Process parameters and product characterization for efficient extraction of lignin with deep eutectic solvents: A review.

Lignin is very abundant in nature, it is one of the three main components of lignocellulose, the only substance containing a benzene ring structure. Deep eutectic solvent (DES) is a considered sustainable biomass refining option, however, there is no systematic description and comparison of lignin extraction characteristics and process parameter characterization between DES process and DES combination process. This review is based on the efficient extraction of lignin by DES composed of lactic acid-choline chloride, and the process parameters and regenerated lignin properties of this DES are summarized (e.

PCSK9 promotes T helper 1 and T helper 17 cell differentiation by activating the nuclear factor-κB pathway in ankylosing spondylitis.

Objective: Our previous study reveals that proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is positively related to inflammatory markers, T helper (Th)-17 cells, and treatment response in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients. Subsequently, this study aimed to explore the effect of PCSK9 on Th cell differentiation and its potential molecular mechanism in AS.

Methods: Serum PCSK9 was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 20 AS patients and 20 healthy controls (HCs).

Serum PCSK9 is positively correlated with disease activity and Th17 cells, while its short-term decline during treatment reflects desirable outcomes in ankylosing spondylitis patients.

Objective: Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) participates in the autoimmune disease pathology by regulating T helper (Th) cell differentiation, NF-κB pathway, toll-like receptor 4, etc. This study intended to investigate the association of serum PCSK9 with disease activity, Th cells, and treatment response in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients.

Methods: Eighty-nine active AS patients were enrolled in this multicenter, prospective study.

Cardioprotective Role of Swertiamarin, a Plant Glycoside Against Experimentally Induced Myocardial Infarction via Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Functions.

The study examined the protective effects of swertiamarin on rats with experimentally induced myocardial infarction. Three to six week-old male albino Wistar rats were used in this study and experimental myocardial infarction (MI) was induced using isoproterenol. Our results showed that swertiamarin restored the alteration in heart weight, body weight, and heart weight/tibia length ratio of MI-induced rats to basal levels significantly (p < 0.

Effect of deep eutectic solvents-regulated lignin structure on subsequent pyrolysis products selectivity.

The chemical structure of lignin has an important effect on the lignin pyrolysis product distributions. Therefore, it is of great significance to regulate the selectivity of pyrolysis products by modifying the lignin structure. Herein, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) including choline chloride/ethylene glycol (CE), zinc chloride/ethylene glycol (ZE) and choline chloride/acetic acid, treatment of softwood kraft lignin (SKL) is demonstrated.

High-efficiency synthesis of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and 2,5-diformylfuran from fructose over magnetic separable catalysts.

In this work, a sulfonic acid-functionalized magnetic separable solid acid (FeO@SiO-SOH) was synthesized, characterized, and tested for fructose conversion to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). Results indicated that the prepared catalyst had a good efficacy for fructose dehydration to HMF due to its larger specific surface area, appropriate acid amount and homogeneous acid distribution. The maximum HMF yield of this work was 96.

Effect of pre-acetylation of hydroxyl functional groups by choline chloride/acetic anhydride on subsequent lignin pyrolysis.

In this work, an emerging and efficient strategy for the preparation of lignin samples with different acetylation degree by choline chloride/acetic anhydride (ChCl/Aa) treatment of pine kraft lignin (PKL) is reported, and the effects of efficient pre-acetylation of hydroxyl functional groups on subsequent lignin pyrolysis are also systematically investigated. The results show that the ChCl/Aa displays a high acetylation efficiency towards the aliphatic hydroxyl (~99.1%) and phenolic hydroxyl (~94.

Structural characterization and comparison of enzymatic and deep eutectic solvents isolated lignin from various green processes: Toward lignin valorization.

In this work, several representative green processes were developed to extract the enzymatic lignin and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) isolated lignin from corn straw. The results revealed that enzymatic lignin and DESs isolated lignin had a relatively low and homogeneous molecular weight and DESs isolated lignin shown a higher purity. Enzymatic and DESs isolated lignin showed good representativeness and similar to original herbal lignin structures accompany few aryl ether linkage cleavages and oxidation phenomenon.

Effect of the interaction of phenolic hydroxyl with the benzene rings on lignin pyrolysis.

In this study, lignin with different phenolic hydroxyl contents and five model compounds are pyrolyzed to investigate the effect of the interaction of phenolic hydroxyl with a benzene ring on lignin pyrolysis. The results demonstrated that phenolic hydroxyl can reduce the stability of lignin and promote the elimination of the side chain on lignin during pyrolysis. The repolymerization during lignin pyrolysis, which results in increased activation energy and char yield during pyrolysis, can be mainly attributed to phenolic hydroxyl.

An animal model of transfusion-related acute lung injury and the role of soluble CD40 ligand.

Background And Objectives: Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is a life-threatening complication of transfusion and is one of leading causes of transfusion-associated fatalities. However, the pathogenesis of TRALI is still unclear. Soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) is a proinflammatory cytokine that accumulates during blood component storage and is involved in transfusion reactions.

Synergism of organic acid and deep eutectic solvents pretreatment for the co-production of oligosaccharides and enhancing enzymatic saccharification.

A novel pretreatment using organic acid synergism with deep eutectic solvents (DESs) was developed to the co-production of oligosaccharides, especially for the functional oligosaccharides, and enhancement of corn straws enzymatic saccharification. It was found that lactic acid (Lac) pretreatment combined with choline chloride/Lac system could not only selectively convert the hemicellulose to xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS), which account for 89.7% of total xylose in prehydrolysate (the functional XOS (DP < 5) took up about 35%), but also significantly promote the glucose release (33.

Direct conversion of cellulose into sorbitol catalyzed by a bifunctional catalyst.

The conversion of cellulose into sorbitol has been recognized as one of most promising biomass valorization routes for the production of high added-value chemicals. In this work, Sulfonic acid-functionalized carbonized cassava dregs supported ruthenium bifunctional catalyst (Ru/CCD-SOH) was prepared. The Ru/CCD-SOH catalyst was employed for direct conversion of cellulose into sorbitol in a neutral aqueous solution.

[Using HKUST-1 as a Template for Copper Oxides Preparation to Activate Peroxymonosulfate for RhB Degradation].

Using Cu-MOF (HKUST-1) as a template, copper oxide was prepared by heat treatment under different temperatures in this study. The effect of treatment temperature on the composition and morphology of the products were studied. The catalytic abilities of the copper oxide products were tested through a series of experiments of activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to degrade RhB under different conditions.

A promptly approach from monosaccharides of biomass to oligosaccharides via sharp-quenching thermo conversion (SQTC).

In this study, a novel and facile approach of conversion monosaccharides (glucose and xylose) to oligosaccharides (Cello-oligosaccharides and Xylo-oligosaccharides) was demonstrated. The approach did not introduce any chemical reagent and the preparation process could be environmentally friendly. Identification and quantification by ion chromatography (IC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) showed that the yields of COS and XOS reached to 44.

Correlation between pyrolysis behaviors of the components and the overall pyrolysates from pulping spent liquor.

The pyrolysis behaviors of the three major organic components of eucalyptus alkaline peroxide mechanical pulping (APMP) spent liquor including alkali lignin (AL), lignin-carbohydrate complexes (LCC), and polysaccharide (PLS) were studied with emphasis on the effect and contributions of components on the overall pyrolysates of APMP spent liquor solid (ASLS). Profound differences on product properties from each component pyrolysis were illustrated. The results indicated that the bio-oil during ASLS pyrolysis was mainly attributed to AL, while the bio-gas and char were mostly affected by PLS.

Expression of SIRT1 and P53 in Rat Lens Epithelial cells in Experimentally Induced DM.

Purpose: To determine the etiopathogenesis of diabetic cataract by studying changes in relative expressions of silent information regulator protein-1 (SIRT1) and P53 in rat lens epithelial cells (LECs) in experimentally induced diabetes mellitus (DM).

Methods: Six-week-old male SD rats (n = 120) were randomly divided into experimental (n = 80 rats) and control (n = 40 rats) groups. DM was induced in the experimental group (diabetic model) by intraperitoneal (i.

Enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis of eucalyptus by synergy of zinc chloride hydrate pretreatment and bovine serum albumin.

Enhancement of eucalyptus enzymatic saccharification by synergy of ZnCl hydrate pretreatment and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was investigated in this study. The result showed that the ZnCl hydrate pretreatment could not only selectively extract up to ∼100% of the hemicellulose from eucalyptus, but also convert portion of high crystalline cellulose I into low crystalline cellulose II, which both beneficial for enhancing subsequent pretreated solids enzymatic saccharification. The addition of BSA into enzymatic hydrolysis step could significantly promote the glucose release from pretreated solids, especially, under the low enzyme loading.

Risk factors for prolonged hypotension in patients with pheochromocytoma undergoing laparoscopic adrenalectomy: a single-center retrospective study.

Prolonged hypotension during pheochromocytoma resection is a significant complication. We sought to investigate the predictors of prolonged hypotension in patients with pheochromocytoma undergoing laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA). Patients with pheochromocytoma who underwent LA between 2012 and 2015 were surveyed.

Depolymerization of cellulose into high-value chemicals by using synergy of zinc chloride hydrate and sulfate ion promoted titania catalyst.

Experiments for cellulose depolymerization by synergy of zinc chloride hydrate (ZnCl·RHO) and sulfated titania catalyst (SO/TiO) were investigated in this study. The results showed the introduction of sulfate into the TiO significantly enhanced the catalyst acid amount, especially for Brønsted acid site, which is beneficial for subsequent cellulose depolymerization. ZnCl·RHO hydrate, only a narrow composition range of water, specifically 3.

Evaluation of the effects of isolated lignin on enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose.

The different physical and chemical properties of lignin might have various effects on the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic substrates. In this study, the influence of lignin on enzymatic digestibility of cellulose was assessed. Addition of 20% (4g/L) isolated enzymatic lignin (lignin 2 and 3) and kraft lignin (lignin 4) resulted in 5-20% drop of glucose yield, depending on lignin sources.

Risk factors of post-operative severe hyperlactatemia and lactic acidosis following laparoscopic resection for pheochromocytoma.

Severe hyperlactatemia (SH)/lactic acidosis (LA) after laparoscopic resection of pheochromocytoma is an infrequently reported complication. The study aims to investigate the incidence of this complication and to determine the clinical risk factors. Patients who underwent laparoscopic resection for pheochromocytoma between 2011 and 2014 at Peking Union Medical College Hospital were enrolled.

Direct evidence from in situ FTIR spectroscopy that o-quinonemethide is a key intermediate during the pyrolysis of guaiacol.

Although o-quinonemethide (6-methylene-2,4-cyclohexadien-1-one) has been proposed as a key intermediate in char formation during the pyrolysis of guaiacol (2-methoxyphenol), direct evidence of this (e.g., spectroscopic data) has not yet been provided.

Expression and regulation of microRNA-29a and microRNA-29c in early diabetic rat cataract formation.

Aim: To determine the role of microRNA (miRNA)-29a and miRNA-29c in the regulation of apoptosis in early rat diabetic cataract formation.

Methods: Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were used in the study. The expression level of miRNA-29a, miRNA-29c, and BCL2-modifying factor (BMF) in lens epithelial cells (LECs) samples were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Value-added organonitrogen chemicals evolution from the pyrolysis of chitin and chitosan.

Thermogravimetric characteristics of chitin and chitosan and their potentials to produce value-added organonitrogen chemicals were separately evaluated via TG/DSC-FTIR and Py-GC/MS. Results shown that chitin had the better thermal stability and higher activation energy than chitosan because of the abundant acetamido group. Furthermore, the dominated volatilization in active pyrolysis of chitin contributed to its endothermic property, whereas the charring in chitosan led to the exothermal.

Comparison of organosolv and hydrotropic pretreatments of eucalyptus for enhancing enzymatic saccharification.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of organosolv and hydrotropic pretreatments on improving enzymatic hydrolysis of eucalyptus. The chemical composition of the fiber surface was analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to determine the surface characteristics of pretreated eucalyptus. Other than the significant decrease of surface coverage by lignin, hydrotropic pretreatment was more effective in removing the lignin and xylose from fiber cell walls than organosolv pretreatment.