Notes

2 crystallographic types and the complete composition associated with 5α,14α-androstane.
The ITC results and interaction energy calculations indicate that the adsorption of PMG onto the kaolinite-HA is more energetically favorable relative to that onto kaolinite. MD simulations suggest that the PMG molecule adsorbs parallel to the surface of kaolinite and the composites through hydrogen bonding. Humic acid increases the adsorption of PMG through the creation of H-bond networks between PMG, the kaolinite surface, and humic acid. The results from this study improve our molecular-level understanding of the interactions between PMG and two important components of soil systems, and hence yield valuable information for characterizing the fate and behavior of PMG in soil environments.Microplastic (MP) pollution has become an emerging global concern in marine environments, but research on the uptake of MPs by commercial marine fish is relatively sparse. In this study, 29 commercial fish species (n = 584) with different feeding habits and trophic levels were collected from 8 sites along the Bohai Sea for MP uptake analysis. Approximately 85.4% of the total fish among all species ingested MPs, and there was an average abundance of 2.14 items/individual or 0.043 items/g of wet weight. Compared with other studies, MP pollution in fishes from the Bohai Sea was relatively moderate. The MPs were predominantly fibrous in shape and were cellophane, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polypropylene (PP) in polymer composition. The highest abundance and polymer composition of MPs was observed in benthivores, suggesting that they might ingest these MPs from their food. The small fish Konosirus punctatus, which had a high level of MPs, may increase the risk of human exposure to the MPs when it is dried and consumed. Moreover, the spatial variation of MPs was determined in terms of abundance, shape composition, and major polymer types, but there was no marked relationship between MP abundance and the trophic levels of fish. Overall, this study provides a basis for the ecological risk assessment of MPs in fish and for a health risk assessment for human beings.Anaerobic process has been widely applied as a cost-effective method for textile wastewater treatment. However, many bacteria exhibit low metabolic activity in unfavorable conditions due to the entry into a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state. Thus, in this study, a novel method of using resuscitation-promoting factors (Rpfs), which has been proven to resuscitate and stimulate the growth of VBNC bacteria, is explored to enhance the degradation of the anthraquinone dye reactive blue 19 (RB19) in the anaerobic process. The results show that Rpfs could efficiently prompt RB19 decolorization. Compared to the conventional anaerobic condition, RB19 decolorization efficiency was increased by more than 20% with the Rpf addition. UV-visible spectral and gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry analysis indicate that the aromatic amines structures of RB19 was cleaved. More importantly, the Rpf addition appeared to stimulate and/or enrich some dye-degrading species of the family Peptostreptococcaceae, thus leading to a higher RB19 decolorization efficiency.This work shows the potential of using photochemical modelling to assess the river-water ability to photodegrade agrochemicals on a geographic and temporal scale. The case of flowing water requires different data treatment compared to more stationary water bodies (e.g., lakes), but it could allow for the identification of particularly vulnerable environments. Five pesticides were considered here, and the photodegradation rate followed the order bentazon > isoproturon > dimethomorph ∼ chlortoluron > atrazine. The modelled photodegradation kinetics was particularly fast in the river Po, which receives significant input of agricultural nitrate from groundwater and features higher steady-state [•OH] than most other rivers in the region. The fact that the Po eventually collects all river waters in Piedmont is positive, from the point of view of comprehensive photodegradation of pesticides. However, this paradoxical situation of agricultural pollution (nitrate) helping fight pollution from the same source (pesticides) has two important limitations (i) when compared to the parent compounds, some intermediates deriving from •OH reactions are either more harmful (N-formyl derivatives of phenylureas), or about as harmful (desethyl atrazine); (ii) banned atrazine is no longer sprayed over fields during the plant growth season, but it reaches surface waters from legacy groundwater inputs. The latter are operational also during winter, when photochemistry is least active. Therefore, photochemistry might not ensure considerable attenuation of atrazine during wintertime. Overall, bentazon would be the safest among the studied pesticides because of fast degradation by direct photolysis, and of low ecotoxicological impact of its phototransformation intermediates.In this study, seasonal/regional variations of Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/DFs) and dioxin like-polychlorinated biphenyls in the ambient air were monitored for ten years (2008-2017) using a high volume air sampler. As a result of strict regulation enforced by Korea Ministry of Environment in 2008, PCDD/DFs concentrations in the ambient air decreased from 0.051 pg I-TEQ Sm-3 in 2009 to 0.014 pg I-TEQ Sm-3 in 2017 which was comparably associated with cut-down of their emission sources from 880.2 g I-TEQ Sm-3 in 2001 to 24.2 g I-TEQ Sm-3 in 2015; revealing that it was only 2.7% against that of 2001. In 2017, mean TEQ concentration level of PCDD/DFs in the air of South Korea was quite low in comparison to its ambient environmental standards of 0.6 pg I-TEQ Sm-3 for PCDD/DFs. Particularly, the sum of PCDD/DFs in the background revealed the lowest level, however, the fraction of octachlorodibenzodioxin among other isomers exposed at the highest level in this study, suggesting that the ambient air quality in the background being studied was severely and persistently impaired by inflowing unknown sources of any possible anthropogenic transboundary migratory air pollutants. Moreover, this study conducted the scientific analysis of the long-term variations in the ambient air and emission sources using principal component analysis. From this of 10 years long-term nationwide assessments for the PCDD/DFs and dl-PCBs in the ambient air, it is possible to prove that South Korean environmental policy to manage POPs has been successfully conducted for the last ten years.An increasing number of researches have shown that fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is closely related to increased respiratory inflammation and can even lead to lung cancer. Estrogen receptor β (ERβ) has been demonstrated to be involved in several cancers. However, the exact role of ERβ in PM2.5 organic extract (Po)-promoted inflammation and lung cancer remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether ERβ is involved in Po induced inflammation and lung cancer. In vitro, our results showed that interleukin-6 (IL-6) and ERβ were simultaneously increased in lung bronchial epithelial cells exposed to Po; additionally, inhibition of ERβ decreased IL-6 expression and secretion through inactivating ERK and AKT and further promoted cells malignant transformation. Moreover, we performed an animal model of inhalation exposure to Po using female C57BL/6 mice. Although we were unable to find tumor tissue in mice exposed to Po, we detected evidence of lung inflammation, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype and severe pulmonary injury; in addition, intraperitoneal injection of PHTPP (an ERβ inhibitor) showed that the above phenomena have been improved, which demonstrate that Po stimulates IL-6 expression to promote inflammation, EMT phenotype and lung injury through the ERβ pathway. In conclusion, our results confirmed the potential toxic effect of PM2.5, and increased our understanding of PM2.5 carcinogenic potential by exploring the mechanism of ERβ regulating inflammation.The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) on growth parameters and levels of stress-related metabolites in Acer pseudoplatanus, Betula pendula and Quercus robur. The increase of DMA concentration in the solution led to a notable growth retardation of trees. An intense As accumulation (mainly As(III) and As(V)) expressed as BCF and TF > 1 was recorded only for Q. robur. Generally a decrease in contents of cellulose, hemicellulose and holocellulose with a simultaneous increase in lignin content were recorded. Phenolic composition of leaf extracts was modified by DMA, while root and rhizosphere extracts were poor in phenolics. Toxicity of DMA leads to a significant drop in salicylic acid content in leaves observed at lower doses. Higher DMA levels caused a second, probably ROS-derived depletion of the metabolite accompanied with a severe growth retardation, most pronounced in the case of B. pendula. DMA caused the inhibition of LMWOA biosynthesis in roots of A. pseudoplatanus, B. pendula and their exudation into the rhizosphere, while in Q. robur roots and leaves a stimulation of their accumulation was observed. Disturbances in the activity of enzymatic antioxidants were observed for all the species following the increasing level of DMA.In recent years, several changes have been made to the composition of various products which are used indoors. Plenty of new chemical additives have been incorporated to materials to comply with current legislation and safety rules. Consequently, the emission profiles of contaminants detected indoors may change over time, requiring continuous monitoring. In this study, dust samples were collected from 25 homes located in the Flemish region of Belgium during different seasons (winter and summer). Our aim was the development of a suspect screening workflow for the identification of new chemicals which might have been applied to indoor goods, released into the indoor environment, and accumulated in dust. An in-house suspect list was curated including selected groups of compounds, namely "phthalates", "phosphates", "terephthalates", "citrates", "trimellitates", (di-, tri-, tetra-) "carboxylic acids", "adipates", "azelates", "sebacates", (di-)"benzoates", and "succinates". 63 chemicals were prioritized based on their level of identification and detection frequency in samples. Seasonal comparison was tested, indicating that higher temperatures of summer might facilitate the release of few chemicals from the products into the indoor environment. Seven chemicals, to the best of our knowledge not previously reported, were selected out of the 63 listed and identified for structure confirmation using high-resolution mass spectrometry. Tributyl trimellitate (TBTM), bis (3,5,5-trimethylhexyl) phosphate (Bis-3,5,5-TMHPh), iso-octyl 2-phenoxy ethyl terephthalate (IOPhET), dimethyl azelate (DMA), dimethyl sebacate (DMS), dipropylene glycol dibenzoate (DiPGDB) and 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (BHT-CHO) were detected at frequencies ranging from 8 to 52% in winter and 4-56% in summer dust.The promising results of the first in-human clinical study using A2AR antagonists for treatment of renal cell carcinoma highlight two decades of research into the hypoxia-A2-adenosinergic pathway. Importantly, clinical responses have been observed in patients who previously progressed on anti-PD-1/PDL-1 therapy, emphasizing the clinical importance of targeting A2AR signaling in cancer immunotherapies. Recently, it has been shown that systemic oxygenation weakens all known stages of the hypoxia-A2-adenosinergic axis. Therefore, we advocate the clinical use of systemic oxygenation and oxygenation agents in combination with A2AR blockade to further improve cancer immunotherapies. This approach is expected to completely eliminate the upstream (hypoxia-HIF-1α) and downstream (adenosine-A2AR) stages of the immunosuppressive hypoxia-adenosinergic signaling axis. This might be a necessary strategy to maximize the therapeutic benefits of A2AR antagonists and increase susceptibility of tumors to cancer treatments.
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