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The asymptotic stable region and long-time decay rate of solutions to linear homogeneous Caputo time fractional ordinary differential equations (F-ODEs) are known to be completely determined by the eigenvalues of the coefficient matrix. Very different from the exponential decay of solutions to classical ODEs, solutions of F-ODEs decay only polynomially, leading to the so-called Mittag-Leffler stability, which was already extended to semi-linear F-ODEs with small perturbations. This work is mainly devoted to the qualitative analysis of the long-time behavior of numerical solutions. By applying the singularity analysis of generating functions developed by Flajolet and Odlyzko (SIAM J. Disc. Math. 3(2), 216–240, 1990), we are able to prove that both L 1 scheme and strong A-stable fractional linear multistep methods (F-LMMs) can preserve the numerical Mittag-Leffler stability for linear homogeneous F-ODEs exactly as in the continuous case. Through an improved estimate of the discrete fractional resolvent operator, we show that strong A-stable F-LMMs are also Mittag-Leffler stable for semi-linear F-ODEs under small perturbations. For the numerical schemes based on α -difference approximation to Caputo derivative, we establish the Mittag-Leffler stability for semi-linear problems by making use of properties of the Poisson transformation. The new results and analyses provide not only the rigorous justifications and explanations of the Mittag-Leffler stability of numerical solutions with exact decay rate, but also establish some close connection between the continuous and discrete F-ODEs. Numerical experiments are presented for several typical time fractional evolutional equations, including time fractional sub-diffusion equations and semi-linear F-ODEs. All the numerical results exhibit the typical long-time polynomial decay rate, which is fully consistent with our theoretical predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the numerical stability of time fractional delay differential equations (F-DDEs) based on Grünwald–Letnikov (GL) approximation for the Caputo fractional derivative. In particular, we focus on the numerical stability region and the Mittag–Leffler stability. Using the boundary locus technique, we first derive the exact expression of the numerical stability region in the parameter plane, and show that the fractional backward Euler scheme is not τ (0) -stable, which is different from the backward Euler scheme for integer DDE models. Secondly, we prove the numerical Mittag–Leffler stability for the numerical solutions provided that the parameters fall into the numerical stability region, by employing the singularity analysis of generating function. Our results show that the numerical solutions of F-DDEs are completely different from the classical integer order DDEs, both in terms of τ (0) -stability and the long-time decay rate. Numerical examples are given to confirm the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the energetic variational structure inherent in the nonlocal phase field model, the energy of the system naturally decreases over time according to the Nonlocal Cahn–Hilliard (NCH) equation. Preserving this crucial property of energy dissipation is highly desirable in numerical solutions. However, most existing numerical methods can only ensure a decrease in some modified form of energy, rather than the original energy itself. In this paper, we propose the second-order exponential time differencing Runge–Kutta (ETD-RK2) methods for solving the NCH equation. We demonstrate that this method has the ability to unconditionally preserve the original energy dissipation. Numerical experiments are included to illustrate the accuracy and energy stability of the ETD-RK2 methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we develop and analyze an energy preserving relaxation scheme for a class of space fractional nonlinear Schrödinger equations (F-NLS) with periodic boundary condition. This scheme can preserve the discrete mass and energy for F-NLS with general power nonlinearity. The second order convergence in time direction for the numerical method is rigorously proved for the cubic nonlinear F-NLS. Some numerical simulations for 1D and 2D cases based on the Fourier spectral approximation in space are presented to validate the theoretical analysis of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The methods of extraction and degradation of lignin from biomass are very important for obtaining high value‐added chemical precursors. In this paper, pine wood powder was selected as the feedstock to investigate the effect of different organic solvent systems (ethanol, ethylene glycol, 1, 4‐butanediol and acetone) on the lignin extraction using different radio of H2SO4 and acetic acid. The extraction yields were calculated, the solvent lignin structure was analyzed by SEM, Elemental Analyzer, GPC, FT‐IR, HSQC and the organosolv lignin was depolymerized over NaOH and Pd/C in ethanol. The results showed that the molecular weight of all lignin extracted from biomass by different organic solvents were lower than 2000 g mol−1. Among the organic solvents, acetic acid and glycol could react with the γ and ɑ position of the β‐O‐4 bond in lignin, which protect the C−O bond during the extraction treatment. The analysis of depolymerization products suggested that the ethylene glycol had the best ability of retaining the structures of lignin and dissolution. About 17.74 wt. % aromatic compounds were obtained from the ethylene glycol lignin in 2 MPa H2 at 240°C, which were mainly phenyl alcohol compounds. Ethylene glycol lignin could give more aromatic hydrocarbon compounds and phenols than the other two kinds of lignin. Ethylene glycol and 1,4‐butanediol was also found in the depolymerization product respectively. The protection of the C−O bond offers effective strategies for directional depolymerization design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we study the long time behavior, including asymptotic contractivity and dissipativity, of the solutions to several numerical methods for fractional ordinary differential equations (F-ODEs). The existing algebraic contractivity and dissipativity rates of the solutions to the scalar F-ODEs are first improved. In order to study the long time behavior of numerical solutions to fractional backward differential formulas (F-BDFs), two crucial analytical techniques are developed, with the first one for the discrete version of the fractional generalization of the traditional Leibniz rule, and the other for the algebraic decay rate of the solution to a linear Volterra difference equation. By means of these auxiliary tools and some natural conditions, the solutions to F-BDFs are shown to be contractive and dissipative, and also preserve the exact contractivity rate of the continuous solutions. Two typical F-BDFs, based on the Grünwald–Letnikov formula and L1 method respectively, are studied. For high order F-BDFs, including convolution quadrature schemes based on classical second order BDF and product integration schemes based on quadratic interpolation approximation, their numerical contractivity and dissipativity are also developed under some slightly stronger conditions. Numerical experiments are presented to validate the long time qualitative characteristics of the solutions to F-BDFs, revealing very different decay rates of the numerical solutions in terms of the the initial values between F-ODEs and integer ODEs and demonstrating the superiority of the structure-preserving numerical methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magnetization reversal processes for L10-FePt(001) particulate films before and after Ar ion irradiation were experimentally investigated, and the size of the defect region (2r0) and the effective demagnetization factor (Neff) were evaluated based on a phenomenological analysis. A large coercivity (Hc) of 30.4 kOe, which originates from the particulate structure, drastically reduced after ion irradiation. The phenomenological analysis showed the increase of 2r0 by irradiating Ar ions, which clearly indicates that Hc is closely related with the size of 2r0. In addition, the FePt particulate films show large Neff, which may arise from the large dipole interaction between particles and the distribution of particle sizes and shapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose an improved efficient difference method to solve the modified anomalous sub-diffusion equation with a nonlinear source term. The weighted and shifted Grünwald difference operator and compact difference are used to approximate the Riemann–Liouville fractional derivative and the space derivative, respectively. Since the semi-discrete system obtained by discretizing in space has some stiff properties when the space mesh is dense, the second-order backward differentiation formula (BDF) is then employed to solve the semi-discrete system and a second-order interpolation formula is used to deal with the nonlinear source term. The stability and convergence of the method are discussed and the convergence order is shown to be, whereτandhdenote the time and space step size. The new method has higher accuracy compared with the existed methods and good stability in the numerical performance. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we proposed a simple and unconditional stable time-split Gauss–Seidel projection (GSP) method for the space fractional Landau–Lifshitz (FLL) equations. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and stability of this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The difference method for the space fractional coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations (CNLS) is studied. The fractional centered difference is used to approximate the space fractional Laplacian. This scheme conserves the discrete mass and energy. Due to the nonlocal nature of fractional Laplacian, in the classic Sobolev space, it is hard to obtain the error estimation in l ∞ . To overcome this difficulty, the fractional Sobolev space H α / 2 and a fractional norm equivalence in H α / 2 are introduced. Then the convergence of order O ( h 2 + τ 2 ) in l ∞ is proved by fractional Sobolev inequality, where h is the mesh size and τ is the time step. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the theoretical results at last. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmaceutical sludge is considered as a hazardous substance with high treatment and disposal fees. Anaerobic digestion could not only transform the hazardous substance into activated sludge, but also generate valuable biogas. This research had two objectives. First: studying the feasibility of anaerobic digestion and determining the biochemical methane potential (BMP) of pharmaceutical sludge under different Inoculum to substrate TS ratios (ISRs) of 0, 0.65, 2.58 and 10.32 in mesophilic condition of 37 ± 1 °C. Secondly, investigating the removal efficiency of colistin sulphate during anaerobic digestion. The results showed that the use of anaerobic digestion to treat the pharmaceutical sludge is feasible and that it can completely eliminate the colistin sulphate. The highest biogas production from pharmaceutical sludge is 499.46 mL/g TS at an ISR of 10.32. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, a linearly implicit conservative difference scheme for the coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations with space fractional derivative is proposed. This scheme conserves the mass and energy in the discrete level and only needs to solve a linear system at each step. The existence and uniqueness of the difference solution are proved. The stability and convergence of the scheme are discussed, and it is shown to be convergent of order in the discrete norm with the time step τ and mesh size h. When the fractional order is two, all those results are in accord with the difference scheme proposed for the classical non-fractional coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations. Some numerical examples are also reported. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, the Crank–Nicolson (CN) difference scheme for the coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations with the Riesz space fractional derivative is studied. The existence of this difference solution is proved by the Brouwer fixed point theorem. The stability and convergence of the CN scheme are discussed in the norm. When the fractional order is two, all those results are in accord with the difference scheme developed for the classical non-fractional coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations. Some numerical examples are also presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Burkholderia pseudomallei, a Gram-negative bacterium that causes melioidosis may be differentiated from closely related species of Burkholderia mallei that causes glanders and non-pathogenic species of Burkholderia thailandensis by multiplex PCR. The multiplex PCR consists of primers that flank a 10-bp repetitive element in B. pseudomallei and B. mallei amplifying PCR fragment of varying sizes between 400–700 bp, a unique sequence in B. thailandensis amplifying a PCR fragment of 308 bp and the metalloprotease gene amplifying a PCR fragment of 245 bp in B. pseudomallei and B. thailandensis. The multiplex PCR not only can differentiate the three Burkholderia species but can also be used for epidemiological typing of B. pseudomallei and B. mallei strains. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, we derive a new fractional Halanay-like inequality, which is used to characterize the long-term behavior of time fractional neutral functional differential equations (F-NFDEs) of Hale type with order α ∈ (0 , 1). The contractivity and dissipativity of F-NFDEs are established under almost the same assumptions as those for classical integer-order NFDEs. In contrast to the exponential decay rate for NFDEs, the F-NFDEs are proved to have a polynomial decay rate. The numerical scheme based on the L 1 method together with linear interpolation is constructed and applied in several examples to illustrate the theoretical results and to reveal the quite different long-term decay rate in the solutions between F-NFDEs and NFDEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In observational studies, there exists an association between obesity and epigenetic age as well as telomere length. However, varying and partially conflicting outcomes have notably arisen from distinct studies on this topic. In the present study, two-way Mendelian randomization was used to identify potential causal associations between obesity and epigenetic age and telomeres. Methods: A genome-wide association study was conducted using data from individuals of European ancestry to investigate bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) regarding the causal relationships between obesity, as indicated by three obesity indicators (body mass index or BMI, waist circumference adjusted for BMI or WCadjBMI, and waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI or WHRadjBMI), and four epigenetic age measures (HannumAge, HorvathAge, GrimAge, PhenoAge), as well as telomere length. To assess these causal associations, various statistical methods were employed, including Inverse Variance Weighted (IVW), Weighted Median, MR Egger, Weighted Mode, and Simple Mode. To address the issue of multiple testing, we applied the Bonferroni correction. These methods were used to determine whether there is a causal link between obesity and epigenetic age, as well as telomere length, and to explore potential bidirectional relationships. Forest plots and scatter plots were generated to show causal associations between exposures and outcomes. For a comprehensive visualization of the results, leave-one-out sensitivity analysis plots, individual SNP-based forest plots for MR analysis, and funnel plots were included in the presentation of the results. Results: A strong causal association was identified between obesity and accelerated HannumAge, GrimAge, PhenoAge and telomere length shrinkage. The causal relationship between WCadjBMI and PhenoAge acceleration (OR: 2.099, 95%CI: 1.248—3.531, p = 0.005) was the strongest among them. However, only the p-values for the causal associations of obesity with GrimAge, PhenoAge, and telomere length met the criteria after correction using the Bonferroni multiple test. In the reverse MR analysis, there were statistically significant causal associations between HorvathAge, PhenoAge and GrimAge and BMI, but these associations exhibited lower effect sizes, as indicated by their Odds Ratios (ORs). Notably, sensitivity analysis revealed the robustness of the study results. Conclusions: The present findings reveal a causal relationship between obesity and the acceleration of epigenetic aging as well as the reduction of telomere length, offering valuable insights for further scientific investigations aimed at developing strategies to mitigate the aging process in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we are concerned with the analysis on the numerical reconstruction of the spatial component in the source term of a time-fractional diffusion equation. This ill-posed problem is solved through a stabilized nonlinear minimization system by an appropriately selected Tikhonov regularization. The existence and the stability of the optimization system are demonstrated. The nonlinear optimization problem is approximated by a fully discrete scheme, whose convergence is established under a novel result verified in this study that the H1-norm of the solution to the discrete forward system is uniformly bounded. The iterative thresholding algorithm is proposed to solve the discrete minimization, and several numerical experiments are presented to show the efficiency and the accuracy of the algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dissipativity with a bounded absorbing set in L 2 ( Ω ) for time-fractional nonlinear sub-diffusion equation is investigated. A numerical scheme based on the L 1 method for time fractional derivative and the standard finite element method in space direction is presented. The proposed numerical scheme can preserve the dissipativity as the continuous equation. A numerical example is included to show the asymptotic behavior of the numerical method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of thermal pretreatment of faecal sludge and biogas production of continuous stirred tank reactor (TPCSTR) system on faecal sludge was evaluated in the laboratory of the University of Science and Technology Beijing, China. First, the effectiveness of thermal pretreatment on the inactivation of pathogens and the relationship between complete inactivation time and TS were researched. Second, the effect of sludge retention time (SRT) on the TPCSTR performance of faecal sludge was investigated. Results demonstrated that the time it took for the complete inactivation of pathogens (i.e., faecal coliform, salmonella spp., faecal streptococcus) was 60, 60, 80, 80, 100, 100, and 100 min for the TS faecal sludge concentrations of 1%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10%, and 12%, respectively. The experiments showed that the TPCSTR process was stable and efficient to inactivate pathogens under the operation conditions (i.e., TS = 8%, agitation speed = 120 rpm, and temperature = 37 ± 1 °C). The highest biogas production of faecal sludge was 453.21 L kg −1 [TS] day −1 at SRT of 25 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The determination of miRNA-mRNA pairs for intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) regulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines were investigated. Methods. Two dataset (accession number GSE27494 and GSE41883 from platform GPL1352) of expression profiling was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). The annulus cells were isolated from annulus fibrosus in patients with degenerative disc disease. The cells were then cultured in a three-dimensional (3D) collagen containing with/without proinflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) or interleukin beta (IL-1β)). After being cultured for 14 days, the isolated total RNA was analyzed via microarray, and the expression array data were obtained using BRB-Array Tools followed by analyzing the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and the prediction of potential miRNA targets of hub genes through online database. Results. Firstly, 52 and 296 DEGs were found in IL-1β- and TNF-α-induced annulus cells, respectively, of these there had 42 common DEGs (co-DEGs) with 34 increased transcripts and 8 reduced ones. Based on the GO and KEGG software, these co-DEGs were mainly enriched in the response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and molecule of bacterial origin, the regulation of receptor ligand activity and signaling receptor activator activity, as well as the following signaling pathways, including TNF signaling pathway, IL-17 signaling pathway, and NF-κB signaling pathway. Top hub genes (CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL8, IL1Β and PTGS2) regulated by several potential microRNAs were involved in TNF-α/IL-1β treated annulus cells. Conclusions. Several candidate genes regulated by miRNAs caused by TNF-α/IL-1β in the annulus cells were found, which will guide diagnosis and treatment for degenerative disc disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two series of novel trifluorobutenyl derivatives of heterocyclic with convenient and efficient synthesis methods and their antitumor activity on three cell lines have been reported for the first time. The derivatives were synthesized by the nucleophilic substitution between 4-bromo-1,1,2-trifluorobutene-1-ene and commercially available nitrogen-containing heterocycles with sulfydryl or monosubstituted malononitrile. The twenty-four new compounds were characterized by 1 HNMR, 13 CNMR and HR-MS. Totally, thirty-seven compounds were evaluated for the antitumor activity on three cancer cell lines (SH-SY5Y, MCF-7 and HepG2) using conventional MTT assay. The pharmacological results indicated that the compounds 3c , 3h , 4c , 8 , 9 , 10 and 11 showed potent to moderate antitumor activity against three cancer cell lines, with IC 50 values ranging between 0.4 μM and 41.5 μM. Even though they had less active than the reference compound taxol against MCF-7 and HepG2 lines, but they were better than the reference compound noscapine against SH-SY5Y cells, especially the compound 3h with a IC 50 value of 0.4 μM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted to determine the presence of hemagglutination inhibition (HI) and neutralization antibodies against Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in wild pigs on an offshore island in Singapore. Blood samples were collected from 28 wild pigs on the island. All the sera tested with HI assay and plaque reduction neutralization tests were found to be positive for antibodies against JEV. Our results indicate that the wild pigs have been infected with JEV on the offshore island and there is JEV transmission. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing antibodies are promising therapeutics against COVID-19, little is known about their mechanism(s) of action or effective dosing windows. We report the generation and development of SC31, a potent SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody, isolated from a convalescent patient. Antibody-mediated neutralization occurs via an epitope within the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein. SC31 exhibited potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 activities in multiple animal models. In SARS-CoV-2 infected K18-human ACE2 transgenic mice, treatment with SC31 greatly reduced viral loads and attenuated pro-inflammatory responses linked to the severity of COVID-19. Importantly, a comparison of the efficacies of SC31 and its Fc-null LALA variant revealed that the optimal therapeutic efficacy of SC31 requires Fc-mediated effector functions that promote IFNγ-driven anti-viral immune responses, in addition to its neutralization ability. A dose-dependent efficacy of SC31 was observed down to 5mg/kg when administered before viral-induced lung inflammatory responses. In addition, antibody-dependent enhancement was not observed even when infected mice were treated with SC31 at sub-therapeutic doses. In SARS-CoV-2-infected hamsters, SC31 treatment significantly prevented weight loss, reduced viral loads, and attenuated the histopathology of the lungs. In rhesus macaques, the therapeutic potential of SC31 was evidenced through the reduction of viral loads in both upper and lower respiratory tracts to undetectable levels. Together, the results of our preclinical studies demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of SC31 in three different models and its potential as a COVID-19 therapeutic candidate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The flag leaf and grain belong to the source and sink, respectively, of cereals, and both have a bearing on final yield. Premature leaf senescence significantly reduces the photosynthetic rate and severely lowers crop yield. Cytokinins play important roles in leaf senescence and determine grain number. Here, we characterized the roles of the rice (Oryza sativa L.) cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase OsCKX11 in delaying leaf senescence, increasing grain number, and coordinately regulating source and sink. OsCKX11 was predominantly expressed in the roots, leaves, and panicles and was strongly induced by abscisic acid and leaf senescence. Recombinant OsCKX11 protein catalysed the degradation of various types of cytokinins but showed preference for trans‐zeatin and cis‐zeatin. Cytokinin levels were significantly increased in the flag leaves of osckx11 mutant compared to those of the wild type (WT). In the osckx11 mutant, the ABA‐biosynthesizing genes were down‐regulated and the ABA‐degrading genes were up‐regulated, thereby reducing the ABA levels relative to the WT. Thus, OsCKX11 functions antagonistically between cytokinins and ABA in leaf senescence. Moreover, osckx11 presented with significantly increased branch, tiller, and grain number compared with the WT. Collectively, our findings reveal that OsCKX11 simultaneously regulates photosynthesis and grain number, which may provide new insights into leaf senescence and crop molecular breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of Ni-based catalysts, including Ni/SiO2–ZrO2, Ni/HZSM-5, Ni/Al2O3, Ni/SiO2, Ni/AC and Ni/CMK-3, were prepared to produce H2 from the aqueous phase reforming (APR) of methanol. This H2 was then used in the in situ hydrogenation of phenolic compounds for bio-fuel. The effect of different promoters was investigated with the addition of Co, La, Fe and Cu to the Ni/CMK-3 catalyst coupled with analysis using BET, XRD and SEM. The results showed that Ni/SiO2, Ni/AC and Ni/CMK-3 yielded the most hydrogen and they were chosen for further investigation in the in situ hydrogenation of phenol, guaiacol and lignin depolymerization products (LDP). Using these Ni-based catalysts, the APR of methanol provided hydrogen for the hydrogenation of the phenolic compounds. Of the modified Ni/CMK-3 catalysts, La–Ni/CMK-3 exhibited the highest activity for the conversion of phenol (80.88%) with a satisfactory cyclohexanol yield (76.64%) at 240 °C for 4 h without an external H2 source. When using La–Ni/CMK-3, the content of the phenolic compounds in LDP decreased from 75.25% to 25.38% while the content of saturated alcohols increased from 1.34% to 31.19%. It has been shown that it is possible to use the APR of methanol for the hydrogenation of LDP over a series of Ni/CMK-3 catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since fecal coliforms was introduced as a standard indicator of pollutants in effluents of municipal wastewater treatment plants in China in 2003, chlorine had been widely used in many wastewater treatment plants. However, concerns about the disinfection by-products (DBPs) of chlorine have been increasing. One of the effective way to reduce the production of DBPs is to reduce the effective chlorine dosage by improving the utilization rate of disinfectant. Ultrasound (US) is proved to be effective in wastewater treatment for its multiple chemical and physical effects produced by cavitation, which could favor the disinfection process accordingly. For the purpose of improving disinfection efficiency with the help of US, following points are addressed in the current study: (1) investigate the enhancement effects of US on the disinfection efficiency of sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) for real secondary effluents of municipal wastewater treatment plants; (2) evaluate the possibility of using US specific energy consumption (kJ/L) as an parameter for disinfection efficiency evaluation; and (3) quantify the reduction in chlorine-DBPs through US application. Results demonstrated that sonication could reduce two-thirds (US pretreatment) or one-third (simultaneous US and NaClO disinfection) of the required concentrations of NaClO (available chlorine) for 4 log reduction of fecal coliforms, which could meet the Class 1A (fecal coliforms less than 1000 CFU/L) discharge standard of China. In addition, US pretreatment with NaClO disinfection performed better enhancement in disinfection efficiency compared with simultaneous US and NaClO disinfection. Furthermore, analysis on DBPs showed that US application as pretreatment could obviously reduce the contents of trichloromethane (TCM) and trichloroacetic acid (TCAA) by more than 85% and 50%, respectively, compared with NaClO disinfection alone for the same disinfection efficiency. Meanwhile, the experimental results also showed that the disinfection efficiency and DBPs concentration were only slightly affected under a constant US specific energy consumption, although input power density and irradiation time changed, indicating that specific energy consumption (kJ/L) could be considered as a better control parameter for disinfection efficiency evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leucine aminopeptidase 3 (LAP3), belonging to the M1 family, has been proved to catalyze the hydrolysis of leucine residues. Leucine aminopeptidases are involved in many pathological disorders and regulate cell proliferation, invasion and/or angiogenesis of tumor. Recent study showed that LAP3 is highly expressed in several malignant and affects tumor angiogenesis. We aimed at investigating the clinical significance of LAP3 expression in human gliomas and its biological function in glioma cells. RT-PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry analysis were used to detect the expression levels of LAP3 in 121 glioma tissues, high LAP3 expression was correlated with the grade of malignancy and poor prognosis of glioma patients. In vitro, after increasing of LAP3 by myc-LAP3 transfection and knockdown of LAP3 by siRNA transfection in glioma cells, cell viability, cell cycle, migration and invasion were determined with CCK8 assay, flow cytometry, wound healing and transwell invasion assays. The results indicated that increasing LAP3 could promte cell viability, cell cycle, migration and invasion, knockdown LAP3 could decrease cell viability, suppress cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Our findings uncover that LAP3 might be a new prognostic factor and be close correlation with glioma cell growth, magration, invasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]