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Advanced Science (Weinheim,... Oct 2022Gas-sensitive materials are capable of dynamic identification and content monitoring of specific gases in the environment, and their applications in the field of gas...
Gas-sensitive materials are capable of dynamic identification and content monitoring of specific gases in the environment, and their applications in the field of gas sensing are promising. However, weak adsorption properties are the main challenge limiting the application of gas-sensitive materials. A highly adsorbent gas-sensitive cellulose nanofibril (CNF)-based triboelectric material with a layered structure is prepared here and it is applied to self-powered gas sensing. The layered structure of the triethoxy-1H,1H,2H,2H-tridecafluoro-n-octylsilane cellulose nanofiber (PFOTES-CNF)-based gas-sensitive material further enhances the adsorption of the material due to electrostatic adsorption in the electrostatic field induced by triboelectricity. It is found that the ammonia-sensitive material obtained by loading Ti C T in PFOTES-CNF has a fast response/recovery (12/14 s), high sensitivity response (V /V = 2.1), high selectivity response (37.6%), and low detection limit (10 ppm) for 100 ppm of ammonia gas. In addition, the ammonia-sensitive CNF-based triboelectric material can accurately identify NH concentration changes in the range of 10-120 ppm and transmit the signal wirelessly to the user interface, facilitating real-time online monitoring of NH in the environment. A novel strategy is provided here for designing and preparing high-performance gas-sensitive composites and the analysis of self-powered gas sensing is guided.
Topics: Ammonia; Gases; Nanofibers; Cellulose
PubMed: 36026574
DOI: 10.1002/advs.202203428 -
Journal of Breath Research Dec 2015Blood ammonia is routinely used in clinical settings to assess systemic ammonia in hepatic encephalopathy and urea cycle disorders. Despite its drawbacks, blood...
Blood ammonia is routinely used in clinical settings to assess systemic ammonia in hepatic encephalopathy and urea cycle disorders. Despite its drawbacks, blood measurement is often used as a comparator in breath studies because it is a standard clinical test. We sought to evaluate sources of measurement error and potential clinical utility of breath ammonia compared to blood ammonia. We measured breath ammonia in real time by quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectrometry and blood ammonia in 10 healthy and 10 cirrhotic participants. Each participant contributed 5 breath samples and blood for ammonia measurement within 1 h. We calculated the coefficient of variation (CV) for 5 breath ammonia values, reported medians of healthy and cirrhotic participants, and used scatterplots to display breath and blood ammonia. For healthy participants, mean age was 22 years (±4), 70% were men, and body mass index (BMI) was 27 (±5). For cirrhotic participants, mean age was 61 years (±8), 60% were men, and BMI was 31 (±7). Median blood ammonia for healthy participants was within normal range, 10 μmol L(-1) (interquartile range (IQR), 3-18) versus 46 μmol L(-1) (IQR, 23-66) for cirrhotic participants. Median breath ammonia was 379 pmol mL(-1) CO2 (IQR, 265-765) for healthy versus 350 pmol mL(-1) CO2 (IQR, 180-1013) for cirrhotic participants. CV was 17 ± 6%. There remains an important unmet need in the evaluation of systemic ammonia, and breath measurement continues to demonstrate promise to fulfill this need. Given the many differences between breath and blood ammonia measurement, we examined biological explanations for our findings in healthy and cirrhotic participants. We conclude that based upon these preliminary data breath may offer clinically important information this is not provided by blood ammonia.
Topics: Adult; Ammonia; Breath Tests; Case-Control Studies; Female; Humans; Liver Cirrhosis; Male; Young Adult
PubMed: 26658550
DOI: 10.1088/1752-7155/9/4/047109 -
Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety Oct 2021Ammonia nitrogen has been one of the key pollution indicators along the Chinese coastline for quite a few years. Our previous studies have proved that ammonia nitrogen...
Ammonia nitrogen has been one of the key pollution indicators along the Chinese coastline for quite a few years. Our previous studies have proved that ammonia nitrogen is harmful for Ruditapes philippinarum clam in several aspects. Environmental concentrations of ammonia nitrogen were found to significantly decrease ATP contents and disturb ATP metabolism, in addition to reducing the potential across the mitochondrial membrane in clam gill tissues. Accordingly, mitochondrion is considered as one of the target organelles of ammonia nitrogen toxicity in clams. However, there is a lack of direct evidence to prove it. In order to reveal detail information of ammonia nitrogen toxicity on clam mitochondria and screen the related biomarker to indicate ammonia nitrogen pollution, mitochondrial parameters in gill tissues including swelling, mtDNA copy number and marker enzyme (succinic dehydrogenase, SDH) activity were measured after the clams were exposed to 0.1 mg/L and 0.5 mg/L ammonia nitrogen for 3 days and 21 days, respectively. Moreover, adverse effects of ammonia nitrogen exposure on clam mitochondrial ultra-structures, mitochondrial swelling and division were also discriminated under transmission electron microscope (TEM). Final results showed that ammonia nitrogen exposure to both concentrations significantly induced mitochondrial swelling, reduced the number of mitochondria and messed their normal structure, decreased the number of mtDNA copies and down-regulated SDH activity, all in a concentration and duration dependent manner. So, the present study helps us to better understand the structural damage of ammonia nitrogen on mitochondria in clam gill cells and provides fundamental data for ammonia nitrogen control in aquaculture.
Topics: Ammonia; Animals; Bivalvia; Gills; Mitochondria; Nitrogen; Water Pollutants, Chemical
PubMed: 34311427
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112528 -
Fish Physiology and Biochemistry Feb 2017The obligatory air-breathing mud eel (Monopterus cuchia) is frequently being challenged with high environmental ammonia (HEA) exposure in its natural habitats. The...
The obligatory air-breathing mud eel (Monopterus cuchia) is frequently being challenged with high environmental ammonia (HEA) exposure in its natural habitats. The present study investigated the possible induction of heat shock protein 70 and 90 (hsp70, hsc70, hsp90α and hsp90β) genes and more expression of Hsp70 and Hsp90 proteins under ammonia stress in different tissues of the mud eel after exposure to HEA (50 mM NHCl) for 14 days. HEA resulted in significant accumulation of toxic ammonia in different body tissues and plasma, which was accompanied with the stimulation of oxidative stress in the mud eel as evidenced by more accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (HO) during exposure to HEA. Further, hyper-ammonia stress led to significant increase in the levels of mRNA transcripts for inducible hsp70 and hsp90α genes and also their translated proteins in different tissues probably as a consequence of induction of hsp70 and hsp90α genes in the mud eel. However, hyper-ammonia stress was neither associated with any significant alterations in the levels of mRNA transcripts for constitutive hsc70 and hsp90β genes nor their translated proteins in any of the tissues studied. More abundance of Hsp70 and Hsp90α proteins might be one of the strategies adopted by the mud eel to defend itself from the ammonia-induced cellular damages under ammonia stress. Further, this is the first report of ammonia-induced induction of hsp70 and hsp90α genes under hyper-ammonia stress in any freshwater air-breathing teleost.
Topics: Ammonia; Animals; Eels; Fish Proteins; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; HSP90 Heat-Shock Proteins; Hydrogen Peroxide; Malondialdehyde; RNA, Messenger; Stress, Physiological
PubMed: 27492114
DOI: 10.1007/s10695-016-0269-4 -
Scientific Reports Nov 2021Reliable ammonia quantification assays are essential for monitoring ammonemia in patients with liver diseases. In this study, we describe the development process of a...
Reliable ammonia quantification assays are essential for monitoring ammonemia in patients with liver diseases. In this study, we describe the development process of a microplate-based assay for accurate, precise, and robust ammonia quantification in biological fluids, following regulatory guidelines on bioanalytical method validation. The assay is based on transmembrane pH-gradient polymersomes that encapsulate a pH-sensitive ratiometric fluorophore, the fluorescence signal of which correlates with the ammonia concentration in the sample. Using a four-parameter logistic regression, the assay had a large quantification range (30-800 μM ammonia). As for selectivity, the presence of amino acids or pyruvate (up to clinically relevant concentrations) showed no assay interference. In samples with low bilirubin levels, polymersomes containing the fluorophore pyranine provided accurate ammonia quantification. In samples with high bilirubin concentrations, billirubin's optical interference was alleviated when replacing pyranine with a close to near-infrared hemicyanine fluorophore. Finally, the assay could correctly retrieve the ammonia concentration in ammonia-spiked human plasma samples, which was confirmed by comparing our measurements with the data obtained using a commercially available point-of-care device for ammonia.
Topics: Ammonia; Carbocyanines; Fluorescent Dyes; Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Liver Diseases; Spectrometry, Fluorescence
PubMed: 34764318
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-01137-1 -
Comparative Biochemistry and... Apr 2020This study aimed to explore how Wuchang bream (Megalobrama amblycephala) survive and defend against the toxicity of ambient total ammonia nitrogen (0, 5, 10, 20 and...
This study aimed to explore how Wuchang bream (Megalobrama amblycephala) survive and defend against the toxicity of ambient total ammonia nitrogen (0, 5, 10, 20 and 30 mg/L TA-N) during 30-day exposure. As a result, hepatic malondialdehyde and protein carbonylation as well as histopathological alterations increased with increasing TA-N level, which suggested that chronic ammonia exposure caused oxidative stress and damage in the liver of fish. Meanwhile, the activities of hepatic total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR) and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) as well as the mRNA expression of Cu/Zn sod, cat, gpx and g6pd were elevated significantly along with significant reduction of glutathione (GSH) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) (P < 0.05). These results indicated that hepatic antioxidant responses were activated to alleviate oxidative damages induced by ammonia, in which lower-concentration ammonia only initiate SOD-CAT-GR-G6PDH defense and higher ammonia activated the SOD-CAT-GPx-GSH-GR-G6PDH antioxidant response. In addition, significant increases of serum urea and hepatic ammonia, urea, glutamine, arginase as well as glutamine synthetase were detected with the increase of TA-N (P < 0.05), while serum ammonia levels kept stable (P > 0.05). The present findings further revealed that ammonia could be detoxified directly into glutamine and urea in Wuchang bream to cope with ammonia exposure. In conclusion, under chronic ammonia exposure, enhanced hepatic antioxidant responses as well as increased urea and glutamine synthesis worked in combination to allow Megalobrama amblycephala to defend against environmental ammonia toxicity.
Topics: Ammonia; Animals; Cyprinidae; Fish Proteins; Glutamine; Liver; Oxidative Stress; Urea; Water Pollutants, Chemical
PubMed: 31953219
DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpc.2020.108707 -
ACS Sensors Mar 2020In this study, an innovative gas sensing mechanism, self-responsive sensing mechanism, has been detected in the supramolecular hydrogel-based sensors. The...
In this study, an innovative gas sensing mechanism, self-responsive sensing mechanism, has been detected in the supramolecular hydrogel-based sensors. The self-responsive ability of as-fabricated hydrogel-based sensors to the target gas (e.g., NO, NH, etc.) is determined by three synergetic supramolecular interactions, namely, hydrogen bonding, molecule crystallization, and electrostatic interactions existing in hydroxyls, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) crystallization, and poly(ionic liquids) of the intrinsic hydrogel networks, respectively. On account of unique synergetic supramolecular interactions, the sensors not only exhibit a rapid, reversible, and reproducible response but also show good tensile and compressive properties and excellent recovery property. The results demonstrate the potential of the self-responsive sensing mechanism as a pathway to realize a new generation of highly responsive hydrogel-based gas sensors.
Topics: Ammonia; Carrageenan; Crystallization; Hydrogels; Hydrogen Bonding; Nitrogen Dioxide; Polyvinyl Alcohol; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Static Electricity; Tensile Strength; Water
PubMed: 32083857
DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.9b02383 -
The Science of the Total Environment May 2022Given the decline of freshwater resources in recent years, the accessible space for freshwater aquaculture is rapidly shrinking, and aquaculture in saline-alkaline water...
Integrated application of multi-omics approach and biochemical assays provides insights into physiological responses to saline-alkaline stress in the gills of crucian carp (Carassius auratus).
Given the decline of freshwater resources in recent years, the accessible space for freshwater aquaculture is rapidly shrinking, and aquaculture in saline-alkaline water has become a critical approach to meet the rising demand. However, the molecular mechanism behind the adverse effects of saline-alkaline water on fish and the regulatory mechanism in fish tolerance remains unclear. Here, adult crucian carp (Carassius auratus) were exposed to 60 mmol/L NaHCO for 30 days. It was observed that long-term carbonate alkalinity (CA) exposure not only caused gill oxidative stress but also changed the levels of several physiological parameters associated with ammonia transport, including blood ammonia, urea nitrogen (BUN), glutamine (Gln), and glutamine synthetase (GS). According to the metabolomics study, differential metabolites (DMs) engaged in various metabolic pathways, such as glycerophospholipid metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, and arachidonic acid metabolism. In addition, transcriptomics data showed that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were closely related to ammonia transport, apoptosis, and immunological response. In general, comprehensive multi-omics and biochemical analysis revealed that crucian carp might adopt Rh glycoprotein as a carrier to mediate ammonia transport and increase glutamine and urea synthesis under long-term high saline-alkaline stress to mitigate the adverse effects of blocked ammonia excretion. Simultaneously, saline-alkaline stress caused the destruction of the antioxidant system and the disorder of lipid metabolism in the crucian carp gills, which induced apoptosis and immunological response. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate fish's molecular and metabolic mechanisms under saline-alkaline stress using integrated metabolomics, transcriptomics, and biochemical assays. Overall, the results of this study provided new insights into the molecular mechanism behind the adverse effects of saline-alkaline water on fish and the regulatory mechanism in fish tolerance.
Topics: Ammonia; Animals; Carps; Fresh Water; Gills; Goldfish
PubMed: 35124035
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153622 -
Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety Jun 2022Ammonia nitrogen, a major oxygen-consuming pollutant in the environment, can adversely affect aquatic organisms such as fish, bivalves, and crustaceans. We investigated...
Ammonia nitrogen, a major oxygen-consuming pollutant in the environment, can adversely affect aquatic organisms such as fish, bivalves, and crustaceans. We investigated the toxic effects of ammonia nitrogen on the Hong Kong oyster, Crassostrea hongkongensis, using flow cytometry and H nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics. Exposure to ammonia nitrogen caused time- and concentration-dependent alterations in various immune parameters in hemocytes and impaired the metabolic profiles of the gills. We observed changes in the rate of apoptosis, esterase activity, lysosomal mass, hemocyte counts, phagocytic activity, and mitochondrial mass. Exposure affected metabolic pathways involved in energy metabolism, osmotic balance, and oxidative stress. We concluded that ammonia nitrogen induces metabolic and hematological dysfunction in C. hongkongensis, and our findings provide insights into the biochemical defense strategies of bivalves exposed to acute high-concentration ammonia nitrogen.
Topics: Ammonia; Animals; Crassostrea; Hemocytes; Hong Kong; Nitrogen
PubMed: 35447473
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.113518 -
Fish & Shellfish Immunology Aug 2021A two-stage study was carried out to test the mechanism of arginase in ammonia detoxification of yellow catfish. At stage 1, fish was injected lethal half concentration...
A two-stage study was carried out to test the mechanism of arginase in ammonia detoxification of yellow catfish. At stage 1, fish was injected lethal half concentration ammonium acetate and 0.9% sodium chloride respectively every 12 h in six replicates for 72 h. The result found that no significant different in serum ammonia contents of fish in ammonium acetate group at hours 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 and 72. At stage 2, ammonium acetate group was split in two, one continued to injected with ammonium acetate (NH group) and the other with ammonium acetate and valine (an inhibitor of arginase; Val group); Sodium chloride group also was split in two, one continued to injected with sodium chloride (NaCl group) and the other with sodium chloride and valine (NaCl + Val group). The experiment continued for 12 h. Serum ammonia and liver arginine contents of fish in Val group were higher than those of fish in NH group; Compared with NaCl group, arginase activity and ARG 1 expression in liver of fish in Val group were lower; Fish in NaCl and NaCl + Val groups had the lowest serum superoxide dismutase activities, malondialdehyde, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin 1 and 8 contents, TNF-α, IL-1 and IL-8 expressions than fish in NH and Val groups, and had the higher lysozyme activities, complement 3 and 4 contents. This study indicates that ammonia poisoning would lead to oxidative damage, immunosuppression and inflammation in yellow catfish; Arginase may be an important target of ammonia toxicity in yellow catfish; Exogenous arginine supplementation might alleviate the symptoms of ammonia poisoning in yellow catfish.
Topics: Ammonia; Animals; Arginase; Catfishes; Immune Tolerance; Inactivation, Metabolic
PubMed: 34146674
DOI: 10.1016/j.fsi.2021.06.013