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Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) play important roles in epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT) and tumor development. Previous studies have demonstrated that IL-6 promotes EMT, invasion, and metastasis in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cells by activating the STAT3/HIF-1α pathway. MicroRNA (miRNA) is non-coding small RNAs that also play an important role in tumor development. Notably, Let-7 and miR-200 families are prominently altered in EOC. However, whether IL-6 regulates the expression of Let-7 and miR-200 families through the STAT3/HIF-1α signaling to induce EMT in EOC remains poorly understood. In this study, we conducted in vitro and in vivo investigations using two EOC cell lines, SKOV3, and OVCAR3 cells. Our findings demonstrate that IL-6 down-regulates the mRNA levels of Let-7c and miR-200c while up-regulating their target genes HMGA2 and ZEB1 through the STAT3/HIF-1α signaling in EOC cells and in vivo. Additionally, to explore the regulatory role of HIF-1α on miRNAs, both exogenous HIF blockers YC-1 and endogenous high expression or inhibition of HIF-1α can be utilized. Both approaches can confirm that the downstream molecule HIF-1α inhibits the expression and function of Let-7c and miR-200c. Further mechanistic research revealed that the overexpression of Let-7c or miR-200c can reverse the malignant evolution of EOC cells induced by IL-6, including EMT, invasion, and metastasis. Consequently, our results suggest that IL-6 regulates the expression of Let-7c and miR-200c through the STAT3/HIF-1α pathway, thereby promoting EMT, invasion, and metastasis in EOC cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tetraphenylethylene (TPE)-based ligands are appealing for constructing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with new functions and responsiveness. Here, we report a non-interpenetrated TPE-based scu Zr-MOF with anisotropic flexibility, that is, Zr-TCPE (H4TCPE = 1,1,2,2-tetra(4-carboxylphenyl)ethylene), remaining two anisotropic pockets. The framework flexibility is further anisotropically rigidified by installing linkers individually at specific pockets. By individually installing dicarboxylic acid L1 or L2 at pocket A or B, the framework flexibility along the b-axis or c-axis is rigidified, and the intermolecular or intramolecular motions of organic ligands are restricted, respectively. Synergistically, with dual linker installation, the flexibility is completely rigidified with the restriction of ligand motion, resulting in MOFs with enhanced stability and improved separation ability. Furthermore, in situ observation of the flipping of the phenyl ring and its rigidification process is made by 2H solid-state NMR. The anisotropic rigidification of flexibility in scu Zr-MOFs guides the directional control of ligand motion for designing stimuli-responsive emitting or efficient separation materials. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with adjustable porosity and tunable functionality have attracted considerable attention, but the directional control of intermolecular and intramolecular motion of TPE-based ligands in the non-interpenetrated flexible MOFs has not yet been studied. Here, the authors report a non-interpenetrated tetraphenylethylene-based MOF with anisotropic flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gut microbiota contributes to human health. Plenty of studies demonstrate that antibiotics can disrupt gut ecosystem leading to dysbiosis. Little is known about the microbial variation of appendix and its up/downstream intestine after antibiotic treatment. This study aimed to investigate the microbiome and mucosal morphology of jejunum, appendix, and colon of rats in health and dysbiosis. A rodent model of antibiotic-induced dysbiosis was employed. Microscopy was used to observe mucosal morphological changes. 16S rRNA sequencing was performed for identifying bacterial taxa and microbiome structure. The appendices of dysbiosis were found enlarged and inflated with loose contents. Microscopy revealed the impairment of intestinal epithelial cells. High-throughput sequencing showed the Operational Taxonomic Units changed from 361 ± 33, 634 ± 18, 639 ± 19 in the normal jejunum, appendix, colon to 748 ± 98, 230 ± 11, 253 ± 16 in the disordered segments, respectively. In dysbiosis, Bacteroidetes translocated inversely from the colon and appendix (0.26%, 0.23%) to the jejunum (13.87% ± 0.11%); the relative abundance of all intestinal Enterococcaceae increased, while Lactobacillaceae decreased. Several bacterial clusters were found correlated to the normal appendix, whereas nonspecific clusters correlated to the disordered appendix. In conclusion, species richness and evenness reduced in the disordered appendix and colon; similar microbiome patterns were shared between the appendix and colon regardless of dysbiosis; site-specific bacteria were missing in the disordered appendix. Appendix is likely a transit region involving in upper and lower intestinal microflora modulation. The limitation of this study is all the data were derived from rats. We must be cautious about translating the microbiome results from rats to humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Central South University is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this work, we investigated the in vitro and in vivo functions of bisphosphonate of zoledronate (Zd) in hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) injured human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hES-CMs). In the in vitro setting, the effects of Zd on hES-CM survival and differentiation were examined. We found that low and medium concentrations (<2 µm) of Zd did not induce cell death of hES-CMs. 0.5 µm Zd protected H/R-induced hES-CM apoptosis but did not affect key differentiation proteins, including hcTnl, PECM-1 Cnx43 and Pan-Cadherin. In addition, Zd-induced TrkA/B phosphorylation and promoted VEGF to counter the apoptotic effect of H/R injury. In the in vivo animal model of myocardial infarction, Zd treatment promoted the survival of hES-CMs by inducing PECAM1 and hcTnl. Thus, we concluded that Zd protected H/R-induced hES-CM apoptosis in vitro and promoted hES-CM survival in vivo. These data may facilitate the development of human embryonic stem cells into clinical applications for patients with ischemic heart disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To measure the changes of macular microcirculation in cases with unilateral acute primary angle closure (APAC) who were managed by phacoemulsification. Methods: Patients with unilateral APAC and managed by phacoemulsification were enrolled. The contralateral unaffected eyes were served as fellow group, and normal individuals were recruited as control group. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) was performed to analyze the macular whole image vessel density (wiVD) and parafoveal vessel density (pfVD). The retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell complex (GCC) thicknesses were assessed using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. Results: A total of 36 APAC patients and 35 eyes from 35 normal individuals were recruited. In the APAC eyes, the mean wiVD (42.1% ± 3.7%) and pfVD (45.2% ± 3.8%) in the superficial layers (wiVD-SL and pfVD-SL) were both significantly reduced, compared to fellow eyes (45.7% ± 3.1%, 48.7% ± 3.1%) and control eyes (44.4% ± 4.7%, 47.4% ± 5.1%) (P < 0.05). They were all statistically correlated with RNFL, GCC, visual field pattern standard deviation (PSD), and mean deviation (MD). Conclusion: The macular OCT-A parameters including wiVD-SL and pfVD-SL were significantly reduced in the eyes with APAC compared to the fellow unaffected eyes and normal control eyes. They were correlated well with RNFL, GCC, PSD and MD. The macular vessel density parameters may help monitor the progression of APAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: We aimed to evaluate the impact of C-reactive protein (CRP) gene polymorphism, additional gene–gene interaction, and haplotypes on susceptibility to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).SNPstats online software (https://www.snpstats.net/start.htm) was employed to evaluate the association between CRP gene and T2DM risk. High-order interactions among SNPs was tested using generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction, and the testing balanced accuracy, training balanced accuracy and cross-validation consistency were calculated. The SHEsisPlus (http://shesisplus.bio-x.cn/SHEsis.html) online software was used for haplotype analysis.A total of 730 T2DM patients and 765 controls were enrolled. The T allele of rs1205 is associated with increased susceptibility to T2DM, OR (95% CI) were 1.51 (1.13–2.01), 1.44 (1.10–1.89) and 1.25 (1.01–1.54) for codominant, dominant and over-dominant models, respectively. We also found that minor allele of rs2794521 is associated with decreased susceptibility to T2DM under codominant and recessive models, OR (95%CI) were 0.38 (0.18–0.79) and 0.37 (0.16–0.80) for codominant and recessive models, respectively. No significant gene–gene interaction existed among CRP gene SNPs, all interaction p- values were more than 0.05. Haplotype analyses suggested the CGCA haplotype containing rs1205-C, rs1130864-G, rs2794521- C and rs3093059- A allele was associated with decreased risk of T2DM, OR (95% CI) = 0.83 (0.68–0.98), P = 0.047.Minor allele of rs1205 was associated with increased T2DM risk. Minor allele of rs2794521 and the CGCA haplotype were associated with decreased T2DM risk.Methods: We aimed to evaluate the impact of C-reactive protein (CRP) gene polymorphism, additional gene–gene interaction, and haplotypes on susceptibility to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).SNPstats online software (https://www.snpstats.net/start.htm) was employed to evaluate the association between CRP gene and T2DM risk. High-order interactions among SNPs was tested using generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction, and the testing balanced accuracy, training balanced accuracy and cross-validation consistency were calculated. The SHEsisPlus (http://shesisplus.bio-x.cn/SHEsis.html) online software was used for haplotype analysis.A total of 730 T2DM patients and 765 controls were enrolled. The T allele of rs1205 is associated with increased susceptibility to T2DM, OR (95% CI) were 1.51 (1.13–2.01), 1.44 (1.10–1.89) and 1.25 (1.01–1.54) for codominant, dominant and over-dominant models, respectively. We also found that minor allele of rs2794521 is associated with decreased susceptibility to T2DM under codominant and recessive models, OR (95%CI) were 0.38 (0.18–0.79) and 0.37 (0.16–0.80) for codominant and recessive models, respectively. No significant gene–gene interaction existed among CRP gene SNPs, all interaction p- values were more than 0.05. Haplotype analyses suggested the CGCA haplotype containing rs1205-C, rs1130864-G, rs2794521- C and rs3093059- A allele was associated with decreased risk of T2DM, OR (95% CI) = 0.83 (0.68–0.98), P = 0.047.Minor allele of rs1205 was associated with increased T2DM risk. Minor allele of rs2794521 and the CGCA haplotype were associated with decreased T2DM risk.Results: We aimed to evaluate the impact of C-reactive protein (CRP) gene polymorphism, additional gene–gene interaction, and haplotypes on susceptibility to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).SNPstats online software (https://www.snpstats.net/start.htm) was employed to evaluate the association between CRP gene and T2DM risk. High-order interactions among SNPs was tested using generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction, and the testing balanced accuracy, training balanced accuracy and cross-validation consistency were calculated. The SHEsisPlus (http://shesisplus.bio-x.cn/SHEsis.html) online software was used for haplotype analysis.A total of 730 T2DM patients and 765 controls were enrolled. The T allele of rs1205 is associated with increased susceptibility to T2DM, OR (95% CI) were 1.51 (1.13–2.01), 1.44 (1.10–1.89) and 1.25 (1.01–1.54) for codominant, dominant and over-dominant models, respectively. We also found that minor allele of rs2794521 is associated with decreased susceptibility to T2DM under codominant and recessive models, OR (95%CI) were 0.38 (0.18–0.79) and 0.37 (0.16–0.80) for codominant and recessive models, respectively. No significant gene–gene interaction existed among CRP gene SNPs, all interaction p- values were more than 0.05. Haplotype analyses suggested the CGCA haplotype containing rs1205-C, rs1130864-G, rs2794521- C and rs3093059- A allele was associated with decreased risk of T2DM, OR (95% CI) = 0.83 (0.68–0.98), P = 0.047.Minor allele of rs1205 was associated with increased T2DM risk. Minor allele of rs2794521 and the CGCA haplotype were associated with decreased T2DM risk.Conclusions: We aimed to evaluate the impact of C-reactive protein (CRP) gene polymorphism, additional gene–gene interaction, and haplotypes on susceptibility to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).SNPstats online software (https://www.snpstats.net/start.htm) was employed to evaluate the association between CRP gene and T2DM risk. High-order interactions among SNPs was tested using generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction, and the testing balanced accuracy, training balanced accuracy and cross-validation consistency were calculated. The SHEsisPlus (http://shesisplus.bio-x.cn/SHEsis.html) online software was used for haplotype analysis.A total of 730 T2DM patients and 765 controls were enrolled. The T allele of rs1205 is associated with increased susceptibility to T2DM, OR (95% CI) were 1.51 (1.13–2.01), 1.44 (1.10–1.89) and 1.25 (1.01–1.54) for codominant, dominant and over-dominant models, respectively. We also found that minor allele of rs2794521 is associated with decreased susceptibility to T2DM under codominant and recessive models, OR (95%CI) were 0.38 (0.18–0.79) and 0.37 (0.16–0.80) for codominant and recessive models, respectively. No significant gene–gene interaction existed among CRP gene SNPs, all interaction p- values were more than 0.05. Haplotype analyses suggested the CGCA haplotype containing rs1205-C, rs1130864-G, rs2794521- C and rs3093059- A allele was associated with decreased risk of T2DM, OR (95% CI) = 0.83 (0.68–0.98), P = 0.047.Minor allele of rs1205 was associated with increased T2DM risk. Minor allele of rs2794521 and the CGCA haplotype were associated with decreased T2DM risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We performed this updated systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate anti-Müllerian hormone levels (AMH) in newborns of mothers with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) compared with healthy controls. A search of the literature was conducted in the PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI, WANFANG, and VIP for articles to assess AMH levels in offspring of PCOS and non-PCOS mothers irrespective of language. These databases were searched from their inception to December 7, 2020. The quality of studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) scoring system. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were adopted to calculate the overall estimates with random-effects models. A total of 6 studies with 846 participants were included. The pooled analysis found an increased AMH level in the umbilical cord blood in newborns of PCOS mothers (SMD =0.62, 95% CI [0.28, 0.95]). Subgroup analyses revealed an elevation of AMH concentrations in female neonates, neonates born to American and Asian PCOS mothers. In addition, higher AMH levels were also found in studies diagnosed by the National Institute of Health (NIH) criteria, maternal clinical/biochemical hyperandrogenism, or maternal body mass index (BMI) >30 kg/m2. Meta-regression analysis suggested that diagnostic criterion contributed mostly to the high heterogeneity. We demonstrated that AMH levels in neonates born to PCOS mothers were essentially higher, which indicates that AMH may act as an enigmatic role in the pathogenesis of PCOS which inhibits folliculogenesis in the fetal stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two Bacteria were isolated from heavy metal contaminated soil with high concentration of total chromium (ca. 2300 mg/L) showed their significant ability of chromate reduction. The bacteria were identified as Ochrobactrum sp. and Microbacterium sp., and were designed as Ochrobactrum sp. strain 71 and Microbacterium sp. strain 73, respectively according to their 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The ability of the two isolates to reduce hexavalent chromium in actively growing cells as well as in resting cells was examined. The results showed both strains were able to reduce Cr(VI) to trivalent chromium Cr(III) very rapidly when grown in LB medium containing chromate (in the form of K2Cr2O7, 5 mg/L and 50 mg/L). Reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) in the phosphate buffer containing chromate was insignificant when using resting cells collected from exponential growth phase. However, when supplemented with electron donor (ex. acetate, citrate or NADH), resting cells also showed significant ability to reduce Cr(VI) to Cr(III). Reduction of the toxic Cr(VI) to the less toxic Cr(III) is a promising bioremedial process in detoxification of Cr(VI)-contaminated environment. Therefore, traits of chromate reduction by these two indigenous isolates showed significant potential in helping in situ Cr(VI) bioremediation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoarthritis is the main cause for total knee arthroplasty (TKA), followed by rheumatoid arthritis. Previous studies have reported conflicting results concerning the risk of surgical site infection after TKA for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis patients. Thus, this study aimed to examine whether rheumatoid arthritis patients had a higher risk of acute surgical site infection after TKA compared to osteoarthritis patients. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database of the whole population from 2012 to 2015, and collected the medical records of osteoarthritis patients or rheumatoid arthritis patients who underwent TKA. To evaluate the risk of acute surgical site infection in rheumatoid arthritis patients, propensity score matching was implemented for osteoarthritis patients. Acute surgical site infection was observed in 2.58% of TKA cases in rheumatoid arthritis patients and 2.66% of TKA cases in osteoarthritis patients. Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis patients had comparable risk for 90-day (odds ratio = 0.81, 95% confidence interval: 0.371–1.768) and 1-year (odds ratio = 0.463, 95% confidence interval: 0.121–1.766) surgical site infection. In conclusion, patients with rheumatoid arthritis were not at higher risk of acute surgical site infection after TKA compared to osteoarthritis patients. The current treatment strategy for patients with RA is safe and appropriate if they require TKA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microstructural evolution and performance of diamond/Al composites during thermal cycling has rarely been investigated. In the present work, the thermal stability of diamond/Al composites during thermal cycling for up to 200 cycles was explored. Specifically, the thermal conductivity (λ) of the composites was measured and scanning electron microscopy of specific areas in the same samples was carried out to achieve quasi-in situ observations. The interface between the (100) plane of diamond and the Al matrix was well bonded with a zigzag morphology and abundant needle-like Al4C3 phases. By contrast, the interface between the (111) plane of diamond and the Al matrix showed weak bonding and debonded during thermal cycling. The debonding length increased rapidly over the first 100 thermal cycles and then increased slowly in the following 100 cycles. The λ of the diamond/Al composites decreased abruptly over the initial 20 cycles, increased afterward, and then decreased monotonously once more with increasing number of thermal cycles. Decreases in the λ of the Al matrix and the corresponding stress concentration at the diamond/Al interface caused by thermal mismatch, rather than interfacial debonding, may be the main factors influencing the decrease in λ of the diamond/Al composites, especially in the initial stages of thermal cycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two novel compounds, named [Ti2Na4(BTC4A)2(μ6-O2−)(CH3O−)2·2H2O·2DMA] (1) and [Ti4(BTC4A)(OH−)4(EtO−)6(iPrO−)2] (2) (H4BTC4A= p-tert-Butylthiacalix [4] arene), have been synthesized and characterized. Single crystal diffraction shows that compound 1 features a dumbbell-like molecule based on an octahedral Ti2Na4 core and two BTC4A4− ligands with cone conformation. Compound 2 is composed of a bi-titanium(IV) unit and a BTC4A4− ligand with 1,2-alternate conformation. The estimated optical bandgaps of compounds 1 and 2 are 2.87 and 1.97 eV, respectively, which are smaller than that of TiO2. Moreover, compounds 1 and 2 display much higher and more efficient photocatalytic degradation abilities for methylene blue than TiO2 under visible light irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Gram-staining positive aerobic bacterium, designated TLY-12T, was isolated from the Pu-erh tea pile-fermentation process in Pu'er city, Yunnan, China. Strain TLY-12T grew at 15–37 °C (optimum, 30 °C), pH 6.0–11.0 (optimum, pH 9.0) and 0–9.0% (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 3.0%). The major cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C15:0, C16:0 and iso-C16:0. The respiratory quinone were menaquinones MK-9 (H2) and MK-9 (H4). The polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol (PG), diphosphatidylglycerol (DPG), phosphatidylinositol (PI), phosphoglycolipid (PGL), glycolipid (GL) and an unidentified phospholipid (PL). The peptidoglycan contained glutamic acid, aspartic acid, alanine and lysine, with the last named being the diagnostic diamino acid. Whole-cell sugars of the isolate were ribose, galactose and glucose. Phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA gene showed that this strain belonged to the family Promicromonosporaceae, and was most closely related to Isoptericola cucumis DSM 101603 T, which gave sequence similarity of 97.9%. Genome sequencing revealed a genome size of 3.91 Mbp and a G + C content of 75.0%. Average nucleotide identity and digital DNA–DNA hybridization values were all below the species threshold of described Promicromonosporaceae species. Genome phylogenetic analysis showed that strain TLY-12T formed a separate evolutionary branch, and was parallel to other related genera of Promicromonosporaceae. Based on the phylogenetic, phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genome pairwise data, strain TLY-12T is considered to represent a novel species in a new genus in the family Promicromonosporaceae, for which the name Puerhibacterium puerhi gen. nov, sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is TLY-12T (= CGMCC 1.17157T = KCTC 49467T). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under intensive and high-density aquaculture conditions, the cultured eels are easily infected by a variety of virulent Aeromonas species, which leads to high mortality rates and economic losses. In this study, a visual closed-tube loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was developed for targeting aerolysin gene of Aeromonas species affecting cultured eels. Firstly, two pairs of outer and inner primers were designed against a conserved region of the aer gene from different Aeromonas species. Secondly, the weakly buffered aer-LAMP assay was optimized under various Mg2+ concentrations, different amplification times and amplification temperatures followed by the visual evaluation of phenol red dye and SYTO-9. Thirdly, the detection limit of the aer-LAMP assay showed 16.8 copy/μl which was simultaneously evaluated by the color changes from red to yellow and the real-time fluorescence amplification curves. The specificity of the aer-LAMP assay showed no cross-reaction with other related species. In addition, 30 Aeromonas strains and 40 clinical tissues from eels were used to further validate the effectiveness of the aer-LAMP assay. All the results showed that the aer-LAMP assay provided a rapid, simple, and reliable method for detecting Aeromonas harboring the aerolysin gene, which would be helpful for the prevention and control of Aeromonas infection in cultured eels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene has excellent theoretical properties and a wide range of applications in metal-based composites. However, because of defects on the graphene surface, the actual performance of the material is far below theoretical expectations. In addition, graphene containing defects could easily react with a matrix alloy, such as Al, to generate brittle and hydrolyzed phases that could further reduce the performance of the resulting composite. Therefore, defect repair is an important area of graphene research. The repair methods reported in the present paper include chemical vapor deposition, doping, liquid-phase repair, external energy graphitization, and alloying. Detailed analyses and comparisons of these methods are carried out, and the characterization methods of graphene are introduced. The mechanism, research value, and future out-look of graphene repair are also discussed at length. Graphene defect repair mainly relies on the spontaneous movement of C atoms or heteroatoms to the pore defects under the condition of applied energy. The repair degree and mechanism of graphene repair are also different according to different preparations. The current research on graphene defect repair is still in its infancy, and it is believed that the problem of defect evolution will be explained in more depth in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infection is a leading cause of death in patients with stroke; however, the impact of cerebral infarct size or location on infectious outcome is unclear. To examine the effect of infarct size on post-stroke infection, we utilised the intraluminal middle-cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) mouse model of ischemic stroke and adjusted the duration of arterial occlusion. At 1 day following stroke onset, the proportion of mice with infection was significantly greater in mice that had larger infarct sizes. Additionally, the presence of lung infection in these mice with severe strokes extended past 2 days, suggestive of long-term immune impairment. At the acute phase, our data demonstrated an inverse relationship between infarct volume and the number of circulating leukocytes, indicating the elevated risk of infection in more severe stroke is associated with reduced cellularity in peripheral blood, owing predominately to markedly decreased lymphocyte numbers. In addition, the stroke-induced reduction of lymphocyte-to-neutrophil ratio was also evident in the lung of all post-stroke animals. To investigate the effect of infarct location on post-stroke infection, we additionally performed a photothrombotic (PT) model of stroke and using an innovative systematic approach of analysis, we found the location of cerebral infarct does not impact on the susceptibility of post-stroke infection, confirming the greater role of infarct volume over infarct location in the susceptibility to infection. Our experimental findings were validated in a clinical setting and reinforced that stroke severity, and not infarct location, influences the risk of infection after stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the fuzzy position/force hybrid control for a class of 5-degree-of-freedom (DOF) redundantly actuated parallel robots. The position control law is designed based on the proportional-integral-differential (PID) for the 5-DOF redundantly actuated parallel robot. The fuzzy proportional-integral (PI) redundant actuation force control law is designed based on the position/force hybrid control structure for the 5-DOF redundantly actuated parallel robot. The optimum driving force is obtained in the presence of interference, and the force tracking performance of the fuzzy PI controller is better than the conventional PI controller under the interference condition. Based on the fuzzy position/force hybrid controller, the tracking performance of the closed-loop system for the 5-DOF redundantly actuated parallel robot is improved by using the fuzzy position/force hybrid controller and the interference is eliminated effectively in the control system design. Finally, the co-simulation results of ADAMS and MATLAB/SIMULINK are given to show the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed methods compared with the conventional PI controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food-borne diseases induced by Staphylococcus aureus contamination seriously affect human health and food safety. Therefore, a closed-tube loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for the visual detection of S. aureus was developed in this study. Firstly, two pairs of outer and inner primers were designed targeting on a conserved fragment of gyrB gene in different S. aureus strains. Secondly, the weakly buffered gyrB-LAMP assays were optimized under various pH values and other conditions, followed by the visual evaluation of five pH-sensitive indicators, and the cresol-red was chosen as the best dye for the best visual performance. Thirdly, the cresol-red-based LAMP assay showed good sensitivity with the detection limit of 5.4 copies/μL for purified DNAs, and good specificity with no cross-reaction with other related species. The specificity of the amplified products was further confirmed by XbaI restriction enzyme digestion analysis. Finally, the cresol-red-based LAMP assay was validated by the clinical-dried fish samples inoculated with known numbers of S. aureus and further validated by 20 blind samples. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a closed-tube LAMP assay based on pH-sensitive indicators for the visual detection of the food-borne S. aureus by the gyrB gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tree peony is a well-known ornamental plant that is also valued for its medical uses and edible oil production. A long breeding period and low propagation rate are the main hurdles hindering the development of the tree peony industry, for which micropropagation can offer a solution. This article reviews the advances in tree peony micropropagation during the past three decades, providing a detailed analysis of the conditions required for the four stages of micropropagation (initiation, multiplication, in vitro rooting, and acclimatization). Additionally, potential of tree peony micropropagation for commercial application was evaluated. This review provides valuable information for the successful micropropagation of tree peony, permitting more targeted and in-depth research into tree peony micropropagation. Key message: The review summarized in detail the results achieved in tree peony micropropagation over the last three decades. Furthermore, the potential of the existing micropropagation protocol was evaluated and the problems and the future perspectives were summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water quality, size, connectivity and other physical properties of hydrological systems might have different functions in the formation and maintenance of biodiversity, but this remains mostly unclear due to the lack of undisturbed sites for experimental modelling. Alpine freshwater habitats such as micro-waterbodies (MWB) represent a kind of natural system suitable for biodiversity research. In order to assess potential linkages between environmental factors, connectivity of MWBs and aquatic species richness, we conducted a pilot study in two separated MWB systems located in Gaoligong Mountain, northwest Yunnan province, China. A total of 27 MWBs have been analyzed, including 22 connected and 5 isolated bodies. 13 conventional environmental factors were tested while all kinds of aquatic macro-organisms were collected and classified. Results showed a high environmental heterogeneity among MWBs and significant differences between the two systems but only a few environmental variables such as the depth of soil bottom, total Nitrogen and altitude were related to species richness and the formation of the community structure. As a benefit from the high environmental heterogeneity, the cascaded MWB systems provided divergent habitats able to support species richness at a higher level than the same number of randomly selected MWBs. This finding supports the idea that habitat connectivity matters also in extremely small aquatic ecosystems. Moreover, although still a preliminary result, a polarization effect within connected chains where edge MWBs host higher taxa and endemic taxa richness as well as larger populations, was detectable. This study gives interesting insights on the spatial processes driving community structure and a new prospective for biodiversity conservation. Since alpine MWBs have significant effects on the maintenance of watershed biodiversity, further research on such small and crucial ecosystems is encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Central South University is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The concept of frame plays a significant role in art design. However, traditional picture frames do not offer human interaction. To create a new dimension of graphic artwork demonstration, we utilize the Internet of Things (IoT) technology to develop human and digital frame interaction. Specifically, this paper uses IoTtalk, an application-layer IoT device management platform, to quickly establish connections and meaningful interactions between IoT devices. The interaction between human and frame is accomplished by implementing an output device of IoTtalk called FrameTalk, which allows the input devices to control the dynamic graphics on a digital frame. The FrameTalk device can be exhibited in specific frame hardware or the screen of any computing device. We illustrate the functional block diagram of the FrameTalk device and its default applications. Then we demonstrate two FrameTalk application examples. The first example is CalligraphyTalk, where an audience can interact with the frame to write Chinese poems. The second example is PortraitGuess that allows an audience to play the historical figures portrait painting guess game by the frame. We measure the delays between the smartphone and the FrameTalk device, and develop both analytic and simulation models to investigate the user experience of the FrameTalk applications. Our study indicates that good user experience can be achieved in FrameTalk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A novel silicotungstate-based silver(I) compound, formulated as [{Ag8(H3mtz)12}{SiW12O40}2]·8H2O (1) (H3mtz = 3-Mercapto-1,2,4-triazole) has been hydrothermally synthesized. This compound was identified by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and also characterized by FT-IR, UV, TG, PXRD and elemental analyses. The data show that it possesses the octanuclear silver(I) clusters and the anionic silicotungstates, which were connected via the hydrogen bonds and weak Ag-O bonds. Interestingly, the estimated optical bandgap of compound 1 is 1.95 eV, which falls into the range of semiconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper oxide ore has a complex composition, and a low recovery rate is often achieved via the traditional sorting method. A new combined process of flotation-high-gradient magnetic separation-leaching is proposed here to recover copper minerals. The test results showed that the flotation process was successful when using sodium sulfide as a vulcanizing agent and butyl xanthate as a collector. The flotation concentrates can be qualified with a copper grade of 29.37% and a recovery rate of 32.22%. Flotation tailings separated by high-gradient magnetic separation can yield two products, namely, magnetic separation concentrates and magnetic separation tailings, via the leaching recovery of the remaining copper minerals. However, the leaching conditions are different. The leaching rates of copper from magnetic separation concentrates and tailings are 28.44% and 26.95%, respectively. The total copper recovery is 87.61%. This new technology introduces a high-gradient magnetic separation process, which achieves the requirements of low energy consumption and high-efficiency copper recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four new acylated triterpene glycosides with aliphatic chains (4-7) as well as five known triterpenoids were isolated from the flower buds of Staphylea bumalda with bioassay guidance. Their structures were determined on the basis of spectral techniques, including IR, 1D and 2D NMR, and HR-APCI-MS. Most compounds (except 8) were isolated from S. bumalda for the first time. Additionally, the neuroprotective effects of 1 and 4-9 on suckling rat primary cultured hippocampal neurons against H2O2-induced injury were evaluated in vitro. The four new triterpenoids (4-7) showed neuroprotective effects, which increased the cell viability to over 74% at different concentrations, which was higher than the negative control (59%), while compounds 1 and 8-9 exhibited cytotoxic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Anhydrous liquid ammonia was used as a solvent for the cationic modification of ramie fiber using 2, 3-epoxypropytrimethylammonium chloride (EPTAC). The processing parameters, including treatment temperature, treatment time, concentration of EPTAC, and concentration of NaOH were schematically investigated in order to control the properties of the fibers. The optimum parameters for cationic modification in liquid ammonia were analyzed through zeta potential measurement. The modified fibers were dyed in different conditions after modification, and the dyeing behaviors such as exhaustion and fixation properties were carefully examined. The modified fiber in liquid ammonia consisted of a higher number of cationic groups on the fibers compared to the fibers modified in water. The cationization reaction in liquid ammonia significantly decreased the crystallinity and the crystallite orientation of the resultant fibers. The decreased crystallinity slightly decreased the thermal resistance and tensile strength but increased the elongation ability of the fibers. The liquid ammonia cationic modification process turned the appearance of fibers from rough to smooth and lustrous due to swelling of fibers in the solvent. The exhaustion, fixation and wash fastness property of the fibers were improved after the cationic modification in liquid ammonia.Graphical Abstract: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the dynamic-output-feedback control problem for a class of nonlinear system with nonlinear uncertainties and multiple time-delays. Compared with the previous work, the time delay parameters of the system are both multiple and time-varying, and the results are further extended to the chemical continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) case. First, the system is decomposed into two subsystems based on the output and input matrix. Secondly, a dynamic compensator is designed for the first subsystem, and the output feedback controller is further employed based on the second subsystem and the compensator. Moreover, by using the introduced LyapunovKrasovskii functional, it can be seen that the solutions of the resultant closed-loop system converge to an adjustable bounded region. In this paper, the uncertainties are in the nonlinear form and bounded by nonlinear functions with unknown gains. And the control design conditions are relaxed because of the developed dynamic compensator. Finally, the simulations for a chemical (CSTR) case are performed to show the effectiveness of the main results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, a novel method to recover iron from iron ore tailing (IOT) was studied. The method was induced with carbothermic reduction, followed by magnetic flocculation separation (MFS) and conventional magnetic separation (CMS). The effects of reduction temperature, as well as the amount of coal and sodium carbonate on iron recovery efficiency, were chiefly introduced according to the experimental mechanism. Results of carbothermic reduction showed that iron minerals in the IOT were transformed to metallic iron at the reduction temperature of 1100 °C for 120 min, with a C/Ore mass ratio of 25% and a mass ratio of Na2CO3 to ore of 8%. The reduction activity of FeO increased and a deep reduction from FeO to metallic iron was observed with the addition of Na2CO3. The metallization mean of induced reduction ores reached 32.53%. Results of magnetic separation showed that the MFS concentrate grade was 74.02% Fe, with the recovery rate at 79.51% when the reduced samples were ground to 87.4% below 38 μm. This iron recovery increased by 4.19% compared with that of CMS, whereas the iron concentrate grade slightly changed. In addition, the microstructure and phase transformation of the carbothermic reduction process were studied by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscope, and energy-disperse spectroscopy, thereby complying with the main force analysis of magnetic flocculation in the MFS to help understand the mechanism of the novel method.Graphical Abstract: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Middle Jurassic Shaximiao Formation encompasses tens of meters of thick lowstand meandering valley (LMV) strata in the western Sichuan foreland basin. Ancient LMVs newly discovered in this area were further studied based on sequence stratigraphy and seismic sedimentology. The aim of the present study was to investigate the sedimentary characteristics, sequence architecture, and the controls on LMV deposition in this tectonically active basin using field survey data, seismic sections, seismic amplitude imaging, core description, and comprehensive application of drilling data. The results show the following: (1) Three regional sequence boundaries and two flooding surfaces were recognized, and the Shaximiao Formation was divided into two-third-order sequences and four systems tracts. (2) Three sedimentary facies associations were identified: incised valley-fill, tributary channel, and overbank facies. Incised valleys are 5-17 km wide, 20-60 m deep and traceable for 120 km along their axes. (3) In the downstream segment, the role of tectonism gradually diminishes, and periodic base-level changes control the form and evolution of the incised valleys. Three types of LMVs—A1, A2, and A3—developed with changes in base level (lake level); of these types, the base level of the A3 LMV was likely the lowest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the spectral element method (SEM) is improved to solve the moving load problem. In this method, a structure with uniform geometry and material properties is considered as a spectral element, which means that the element number and the degree of freedom can be reduced significantly. Based on the variational method and the Laplace transform theory, the spectral stiffness matrix and the equivalent nodal force of the beam-column element are established. The static Green function is employed to deduce the improved function. The proposed method is applied to two typical engineering practices—the one-span bridge and the horizontal jib of the tower crane. The results have revealed the following. First, the new method can yield extremely high-precision results of the dynamic deflection, the bending moment and the shear force in the moving load problem. In most cases, the relative errors are smaller than 1%. Second, by comparing with the finite element method, one can obtain the highly accurate results using the improved SEM with smaller element numbers. Moreover, the method can be widely used for statically determinate as well as statically indeterminate structures. Third, the dynamic deflection of the twin-lift jib decreases with the increase in the moving load speed, whereas the curvature of the deflection increases. Finally, the dynamic deflection, the bending moment and the shear force of the jib will all increase as the magnitude of the moving load increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new technique for preparation of high-grade titanium slag from Panzhihua vanadium titanomagnetite concentrate by reduction-melting-magnetic separation processing. Chemical analysis, x-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy in conjunction with energy-dispersive spectroscopy were used to characterize the samples. The effective separation of iron and titanium slag could be realized by melting metallized pellets at 1550°C for 60 min with the addition of 1% CaO (basicity of 1.1) and 2% graphite powder. The small iron particles embedded in the slag could be removed by fine grinding and magnetic separation process. The grade of TiO in the obtained high-grade titanium slag reached 60.68% and the total recovery of TiO was 91.25%, which could be directly applied for producing titanium white by the sulfuric acid process. This technique provides an alternative method to use vanadium titanomagnetite concentrate of the Panzhihua area in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various incorporation of Au in pyrite and its effects on the geometrical structure, electronic structure and flotability of pyrite were theoretically investigated and fully discussed by performing density functional theory (DFT). The calculated incorporation energy shows that gold would most likely exist in pyrite via incorporating into interstitial lattice sites in the absence of As impurity. As a result of incorporated Au, the covalence levels of the S-Fe and S-S bonds are changed, and the tonicity of Au-S bonds and antibonding of Au-Fe bonds are found to form in the pyrite, which would change the natural flotability of pyrite. The Au impurity energy levels are introduced into the energy band and result in the transformation of pyrite semiconductivity type. The calculated band-gap value suggests that the incorporated Au significantly decreases pyrite semiconductivity level, which enhances the formation and the adsorption stability of dixanthogen during pyrite flotation. The DOS results reveal that the stability and depression difficulty level of pyrites increases in the following order: FeSAs < FeS < FeSAsAu < FeSAu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to produce deep shades of colour, ramie fibre was subjected to pretreatment by cationization, caustic mercerization (slack and tension condition), and liquid ammonia mercerization. The untreated and pretreated samples were dyed with 0.5 to 7 % concentrations (on mass of fiber (o.m.f)) of Liyuansol Red FL-2BL reactive dye. The dyeing properties of dye exhaustion, fixation, colour uniformity, wash fastness, and rubbing fastness were investigated. The results indicated that these pretreatments improved dye exhaustion and fixation on ramie fibre, with no loss of fastness. For the untreated and treated substance, the amount of dye mass absorption increased linearly with increased dye o.m.f. Cationic treatment improved performance, with 89 % and 98 % for exhaustion and fixation, respectively, and the maximum K/ S values of all fibers receiving pretreatment. The colour uniformity was acceptable and similar for the untreated and treated ramie fibers, with the exception of cationic-treated fabric dyed at 7 % dye o.m.f that showed a high standard deviation value of colour uniformity. The Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherm models were also used to study the adsorption of dye on ramie fibre; all of the adsorption processes fit the Freundlich model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and dyspepsia are highly prevalent in the general population with significant symptom overlap, while the interaction between both remains poorly understood.Aim: To examine whether GERD overlapping dyspepsia would have an impact on clinical and psychological features as compared with GERD alone.Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study in a GERD cohort (n = 868) that was previously recruited from a population-based GERD survey (n = 2752). We compared the clinical and psychological factors between patients with and without dyspeptic symptoms "epigastric pain or burning." All participants were evaluated with Reflux Disease Questionnaire score, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score, Taiwanese Depression Questionnaire score, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory score. Endoscopic findings were classified according to the Los Angeles classification.Results: Among the GERD population, 107 subjects had overlapping "epigastric pain or burning" (GERD-D), and 761 did not have these symptoms (GERD alone). GERD-D subjects had more severe GERD symptoms and were more often associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (OR 3.54, 95% CI 1.92-6.52) as compared subjects with GERD alone. In addition, GERD-D subjects had lower quality of sleep (OR 1.11, 95% CI 1.01-1.21), higher depression (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.02-1.10), lower blood pressure (OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.22-0.95), and higher serum total cholesterol levels (OR 2.78, 95% CI 1.36-5.67) than GERD alone.Conclusions: GERD-D subjects are characterized with worsening clinical symptoms as well as higher psychosocial, IBS, and metabolic comorbidities, but less erosive esophagitis. Our results indicate that clinical awareness of such overlapping condition would help optimize the management of GERD in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stationary state entanglement in a chain with three spins is reported. Each of spins couples to its own separate bosonic reservoir. The master equation for such spins' system is derived under the Born-Markovian approximation. The result presents that the coupling between the middle spin and its bosonic bath in some special temperature region reinforce the entanglement between the spins. By analyzing the heat current between the middle spin and its bosonic bath, we find a tight relationship between the direction of heat current from the middle spin to its bosonic bath and the reinforcement of the entanglement. The entanglement increases with the heat current between the middle spin and its bosonic bath almost linearly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the study on synchronization problems of coronary artery chaos system, one of the often overlooked parts is the controller input delay, also mentioned as the drug absorption time during clinical trials. With the time delay considered in system, mentioned defect might cause random behavior or crashes. This paper studied the state feedback synchronization control for uncertain coronary artery chaotic systems under interval time-varying delay. The triple integral forms are added to Lyapunov-Krasovakii function to provide more information on the input delay. A single integral inequality and a double integral inequality of Wirtinger-based inequality are applied to reduce conservation for their tighter upper bound comparing with the traditional methods. What's more, the delay interval is decomposed into multiple equidistant subintervals to take a further step of conservation reduction. With the method, the abnormal chaotic motion can be synchronized with the healthy system under instable periodic orbit so as to achieve an effective treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new sesquiterpene hyssopusin A (1), together with four known compounds 2-5, was isolated from Hyssopus cuspidatus. The structure of hyssopusin A (1) was elucidated by physical and spectroscopic data analysis, including 1D NMR, 2D NMR, and HR-ESI-MS. Compounds 1-4 showed antifeedant effects against the third instar larvae of Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) in a concentration-dependent manner with 50% antifeedant concentrations (AFC50) of 32.17, 38.33, 25.47, and 36.22 μg/cm2, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from tripodal ligand tris-(methyl-imidazole) amine (1) the colourless complex tris-(methyl-imidazole)aminesilver(I)perchlorate (2) has been synthesized, characterized by IR, UV/Vis and HNMR spectroscopic studies and finally solid state structure has been established by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. A single crystal X-ray structure determination revealed the formation of coordination polymer. The crystal structure possesses weak d-d 'argentophilic' interactions with Ag-Ag separation (3.348 Å). The weak luminance at 375 nm may be this Ag-Ag weak interaction. The molecule possesses weak H-bonding with C2 and C4H of imidazole with oxygen of ClO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volcanic ash from Xinjiang in the PRC contains malachite and cuprite. The volcanic ash has a copper content of 1.29%. However, because of severe argillization it is difficult to recover the copper through enrichment by flotation. Because the ash contains significant amounts of calcium and magnesium carbonates leaching the ash with acid requires a large amount of acid. We thus studied the use of ammonia-water and ammonium carbamate as effective leaching agents for copper. Leaching with ammonia-water and ammonium carbamate does not affect gangue minerals such as quartz and calcite and it can also promote the dissolution of minerals that contain copper. This leaching agent is highly specific. Using this system we recovered more than 90% of the copper from the volcanic ash. Higher reaction temperatures, smaller ore particle sizes, a higher stirring speed, a higher liquid to solid ratio and an increase in the agent's concentration increased the copper leaching rate. SEM analysis, the activation energy (7.827 kJ/mol) and kinetics data comprehensively indicate that the reaction of copper minerals in the ammonia-water and ammonium carbamate system is controlled by internal diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation of flotation behavior, solution measurements, and surface analyses were performed to investigate the effects of chloride ion addition on the sulfidization of cerussite in this study. Micro-flotation tests indicate that the addition of chloride ions prior to sulfidization can significantly increase the flotation recovery of cerussite, which is attributed to the formation of more lead sulfide species on the mineral surface. Solution measurement results suggest that the addition of chloride ions prior to sulfidization induces the transformation of more sulfide ions from pulp solution onto the mineral surface by the formation of more lead sulfide species. X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive spectroscopy indicate that more lead sulfide species form on the mineral surface when chloride ions are added prior to sulfidization. These results demonstrate that the addition of chloride ions prior to sulfidization can significantly improve the sulfidization of cerussite, thereby enhancing the flotation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Arabidopsis CK2 α4 subunit regulates the primary root and hypocotyl elongation, lateral root formation, cotyledon expansion, rosette leaf initiation and growth, flowering, and anthocyanin biosynthesis. Abstract: Casein kinase 2 (CK2) is a conserved tetrameric kinase composed of two α and two β subunits. The inhibition of CK2 activity usually results in severe developmental deficiency. Four genes ( CKA1- CKA4) encode CK2 α subunit in Arabidopsis. Single mutations of CKA1, CKA2, and CKA3 do not affect the normal growth of Arabidopsis, while the cka1 cka2 cka3 triple mutants are defective in cotyledon and hypocotyl growth, lateral root development, and flowering. The inhibition of CKA4 expression in cka1 cka2 cka3 background further reduces the number of lateral roots and delays the flowering time. Here, we report the characterization of a novel knockout mutant of CKA4, which exhibits various developmental defects including reduced primary root and hypocotyl elongation, increased lateral root density, delayed cotyledon expansion, retarded rosette leaf initiation and growth, and late flowering. The examination of the cellular basis for abnormal root development of this mutant revealed reduced root meristem cells with enhanced RETINOBLASTOMA- RELATED ( RBR) expression that promotes cell differentiation in root meristem. Moreover, this cka4- 2 mutant accumulates higher anthocyanin in the aerial part and shows an increased expression of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes, suggesting a novel role of CK2 in modulating anthocyanin biosynthesis. In addition, the complementation test using primary root elongation assay as a sample confirms that the changed phenotypes of this cka4- 2 mutant are due to the lack of CKA4. Taken together, this study reveals an essential role of CK2 α4 subunit in multiple developmental processes in Arabidopsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dissolution of malachite particles in ammonium carbamate (AC) solutions was investigated in a batch reactor, using the parameters of temperature, AC concentration, particle size, and stirring speed. The shrinking core model was evaluated for the dissolution rate increased by decreasing particle size and increasing the temperature and AC concentration. No important effect was observed for variations in stirring speed. Dissolution curves were evaluated in order to test shrinking core models for fluid-solid systems. The dissolution rate was determined as being controlled by surface chemical reaction. The activation energy of the leaching process was determined as 46.04 kJ mol-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surface states of pyrite (FeS) were theoretically investigated using first principle calculation based on the density functional theory (DFT). The results indicate that both the (200) and (311) surfaces of pyrite undergo significant surface atom relaxation after geometry optimization, which results in a considerable distortion of the surface region. In the normal direction, i.e., perpendicular to the surface, S atoms in the first surface layer move outward from the bulk, while Fe atoms move toward the bulk, forming an S-rich surface. The surface relaxation processes are driven by electrostatic interaction, which is evidenced by a relative decrease in the surface energy after surface relaxation. Such a relaxation process is visually interpreted through the qualitative analysis of molecular mechanics. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis reveals that only sulfur atom is visible on the pyrite surface. This result is consistent with the DFT data. Such S-rich surface has important influence on the flotation properties of pyrite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Titanium slag in this study was produced by subjecting titanomagnetite concentrate to direct reduction-electric furnace smelting. Processing mineralogy and mineral phase reconstruction behavior at high temperature and slow cooling treatment were examined by chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Anosovite solid solution is the main titanium product by the direct reduction and smelting process. Results of slow-cooling experiments show that crystal volume and size increase as cooling rate decreases. Anosovite and gangue mineral crystals develop fully with large crystal volume and size at a cooling rate of 2 K·min. Moreover, the growth of anosovite crystal was characterized by crystal nucleation and growth theory. These results provide further insights into the separation of anosovite from gangue by mineral processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]