The sorption of cadmium and lead from aqueous solutions by spent grain, a by-product of the brewing process, was investigated. The effects of solution pH, ionic strength, initial concentration, ligands and temperature were studied in batch experiments. The equilibrium process was described well by the Langmuir isotherm model with maximum sorption capacities of 17.3 and 35.5 mg/g of cadmium and lead on spent grain, respectively. The enthalpy of sorption was endothermic and the increase in Pb uptake was larger than that of Cd over the same rise in temperature. The initial uptake was rapid and equilibrium was established in less than 120 min. Good correlation coefficients were obtained for the pseudo second-order kinetic model. Equimolar concentrations of Cd and Pb to ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid and nitrilotriacetic acid almost completely suppressed the uptake of metals. Sorption capacities of spent grain for cadmium and lead were compared with some low-cost biological materials.

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Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is the major causative agent in hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), and it mainly infects children worldwide. Despite the risk, there is no effective vaccine available for this disease. Hence, a recombinant protein construct of truncated nucleocapsid protein viral protein 1 (NPt-VP1198–297), which is capable of inducing neutralizing antibody against EV71, was evaluated in a mouse model. Truncated nucleocapsid protein Newcastle disease virus that was used as immunological carrier fused to VP1 of EV71 as antigen. The recombinant plasmid carrying corresponding genes was constructed by recombinant DNA technology and the corresponding protein was produced in Escherichia coli expression system. The recombinant NPt-VP1198–297 protein had elicited neutralizing antibodies against EV71 with the titer of 1:16, and this result is higher than the titer that is elicited by VP1 protein alone (1:8). It was shown that NPt containing immunogenic epitope(s) of VP1 was capable of inducing a greater functional immune response when compared to full-length VP1 protein alone. It was capable to carry larger polypeptide compared to full-length NP protein. The current study also proved that NPt-VP1198–297 protein can be abundantly produced in recombinant protein form by E. coli expression system. The findings from this study support the importance of neutralizing antibodies in EV71 infection and highlight the potential of the recombinant NPt-VP1198–297 protein as EV71 vaccine.

Low oxygen tension is termed as hypoxia. Hypoxia will lead to transcription of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) and regulation of downstream gene expression. Underexpression or overexpression of HIF was found to be responsible for various diseases. Proper regulation of this transcriptional factor will aid in treatment of the related diseases. Nowadays, many different approaches are used to modulate HIF, including the usage of naturally-derived plant extracts. Plant extracts are widely accepted compared to other treatments as they are less harmful to the patient and are widely available. In this study, the cytotoxicity of eight different plant extracts under two different gaseous conditions, hypoxic and normoxic, were examined. We also examined the HIF activity shown by the cells under treatment of various concentrations of plant extracts. All eight plants were dried, blended, extracted using methanol, and evaporated to form crude plant extracts. MTT assay was performed by treating the cells with different concentrations of plant extracts and cell viability was determined. Meanwhile, HIF activity of the cells was evaluated by using single luciferase reporter assay. Relative cytotoxicity shown by the cells was different for each plant extract under the various concentration. Pereskia bleo, Orthosiphon aristatus, and Clinacanthus nutans showed high cell viability, 80% of cell viability, within the range of concentration tested. In contrast, Gynura procumbens, Hydrocotyle sibthorpiodies, Pereskia grandifolia, Strobilanthes cripus, and Melastoma malabathricum showed low cell viability. Most of the cells showed activation of HIF activity when treated with different concentrations of the plant extracts. When cells were treated with high concentrations of plant extracts, inhibition of HIF activity were seen and was correlated with low cell viability after treatment. The most notable part of the study was that more than 100% HIF activation was observed for Clinacanthus nutans. However, the cell viability remained high. This might indicate that Clinacanthus nutans is a promising candidate to activate HIF at a transcriptional level with minimal cytotoxicity.