-
The Science of the Total Environment Jul 2019Practical recovery of a non-renewable nutrient, such as phosphorus (P), is essential to support modern agriculture in the near future. The high P content of urine, makes...
Practical recovery of a non-renewable nutrient, such as phosphorus (P), is essential to support modern agriculture in the near future. The high P content of urine, makes it an attractive source for practicing the recovery of this crucial nutrient. This paper presents the experimental results at pilot-plant scale of struvite crystallisation from a source-separated urine stream using two different magnesium sources, namely magnesium chloride and seawater. The latter was chosen as sustainable option to perform P-recovery in coastal areas. Real seawater was used to assess in a more realistic way its efficiency to precipitate P as struvite, since its composition (with noticeable concentration of ions such as Ca, SO, Na, …) could lead to the formation of impurities and other precipitates. 0.99 g of struvite was obtained per litre of urine irrespective of the operational conditions tested. In all tested conditions, precipitation efficiencies exceeded 90% and recovery efficiencies were higher than 87%, with an average struvite crystal size higher than 110 μm (and up to 320 μm, depending on the experimental conditions) in the harvested struvite samples. Almost pure struvite was obtained when MgCl was used as precipitant, while amorphous calcium phosphate and other impurities appeared in the precipitates using seawater as magnesium source. However, the lower settling velocity of the amorphous precipitates in comparison with the struvite precipitates suggests that their separation at industrial scale could be relatively straightforward.
Topics: Conservation of Natural Resources; Magnesium Chloride; Phosphorus; Seawater; Struvite; Waste Disposal, Fluid; Water Pollutants, Chemical
PubMed: 30954828
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.485 -
Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer... 2016Breast cancer is the most common malignancy and also the second leading cause of cancer death among women and also in women that have a high mortality. Previous studies...
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy and also the second leading cause of cancer death among women and also in women that have a high mortality. Previous studies showed that magnesium (Mg) has cytotoxic effects on malignant cell lines. However, the anti-cancer effects of Mg on MCF-7 breast cancer cells are uncertain. This study was aimed at the comparison of the cytotoxic effect of Mg salt (MgCl2) and cisplatin on MCF-7 cells and fibroblasts (as normal cells). After treatment with various concentrations of MgCl2, and cisplatin as a positive control for 24 and 48 hours (h), cytotoxicity activity was measured by MTT assay. In addition, apoptosis was determined by annexin V/propidium iide assay. Both cisplatin and the MgCl2 exhibited dose-dependent cytotoxic effects in the MCF-7 cell line, although the LD50 of the Mg was significantly higher when compared to cispaltin (40 μg/ml vs. 20 μg/ml). Regarding annexin V/propidium results, treatment of MCF-7 cells with LD50 concentrations of cisplatin and Mg showed 59% and 44% apoptosis at 24h, respectively. Finally, the results indicated that Mg has cytotoxic effects on MCF-7 cells, but less than cisplatin as a conventional chemotherapeutic agent. However, regarding the side effects of chemotherapy drugs, it seems that Mg can be considered as a supplement for the treatment of breast cancer.
Topics: Antineoplastic Agents; Apoptosis; Breast Neoplasms; Cell Proliferation; Cisplatin; Drug Therapy, Combination; Female; Flow Cytometry; Humans; MCF-7 Cells; Magnesium Chloride
PubMed: 27165250
DOI: 10.7314/apjcp.2016.17.s3.131 -
Memorias Do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 1994In order to evaluate the effect of chaotropic agents on proteoglycan and non-collagenous proteins, chicken xiphoid cartilage was treated with guanidine-HCl and MgCl2 in...
In order to evaluate the effect of chaotropic agents on proteoglycan and non-collagenous proteins, chicken xiphoid cartilage was treated with guanidine-HCl and MgCl2 in different concentrations (1M to 5M), and different periods of time (12, 24, 48 and 72 hr). The maximum yield of uronic acid was obtained with 3M MgCl2 (73.3%). Concentrations of 4M and 5M of MgCl2 showed that much less uronic acid was removed, 55.3% and 38.1% respectively. Extraction with 3M MgCl2 and 3M guanidine-HCl resulted better efficiency when performed for 48 hr. Analysis by SDS-PAGE of the extracts obtained with guanidine-HCl and MgCl2 in different concentrations pointed out that most components are equally removed with the two solvents, showing that the extraction with MgCl2 is an alternative assay to remove non-collagenous proteins from extracellular matrix.
Topics: Animals; Cartilage; Chickens; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; Extracellular Matrix Proteins; Guanidine; Guanidines; Magnesium Chloride
PubMed: 7823826
DOI: 10.1590/s0074-02761994000100016 -
International Journal of Molecular... Oct 2021Hydration plays a fundamental role in DNA structure and functioning. However, the hydration shell has been studied only up to the scale of 10-20 water molecules per...
Hydration plays a fundamental role in DNA structure and functioning. However, the hydration shell has been studied only up to the scale of 10-20 water molecules per nucleotide. In the current work, hydration shells of DNA were studied in a solution by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The THz spectra of three DNA solutions (in water, 40 mm MgCl and 150 mM KCl) were transformed using an effective medium model to obtain dielectric permittivities of the water phase of solutions. Then, the parameters of two relaxation bands related to bound and free water molecules, as well as to intermolecular oscillations, were calculated. The hydration shells of DNA differ from undisturbed water by the presence of strongly bound water molecules, a higher number of free molecules and an increased number of hydrogen bonds. The presence of 40 mM MgCl in the solution almost does not alter the hydration shell parameters. At the same time, 150 mM KCl significantly attenuates all the found effects of hydration. Different effects of salts on hydration cannot be explained by the difference in ionic strength of solutions, they should be attributed to the specific action of Mg and K ions. The obtained results significantly expand the existing knowledge about DNA hydration and demonstrate a high potential for using the THz time-domain spectroscopy method.
Topics: Cations; DNA; Hydrogen Bonding; Magnesium; Magnesium Chloride; Plasmids; Potassium; Solutions; Terahertz Spectroscopy; Water
PubMed: 34681747
DOI: 10.3390/ijms222011089 -
Magnesium Research 2014Magnesium is an element essential for life and is found ubiquitously in all organisms. The different cations play important roles as enzymatic co-factors, as signaling...
Magnesium is an element essential for life and is found ubiquitously in all organisms. The different cations play important roles as enzymatic co-factors, as signaling molecules, and in stabilizing cellular components. It is not surprising that magnesium salts in microbiological experiments are typically associated with positive effects. In this study with Listeria monocytogenes as a model organism, we focus however on the usefulness of magnesium (in form of MgCl2) as a stress enhancer. Whereas MgCl2 does not affect bacterial viability at near-neutral pHs, it was found to strongly compromise culturability and redox activity when cell suspensions were exposed to the salt at acidic pH. The principle was confirmed with a number of gram-negative and gram-positive species. The magnesium salt dramatically increased the acidity to a level that was antimicrobial in the presence of anionic bases such as phosphate, lactate, or acetate, but not TRIS. The antimicrobial activity of MgCl2 was much stronger than that of NaCl, KCl, or CaCl2. No effect was observed with MgSO4 or when cells were exposed to MgCl2 in phosphate buffer with a pH ≥ 5. Acid stress was reinforced by an additional, salt-specific effect of MgCl2 on microbial viability that needs further examination. Apart from its implications for surface disinfection, this observation might support the commonly stated therapeutic properties of MgCl2 for the treatment of skin diseases (with healthy skin being an acidic environment), and could contribute to understanding why salt from the Dead Sea, where Mg(2+) and Cl(-) are the most abundant cation/anion, has healing properties in a microbiological context.
Topics: Anions; Anti-Infective Agents; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Listeria monocytogenes; Magnesium Chloride; Oxidation-Reduction
PubMed: 25252874
DOI: 10.1684/mrh.2014.0362 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Feb 2020The influence of the compensating cation (Na, Li, Mg) nature on the water adsorption properties of LTA and FAU-type zeolites was investigated. Cation exchanges were...
The influence of the compensating cation (Na, Li, Mg) nature on the water adsorption properties of LTA and FAU-type zeolites was investigated. Cation exchanges were performed at 80 °C for 2 h using 1 M aqueous solutions of lithium chloride (LiCl) or magnesium chloride (MgCl). XRF and ICP-OES analyses indicate that the cation exchange yields reach values between 59 to 89% depending on the number of exchange cycles and the nature of the zeolite and cation, while both zeolites structures are preserved during the process, as shown by XRD and solid state NMR analyses. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption experiments indicate a higher available microporous volume when sodium cations are replaced by smaller monovalent lithium cations or by divalent magnesium cations because twice less cations are needed compared to monovalent cations. Up to 15% of gain in the available microporous volume is obtained for FAU-type zeolites exchanged with magnesium cation. This improvement facilitates the adsorption of water with an increase in the water uptake up to 30% for the LTA and FAU type zeolites exchanged with magnesium. These exchanged zeolites are promising for uses in water decontamination because a smaller amount is needed to trap the same amount of water compared to their sodium counterparts.
Topics: Adsorption; Cations, Divalent; Cations, Monovalent; Lithium Chloride; Magnesium Chloride; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Water; Zeolites
PubMed: 32093246
DOI: 10.3390/molecules25040944 -
The Journal of Physiology Mar 1953
Topics: Animals; Body Temperature; Chlorides; Insulin; Magnesium; Magnesium Chloride; Rats; Temperature
PubMed: 13053468
DOI: No ID Found -
Biophysical Journal Mar 2016Hydra, a simple freshwater animal famous for its regenerative capabilities, must tear a hole through its epithelial tissue each time it opens its mouth. The feeding...
Hydra, a simple freshwater animal famous for its regenerative capabilities, must tear a hole through its epithelial tissue each time it opens its mouth. The feeding response of Hydra has been well-characterized physiologically and is regarded as a classical model system for environmental chemical biology. However, due to a lack of in vivo labeling and imaging tools, the biomechanics of mouth opening have remained completely unexplored. We take advantage of the availability of transgenic Hydra lines to perform the first dynamical analysis, to our knowledge, of Hydra mouth opening and test existing hypotheses regarding the underlying cellular mechanisms. Through cell position and shape tracking, we show that mouth opening is accompanied by changes in cell shape, but not cellular rearrangements as previously suggested. Treatment with a muscle relaxant impairs mouth opening, supporting the hypothesis that mouth opening is an active process driven by radial contractile processes (myonemes) in the ectoderm. Furthermore, we find that all events exhibit the same relative rate of opening. Because one individual can open consecutively to different amounts, this suggests that the degree of mouth opening is controlled through neuronal signaling. Finally, from the opening dynamics and independent measurements of the elastic properties of the tissues, we estimate the forces exerted by the myonemes to be on the order of a few nanoNewtons. Our study provides the first dynamical framework, to our knowledge, for understanding the remarkable plasticity of the Hydra mouth and illustrates that Hydra is a powerful system for quantitative biomechanical studies of cell and tissue behaviors in vivo.
Topics: Animals; Biomechanical Phenomena; Cell Shape; Ectoderm; Endoderm; Hydra; Magnesium Chloride; Mouth; Muscles
PubMed: 26958895
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2016.01.008 -
Magnesium Research Dec 2008To evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral magnesium supplementation, with magnesium chloride (MgCl2), in the treatment of newly diagnosed depression in the elderly... (Clinical Trial)
Clinical Trial Randomized Controlled Trial
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral magnesium supplementation, with magnesium chloride (MgCl2), in the treatment of newly diagnosed depression in the elderly with type 2 diabetes and hypomagnesemia. Twenty-three elderly patients with type 2 diabetes and hypomagnesemia were enrolled and randomly allocated to receive either 50 mL of MgCl2 5% solution equivalent to 450 mg of elemental magnesium or Imipramine 50 mg daily during 12 weeks. Widowhood or divorce in the last six months, alcoholism, degenerative illnesses of the nervous central system, recent diagnosis of diabetes, previous or current treatment with antidepressants, chronic diarrhea, use of diuretics, and reduced renal function were exclusion criteria. Hypomagnesemia was defined by serum magnesium levels < 1.8 mg/dL and depression by Yasavage and Brink score > or = 11 points. The primary trial end point was the improvement of depression symptoms. At baseline, there were no differences by age (69 +/- 5.9 and 66.4 +/- 6.1 years, p = 0.39), duration of diabetes (11.8 +/- 7.9 and 8.6 +/- 5.7 years, p = 0.33), serum magnesium levels (1.3 +/- 0.04 and 1.4 +/- 0.04 mg/dL, p = 0.09), and Yasavage and Brink Score (17.9 +/- 3.9 and 16.1 +/- 4.5 point, p = 0.34) in the groups with MgCl2 and imipramine, respectively. At end of follow-up, there were no significant differences in the Yasavage and Brink score (11.4 +/- 3.8 and 10.9 +/- 4.3, p = 0.27) between the groups in study; whereas serum magnesium levels were significantly higher in the group with MgCl2 (2.1 +/- 0.08 mg/dL) than in the subjects with imipramine (1.5 +/- 0.07 mg/dL), p < 0.0005. In conclusion, MgCl2 is as effective in the treatment of depressed elderly type 2 diabetics with hypomagnesemia as imipramine 50 mg daily.
Topics: Aged; Antidepressive Agents; Depression; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Humans; Imipramine; Magnesium; Magnesium Chloride; Magnesium Deficiency; Treatment Outcome
PubMed: 19271419
DOI: No ID Found -
PloS One 2015Filamentous actin is one of the most important cytoskeletal elements. Not only is it responsible for the elastic properties of many cell types, but it also plays a vital...
Filamentous actin is one of the most important cytoskeletal elements. Not only is it responsible for the elastic properties of many cell types, but it also plays a vital role in cellular adhesion and motility. Understanding the bundling kinetics of actin filaments is important in the formation of various cytoskeletal structures, such as filopodia and stress fibers. Utilizing a unique pillar-structured microfluidic device, we investigated the time dependence of bundling kinetics of pillar supported free-standing actin filaments. Microparticles attached to the filaments allowed the measurement of thermal motion, and we found that bundling takes place at lower concentrations than previously found in 3-dimensional actin gels, i.e. actin filaments formed bundles in the presence of 5-12 mM of magnesium chloride in a time-dependent manner. The filaments also displayed long term stability for up to hours after removing the magnesium ions from the buffer, which suggests that there is an extensive hysteresis between cation induced crosslinking and decrosslinking.
Topics: Actin Cytoskeleton; Actins; Animals; Carrier Proteins; Cell Movement; Gels; Kinetics; Magnesium Chloride; Pseudopodia; Rabbits
PubMed: 26322783
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136432