Prostate cancer is the second most frequent type of cancer death in men. This study refers to the novel hyperthermia application of poloxamer-coated cobalt ferrite as a new approach for thermal eradication of DU-145 human prostate cancerous cells under a radio frequency magnetic field (RF-MF). The hydrothermal method was applied for the synthesis of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles. Then, the structure, size, and morphology of nanoparticle were characterized. The cytotoxicity of the synthesized nanoparticles and RF-MF exposure on DU-145 prostate cancer cells was investigated separately or in combination with colony formation methods and MTT [3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide] assay. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the spherical morphology of nanoparticles with a size of 5.5 ± 2.6 nm. The temperature of cells treated with nanoparticles under RF-MF reached 42.73 ± 0.2°C after 15 min. RF-MF treatment or nanoparticles have not affected cell viability significantly. However, the combination of them eradicated 53% ± 4% of cancerous cells. In-vitro hyperthermia was performed on human prostate cancer cells (DU-145) with cobalt ferrite nanoparticles at specific concentrations that demonstrated a decrease in survival fraction based on colony formation assay compared to cells that were treated alone with nanoparticles or with RF-MF.

The preoperative serum levels and postoperative serum levels of titanium, cobalt and aluminium from dental implants in order to assess the release of these ions and to assess any risk of toxicity from these ions after dental implant placement is of interest to dentists. It was observed that there was very slight increase in serum concentration of titanium, cobalt and aluminium after 12 months of placement of implants as compared to before placement of implants. However the increase was non-significant statistically. Our study concluded that the use of dental implants does not pose any risk of toxicity of metal ions like titanium, aluminium and cobalt because of very slight non-significant increase in serum levels of these ions 12 months after implant placement.

Glutaminyl-peptide cyclotransferases (QCs) convert the N-terminal glutamine or glutamate residues of protein and peptide substrates into pyroglutamate (pE) by releasing ammonia or a water molecule. The N-terminal pE modification protects peptides/proteins against proteolytic degradation by amino- or exopeptidases, increasing their stability. Mammalian QC is abundant in the brain and a large amount of evidence indicates that pE peptides are involved in the onset of neural human pathologies such as Alzheimer\'s and Huntington\'s disease and synucleinopathies. Hence, human QC (hQC) has become an intensively studied target for drug development against these diseases. Soon after its characterization, hQC was identified as a Zn-dependent enzyme, but a partial restoration of the enzyme activity in the presence of the Co(II) ion was also reported, suggesting a possible role of this metal ion in catalysis. The present work aims to investigate the structure of demetallated hQC and of the reconstituted enzyme with Zn(II) and Co(II) and their behavior in the presence of known inhibitors. Furthermore, our structural determinations provide a possible explanation for the presence of the mononuclear metal binding site of hQC, despite the presence of the same conserved metal binding motifs present in distantly related dinuclear aminopeptidase enzymes.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in men and the second leading cause of death in male cancer patients. The WHO suggests that cobalt is involved in the carcinogenesis of prostate cancer. There are, however, no studies associating cobalt levels and prostate cancer patient survival. In this study, 261 Polish prostate cancer (n = 261) patients were recruited into a prospective cohort between 2009 and 2015. Serum cobalt levels were measured using ICP-MS after prostate cancer diagnosis and before treatment. All study participants were assigned into quartiles (QI-QIV) based on the distribution of serum cobalt levels among censored patients. Univariable and multivariable COX regression models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) for each serum cobalt level quartile. We found a significant relationship between high serum cobalt levels and poor prostate cancer patient total survival (HR = 2.60; 95% CI: 1.17-5.82; p = 0.02). In relation to prostate cancer patients who died as a result of other non-cancer causes, the association with high levels of cobalt was even stronger (HR = 3.67; 95% CI: 1.03-13.00; p = 0.04). The impact of high serum cobalt levels on overall survival of prostate cancer-specific-related deaths was not statistically significant.

Water pollution with heavy metals owing to industrial and agricultural activities have become a critical dilemma to humans, plants as well as the marine environment. Therefore, it is of great importance that the carcinogenic heavy metals present in wastewater to be eliminated through designing treatment technologies that can remove multiple pollutants. A novel green magnetic nano-composite called (Carbonized Chitosan-Fe3O4-SiO2) was synthesized using Co-precipitation method to adsorb a mixture of heavy metal ions included; cobalt (Co2+), nickel (Ni2+) and copper (Cu2+) ions from aqueous solutions. The novelty of this study was the synthesis of a new nano-composite which was green with magnetic properties to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly. Its magnetic properties made it separated easily from solutions after accomplishment of the adsorption process using a magnet. Extended Freundlich isotherm was the best fitted model with maximum adsorption capacity of the metal ions mixture 2908.92 mg/g. Different experimental parameters have been studied included the initial concentration for a mixture of nickel, cobalt and copper metal ions (0.05-0.1 molar), dosage of adsorbent (0.5-3.5 g/L) and contact time (6-90 min) to investigate their changing effect on the removal percents of the heavy metal ions mixture from aqueous solutions. The experimental adsorption percent of cobalt ion ranged from 1.58 to 64.28%, nickel ion adsorption percent ranged from 10.68 to 94.12% and copper ion adsorption percent ranged from 4.41 to 76.23% at pH = 9 were based on the combination of the adsorption process parameters.

In the title compound, [Co(C8H6N3O2)Cl(C2H5OH)] n , the CoII atoms adopt octa-hedral trans-CoN2O4 and tetra-hedral CoCl2O2 coordination geometries (site symmetries and m, respectively). The bridging μ3-O:O:N 2-(benzotriazol-1-yl)acetato ligands connect the octa-hedral cobalt nodes into (010) sheets and the CoCl2 fragments link the sheets into a tri-periodic network. The structure displays O-H⋯O hydrogen bonding and the ethanol mol-ecule is disordered over two orientations.

In this study, the removal effect of a new MOF-on MOF adsorbent based on Cu-Co bimetallic organic frameworks on tetracycline antibiotics (TCs) in water system was studied. The adsorbent (Cu-MOF@Co-MOF) were synthesized by solvothermal and self-assembly method at different concentrations of Co2+/Cu2+. The characterization results of SEM, XRD, XPS, FTIR and BET indicated that the MOF-on MOF structure of Cu-MOF@Co-MOF exhibited the best recombination and physicochemical properties when the molar ratio of Co2+: Cu2+ is 5:1. In addition, the Cu-MOF@Co-MOF have a high specific surface area and bimetallic clusters, which can achieve multi-target synergistic adsorption of TCs. Based on above advantages, Cu-MOF@Co-MOF provided a strong affinity and could efficiently adsorb more than 80% of pollutants in just 5 to 15 min using only 10 mg of the adsorbent. The adsorption capacity of tetracycline and doxycycline was 434.78 and 476.19 mg/g, respectively, showing satisfactory adsorption performance. The fitting results of the experimental data were more consistent with the Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model, indicating that the adsorption process of TC and DOX occurred at the homogeneous adsorption site and was mainly controlled by chemisorption. Thermodynamic experiments showed that Cu-MOF@Co-MOF was thermodynamically advantageous for the removal of TCs, and the whole process was spontaneous. The excellent adsorption capacity and rapid adsorption kinetics indicate the prepared MOF-on MOF adsorbent can adsorb TCs economically and quickly, and have satisfactory application prospects for removing TCs in practical environments. The results of the study pave a new way for preparing novel MOFs-based water treatment materials with great potential for efficient removal.

The sensitivity and responsiveness of living cells to environmental changes are enabled by dynamic protein structures, inspiring efforts to construct artificial supramolecular protein assemblies. However, despite their sophisticated structures, designed protein assemblies have yet to be incorporated into macroscale devices for real-life applications. We report a 2D crystalline protein assembly of C98/E57/E66L-rhamnulose-1-phosphate aldolase (CEERhuA) that selectively blocks or passes molecular species when exposed to a chemical trigger. CEERhuA crystals are engineered via cobalt(II) coordination bonds to undergo a coherent conformational change from a closed state (pore dimensions <1 nm) to an ajar state (pore dimensions ~4 nm) when exposed to an HCN(g) trigger. When layered onto a mesoporous silicon (pSi) photonic crystal optical sensor configured to detect HCN(g), the 2D CEERhuA crystal layer effectively blocks interferents that would otherwise result in a false positive signal. The 2D CEERhuA crystal layer opens in selective response to low-ppm levels of HCN(g), allowing analyte penetration into the pSi sensor layer for detection. These findings illustrate that designed protein assemblies can function as dynamic components of solid-state devices in non-aqueous environments.

UNASSIGNED: There are many reports on the effects of trace elements on human anthropometric characteristics. Among these elements, cobalt has consistently shown an inverse relationship with obesity risk. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between urinary levels of trace elements, focusing on cobalt, and childhood obesity, as indicated by the body mass index (BMI) in early adolescents, focusing on the participants\' gender.
UNASSIGNED: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Tokyo Teen Cohort study. Based on urinary samples, we obtained the anthropometric characteristics (weight and height) and potential covariates associated with childhood BMI for 1542 children (mean age=12 years; 860 boys and 682 girls).
UNASSIGNED: Concentrations of urinary cobalt and 17 other trace elements were measured using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry or inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry.
UNASSIGNED: Pearson\'s correlation coefficient revealed an inverse relationship between the log of cobalt concentrations in the urine and the BMI for the boys (r=-0.125, p<0.001) and girls (r=-0.082, p=0.033). Multivariate analysis, adjusted for various covariates, reconfirmed the correlation between urine cobalt and the childhood BMI, only in the boys (beta=-0.14, p<0.001).
UNASSIGNED: Among the 18 elements measured in the children\'s urine, cobalt may exhibit sufficient potency to decrease the risk of childhood obesity, particularly in boys. Future studies are required to clearly determine the magnitude of the effect and the underlying mechanism(s).

In recent years, the demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has been increasing rapidly. Conventional recycling strategies (based on pyro- and hydrometallurgy) are damaging for the environment and more sustainable methods need to be developed. Bioleaching is a promising environmentally friendly approach that uses microorganisms to solubilize metals. However, a bioleaching-based technology has not yet been applied to recover valuable metals from waste LIBs on an industrial scale. A series of experiments was performed to improve metal recovery rates from an active cathode material (LiCoO2; LCO). (i) Direct bioleaching of ≤0.5 % LCO with two prokaryotic acidophilic consortia achieved >80 % Co and 90 % Li extraction. Significantly lower metal recovery rates were obtained at 30 °C than at 45 °C. (ii) In contrast, during direct bioleaching of 3 % LCO with consortia adapted to elevated LCO levels, the 30 °C consortium performed significantly better than the 45 °C consortium, solubilizing 73 and 93 % of the Co and Li, respectively, during one-step bioleaching, and 83 and 99 % of the Co and Li, respectively, during a two-step process. (iii) The adapted 30°C consortium was used for indirect leaching in a low-waste closed-loop system (with 10 % LCO). The process involved generation of sulfuric acid in an acid-generating bioreactor (AGB), 2-3 week leaching of LCO with the biogenic acid (pH 0.9), selective precipitation of Co as hydroxide, and recirculation of the metal-free liquor back into the AGB. In total, 58.2 % Co and 100 % Li were solubilized in seven phases, and >99.9 % of the dissolved Co was recovered after each phase as a high-purity Co hydroxide. Additionally, Co nanoparticles were generated from the obtained Co-rich leachates, using Desulfovibrio alaskensis, and Co electrowinning was optimized as an alternative recovery technique, yielding high recovery rates (91.1 and 73.6% on carbon felt and roughened steel, respectively) from bioleachates that contained significantly lower Co concentrations than industrial hydrometallurgical liquors. The closed-loop system was highly dominated by the mixotrophic archaeon Ferroplasma and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria Acidithiobacillus caldus and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans. The developed system achieved high metal recovery rates and provided high-purity solid products suitable for a battery supply chain, while minimizing waste production and the inhibitory effects of elevated concentrations of dissolved metals on the leaching prokaryotes. The system is suitable for scale-up applications and has the potential to be adapted to different battery chemistries.