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Biomedical subjects

Fusheng Li

Publications and source records attributed to Fusheng Li.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Effect of limited aeration on the anaerobic treatment of evaporator condensate from a sulfite pulp mill.

Serious inhibition was found in the regular up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor in treating the evaporator condensate from a sulfite pulp mill, which contained high strength sulfur compounds. After applying the direct limited aeration in the UASB, the inhibition was alleviated gradually and the activity of the microorganisms was recovered. The COD removal rate increased from 40% to 80% at the organic loading rate of 8kgCODm(-3)d(-1) and a hydraulic retention time of 12h. Limited aeration caused no oxygen inhibition to the anaerobic microorganisms but instigated sulfide oxidization and H(2)S removal, which was beneficial to the methanogens. The experiment confirmed the feasibility of applying limited aeration in the anaerobic reactor to alleviate the sulfide inhibition. It also proved that the anaerobic system was actually aerotolerant. SEM observation showed that the predominant microorganisms partly changed from rod-shaped methanogens to cocci after the UASB reactor was aerated.

Aerobiosis↗
PubMed2006

Effect of loading rate on the granulation process and granular activity in a bench scale UASB reactor.

The effect of organic loading rate (OLR) on the granulation process was evaluated using upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors running under different conditions. Results showed that increase of OLR, extracellular polymer (ECP) content and granulation were closely related to one another. ECP in the sludge accumulated over a short period under overloading conditions, which greatly enhanced the granulation process. Treatment performance could be recovered after the ECP accumulation when the overloading was suitably exerted. However, too high loading rate should be avoided because it could cause the unrecoverable decay of methanogenic activity and the serious unbalance between the feedstuff and biological requirement.

Bacteria, Anaerobic↗
PubMed2006

Peptide selection for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 CTL-based vaccine evaluation.

Dozens of human immunodeficiency virus-type 1 (HIV-1) vaccine candidates specifically designed to elicit cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses have entered the pipeline of clinical trials. Evaluating the immunogenicity and potential efficacy of these HIV-1 vaccine candidates is challenging in the face of the extensive viral genetic diversity of circulating strains. Standardized peptide reagents to define the magnitude and potential breadth of the T-cell response, especially to circulating strains of HIV-1, are needed. For this purpose we developed a biometric approach based on T-cell recognition pattern for defining standardized reagents. Circulating strains in the Los Alamos database were evaluated and standardized algorithms to define all potential T-cell epitopes (PTEs) were generated. While many unique PTEs could be identified, a finite number based upon prevalence of circulating strains in the database, which we define as vaccine-important PTEs (VIPs), were used to select a common standardized panel of HIV-1 peptides for CTL-based vaccine evaluation. The usability of PTE peptide set was manifested by detection of Nef-specific CTL responses in HIV-1 subtype B infections.

AIDS Vaccines↗
PubMed2005

Effect of ultrasound on desorption kinetics of phenol from polymeric resin.

This work mainly involves the study of desorption kinetics of phenol from polymeric resins under the influence of an ultrasound field. A new phase equilibrium-kinetics model (PEKM), for estimation of diffusion coefficient was proposed, kinetic experiments of phenol desorption on NKA-II resin in the presence and the absence of ultrasound were separately conducted, and diffusion coefficients of phenol within an adsorbent particle were estimated by means of proposed PEKM. Results showed that the use of ultrasound could enhance the diffusion of phenol within the resin. The diffusion coefficient of phenol in the resin in an ultrasonic field increased by an order of magnitude in comparison with the diffusion coefficient in the absence of ultrasound. The more intense the ultrasonic field the larger was the diffusion coefficient.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Odor maps in the olfactory cortex.

In the olfactory system, environmental chemicals are deconstructed into neural signals and then reconstructed to form odor perceptions. Much has been learned about odor coding in the olfactory epithelium and bulb, but little is known about how odors are subsequently encoded in the cortex to yield diverse perceptions. Here, we report that the representation of odors by fixed glomeruli in the olfactory bulb is transformed in the cortex into highly distributed and multiplexed odor maps. In the mouse olfactory cortex, individual odorants are represented by subsets of sparsely distributed neurons. Different odorants elicit distinct, but partially overlapping, patterns that are strikingly similar among individuals. With increases in odorant concentration, the representations expand spatially and include additional cortical neurons. Structurally related odorants have highly related representations, suggesting an underlying logic to the mapping of odor identities in the cortex.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Aerobic batch degradation of 17-beta estradiol (E2) by activated sludge: effects of spiking E2 concentrations, MLVSS and temperatures.

Aerobic batch degradation of 17beta estradiol (E2) spiked into the activated sludge liquor from a sewage treatment plant was studied; and the likely impacts of E2's initial concentrations (C0), microbial population densities (MLVSS) and temperatures (TEMPT) were examined for a variety of combinations of these three factors: C0 = 10, 30 and 50 microgl(-1); MLVSS = 1750, 875 and 435 mgl(-1); and TEMPT = 5, 20 and 35 degrees C. The results, together with those obtained through two control runs performed using a killed sludge sample, demonstrated clearly that E2 was eliminated from the aqueous phase readily under appropriate MLVSS and temperature levels, with the role of sorption by biomass being less significant. By fitting observed concentration data with a first-order rate expression, the degradation rate constants (k) under all experimental conditions were estimated. The magnitude of k changed markedly in the range of 0.23-4.79 h(-1), following a general order that the higher the MLVSS was, the higher the rate constant, and that the higher the temperature, the higher the rate constant. An obvious increasing trend of the biomass-modified average rate constant (k') with increases in the temperature was also presented: the k' values at 5, 20 and 35 degrees C were 0.79, 1.77 and 3.29l MLVSS g(-1)h(-1), respectively. Furthermore, based upon the estimated k values, the temperature coefficients (theta) over the ranges of 5-20 and 20-35 degrees C were determined. In similarity with the magnitude of theta reported for ordinary BOD-based organic matrices in domestic wastewater, the theta values of E2 varied in the range of 1.026-1.09, suggesting that the temperature impacts on the degradation rates of E2 and BOD constituents are probably similar.

Anaerobiosis↗
PubMed2004

Impacts of a heavy storm of rain upon dissolved and particulate organic C, N and P in the main river of a vegetation-rich basin area in Japan.

The impacts of a heavy storm of rain upon the dissolved and particulate organic matter (OM), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the main river of the vegetation-rich Nagara River basin were investigated using water samples collected along the river line during a critical typhoon-induced heavy rain storm event. Besides, based on a high performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) system, the variance of dissolved OM (DOM) in its molecular weight (MW) characteristics was also assessed. From the MW standpoint, DOM components merged into the river along the river line resembled those present in its headwater. The MW range changed only slightly from 1010 to 5900 at the upstream (US), to 1130-5900 and 1200-5900 Da at the midstream (MS) and downstream (DS), respectively, while the corresponding weight-averaged MW (M(w)) decreased from 3669 to 3330 and 2962 Da. The heavy storm of rain enhanced the content of DOM; however, apart from a small larger-MW fraction (about 5900-6800 Da), the newly emerged DOM constituents exhibited an MW range similar to those existed before the storm. Due also to the storm of rain, total P and N (TP and TN) changed markedly in the ranges of 6.6-11.9, 8.3-40.6 and 48.4-231.3 microg/l for TP, and 145.4-296.0, 502.2-1168.7 and 1342.7-1927.3 microg/l for TN at the US, MS and DS, respectively. The larger values of TP and TN generally appeared for samples at elevated river water levels. The enhanced presence of P was found largely attributed to its particulate form; while, for N, the contribution from its dissolved form was significant. The newly emerged suspended particles via the storm-water contained lower content of OM, N and P, and a general decreasing trend of the particulate OM, N and P along the river line was also confirmed. The C/N ratio in the dissolved form varied in 0.7-6.7 and decreased downstream, while, that in the particulate form 2.3-17.3. Suspended particles that emerged in the river water during the storm exhibited larger C/N values. N/P in both dissolved and particulate forms varied in the ranges of 2.2-17.1 and 12.9-444.9, respectively, and a general trend of either increasing or decreasing in relation to the storm of rain was not revealed.

Agriculture↗
PubMed2004

Dual HIV-1 infection associated with rapid disease progression.

Infection with two strains of HIV-1 has implications for understanding HIV transmission and vaccine development; however, frequency and pathogenic consequences of dual infection are unknown. We assessed 64 patients for dual infection with heteroduplex mobility assay, viral sequencing, and phylogenetic methods. HIV disease outcomes were available in 34 patients. Five of these with AIDS endpoints had dual infection with HIV-1: four were cases of coinfection and one was superinfection. In all five, time from seroconversion to clinical AIDS or to CD4+ T-cell count less than 200 cells per microL was very rapid (<3.4 and <3.1 years, respectively). Our findings should prompt larger studies to assess the effect of dual infection at the population level.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed2003

The polyglutamine neurodegenerative protein ataxin-3 binds polyubiquitylated proteins and has ubiquitin protease activity.

The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway is critically involved in the pathology of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by protein misfolding and aggregation. Data in the present study suggest that the polyglutamine neurodegenerative disease protein, ataxin-3 (AT3), functions in the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. AT3 contains an ubiquitin interaction motif (UIM) domain that binds polyubiquitylated proteins with a strong preference for chains containing four or more ubiquitins. Mutating the conserved leucine in the first UIM (L229A) almost totally eliminates binding to polyubiquitin chains while a similar mutation in the second UIM (L249A) also inhibits binding to polyubiquitin chains but to a lesser extent. Both wild-type and pathological AT3 increase cellular levels of a short-lived GFP that is degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. AT3 has several properties characteristic of ubiquitin proteases including decreasing polyubiquitylation of 125I-lysozyme by removing ubiquitin from polyubiquitin chains, cleaving a ubiquitin protease substrate, and binding the specific ubiquitin protease inhibitor, ubiquitin-aldehyde. Mutating the predicted catalytic cysteine in AT3 inhibits each of these ubiquitin protease activities. The ability to bind and cleave ubiquitylated proteins is consistent with AT3 playing a role in the ubiquitin-proteasome system. This raises the possibility that pathological AT3, which tends to misfold and aggregate, may be exposed to aggregate-prone misfolded/denatured proteins as part of its normal function.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Polydisperse adsorbability composition of several natural and synthetic organic matrices.

The polydisperse composition of nine dissolved organic materials (DOMs) from two river water sources, one ground water source, two biologically treated wastewater sources, and two commercial sources was analyzed based on their adsorbabilities by activated carbon. For each DOM, batch adsorption isotherms measured for both TOC and UV260 were analyzed using an overall isotherm model derived from the IAST-Freundlich expression. By accounting for the heterogeneity of each DOM with a log-normal distribution of the Freundlich parameter (K), its adsorption behavior was characterized with only four parameters (including three fitting ones). The average adsorptive strength (KM) and heterogeneity (sigma) determined for all DOMs, which were defined by the mean value and the standard deviation of the log-normal distribution of the Freundlich K, changed over the ranges 2.5-62.2 and 0.22-0.97 (mg/g)/(mg/l)(1/n), respectively, when the TOC index was used. Among all DOMs studied, a river water DOM at the upper stream was found least heterogeneous: the Freundlich K of its organic constituents varied in the range 10.8-190 (mg/g)/(mg/l)(1/n), as compared to a commercial humic acid that exhibited the broadest Freundlich K distribution of 0.01-1494.3 (mg/g)/(mg/l)(1/n). KM and sigma, along with other two parameters (the Freundlich exponent 1/n and the nonadsorbable organic fraction parameter Cnon/CT0), changed with both indices of TOC and UV260 in a regular manner, indicating that UV-absorbing organic molecules possessed adsorbabilities different from non-UV-absorbing ones. Also based on HPSEC chromatograms measured for solutions before adsorption, the molecular weight composition of all DOMs was also assessed and the molecular size impacts on adsorption characteristics of DOMs were briefly discussed.

Adsorption↗
PubMed2003

Microcolumn test and model analysis of activated carbon adsorption of dissolved organic matter after precoagulation: effects of pH and pore size distribution.

Microcolumn adsorption experiments were conducted to generate breakthrough profiles of dissolved organic matter (DOM) remaining after coagulation treatment of a naturally colored surface water for three coal-based activated carbons (ACs) and four water pH levels. A plug-flow homogeneous surface diffusion model was applied to determine the intraparticle surface diffusivities of the DOM at different AC-pH combinations. It was found that, for all three ACs, the removal of DOM increased as pH decreased and the increasing extent changed with the ACs used. The pH dependency of the column performance seemed to be attributed more apparently to pH's capability in changing the zeta potential of AC particles. In addition, at all pH levels, the column performance varied markedly with the ACs used. Correlation analyses of the accumulated amounts of DOM onto all three ACs with corresponding pore volumes in several divided pore size regions clearly indicated that pores with sizes 30-100 A were more effective in adsorbing organic macromolecules. Furthermore, based on model simulations, the sensitivity of bed performance to equilibrium and kinetic parameters was quantified by conducting variance analyses with a four-way classification method.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

The G protein-coupled receptor repertoires of human and mouse.

Diverse members of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily participate in a variety of physiological functions and are major targets of pharmaceutical drugs. Here we report that the repertoire of GPCRs for endogenous ligands consists of 367 receptors in humans and 392 in mice. Included here are 26 human and 83 mouse GPCRs not previously identified. A direct comparison of GPCRs in the two species reveals an unexpected level of orthology. The evolutionary preservation of these molecules argues against functional redundancy among highly related receptors. Phylogenetic analyses cluster 60% of GPCRs according to ligand preference, allowing prediction of ligand types for dozens of orphan receptors. Expression profiling of 100 GPCRs demonstrates that most are expressed in multiple tissues and that individual tissues express multiple GPCRs. Over 90% of GPCRs are expressed in the brain. Strikingly, however, the profiles of most GPCRs are unique, yielding thousands of tissue- and cell-specific receptor combinations for the modulation of physiological processes.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Storm impacts upon the composition of organic matrices in Nagara River--a study based on molecular weight and activated carbon adsorbability.

The impacts of a heavy storm of rain on the composition of natural organic matter (NOM) in Nagara River water were studied in terms of molecular weights (MWs) and activated carbon (AC) adsorbabilities using six water samples collected during a critical Typhoon weather condition. The composition in MWs was analyzed using a HPSEC system and that in adsorbabilities was characterized using parameters devised to reflect NOMs average adsorptive strength (K(M)), adsorptive strength polydispersity (sigma), affinity to AC (1/n) and non-adsorbable fraction (C(non)/C(T0)), respectively. These parameters were determined by model description of observed isotherms with a distributed fictive component method. The heavy storm of rain brought higher content of larger organic components into the river source, thus causing changes of NOMs weight-averaged MWs in the range of 2962-3495 Dalton and MW polydispersity in the narrow range of 1.153-1.226. Comparison of K(M) and sigma values for all samples assessed with both indices of TOC and UV260 showed that large proportions of the storm-induced organic components had adsorptive strengths similar to those existent before the storm, with the presence levels for components revealing much strong and weak adsorbabilities being low. Among all organic components brought into the river by the storm of rain, the percentages of non-adsorbable ones was lower (smaller C(non)/C(T0) values); and the adsorbable ones had generally more affinity to the adsorbents used (smaller 1/n values).

Adsorption↗
PubMed2003

[Effects of CO2 enrichment, nitrogen and water on photosynthesis, evapotranspiration and water use efficiency of spring wheat].

Spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was treated with 2 atmospheric CO2 concentrations (350 and 700 mumol.mol-1), 2 levels of soil moisture (wet and drought), and 5 levels of nitrogen fertilizer (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 mg.kg-1 soil). The results showed that elevated atmospheric CO2 increased photosynthetic rate more in drought than in wet treatment. Photosynthetic rate increased with the increase of nitrogen fertilizer. Stomatal conductance decreased with CO2 enrichment, which was more in drought than in wet treatment. CO2 enrichment decreased more evapotranspiration in drought than in wet treatment. The decrease was more apparent with no fertilization. CO2 enrichment increased more leaf water use efficiency in drought than in wet treatment. Canopy WUE increased with CO2 enrichment and N fertilization. Thus, the increase in photosynthesis and the reduction in evapotranspiration due to elevated CO2 can ameliorate the negative effects of drought, and increase wheat resistance to water stress.

Carbon Dioxide↗
PubMed2002

Ataxin-3 is a histone-binding protein with two independent transcriptional corepressor activities.

The mechanisms of pathology for the family of polyglutamine disease proteins are unknown; however, recently it was shown that several of these proteins inhibit transcription suggesting that transcriptional repression may be a potential mechanism for pathology. In the present study we use cell transfections, in vitro binding, co-immunoprecipitations, and reporter assays to show that the polyglutamine disease protein, ataxin-3, interacts with the major histone acetyltransferases cAMP-response-element binding protein (CREB)-binding protein, p300, and p300/CREB-binding protein-associated factor and inhibits transcription by these coactivators. Importantly, endogenous ataxin-3 is co-immunoprecipitated with each of these coactivators in non-transfected cells. The C-terminal polyglutamine-containing domain of ataxin-3 inhibits coactivator-dependent transcription and is required for binding coactivators. The N-terminal domain of ataxin-3 inhibits histone acetylation by p300 in vitro and inhibits transcription in vivo. Histone binding and blocking access of coactivators to acetylation sites on histones appears to be the mechanism of inhibition. Together, our data provide a novel mechanism of transcriptional regulation by ataxin-3 that involves targeting histones, coactivators, and an independent mode of direct repression of transcription, and suggests that its physiological function and possibly pathological effects are linked to its interactions with these proteins.

Acetyltransferases↗
PubMed2002

Factors affecting the adsorption capacity of dissolved organic matter onto activated carbon: modified isotherm analysis.

Effects of aqueous phase Ca(II) concentrations and pH levels on the adsorption capacity of dissolved organic matters (DOMs) as well as the capacity dependency on the sources and types of DOMs and activated carbons (ACs) were examined. The Ca(II) effect was studied for three coal-based ACs having different pore size distributions (PSDs) and for three DOMs contained in three water samples. For each water sample, four working solutions prepared by adding different dosages of Ca(II) (0-1.5 mM) were used. For the water sample whose adsorption capacity was least affected by Ca(II), the effect of pH was subsequently examined for four water pH levels (pH = 5.5-10) and these three ACs. Isotherm data were analyzed in terms of a modified isotherm model selected from three models developed for normalizing isotherms of heterogeneous organic mixtures. The Ca(II) effect depended obviously on the DOMs used. For all three ACs, increasing Ca(II) greatly enhanced the adsorption capacity of a commercial humic acid. However, the capacity of the DOM in a naturally colored surface water source was much less affected and that of the DOM remaining after precoagulation was not affected. The DOM-Ca(II) interactions, rather than the AC-Ca(II) interactions, seemed to be the predominant mechanism that controlled the extent of the Ca(II)'s impact. Water pH greatly affected the adsorption of the surface water DOM remaining after precoagulation. This effect seemed to be attributed to pH's capability in changing ACs' charge characteristics reflected by zeta-potentials. The adsorption capacity increased as the water pH decreased and was well correlated as a function of pH and the volume of AC pores in sizes of 30-100 A. ACs having more pores in this size region generally exhibited larger adsorption capacities.

Adsorption↗
PubMed2002

[Effect of atmospheric CO2 and temperature increment on crop physiology and ecology].

The effect of atmospheric CO2 and temperature increment on crop growth, photosynthesis, yield, and water and nutrient use efficiency was summarized and discussed in this paper. Under high CO2 concentration in the future, the photosynthetic rate of crops may be enhanced to some extent, and their biomass and yield may also be increased. Their stomatal conductance may be reduced, while water use efficiency (WUE) may be increased under elevated CO2 concentration. The aboveground biomass and root production, especially fine root production, will be greatly enhanced, and consequently, litter production increased, C/N ratios increased, plant litter decomposition rates declined under CO2 enrichment. Plants grown under elevated CO2 concentration may release more substrate into rhizosphere, which may lead to an increased activity of soil microorganisms, acclerated mineralization of nutrients, and improved nutritional status of the plant.

Carbon Dioxide↗