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In this work, particles of activated carbon supported by Fe-N-TiO2 (Fe-N-TiO2/AC) were synthesized and used as the three-dimensional (3D) particle electrode for folic acid wastewater treatment in the 3D electrolysis and photocatalysis coupling process. The structure, morphology, and physical and electrochemical properties of the Fe-N-TiO2/AC particles were characterized, and the results showed that Fe-N-TiO2 was bound on the surface of AC particles by chemical attachment, and the Fe-N-TiO2/AC particles had better capability of adsorption and charge transfer as compared with the TiO2/AC particles. The effects of key operating parameters in the reaction process, including the current density (optimum 0.6 mA/cm2), aeration (optimum 5 L/min), pH value (optimum 5) and the ratio of Fe-N-TiO2/AC particles to cellulose acetate film coating AC particles (optimum 4:1), were optimized regarding the total oxygen carbon (TOC) removal. Under the optimum conditions, TOC removal from folic acid wastewater reached 82.4% during 120 min photoelectrocatalysis. The kinetic analysis and mechanism study showed that the degradation process fitted to the second-order kinetic model better than to the first-order, and the system exhibited synergistic effects in inhibiting photogenic electron–hole recombination and improving electrolytic efficiency. At the same time, this system has the ability to overcome the interference of the strong ionic strength in folic acid wastewater.

Cervical cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in women all over the world. However, the exact etiology of cervical cancer remains unclear. The receptor for activated protein kinase C (RACK1) is reported to be involved in tumorigenesis and tumor progression. Besides, the prognostic value of RACK1 in several kinds of tumors has been identified. However, there are limited studies on the functional role of RACK1 in cervical cancer. In this study, we tested the expression level of RACK1 by immunohistochemistry and western blot technologies and find that it is upregulated in cervical cancer. Colony formation and CCK8 assays indicate that RACK1 promotes cell proliferation in CaSki cervical cancer cells. While the silence of RACK1 decreases the cell proliferation in CCK8 analysis. β-galactosidase staining suggests that RACK1 decreases cell senescence in cervical cancer cells. Invasion and migration assay show that RACK1 promotes the invasion and migration of cervical cancer cells. Also, when RACK1 was silenced, it exerts the opposite result. Furthermore, the mRNA expression levels of MMP‑3, MMP‑9 and MMP‑10 were upregulated in RACK1‑overexpressed CaSki cells by qPCR analysis. RACK1 also induces S phase accumulation in cell cycle analysis and suppresses cell apoptosis in cervical cancer cells. Flow cytometry analysis of mitochondria functions suggests that RACK1 increases the mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) levels to prevent mitochondrial apoptosis in cervical cancer cells. To explore the possible mechanism of RACK1, we tested and found that RACK1 upregulates the expression of NF-κB, cyclin D1 and CDK4 and downregulates the expression of p53, p38, p21 and STAT1 in cervical cancer cells. These results suggest that RACK1 promotes cell growth and invasion and inhibits the senescence and apoptosis in cervical cancer cells probably by affecting the p53 pathway.

Membrane fouling is still the main obstacle for the wider application of membrane processes. In this study, different amounts of silver modified graphitic carbon nitride (Ag/g-C3N4) were firstly introduced into polyethersulfone (PES) membranes by blending via a phase-inversion method. The impacts of Ag/g-C3N4 addition on the membrane morphology, filtration and photocatalysis antifouling properties of Ag/g-C3N4/PES nanocomposite membranes were systematically studied. The results illustrated that the addition of Ag/g-C3N4 could make the finger-like voids in Ag/g-C3N4 nanocomposite membrane longer and wider, increasing the hydrophilicity and filtration property of the nanocomposite membrane. Also the addition of Ag/g-C3N4 nanosheets could endow the nanocomposite membranes with excellent antibacterial, photocatalytic dye degradation and antifouling properties under visible light irradiation.

To better understand the role of integrin subunit alpha 9 (ITGA9) gene polymorphism in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), we investigated the distribution of ITGA9 gene polymorphisms (rs2212020 and rs189897) and revealed whether these polymorphisms were associated with a curative effect in EOC. It was found that rs2212020 and rs189897 were correlated significantly with EOC incidence. The frequency of the C allele of rs2212020 was significantly higher in EOC patients than in the control group (P = 0.009, χ2 = 6.857). The population with the C allele of rs2212020 had a higher EOC risk than the population with the T allele (hazard ratio = 1.97, 95.0% CI = 1.178-3.299). Further, our results showed that the CC genotype was a risk factor for EOC. Regarding the association between ITGA9 and the sensitivity to platinum-based chemotherapy in EOC, there were no statistically significant differences in the frequencies of the rs189897 and rs2212020 polymorphisms between the chemosensitive group and the control group. In multivariate analysis, the patients with the TT genotype of rs189897 had longer progression free survival (PFS) than the patients without this genotype (P = 0.010, OR = 2.491). The AT genotype of rs189897 was a risk factor for PFS in EOC. These findings suggested that rs189897 and rs2212020 could play important roles in EOC diagnosis and prognosis.

In smart grid era, electric load is becoming more stochastic and less predictable in short horizons with more intermittent energy and competitive electricity market transactions. As a result, short-term probabilistic load forecasting (STPLF) is becoming essential for energy utilities because it helps quantify the risks of decision-making for power systems operation. Currently, probabilistic load forecasts (PLF) are commonly produced from three single components, namely input, model and output. Nevertheless, whether integrating two components to represent dual uncertainties of electric load is practical and able to improve STPLF attracts little regards. To address this issue, this paper proposes three integrated methods by pairwise combination of single representative component, i.e. uniform-biased temperature scenarios (UBTS), quantile regression (QR) and logarithmic residual empirical simulation (LRES). Case study on real utility data demonstrates the superiority of the integrated methods and excavates the relationship between predictive model class and specific integrated method.

Cervical cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in women all over the world. The exact mechanism of occurrence and development of cervical cancer has not been fully elucidated. CD38 is a type II transmembrane glycoprotein, which was found to mediate diverse activities, including signal transduction, cell adhesion, and cyclic ADP-ribose synthesis. Here, we reported that CD38 promoted cell proliferation and inhibited cell apoptosis in cervical cancer cells by affecting the mitochondria functions. We established stable cervical cancer cell lines with CD38 over-expressed. CCK8 assay and colony formation assay indicated that CD38 promoted cervical cancer cell proliferation. Nude mouse tumorigenicity assay showed that CD38 significantly promotes tumor growth in vivo. CD38 also induced S phase accumulation in cell cycle analysis and suppressed cell apoptosis in cervical cancer cells. Meanwhile, flow cytometry analysis of mitochondria functions suggested that CD38 decreased intracellular Ca2+ levels in cervical cancer cells and CD38 was involved in down-regulation of ROS levels and prevented mitochondrial apoptosis in cervical cancer cells. The percentage of cells with loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) in CD38-overexpressed cervical cancer cells was less than control groups. Furthermore, we found an up-regulation of MDM2, cyclinA1, CDK4, cyclinD1, NF-kB P65, c-rel, and a downregulation of P53, P21, and P38 by Western blot analysis. These results indicated that CD38 enhanced the proliferation and inhibited the apoptosis of cervical cancer cells by affecting the mitochondria functions.

An improved photocatalytic microfiltration membrane was successfully prepared by the impregnation method with nitrogen-doped TiO2/graphene oxide (GO) (NTG). By utilizing the unique role of N and GO, the photocatalytic activity of the membrane in UV and sunlight was improved. Compared with the Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) microfiltration membrane which was modified by TiO2, N-TiO2 (NT) and TiO2-GO (TG), the NTG/PVDF membrane exhibited high photocatalytic efficiency and significantly improved photodegradation power to the methylene blue (MB) solution under ultraviolet light and sunlight, with the photocatalytic efficiency reaching 86.5% and 80.6%, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) were used to analyze the morphology, crystal structure and chemical bonds of the membrane surface. The hydrophilicity of the modified PVDF microfiltration membrane was significantly improved, the flux of the pure water membrane reached 1672 Lm&minus, 2h&minus, 1, the flux of the MB solution was also significantly improved due to photodegradation. Therefore, the nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide graphene oxide PVDF microfiltration membrane (NTG/PVDF membrane) has great development prospects in sustainable water treatment.

Keywords- MSG wastewater; UASB; MBR; ammonia; volatile fatty acids (VFA) Abstract—Monosodium glutamate (MSG) wastewater is a very refractory case of high strength organic wastewater. To investigate the effect of operating variables on treatment of MSG wastewater, a laboratory scale study was conducted. The treatment of MSG wastewater was studied by UASB-A/OMBR process. The effect of operating variables such as organic volumetric load rate (OLR), pH, volatile fatty acids (VFA) , ammonia (NH3-N) and alkalinity on efficiency of treatment and recovery of biogas was investigated. The results showed that, in the UASB stage, the gas production rate was 3.02 - 8.83 kg COD / m 3 •d volume load, the gas production rate and COD load volume was positively related; as influent COD in range of 11878 - 16922 mgl -1 , COD removal rate of effluent was in range of 57.00 - 79.63 %. The removal of COD by MBR can reach 90%, even to 96%, and the removal of ammonia is 95 % -100% . UASB--A/O MBR has a good ability of preventing fluctuation of load and can remove COD and ammonia effectively.

Based on the data collected, this paper looked at the Chinese construction material production, demand and international trade from which an analysis is made on the Chinese comparative and competitive advantage of the construction material industry in the international arena. ​Master of Science (Managerial Economics)