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China is one of the largest rice producers in the world, and rice production plays an important role in food security. Currently, arsenic pollution in paddy soils is one of most serious soil pollutions in China. Since paddy soils are maintained in a flooding anoxic condition for long periods, the rate and extent of arsenic transformation processes governed by microbial activities are stronger than that of chemical processes. Thus, understanding the key processes and relating mechanisms of microbial arsenic fixation in paddy soils will provide a theoretical basis for controlling arsenic pollution in paddy soils. In this study, based on a comprehensive analysis of arsenic migration in paddy soils and relating influencing factors, two important pathways relating to As(Ⅲ) fixation through microbial activities were illustrated:microbial ČFe(Ⅱ) oxidation coupled with As(Ⅲ) fixation (indirect process) and direct fixation through microbial As(Ⅲ) oxidation (direct process). Additionally, the influences of speciation and the distribution of nitrogen in paddy soils to the processes of microbial arsenic fixations were discussed and by extension, the expressions of key genes and metabolic mechanisms relating to microbial arsenic fixation and nitrogen transformation. Finally, the recent advances in microbial remediation used to control arsenic pollution in paddy soils were summarized, and relating future perspectives targeting microbial remediation were proposed.

The absorption and enhancement effects in X-ray fluorescence analysis for Ti, V and Fe elements were studied in the present paper. Three bogus duality systems of Ti-V/Ti-Fe/V-Fe samples were confected and measured by X-ray fluorescence analysis technique using HPGe semiconductor detector, and the relation curve between unitary coefficient (R(K)) of element count rate and element content (W(K)) were obtained after the experiment. Having analyzed the degree of absorption and enhancement effect between every two elements, the authors get the result, and that is the absorption and enhancement effect between Ti and V is relatively distinctness, while it's not so distinctness in Ti-Fe and V-Fe. After that, a mathematics correction method of exponential fitting was used to fit the R(K)-W(K) curve and get a function equation of X-ray fluorescence count rate and content. Three groups of Ti-V duality samples were used to test the fitting method and the relative errors of Ti and V were less than 0.2% as compared to the actual results.

A novel oxidant potassium ferrate (K2FeO4) was used to remove cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) at room temperature. The effects of various conditions on the removal ratio, such as reaction time, dosing quantity of K2FeO4 and initial pH, were investigated. The experiments results show that the removal ratio reaches 79.4% when the reaction time is 30 min, the dosing quantity of K2FeO4 to CTAB is 1:1, the initial pH of the solution is 7. In the reaction progress, the oxidation of K2FeO4 and the flocculation of the reduction product have synergistic effect on the removal of CTAB. In addition, infrared spectra of CTAB before and after being treated with K2FeO4 were further studied. The results indicate that the degradation process involves the interruption of chain and the subsequent mineralization to inorganic molecules. Furthermore, the reaction of K2FeO4 and CTAB follows second order kinetics law.

Background & Objective: Stem cells derived from fetal umbilical cord blood are of undifferentiated at early stage. They are sensitive to stimulations from the environment, and may be transformed under the effects of carcinogenic factors. This study was to explore the sensitivity of stem cells derived from fetal umbilical cord blood to carcinogenic factors., Methods: Mononuclear cells were isolated from fetal umbilical cord blood, and the attached cells were cultured in the medium containing 10% conditional medium of HepG2 hepatoma cells. A new cell line was gained, termed H-UCB. The biological features of H-UCB cells were detected by electron microscopy, karyotype analysis, cell cytometry, Western blot, and colony formation assay., Results: H-UCB cells proliferated faster after passage 3. The cells were fibroblast-like and hepatocyte-like, with the ratio of nucleus to cytoplasm increased. Under electron microscope, many microvilli on the surface and numbers of vacuoles in the cytoplasm of the cells were observed, the nuclei were large and irregular, endocytosis phenomena were noticed. Karyotype analysis indicated that the cells were heteroploid, and the number of chromosomes was between 50 and 70. Flow cytometry data indicated that the proliferation period was 22.9 h, and the karyotype was between diploid and tetraploid. Western blot showed that c-Myc protein and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were overexpressed in H-UCB cells. According to flow cytometry, the positive rates of surface markers of H-UCB cells were 79.0% for CD105, 1.2% for CD34, and 12.2% for CD106; those of control HepG2 cells were 15.0% for CO105, 9.8% for CD34, and 1.4% for CD106. The colony formation rate of H-UCB cells in soft agar was (13.2+/-2.6)%., Conclusion: H-UCB cells are derived from endothelial cells, and are transformed as malignant cells with tumor cell characteristics.

Conditions of disuse such as bed rest, space flight, and immobilization result in decreased mechanical loading of bone, which is associated with reduced bone mineral density and increased fracture risk. Mechanisms involved in this process are not well understood except the suppression of osteoblast function. To investigate the effect of simulated weightlessness on mRNA level of extracellular matrix proteins, osteoblasts were rotated in horizontal plane as a model of simulated microgravity. Primordial osteoblasts of rats were grown for 2 d and then rotated for 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively. After isolating total RNA in cells, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (PT-PCR) was made to examine the mRNA level of osteopontin (OPN) and osteonectin (ON). Meanwhile, the levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osteocalcin (BGP) in the cultured medium were measured to evaluate the calcific function of cell. The expression of OPN and ON mRNA fell significantly after rotating for 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively. The contents of BGP descended significantly, meanwhile, the activity of ALP also showed a degressive tendency. Horizontal rotation decreased the expression of ON and OPN as well as diminished the secretion of BGP and ALP, which affected the calcific function of osteoblast. The results obtained suggest that depression of extracellular matrix proteins expression plays a key role in bone loss during weightlessness.