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The presence of massive amounts of toxic volatiles and smoke during combustion is a very serious problem facing epoxy resin (EP) composites. Therefore, flame retardants (FRs) can simultaneously enhance flame retardancy and reduce the release of smoke and fatal gases. Herein, a novel sulfur–phosphorous reactive flame retardant (SPMS) was synthesized for epoxy resin. The high efficiency of smoke suppression and flame retardancy of the EP/SPMS-APP hybrid was investigated using a cone calorimeter, a vertical burning test, and limited oxygen index measurements. Compared with those of pure EP, the composite with 20 wt% SPMS-APP reduced the peak heat release rate (pHRR), the peak smoke production rate (SPR), and total smoke production rate (TSR) by 82%, 94%, and 84%, respectively. The results showed a remarkable suppressed effect of alleviating the fire hazard of EP using a sulfur–phosphorus flame retardant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The photovoltaic industry generates large amounts of waste graphite (WG) that contains useful metals that can be recycled into high-value products. This study elucidated the impurity elements and their existence states in WG, analyzed and verified the source of the main impurity phase SiC, and determined the SiC content to be 4.66%. WG was purified using an alkaline-acid method, whose optimal process parameters were a solid alkali ratio of 3, calcination temperature of 600 °C, calcination time of 120 min, HCl concentration of 1 M, and acid leaching time of 40 min. Under these conditions, a graphite product with a fixed carbon content of 98.45% was obtained. Impurities were determined to migrate via three pathways: (1) Most main elements (Al, K, and Si) in silicates were removed by alkaline roasting, while the remaining elements were dissolved in acid. (2) Impurities containing metal elements such as Fe, Mg, Ca, and Zn were decomposed in NaOH to form hydroxides or oxides that were dissolved in HCl. (3) Silicon carbide impurities were removed by the alkaline-acid method without decomposition and often existed with graphite in the acid-leaching slag. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature strongly modulates muscle development and growth in ectothermic teleosts; however, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. In this study, primary cultures of skeletal muscle cells of Lateolabrax maculatus were conducted and reared at different temperatures (21, 25, and 28 °C) in both the proliferation and differentiation stages. CCK-8, EdU, wound scratch and nuclear fusion index assays revealed that the proliferation, myogenic differentiation, and migration processes of skeletal muscle cells were significantly accelerated as the temperature raises. Based on the GO, GSEA, and WGCNA, higher temperature (28 °C) induced genes involved in HSF1 activation, DNA replication, and ECM organization processes at the proliferation stage, as well as HSF1 activation, calcium activity regulation, myogenic differentiation, and myoblast fusion, and sarcomere assembly processes at the differentiation stage. In contrast, lower temperature (21 °C) increased the expression levels of genes associated with DNA damage, DNA repair and apoptosis processes at the proliferation stage, and cytokine signaling and neutrophil degranulation processes at the differentiation stage. Additionally, we screened several hub genes regulating myogenesis processes. Our results could facilitate the understanding of the regulatory mechanism of temperature on fish skeletal muscle growth and further contribute to utilizing rational management strategies and promoting organism growth and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We studied the addition of two biochars (rice shell biochar (RSB) and wheat straw biochar (WSB)) to soil at doses of 24–72 t/ha on the dynamics of pH, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), sulfate, Fe(III), and Fe(II), as well as on mercury (Hg) mobility in the pore water of a polluted paddy soil, throughout the rice-growing season. The effect of biochar addition to soil on rice biomass and Hg accumulation was also investigated. The key results showed that the addition of RSB or WSB to soil improved significantly the biomass of aboveground tissues of rice plants, particularly at higher dose treatments, compared with the control. The RSB treatment noticeably decreased Hg concentration in the pore water compared to the control, throughout the rice-growing season, and this decrease was likely due to the decreased Hg mobility by the RSB by promoting the level of sulfate in the pore water, which might be reduced to sulfide to combine with Hg to form Hg sulfides. The extent of Hg concentration reduction in the pore water was less pronounced in the WSB treatments relative to the RSB treatments. Addition of RSB to soil at doses of 24–72 t/ha decreased significantly Hg contents in the stalk, bran, hull and polish rice of rice plants compared to the non-treated rice (control), particularly Hg content in the polished rice was below the Chinese safety level (< 20 ng g−1, GB2762-2012). The WSB treatments showed limited effects on rice tissues Hg. Biochar (RSB) may offer a promising method for managing the risk of Hg in paddy field by inhibiting rice Hg uptake. Graphical abstract fx1 Highlights • Addition of biochar to paddy soil improved the rice growth. • Addition of biochar to paddy soil decreased Hg concentration in the pore water. • Addition of biochar to paddy soil decreased Hg contents in the rice grain. • Sulfur and DOC are key factors controlling Hg mobility in the pore water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spotted sea bass (Lateolabrax maculatus), widely distributed along the Chinese coasts, is an economically important aquaculture fish species. Recently, degeneration of genetic characteristics such as the decline in the growth rate severely hampers the development of its industry, and genetic improvement for this species is urgently required. In this study, the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) for growth traits (body weight, body height, total length and body length) were conducted and the potential performance of genomic selection (GS) were evaluated by genomic prediction of breeding values. Based on >4 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped by whole-genome resequencing for 514 individuals from Dongying (DY, 301 individuals) and Tangshan populations (TS, 213 individuals), GWAS detected a total of 66 growth-related SNPs located in multiple chromosomes but no major QTL, suggesting that growth traits were controlled by a polygenic genetic architecture. Candidate growth associated genes were identified to be involved in cytoskeleton reorganization, neuromodulation, angiogenesis and cell adhesion, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and estrogen signaling pathways were considered to play important roles for growth. Predictive accuracies of the genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV) were compared among rrBLUP, BayesB, BayesC and BL models, and rrBLUP was determined as the optimal model for growth traits. Furthermore, the predictive performance based on different selection strategies of SNPs were compared, indicating using GWAS-informative SNPs was more efficient than random selected markers. These results highlighted the potential of GWAS to improve predictive accuracies of GS and reduce genotyping cost substantially. Our study laid the basis for further elucidate genetic mechanisms and demonstrated the application potential of GS approach for growth traits in spotted sea bass, which will facilitate future breeding of fast growth strains. • 66 growth-related SNPs were identified by GWAS. • Candidate growth-related genes were involved in cytoskeleton reorganization, neuromodulation, angiogenesis and cell adhesion. • VEGF and estrogen signaling pathways may play important roles for growth. • rrBLUP was determined as the optimal model for growth traits. • Using GWAS-informative SNPs was more efficient than random selected markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of massive amounts of toxic volatiles and smoke during combustion is a very serious problem facing epoxy resin (EP) composites. Therefore, flame retardants (FRs) can simultaneously enhance flame retardancy and reduce the release of smoke and fatal gases. Herein, a novel sulfur-phosphorous reactive flame retardant (SPMS) was synthesized for epoxy resin. The high efficiency of smoke suppression and flame retardancy of the EP/SPMS-APP hybrid was investigated using a cone calorimeter, a vertical burning test, and limited oxygen index measurements. Compared with those of pure EP, the composite with 20 wt% SPMS-APP reduced the peak heat release rate (pHRR), the peak smoke production rate (SPR), and total smoke production rate (TSR) by 82%, 94%, and 84%, respectively. The results showed a remarkable suppressed effect of alleviating the fire hazard of EP using a sulfur-phosphorus flame retardant.

A rotation angle measurement method based on self-mixing interference (SMI) of a fiber laser is proposed. The rotation angle can be calculated indirectly by the displacement measured by SMI. In the experiment, a linear cavity fiber laser with simple structure and high flexibility is used as the optical source for measuring the deflection angle. To improve the measurement accuracy, the SMI signal is filtered by the variational mode decomposition (VMD) algorithm. The filtered SMI signal is normalized by Hilbert transform. The even-power algorithm is used to subdivide the interference fringes, so as to improve the measurement resolution. The experimental result shows that the measurement error of angular shift is less than 1% in the range of 10°.