The Effect of Diphenylamine on Terminal Respiration in Bloodstream and Culture Forms of Trypanosoma brucei*

SYNOPSIS. Diphenylamine was shown to be a potent inhibitor of cyanide insensitive respiration in both bloodstream and newly established culture forms of the same isolate of Trypanosoma brucei, with the L-α-glycerophosphate oxidase system having the greatest sensitivity to the inhibitor. The NADH oxidase activity of bloodstream forms was at least twice as sensitive to diphenylamine as the corresponding activity in culture forms, suggesting different routes of NADH oxidation in the 2 forms. The oxidation of L-α-glycerophosphate was inhibited to a similar degree in both culture and bloodstream forms. L-α-glycerophosphate oxidation in bloodstream forms differed from that found in culture forms in that the bloodstream system, unlike that in the culture form, was unable to donate electrons to cytochrome c. In culture form trypanosomes there was a distinct difference in the degree of diphenylamine inhibition on the oxidation of L-α-glycerophosphate, NADH, and succinate, suggesting the participation of separate flavoproteins in the oxidation of these substrates.     

Cardiovascular and Renal Outcomes With Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors and Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 Inhibitors Combination Therapy: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Cardiovascular Outcome Trials

ObjectiveThe cardiovascular (CV) and renal benefits of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) in people with type 2 diabetes are well known. However, similar beneficial effects of SGLT2i in combination with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP4i) are unknown. It is of interest to explore a trial-level meta-analysis to fill this knowledge gap.MethodsA literature search was conducted in the PubMed and Embase databases until January 31, 2023. All CV outcome trials (CVOTs) reporting the CV and renal outcomes of SGLT2i with or without background DPP4i therapy against the placebo were retrieved. A meta-analysis was subsequently conducted by applying the inverse variance-weighted averages of pooled logarithmic hazard ratio using primarily random-effects analysis.ResultsThis meta-analysis showed that the beneficial 3-point major adverse cardiovascular events composite (3 CVOTs; N = 32 418), the composite of CV death or heart failure hospitalization (hHF) (4 CVOTs; N = 37 687), hHF (3 CVOTs; N = 27 545), CV death (4 CVOTs; N = 34 565), and renal outcomes (2 CVOTs; N = 25 406) with SGLT2i were similar with or without background DPP4i therapy against the placebo (P_{heterogeneity} = .71, .07, .87, .72, and .25; respectively). However, against the placebo, the summary estimates for the 3-point major adverse cardiovascular events composite, hHF, and renal outcomes were stronger with SGLT2i alone, whereas the summary estimates for CV death or hHF composite were larger with SGLT2i with background DPP4i therapy.ConclusionBeneficial CV and renal effects of SGLT2i are similar against the placebo regardless of background DPP4i therapy.     

Methane adsorption in several series of newly synthesised metal-organic frameworks: a molecular simulation study

In this work, the adsorption of methane in several newly synthesised metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is studied using grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations. The factors influencing the adsorption behaviour of methane in different series of materials were investigated at low, moderate and high pressures, respectively. The simulation results show that the isosteric heat of adsorption at infinite dilute, the accessible surface area and the free volume of materials play important roles in methane adsorption, while the main factors are different in different ranges of pressure. These are consistent with the rules obtained from well-studied MOFs by the Snurr group and by Wang, proving that they are applicable to the newly synthesised MOFs. Based on these, the influencing factors were further discussed by classifying the MOFs through the pore topology, and it was found that the pore topology should not be ignored when performing efficient modifications of MOFs at moderate and high pressures. This work may provide useful information to design novel MOFs with high methane uptake in the future.     

中国黄蚜小蜂属一新记录种及其蛹的个体发育

记述了中国黄蚜小蜂属一新记录种—桑氏黄蚜小蜂 Aphytis sankarani Rosen et DeBach，描述了桑氏黄蚜小蜂的形态特征，观察了蛹的个体发育，并提供了重要鉴别特征的照片。     

Levels of formaldehyde in residential indoor air of Gonabad,Iran

Abstract

Human health has been identified to be affected more significantly by indoor air quality. Among numerous pollutants present in indoor air, formaldehyde (FA) is of great concern because of its highly hazardous nature. The concentrations of FA were determined from 20 newly decorated homes in the city of Gonabad, Iran during 2015. It was found that the indoor air levels of FA in all the sampled houses were exceptionally high in the range of 21 to 360 µg/m³ (mean of 149.3 µg/m³). If the 24-h average concentrations of FA measured from those sites were concerned, nearly 40% of them were seen to exceed the WHO guideline values (i.e., 100 µg/m³). One of the important reasons for the high concentrations could be low air exchange rates in those houses (e.g., from 0.18 to 0.37?h^?1), high levels of humidity in the newly decorating houses and stronger sources in the indoor environment. Furthermore, its pollution in homes with natural ventilation was seen to be much higher than those of mechanical ventilation. Due to high levels of indoor FA, more effective control procedures should be developed and employed to reduce the risk associated with formaldehyde exposure.