κB. And isotrifoliol significantly suppressed phosphorylation of the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). Furthermore, isotrifoliol suppressed LPS-induced Toll-like Receptor (TLR) signaling pathway, including mRNA expression of TNF receptor associated factor 6, transforming growth factor beta-activated kinase 1 (TAK1), TAK1 binding protein 2 (TAB2), and TAB3. These results demonstrate that isotrifoliol exerts an anti-inflammatory effect by suppressing the expression of inflammatory mediators via inhibition of TLR/NF-κB and TLR/MAPK signaling in LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages. Therefore, isotrifoliol can be used as an anti-inflammatory agent, and coumestan-rich soy leaf extracts may provide a useful dietary supplement.

To investigate the effects of extraction solvents and drying methods on Plectranthus hadiensis var. tomentosus quality, eight compounds were isolated and the content of active compounds with their antioxidant activities were compared. Compounds 1 and 2 were known antioxidants, whereas the low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-antioxidant activities of compounds 3, 5, 6, and 7 are reported for the first time, with IC50 values of 2.5, 3.8, 22.8, and 53.7 μM, respectively. Our analysis of 30‒95% ethanol extracts from freeze- and air-dried leaves and stems revealed a relationship between extract composition and antioxidant activity. The 95% ethanol extracts of freeze-dried stems (FDS) exhibited highest phenolic and flavonoid content, which were 1.40 and 2.67 times, respectively, greater than those of air-dried stems (ADS), and very high LDL-antioxidant and DPPH radical scavenging activities, which may have resulted from the phenolic ester rosmarinic acid (2), a major component of FDS extracts and potent antioxidant. In contrast, the 95% ethanol extracts of ADS exhibited relatively low antioxidant activity, possibly owing to the low antioxidant activity of the main components ayanin (7) and (+)-plectranthone (8). These results are important for the development of P. hadiensis var. tomentosus as an effective natural antioxidant material.

Blueberry fruit exhibits strong antioxidant activity owing to the presence of anthocyanin. As blueberry-leaf extract (BLE) contains chlorogenic acid and flavonol glycosides, we hypothesized that phenolic-enriched BLE would improve glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity. In this study, we examined whether BLE administration decreases the glucose levels and enhances the pancreatic function in mice with high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and diabetes. C57BL/6J mice were divided into the following four groups: control diet (CD), HFD (60 kcal% fat diet), BLE (HFD with 1% BLE wt/wt diet), and yerba mate extract (YME; HFD with 0.5% YME wt/wt diet). Dietary BLE and YME reduced glucose tolerance, body weight, and plasma glucose, glycated hemoglobin, insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, triglyceride (TG), and non-esterified fatty acid levels. Compared with those of the HFD group, BLE was found to significantly reduce the pancreatic islet size and insulin content. Moreover, it increased the mRNA levels of pancreatic β-cell proliferation-related genes, Ngn3, MafA, Pax4, Ins1, and Ins2, and pancreatic insulin signaling-related genes, IRS-1, IRS-2, PIK3ca, PDK1, PKCe, and GLUT-2, and decreased the transcriptional expression of the β-cell apoptosis-related gene, FoxO1. Both BLE and YME improved insulin sensitivity by inhibiting TG synthesis and enhancing lipid utilization in the liver and white adipose tissue (WAT). In pancreatic MIN6 β-cells, BLE and its main component (chlorogenic acid) increased β-cell proliferation and promoted insulin signaling. Overall, BLE enriched with phenolic compounds has the capacity to prevent HFD-induced glucose tolerance and hyperglycemia by improving the pancreatic β-cell function.

Testing for potential drug interactions of new chemical entities is essential when developing a novel drug. In this study, an assay was designed to evaluate drug interactions with 10 major human cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes incubated in liver microsomes, involving 12 probe substrates with two cocktail incubation sets used in a single liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) run. The P450 substrate composition in each cocktail set was optimized to minimize solvent effects and mutual drug interactions among substrates as follows: cocktail A was composed of phenacetin for CYP1A2, bupropion for CYP2B6, amodiaquine for CYP2C8, diclofenac for CYP2C9, S-mephenytoin for CYP2C19, and dextromethorphan for CYP2D6; cocktail B was composed of coumarin for CYP2A6, chlorzoxazone for CYP2E1, astemizole for CYP2J2, and midazolam, nifedipine, and testosterone for CYP3A. Multiple probe substrates were used for CYP3A owing to the multiple substrate-binding sites and substrate-dependent inhibition. After incubation in human liver microsomes, each incubation mixture was pooled and all probe metabolites were simultaneously analysed in a single LC-MS/MS run. Polarity switching was used to acquire the negative-ion mode for hydroxychlorzoxazone and positive-ion mode for the remaining analytes. The method was validated by comparing the inhibition data obtained from incubation of each individual probe substrate alone and with the substrate cocktails. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration values obtained from the cocktail and individual incubations were well correlated and in agreement with previously reported values. This new method will be useful in assessing the drug interaction potential of new chemical entities during new drug development.

Cytochrome P450 (P450) and uridine 5'-diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) are major metabolizing enzymes in the biotransformation of most drugs. Altered P450 and UGT activities are a potential cause of adverse drug-drug interaction. A method for the simultaneous evaluation of the activities of five P450s (CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, and CYP3A) and four UGTs (UGT1A1, UGT1A4, UGT1A9, and UGT2B7) was developed using in vitro cocktail incubation and tandem mass spectrometry. The nine probe substrates used in this assay were phenacetin (CYP1A2), diclofenac (CYP2C9), S-mephenytoin (CYP2C19), dextromethorphan (CYP2D6), midazolam (CYP3A), 7-ethyl-10-hydroxy-camptothecin (SN-38) (UGT1A1), trifluoperazine (UGT1A4), mycophenolic acid (UGT1A9), and naloxone (UGT2B7). This new method involves incubation of two cocktail doses and single cassette analysis. The two cocktail doses and the concentration of each probe substrate in vitro were determined to minimize mutual drug interactions among substrates. Cocktail A comprised phenacetin, diclofenac, S-mephenytoin, dextromethorphan, and midazolam, whereas cocktail B comprised SN-38, trifluoperazine, mycophenolic acid, and naloxone. In the incubation study of these cocktails, the reaction mixtures were pooled and simultaneously analyzed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The method was validated by comparing inhibition data obtained from the incubation of each probe substrate alone with data from the cocktail method. The IC50 values obtained in both cocktail and individual incubations were in agreement with values previously reported in the literature. This cocktail method offers a rapid and robust way to simultaneously evaluate phase I and II enzyme inhibition profiles of many new chemical entities. This new method will also be useful in the drug discovery process and for advancing the mechanistic understanding of drug interactions.

Roles of energy storage systems (ESSs) in microgrid control are very important because a microgrid has uncontrollable energy sources such as the wind turbine and power trade with the utility grid. Especially, the ESSs have different characteristics – power density and energy density. The characteristics show a trade-off. For this reason, the coordinated control among ESSs considering their characteristics is required. In this paper, a coordinated control of SMES and BESS is tested with high reliability using the hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HILS) system in two grid-connected and islanded modes.

International Maritime Organization recognizes vessel-induced pollution as a global issue. The designation of the Baltic Sea as the special uncontaminated area was the beginning of the regulations for preventing marine pollution. In this regard, a process is needed which meets the provisions of MEPC. 227(64) for the specificity and constrained conditions of vessels, removes both nitrogen and phosphorus, requires convenient operation and low construction cost and is little affected by the load variation of inflow. This study used an SBR(sequencing batch reactor) and MBR(membrane bioreactor) combined process to iterate the stirring and aeration process and maintained the ratio of raw wastewater parameters (C:N:P) to be 10:3:1 in order to assess the quality and future availability of ultimate outflow in each time period of the stirring and aeration process. The removal efficiencies of COD and T-N exceeded 90% and 93% respectively. However, a detailed mechanism will be identified by a further study on nitrogen removal issues like DO aeration condition, stirring duration, ORP and NO3. As the removal efficiency of T-P exceeded 95%, the SBR and MBR process formed anaerobic and aerobic conditions without a separate coagulation process for removing phosphorus, thereby enabling easy phosphorus release and uptake. The optimal stirring and aeration condition seems to be 70&ndash, 50 min. A further study will be efficiently conducted by focusing on the water quality criteria of the Maritime Environment Protect Committee. 227 (64) for E. coli and chlorine and a detailed mechanism.

A rice genic male-sterility gene ms-h is recessive and has a pleiotropic effect on the chalky endosperm. After fine mapping, nucleotide sequencing analysis of the ms-h gene revealed a single nucleotide substitution at the 3'-splice junction of the 14th intron of the UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase 1 (UGPase1; EC2.7.7.9) gene, which causes the expression of two mature transcripts with abnormal sizes caused by the aberrant splicing. An in vitro functional assay showed that both proteins encoded by the two abnormal transcripts have no UGPase activity. The suppression of UGPase by the introduction of a UGPase1-RNAi construct in wild-type plants nearly eliminated seed set because of the male defect, with developmental retardation similar to the ms-h mutant phenotype, whereas overexpression of UGPase1 in ms-h mutant plants restored male fertility and the transformants produced T(1) seeds that segregated into normal and chalky endosperms. In addition, both phenotypes were co-segregated with the UGPase1 transgene in segregating T(1) plants, which demonstrates that UGPase1 has functional roles in both male sterility and the development of a chalky endosperm. Our results suggest that UGPase1 plays a key role in pollen development as well as seed carbohydrate metabolism.

Scope The health beneficial effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) have been attributed to its anti-inflammatory properties. However, the molecular mechanism underlying anti-inflammatory effects of DHA remains largely elusive. Methods and results In the present study, DHA was found to suppress the phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) induced by Helicobacter pylori infection in human gastric cancer AGS cells. Notably, DHA induced expression of suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3), a negative regulator of STAT3. Knockdown of SOCS3 abolished the suppressive effect of DHA on STAT3(Tyr705) phosphorylation induced by H. pylori infection. DHA also induced nuclear translocation, DNA binding, and transcriptional activities of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) in AGS cells. Knockdown of PPARγ inhibited the transcription of SOCS3 and attenuated the suppressive effect of DHA on phosphorylation of STAT3(Tyr705) induced by H. pylori. The PPARγ antagonist bisphenol A diglycidyl ether also mitigated the suppressive effect of DHA on H. pylori-induced phosphorylation of STAT3(Tyr705) . In addition, DHA inhibited the expression of c-Myc, which was attenuated in the AGS cells harboring SOCS3 specific siRNA. DHA also markedly decreased anchorage-independent growth of AGS cells infected by H. pylori. Conclusion DHA inhibits H. pylori-induced STAT3 phosphorylation in a PPARγ/SOCS3-dependent manner.

OSH6 (Oryza sativa Homeobox6) is an ortholog of lg3 (Liguleless3) in maize. We generated a novel allele, termed OSH6-Ds, by inserting a defective Ds element into the third exon of OSH6, which resulted in a truncated OSH6 mRNA. The truncated mRNA was expressed ectopically in leaf tissues and encoded the N-terminal region of OSH6, which includes the KNOX1 and partial KNOX2 subdomains. This recessive mutant showed outgrowth of bracts or produced leaves at the basal node of the panicle. These phenotypes distinguished it from the OSH6 transgene whose ectopic expression led to a "blade to sheath transformation" phenotype at the midrib region of leaves, similar to that seen in dominant Lg3 mutants. Expression of a similar truncated OSH6 cDNA from the 35S promoter (35S::DeltaOSH6) confirmed that the ectopic expression of this product was responsible for the aberrant bract development. These data suggest that OSH6-Ds interferes with a developmental mechanism involved in bract differentiation, especially at the basal nodes of panicles.

Insertional mutagen-mediated gene tagging populations have been essential resources for analyzing the function of plant genes. In rice, maize transposable elements have been successfully utilized to produce transposant populations. However, many generations and substantial field space are required to obtain a sufficiently sized transposant population. In rice, the japonica and indica subspecies are phenotypically and genetically divergent. Here, callus cultures with seeds carrying Ac and Ds were used to produce 89,700 lines of Dongjin, a japonica cultivar, and 6,200 lines of MGRI079, whose genome is composed of a mixture of the genetic backgrounds of japonica and indica. Of the more than 3,000 lines examined, 67% had Ds elements. Among the Ds-carrying lines, 81% of Dongjin and 63% of MGRI079 contained transposed Ds, with an average of around 2.0 copies. By examining more than 15,000 lines, it was found that 12% expressed the reporter gene GUS during the early-seedling stage. GUS was expressed in root hairs and crown root initials at estimated frequencies of 0.78% and 0.34%, respectively. The 5,271 analyzed Ds loci were found to be randomly distributed over all of the rice chromosomes.