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Environmental Pollution (Barking, Essex... Jun 2024Antimony (Sb) is known for its severe and extensive toxicity, and earthworms are considered important indicator organisms in soil ecosystems. Therefore, the present...
Endocrine system, cell growth and death, and energy metabolism induced by Sb(III) exposure in earthworm (Pheretima guillemi) revealed by transcriptome and metabolome analysis.
Antimony (Sb) is known for its severe and extensive toxicity, and earthworms are considered important indicator organisms in soil ecosystems. Therefore, the present study investigated the mechanism of toxicity of the Sb at different concentrations (50, 200 mg/kg) on earthworms using biochemical indicators, pathological sections, as well as metabolomics and transcriptomics analyses. The results showed that as the exposure concentration increased, both the antioxidant system of earthworms, extent of intestinal damage, and their metabolomic characteristics were significantly enhanced. In the 50 and 200 mg/kg Sb treatment group, 30 and 177 significant differentially changed metabolites (DCMs) were identified, respectively, with the most DCMs being down- and up-regulated, respectively. Metabolomics analysis showed that the contents of dl-tryptophan, glutamic acid, glycine, isoleucine, l-methionine, involved in the protein digestion and absorption as well as aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis were significantly up-regulated under the 200 mg/kg treatment. At the transcriptional level, Sb mainly affected the immune system, nervous system, amino acid metabolism, endocrine system, and carbohydrate metabolism in earthworms. The integration of transcriptomic and metabolomic data indicated that high doses of Sb regulated the metabolites and genes related to the oxidative phosphorylation pathway in earthworms. Overall, these results revealed global responses beyond the scope of conventional toxicity endpoints and facilitated a more in-depth and comprehensive assessment of the toxic effects of Sb.
PubMed: 38866316
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124357 -
The American Journal of Tropical... Jun 2024We present the first case of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis in Algeria, diagnosed in an immunocompetent 42-year-old man exhibiting an infiltrated and ulcerated plaque...
We present the first case of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis in Algeria, diagnosed in an immunocompetent 42-year-old man exhibiting an infiltrated and ulcerated plaque leading to macrocheilitis of the entire lower lip. He was a police officer who lived in a village in Ain El Hammam (Kabylie region, known as an active focus of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis) without any history of travel for the previous 3 years. He suffered from cutaneous lesions for 22 months due to the misdiagnosis of a skin lesion resembling other diseases such as Crohn disease or sarcoidosis. A compilation of clinical, histopathological, parasitological, and molecular examinations revealed Leishmania infantum as the etiologic agent. The patient was treated with meglumine antimoniate, which resulted in the complete disappearance of the lesion 4 months after treatment.
PubMed: 38861965
DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.23-0634 -
Journal of Integrative Bioinformatics Jun 2024We describe a web-based tool, MakeSBML (https://sys-bio.github.io/makesbml/), that provides an installation-free application for creating, editing, and searching the...
We describe a web-based tool, MakeSBML (https://sys-bio.github.io/makesbml/), that provides an installation-free application for creating, editing, and searching the Biomodels repository for SBML-based models. MakeSBML is a client-based web application that translates models expressed in human-readable Antimony to the System Biology Markup Language (SBML) and vice-versa. Since MakeSBML is a web-based application it requires no installation on the user's part. Currently, MakeSBML is hosted on a GitHub page where the client-based design makes it trivial to move to other hosts. This model for software deployment also reduces maintenance costs since an active server is not required. The SBML modeling language is often used in systems biology research to describe complex biochemical networks and makes reproducing models much easier. However, SBML is designed to be computer-readable, not human-readable. We therefore employ the human-readable Antimony language to make it easy to create and edit SBML models.
PubMed: 38860571
DOI: 10.1515/jib-2024-0002 -
Zhongguo Xue Xi Chong Bing Fang Zhi Za... Mar 2024This case report summarizes the experience from diagnosis and treatment of a patient with repeated high fever, hepatosplenomegaly and pancytopenia. Following exclusion...
This case report summarizes the experience from diagnosis and treatment of a patient with repeated high fever, hepatosplenomegaly and pancytopenia. Following exclusion of bacterial, viral, fungal infections and hematological diseases, metagenomic next-generation sequencing of the patient's peripheral blood revealed infection, and rK39 rapid diagnostic test showed positive for anti- antibody, while microscopic examination of bone marrow smears identified amastigotes. Therefore, the case was definitively diagnosed as visceral leishmaniasis, and given anti-infective treatment with sodium antimony gluconate and hormone, hepatoprotection, elevation of white blood cell counts and personalized nursing. Then, the case was cured and discharged from hospital. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing is of great value in etiological detection of fever patients with unknown causes, which deserves widespread clinical applications.
Topics: Humans; Leishmaniasis, Visceral; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; Male; Metagenomics; Adult; Middle Aged
PubMed: 38857969
DOI: 10.16250/j.32.1374.2023212 -
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces Jun 2024Metal halide-based broadband near-infrared (NIR) luminescent materials face problems such as complicated preparation, high cost, low photoluminescence quantum yield, and...
Metal halide-based broadband near-infrared (NIR) luminescent materials face problems such as complicated preparation, high cost, low photoluminescence quantum yield, and high excitation energy. Here, incorporating Sb and Br into (CHP)ZnCl crystals allowed for the achievement of efficient broadband near-infrared emission under 400 nm excitation while maintaining satisfactory environmental and thermal stability. The compounds exhibit a broad range of emission bands from 550 to 1050 nm, with a photoluminescence quantum yield of 93.57%. This is a groundbreaking achievement for organic-inorganic hybrid metal halide NIR luminescent materials. The near-infrared emission is suggested to originate from [SbX], as supported by the femtosecond transient absorption spectra and density-functional theory calculations. This phosphor-based NIR LEDs successfully demonstrate potential applications in night vision, medical imaging, information encryption, and anticounterfeiting.
PubMed: 38857900
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c04622 -
The Science of the Total Environment Sep 2024Prenatal exposures to toxic metals and trace elements have been linked to childhood neurodevelopment. However, existing evidence remains inconclusive, and further...
Prenatal exposures to toxic metals and trace elements have been linked to childhood neurodevelopment. However, existing evidence remains inconclusive, and further research is needed to investigate the mixture effects of multiple metal exposures on childhood neurodevelopment. We aimed to examine the associations between prenatal exposure to specific metals and metal mixtures and neurodevelopment in children. In this prospective cohort study, we used the multivariable linear regressions and the robust modified Poisson regressions to explore the associations of prenatal exposure to 25 specific metals with neurodevelopment among children at 3 years of age in 854 mother-child pairs from the Jiangsu Birth Cohort (JBC) Study. The Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) was employed to assess the joint effects of multiple metals on neurodevelopment. Prenatal manganese (Mn) exposure was negatively associated with the risk of non-optimal cognition development of children, while vanadium (V), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), antimony (Sb), cerium (Ce) and uranium (U) exposures were positively associated with the risk of non-optimal gross motor development. BKMR identified an interaction effect between Sb and Ce on non-optimal gross motor development. Additionally, an element risk score (ERS), representing the mixture effect of multiple metal exposures including V, Cu, Zn, Sb, Ce and U was constructed based on weights from a Poisson regression model. Children with ERS in the highest tertile had higher probability of non-optimal gross motor development (RR = 2.37, 95 % CI: 1.15, 4.86) versus those at the lowest tertile. Notably, Sb [conditional-posterior inclusion probabilities (cPIP) = 0.511] and U (cPIP = 0.386) mainly contributed to the increased risk of non-optimal gross motor development. The findings highlight the importance of paying attention to the joint effects of multiple metals on children's neurodevelopment. The ERS score may serve as an indicator of comprehensive metal exposure risk for children's neurodevelopment.
Topics: Humans; Female; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Pregnancy; Child, Preschool; Prospective Studies; Child Development; Metals; Male; Maternal Exposure; Environmental Pollutants; Birth Cohort; China
PubMed: 38857795
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173812 -
The Journal of Physical Chemistry. A Jun 2024Inorganic molecular crystal (IMC) is a trending class of materials in which structural units comprise molecular cages or clusters bonded via van der Waal forces. The...
Inorganic molecular crystal (IMC) is a trending class of materials in which structural units comprise molecular cages or clusters bonded via van der Waal forces. The structure-property relationship in IMCs is less known due to the unusual assembly of molecular clusters in these materials. In this paper, the density functional theory-calculated electronic transport properties of the molecular clusters of antimony oxide (SbO), phosphorus triselenide (PSe), and phosphorus trioxide (PO) are described in detail. The calculated values of highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital gaps appeared as 5.487, 2.296, and 4.425 eV for SbO, PSe, and PO, respectively. The work was carried out to explore the charge transport mechanism in IMCs in order to disclose their potential in practical applications. The calculations involved charge-transfer integral based on Marcus theory to compute the electronic coupling (), reorganization energies (λ), and hopping rate () in the structures. The hopping rate for SbO, PSe, and PO is found as 8.49 × 10, 1.28 × 10, and 2.51 × 10 s, respectively. The transport properties of SbO are found better, which predicts the application of the relevant IMC for device grade applications. The findings of this study are important for future application of the IMCs in electronic and optoelectronic applications.
PubMed: 38857364
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.4c02757 -
Frontiers in Microbiology 2024Mining activities, even in arctic regions, create waste materials releasing metals and metalloids, which have an impact on the microorganisms inhabiting their...
Assessment of microbial communities from cold mine environments and subsequent enrichment, isolation and characterization of putative antimony- or copper-metabolizing microorganisms.
Mining activities, even in arctic regions, create waste materials releasing metals and metalloids, which have an impact on the microorganisms inhabiting their surroundings. Some species can persist in these areas through tolerance to meta(loid)s via, e.g., metabolic transformations. Due to the interaction between microorganisms and meta(loid)s, interest in the investigation of microbial communities and their possible applications (like bioremediation or biomining) has increased. The main goal of the present study was to identify, isolate, and characterize microorganisms, from subarctic mine sites, tolerant to the metalloid antimony (Sb) and the metal copper (Cu). During both summer and winter, samples were collected from Finnish mine sites (site A and B, tailings, and site C, a water-treatment peatland) and environmental parameters were assessed. Microorganisms tolerant to Sb and Cu were successfully enriched under low temperatures (4°C), creating conditions that promoted the growth of aerobic and fermenting metal(loid) tolerating or anaerobic metal(loid) respiring organism. Microbial communities from the environment and Sb/Cu-enriched microorganisms were studied via 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Site C had the highest number of taxa and for all sites, an expected loss of biodiversity occurred when enriching the samples, with genera like or increasing their relative abundances and others like or reducing in relative abundance. From enrichments, 65 putative Sb- and Cu-metabolizing microorganisms were isolated, showing growth at 0.1 mM to 10 mM concentrations and 0°C to 40°C temperatures. 16S rRNA gene sequencing of the isolates indicated that most of the putative anaerobically Sb-respiring tolerators were related to the genus . This study represents the first isolation, to our knowledge, of putative Sb-metabolizing cold-tolerant microorganisms and contributes to the understanding of metal (loid)-tolerant microbial communities in Arctic mine sites.
PubMed: 38855773
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1386120 -
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces Jun 2024Multifunctional photodetectors (PDs) with broadband responsivity () and specific detectivity (*) at low light intensities are gaining significant attention. Thus, we...
Multifunctional photodetectors (PDs) with broadband responsivity () and specific detectivity (*) at low light intensities are gaining significant attention. Thus, we report a bilayer PD creatively fabricated by layering two-dimensional (2D) SbSe nanoflakes (NFs) on one-dimensional (1D) ZnO nanorods (NRs) using simple thermal transfer and hydrothermal processes. The unique coupling of these two layers of materials in a nanostructured form, such as 2D-SbSe NFs/1D-ZnO NRs, provides an effective large surface area, robust charge transport paths, and light-trapping effects that enhance light harvesting. Furthermore, the combination of both layers can effectively facilitate photoactivity owing to proper band alignment. The as-fabricated device demonstrated superior overall performance in terms of a suitable bandwidth, good , and high * under low-intensity light, unlike the single-layered 1D-ZnO NRs and 2D-SbSe NF structures alone, which had poor detectivity or response in the measured spectral range. The PD demonstrated a spectral photoresponse ranging from ultraviolet (UV) to visible (220-628 nm) light at intensities as low as 0.15 mW·cm. The PD yielded a * value of 3.15 × 10 Jones (220 nm), which reached up to 5.95 × 10 Jones in the visible light region (628 nm) at a 3 V bias. This study demonstrated that the 2D-SbSe NFs/1D-ZnO NRs PD has excellent potential for low-intensity light detection with a broad bandwidth, which is useful for signal communications and optoelectronic systems.
PubMed: 38850236
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c03001 -
The Analyst Jun 2024Antimony-based electrodes are widely used in various fields for pH detection due to their low cost. However, their application in the marine environment is significantly...
Antimony-based electrodes are widely used in various fields for pH detection due to their low cost. However, their application in the marine environment is significantly hampered by the significant potential drift observed in seawater pH measurements. This study focuses on enhancing the stability of a pure antimony electrode by doping various amounts of copper without compromising its pH response. A series of electrochemical tests demonstrated that the fabricated alloy electrodes exhibited excellent pH response characteristics, including sensitivity, ion selectivity, response time, reversibility, and temperature coefficients. Moreover, the alloy electrodes were more resistant to corrosion than the pure antimony electrode, thereby guaranteeing the stability. Notably, the alloy electrodes containing 63 at% and 70 at% antimony exhibited superior electrochemical characteristics. The surface analysis elucidated that the alloy electrode had reduced oxidation, surface cracks and antimony peeling compared to the pure antimony electrode. Furthermore, the prepared alloy electrodes exhibited excellent pH response and stability in simulated high-salinity seawater and real seawater. The above results highlight that doping cheap copper into antimony can improve the electrode stability by enhancing the corrosion resistance and slowing down the oxidation rate, thus enabling reliable long-time operation in a relatively stable state. These findings provide experimental support for developing novel pH electrodes based on non-noble metals for use in challenging environments such as seawater.
PubMed: 38847269
DOI: 10.1039/d4an00606b