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Reclaimed wastewater (reclaimed wastewater, RWW) from municipal wastewater treatment plants for paddy irrigation is a well-established practice to alleviate water scarcity. However, the reuse may result in the persistent exposure of the paddy to residual antibiotics in RWW. Continuous presence of even low-level antibiotics can exert selective pressure on microbiota, resulting in the proliferation and dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in paddy. In this study, metagenomic analysis was applied to firstly deciphered the effects of residual antibiotics on microbiome and resistome in constructed mesocosm-scale paddy soils. The diversity and abundance of ARG have remarkably risen with the increasing antibiotic concentration in RWW. Network analysis revealed that 28 genera belonging to six phyla were considered as the potential ARG hosts, and their abundances were enhanced with increasing antibiotic concentrations. A partial least-squares path model indicated that the microbial community was the principal direct driver of the ARG abundance and the resistome alteration in paddy soil under long-term RWW irrigation. Microbes may acquire ARGs via horizontal gene transfer. IntI1 could play an essential role in the propagation and spread of ARGs. Functional analysis suggested that enhanced SOS response and T4SSs (Type IV secretion systems) modules could stimulate horizontal transfer potential and promote the ARG abundance. The obtained results provide a scientific decision for assessing the ecological risk of RWW application., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Paddy irrigation with secondary effluents from municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWTPs) is a well-established practice to alleviate water scarcity. However, the reuse might lead to more complicated contamination caused by interactions between residual antibiotics in effluents and heavy metals in paddy soil. To date, no information is available for the potential effects of dual stress of heavy metals and antibiotics on heavy-metal resistance genes (MRGs) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Here, this study investigated the response of heavy metal and antibiotic resistance genes, and related microorganisms to the dual threat of antibiotics and heavy metals under the long-term MWTP effluent irrigation for rice paddy using metagenome. The results showed that there was not a negative effect on rice consumption if MWTP effluent was used to irrigate rice for a long time. The concentration of antibiotics could reshape the ARGs and MRG profiles in rice paddy soil. The findings revealed the co-occurrence of ARGs and MRGs in rice paddy soils, thus highlighting the need for simultaneous elimination of antibiotics and heavy metals to effectively reduce ARGs and MRGs. Acn and sul1 genes encoding Iron and sulfonamides resistance mechanisms are the most abundant MRG and ARG, respectively. Network analysis revealed the possibility that IntI1 plays a role in the co-transmission of MRG and ARG to host microbes, and that Proteobacteria are the most dominant hosts for MRG, ARG, and integrons. The presence of antibiotics in irrigated MWTP effluents has been found to stimulate the proliferation of heavy metal and antibiotic resistances by altering soil microbial communities. This study will enhance our comprehension of the co-selection between ARGs and MRGs, as well as reveal the concealed environmental impacts of combined pollution. The obtained results have important implications for food safety and human health in rice., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors combined with an anti-angiogenic tyrosine-kinase inhibitor (TKI) has been shown to improve overall survival versus anti-angiogenic therapy alone in advanced solid tumours, but not in hepatocellular carcinoma. Therefore, a clinical study was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of the anti-PD-1 antibody camrelizumab plus the VEGFR2-targeted TKI rivoceranib (also known as apatinib) versus sorafenib as first-line treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma., Methods: This randomised, open-label, international phase 3 trial (CARES-310) was done at 95 study sites across 13 countries and regions worldwide. Patients with unresectable or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma who had not previously received any systemic treatment were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either camrelizumab 200 mg intravenously every 2 weeks plus rivoceranib 250 mg orally once daily or sorafenib 400 mg orally twice daily. Randomisation was done via a centralised interactive response system. The primary endpoints were progression-free survival, as assessed by the blinded independent review committee per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours version 1.1, and overall survival in the intention-to-treat population. Safety was assessed in all patients who received at least one dose of the study drugs. We report the findings from the prespecified primary analysis for progression-free survival and interim analysis for overall survival. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03764293)., Findings: Between June 28, 2019, and March 24, 2021, 543 patients were randomly assigned to the camrelizumab-rivoceranib (n=272) or sorafenib (n=271) group. At the primary analysis for progression-free survival (May 10, 2021), median follow-up was 7·8 months (IQR 4·1-10·6). Median progression-free survival was significantly improved with camrelizumab-rivoceranib versus sorafenib (5·6 months [95% CI 5·5-6·3] vs 3·7 months [2·8-3·7]; hazard ratio [HR] 0·52 [95% CI 0·41-0·65]; one-sided p<0·0001). At the interim analysis for overall survival (Feb 8, 2022), median follow-up was 14·5 months (IQR 9·1-18·7). Median overall survival was significantly extended with camrelizumab-rivoceranib versus sorafenib (22·1 months [95% CI 19·1-27·2] vs 15·2 months [13·0-18·5]; HR 0·62 [95% CI 0·49-0·80]; one-sided p<0·0001). The most common grade 3 or 4 treatment-related adverse events were hypertension (102 [38%] of 272 patients in the camrelizumab-rivoceranib group vs 40 [15%] of 269 patients in the sorafenib group), palmar-plantar erythrodysaesthesia syndrome (33 [12%] vs 41 [15%]), increased aspartate aminotransferase (45 [17%] vs 14 [5%]), and increased alanine aminotransferase (35 [13%] vs eight [3%]). Treatment-related serious adverse events were reported in 66 (24%) patients in the camrelizumab-rivoceranib group and 16 (6%) in the sorafenib group. Treatment-related death occurred in two patients: one patient in the camrelizumab-rivoceranib group (ie, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome) and one patient in the sorafenib group (ie, respiratory failure and circulatory collapse)., Interpretation: Camrelizumab plus rivoceranib showed a statistically significant and clinically meaningful benefit in progression-free survival and overall survival compared with sorafenib for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, presenting as a new and effective first-line treatment option for this population., Funding: Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals and Elevar Therapeutics., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests SLC reports honoraria from AstraZeneca, Eisai, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Roche, and Bayer; consulting or advisory roles for AstraZeneca, Eisai, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Roche; and research funding from Eisai and Ipsen. A-LC reports consulting or advisory roles for Merck Sharp & Dohme, Bristol Myers Squibb, Bayer Healthcare, AstraZeneca, Genentech/Roche, IPSEN Innovation, BeiGene, and EXE; speaker's bureau for Ono Pharmaceutical, Bayer Yakuhin, Novartis, Amgen Taiwan, and Chugai Pharmaceutical; expert testimony for Merck Sharp & Dohme, Ono Pharmaceutical, Eisai, and IPSEN Innovation; and participation on an advisory board for Abbisko Therapeutics. AV reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Amgen, BeiGene, Böhringer Mannheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, BTG, Daiichi Sankyo, Eisai, Incyte, Ipsen, Merck Sharp & Dohme, PierreFabre, Roche, Servier, Sirtex, Tahio, Terumo, Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, GSK, and Imaging Equipment (Advanced Accelerator Applications). XLia, CC, and LW were employees of Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals at the time of the study. All other authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: In CameL phase 3 study (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03134872), addition of camrelizumab to first-line chemotherapy significantly improved the progression-free survival in patients with stages IIIB to IV nonsquamous NSCLC. Here, we present outcomes after a minimum follow-up of 43.9 months since last patient randomization., Methods: Eligible patients were randomized 1:1 to 4 to 6 cycles of camrelizumab plus carboplatin and pemetrexed or chemotherapy alone every 3 weeks, followed by maintenance camrelizumab plus pemetrexed or pemetrexed only (n = 205 and 207, respectively). Total camrelizumab exposure was up to 2 years., Results: As of January 31, 2022, camrelizumab plus chemotherapy exhibited substantially improved overall survival over chemotherapy alone (median, 27.1 versus 19.8 mo; hazard ratio = 0.72 [95% confidence interval: 0.57-0.92]). In the chemotherapy-alone group, 95 patients (45.9%) crossed over to camrelizumab monotherapy. After adjustment for crossover, the survival benefit with camrelizumab plus chemotherapy was more pronounced (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.55 [95% confidence interval: 0.42-0.71]). In camrelizumab plus chemotherapy group, 33 patients completed 2 years of camrelizumab. Objective response rate was 97.0%, with ongoing responses in 17 of the 32 responses (53.1%), and 93.9% (31 of 33) of the patients were alive at data cutoff. Safety profiles were consistent with the previous report, and no obvious evidence of cumulative toxicity was found with long exposure to camrelizumab., Conclusions: Camrelizumab plus carboplatin and pemetrexed provides long-term survival benefit over chemotherapy, with manageable toxicity and remarkable and durable response in patients receiving 2 years of camrelizumab, further supporting camrelizumab combination as first-line treatment for advanced nonsquamous NSCLC., (Copyright © 2023 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rapid economic development and industrialization may include environmentally harmful human activities that cause heavy-metal accumulation in soils, ultimately threatening the quality of the soil environment and human health. Therefore, accurate identification of pollution sources is an important weapon in efforts to control and prevent pollution. The self-organizing map (SOM) method is widely used in pollution source identification because of its capacity for visualization of high-dimensional data. The SOM ignores the graph structure relationship among chemical elements in soils; the SOM analysis of pollution sources has high uncertainty. Here, we propose a new analysis method, i.e., the graph convolutional self-organizing map (GCSOM), which uses a graph convolutional network (GCN) to extract the graph structure relationship among the chemical elements in soils, then performs data visualization using an SOM. We compared the performances of GCSOM and SOM, then assessed the pollution source characteristics of trace metal(loid)s (TMs, mostly heavy metals) in Jiangmen City using the GCSOM. Our experimental results showed that the GCSOM is superior to the SOM for identification of TM sources, while the TMs in the soil of Jiangmen originate from three main sources: agricultural activities (mainly in Taishan City, Jiangmen), traffic emissions (mainly in Xinhui and Pengjiang Districts), and industrial activities (mainly in Xinhui District). The risk assessment indicated that the risk of all TMs was within threshold., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Cd pollution had already caused serious threats to crop growth and development, food safety and human health, and become a potential agricultural and global environmental problem. Zn had been used to reduce Cd accumulation in soil and plants. Proteins located in plasma membrane (PM) played important roles in transferring stress signals in plants. To further elucidate how PM proteins modulated Zn/Cd transport under low-Cd condition, quantitative proteomics was employed to identify and verify the differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) and their biological functions at proteome level. A total of 4008 proteins were identified, and 332 DEPs (192 up and 140 down, fold >1.50 or <0.66, p < 0.01) were screened. Functional analysis showed that DEPs were mainly catalytic active and binding proteins, involved in glutathione metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, etc. DEPs involved in ion transport played key roles in regulating transmembrane transport, resisting stress and alleviating toxicity of heavy metals to rice roots. DEPs were as the marker proteins in rice root responding to heavy metal stress. This study had important guiding significances for metal ions transport mechanism and screening of biomarkers responding to abiotic stress, and provided references for further researches underlying abiotic stress and detoxication in rice and other plants., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Vascular endothelial cells (VECs), which are lined up in the inner surface of blood vessels, are in direct contact with the metabolite-related endogenous danger signals in the circulatory system. Moreover, VECs death impairs vasodilation and increases endothelium-dependent permeability, which is strongly correlated with the development of atherosclerosis (AS). Among several forms of cell death, regulatory death of endothelial cells frequently occurs in AS, mainly including ferroptosis, pyroptosis, apoptosis and autophagy. In this review, we summarize regulatory factors and signaling mechanisms of regulatory death in endothelial cells, discussing their effects in the context of the atherosclerotic procession., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The goal of this study was to describe the current status of oncology nurses' behaviors toward end of life (EOL) care in China and to explore the factors associated with oncology nurses' behaviors toward EOL care., Methods: A cross-sectional design was applied and a convenience sample of 1038 oncology nurses from 22 grade A hospitals were recruited into this study. A general social demographic data questionnaire was administered, and the Chinese version of Nurses' Behaviors of Caring for Dying Patients Scale was used to assess nurse behavior toward EOL care. The total score ranges from 40 to 200 points. Data were analyzed with SPSS 26.0 software., Results: Chinese oncology nurses' average score of holistic EOL care behaviors was 2.97 ± 0.59. Oncology nurses provide physical care most (3.81 ± 0.76), followed by family care (3.02 ± 0.86), and spiritual care (2.37 ± 0.67). Multiple regression analysis showed that a higher frequency of sharing EOL care experience with colleagues, in-service palliative care education, higher level of head nurse support for EOL patient care, more cases of EOL care, higher working position, and nurse's perceived high level of support were positively associated with behavior toward EOL care. These six factors explained 16.2% of the total variance., Conclusions: The results may help provide a basis for converting behavior for EOL care among oncology nurses and design interventions to better improve quality of life for EOL patients with cancer in China., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declared no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy has been shown to be efficacious as treatment for advanced non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without targetable genetic aberrations; however, there is scarce evidence of the effectiveness of the combinations in the Asian population. We evaluated camrelizumab plus chemotherapy against non-squamous NSCLC in China., Methods: We did a randomised, open-label, multicentre, phase 3 trial (CameL) in 52 hospitals in China for patients with non-squamous NSCLC without EGFR and ALK alteration. Eligible patients were aged 18-70 years and had no previous systemic chemotherapy, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1, and at least one measurable lesion per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (version 1.1). Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive 4-6 cycles of carboplatin (area under curve 5 mg/mL per min) plus pemetrexed (500 mg/m 2 ) with or without camrelizumab (200 mg) every 3 weeks, followed by maintenance therapy with camrelizumab plus pemetrexed or pemetrexed alone. Medication was administered intravenously on day 1 of each 3-week treatment cycle. Randomisation was done using a centralised interactive web-response system with the block size randomly generated as four or six and stratified by sex and smoking history. The two primary endpoints were progression-free survival per blinded independent central review, in all patients and in patients who were PD-L1 positive. Primary analysis was done in the full analysis set that included all randomly assigned patients who received at least one dose of the study treatment. Herein, due to the primary endpoint being met at the interim analysis, we reported the findings of prespecified interim analysis, which only included confirmatory statistical testing for progression-free survival in all patients. Safety was assessed in the as-treated population. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03134872 (follow-up is ongoing)., Findings: Between May 12, 2017, and June 6, 2018, of the 419 patients who were randomly assigned, seven did not receive assigned treatment and 412 received either camrelizumab plus chemotherapy (n=205) or chemotherapy alone (n=207). At interim analysis, median follow-up duration was 11·9 months (IQR 9·0-14·9). Progression-free survival in this interim analysis was significantly prolonged with camrelizumab plus chemotherapy than with chemotherapy alone (median 11·3 months [95% CI 9·6-15·4] vs 8·3 months [6·0-9·7]; hazard ratio 0·60 [0·45-0·79]; one-sided p=0·0001). Most common grade 3 or worse treatment-related adverse events were decreased neutrophil count (78 [38%] patients in the camrelizumab plus chemotherapy group vs 63 [30%] patients in the chemotherapy alone group), decreased white blood cell count (40 [20%] vs 30 [14%]), anaemia (38 [19%] vs 23 [11%]), and decreased platelet count (34 [17%] vs 24 [12%]). Serious treatment-related adverse events occurred in 74 (36%) patients in the camrelizumab plus chemotherapy group and 27 (13%) patients in the chemotherapy alone group., Interpretation: The primary endpoint was met at the interim analysis, showing a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival with camrelizumab plus carboplatin and pemetrexed versus chemotherapy alone in all patients, supporting camrelizumab plus carboplatin and pemetrexed as a first-line treatment option for Chinese patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC without EGFR and ALK alterations. The trial is being continued to collect long-term outcomes in all patients and carry out confirmatory statistical testing for progression-free survival in the PD-L1-positive population., Funding: Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Premna microphylla turcz leaves (PMTL) is a resource-rich, biodegradable, renewable biomass. Here, a microsphere adsorbent was prepared from PMTL by a self-crosslinking method without any addition of chemical cross-linking agent, and characterized by SEM, FTIR, and XPS. The influence of preparation methods and conditions on the properties of the microspheres was studied and the self-crosslinking mechanism was analyzed. The effects of temperature, pH, contact time, uranium concentration, and adsorbent dosage on its adsorption performance toward to uranium were systematically explored. The results showed that PMTL endogenous pectin binding with endogenous Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ and other metal ions to form an 'egg box' structure might be the mechanism of its self-crosslinking to form microspheres. The adsorption isotherms fitted well by the Freundlich model and the experimental maximum adsorption capacity of microspheres was 346.65 mg·g -1 at pH of 5, and kinetics data correlated well with the pseudo-second order model. The adsorption mechanism might be the coordination bonding between the uranium and oxygen-containing groups (hydroxyl and carboxyl groups), and the ion exchange between the uranium and metal ions (mainly Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ ). The PMTL microspheres are promising in treating uranium-containing wastewater in a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly manner., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Microbial degradation is an important option for combating antibiotic pollution. Arthrobacter nicotianae OTC-16 was isolated as a novel tetracycline-degrading bacterium, which could degrade oxytetracycline/tetracycline (OTC/TET). Toxicity assessment indicated that this bacterium effectively converted OTC into byproducts with less toxicity to bacterial and algal indicators. Six degradation products of OTC were tentatively identified, and a potential biotransformation pathway was proposed that includes decarbonylation, reduction, and dehydration. Bioaugmentation of TC removal with this bacterium was further studied in various matrices. In aqueous media, strain OTC-16 accelerated OTC removal over a temperature range of 20-35 ℃, pH range of 6.0-9.0, and OTC concentration range of 25-150 mg L -1 . The strain also facilitated the decrease of OTC and TET concentrations in both swine and chicken manures, with a maximum decrease of 91.54%, and increased the degradation of OTC in soils by 8.22-45.45%. A unique advantage of this bacterium in promoting OTC degradation in alkaline environments was demonstrated, where it successfully competed with the indigenous microbiota and largely decreased the relative abundances of the studied tetracycline resistance genes (tetB and tetW) in soil. This work offers a better understanding of the antibiotic bioaugmentation and new microbial sources., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Treatment options in the second-line extensive-stage SCLC (ED-SCLC) setting are limited. The PASSION study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03417895) was a phase 2 study of camrelizumab plus apatinib in ED-SCLC after platinum-based chemotherapy., Methods: In stage I of the study, patients were randomized (1:1:1) to receive camrelizumab 200 mg every 2 weeks plus apatinib 375 mg once daily (QD), 5 days on and 2 days off, or 7 days on and 7 days off (six patients each cohort). On the basis of tolerability during the first 28-day cycle and efficacy data at stage I, one cohort was chosen to expand to 45 patients at stage II. The primary end point was objective response rate (ORR)., Results: From April 20, 2018 to March 12, 2019, a total of 59 patients were enrolled, with 47 patients in the QD cohort. In the QD cohort, confirmed ORR reached 34.0% (95% confidence interval: 20.9‒49.3), the median progression-free survival was 3.6 months, and the median overall survival was 8.4 months. Chemotherapy-sensitive and chemotherapy-resistant patients (defined as patients with disease relapse at ≥90 and <90 d after platinum-based chemotherapy, respectively) had comparable confirmed ORR (37.5% versus 32.3%), median progression-free survival (3.6 versus 2.7 mo), and median overall survival (9.6 versus 8.0 mo). Treatment-related adverse events of grade 3 or higher were reported in 43 of 59 patients (72.9%). Five patients (8.5%) discontinued because of treatment-related adverse events., Conclusions: Camrelizumab plus apatinib exhibited potential antitumor activity in patients with both chemotherapy-sensitive and chemotherapy-resistant ED-SCLC who had failed platinum-based chemotherapy with an acceptable toxicity profile. This phase 2 data warrant further clinical studies of camrelizumab plus apatinib in SCLC., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The present study aimed to research the effects of cyclic heat environment on the microbial diversity and structure of respiratory tract and cecum of chicken. A total of 360 layer-type pullets at 11 wk of age were subjected to different temperature treatments for 10 wk: constant 22°C; cyclic temperature 22°C to 24°C, 22°C to 26°C, 22°C to 28°C, 22°C to 30°C; the ambient temperature increased from 10:00, reached the set point within 1 h, and maintained until 18:00, thereafter the temperature was restored to 22°C; and the relative humidity was maintained at 60%. The result showed that feed intake of the chickens on ambient temperature 30°C group was significantly lower than that of the chickens on ambient temperature 24°C. The white blood cell, red blood cell, lymphocyte, hemoglobin, and pecked-cell volume content were highest at 24°C on 14, 16, and 18 wk. The ratio of CD3 + CD4 + /CD3 + CD8 + T cells was lowest at 30°C. Meanwhile, the abundance of cecum bacteria in chickens at 30°C was lower than that at 24°C. Cyclic heat environment temperature treatment did not significantly affect the concentration of secretory immunoglobulin A in chicken bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) levels during 10 wk of trial. The diversity index analysis showed that the effect of 24°C on the cecum flora of chickens was optimal. Abundance of Firmicutes bacteria in the lung flora and cecum flora was lower at 30°C than at 24°C group. Similarly, the microorganism, Brevibacillus in the BALF was also significantly lower at 24°C. In conclusion, cyclic 24°C treatment was beneficial for the feed intake, blood routine indexes, microflora structure of the cecum, and respiratory tract in laying pullets., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The flower-like porous In 2 O 3 pompon assembled from two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets was synthesized through a simple thiourea-assistant hydrothermal method following the annealed process. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images manifest that the In 2 O 3 pompon possesses a clear porous structure with a nanosheet thickness of about 37.5 nm. Further, we compare the performance of intermediate products (In 2 S 3 , In 2 S 3 /In 2 O 3 ) and In 2 O 3 nanostructures as ethanol detection gas sensors. The fabrication of In 2 O 3 -based sensors exhibits enhanced ethanol sensing performance than that of In 2 S 3 /In 2 O 3 -based and In 2 S 3 -based sensors, which is mainly attributed to more chemical oxygen and oxygen vacancies on the material surface. The In 2 O 3 -based sensors for ethanol detection revealed a wide linear range from 2 ppm to 100 ppm, meanwhile the corresponding detection limits (LOD) as low as ~0.4 ppm at 260 °C. And the In 2 O 3 -based sensors also exhibit superior repeatability and reliable selectivity. The simple fabrication strategy of 2D nanosheets-assembled flower-like In 2 O 3 porous pompon may facilitate other ethanol gas sensors production and other 2D metal oxide semiconductor materials-based sensors preparation., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This work details the usage of EFIRM® (Electric Field Induced Release and Measurement) for PCR-free rapid electrochemical detection of mitochondrial DNA. EFIRM® was able to perform highly sensitive detection of animal species for meat contamination testing without multistep sample lysis, DNA extraction, or PCR amplification steps, demonstrating the capability to detect the presence of foreign meat species that only constituted 0.1% of the total mass of a food sample (achieving sensitivity equivalent to that of PCR). The EFIRM® strategy utilizes surface immobilized nucleic acid probes that complement to mitochondrial sequence of Ovis Aries, Sus Scrofa, and Bos Taurus and are immobilized in a polypyrrole matrix on a 96-electrode array. Quantification was performed through amperometric measurement of oxidation-reduction reactions on a streptavidin-peroxidase enzyme chain that completes the nucleic acid complex. All electrochemical procedures were performed using a high-throughput potentiostat system that allows parallelized electrochemical measurement and interfacing to the 96-electrode array., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Many authors (MT, MW, XS, MD, RH, YC, XL, WL) of this work were employed by EZLife Bio during the scope of this research project. Wei Liao is founder/CEO of EZLife Bio Inc and owns equity in EZLife Bio Inc. Michael Tu owns equity in EZLife Bio Inc. Work performed in this study was funded by EZLife Bio Inc., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Biosorbents have been a promising adsorbent to remove uranium while their poor mechanical properties prevent them from being widely used in practice. In this study, carboxymethyl konjac glucomannan (CMKGM) was incorporated to gellan gum to form a double-network gel micro spheres (CMKGM/GG-Al) for uranium removal with its mechanical strength fairly being reinforced. The compressive strength of the CMKGM/GG-Al microspheres was about 6 times than that of GG-Ca microspheres we prepared before while the adsorption capacity still be at a better value with the fitting maximum adsorption capacity being of 97.94 mg/g. Its uranium adsorption properties were investigated by considering the influence of pH, the adsorbent dosage, temperature, initial uranium concentration, time and coexisting ions. The adsorption mechanism was also investigated according to the SEM, EDX, FT-IR and XPS data analysis. The isotherm equilibrium data which were best fitted with Langmuir model and the kinetics data which were best fitted with pseudo-second-order model. It was inferred that the adsorption process was mainly the ion-exchange and the coordination with hydroxyl groups on the adsorbent surface and the adsorption process was endothermic and spontaneous. The CMKGM/GG-Al microspheres prepared in this study would be more conducive to practical application for uranium removal., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In poultry production, vaccination is an effective measure to protect chickens from diseases. Vaccination, however, is a stressor that may induce stress responses that interfere with the growth and development of chickens. The interaction between the skeletal and immune systems on bone quality has gained more attention. In the present study, the influence of high frequency vaccinations on the bone development of layer pullets was investigated. Thirty 35-day-old SPF White Leghorn layer pullets were obtained and randomly subjected to the following treatments: vaccinated against Newcastle disease (ND) with LoSota vaccine once at 35-day-old (V1, control); 4 times at 35, 49, 63, and 77 d of age (V4); and 7 times at 35, 42, 49, 56, 63, 70, and 77 d of age (V7). The body weight and organ index of the spleen, thymus, and tibia were recorded. The antibody titer and serum and the tibia calcium and phosphorus concentrations were measured. The transcription levels of the IL-6, IL-17, TNF-α, receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL), and osteoprotegerin (OPG) genes were determined in spleen, thymus, and the tibia. The results showed that V7 decreased body weight and increased the ND antibody titer, compared to V1-chickens. The expression levels of IL-6, IL-17, and TNF-α were upregulated in spleen, thymus, and the tibia of V7 chickens. In the tibia, RANKL was upregulated, while OPG was downregulated by V7 treatment. The results indicate that high frequency vaccination induces immune stress and impairs bone development. The results suggest that the augmented cytokine expression in immune organs and the tibia is associated with activation of the OPG/RANKL pathway, which, in turn, enhances osteoclastogenesis. The appropriate frequency of vaccination should support optimal bone development and full immunoprotection in layer pullets., (Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The study of Turner syndrome (TS) offers a unique window of opportunity for advancing scientific knowledge of how X chromosome gene imprinting, epigenetic factors, hormonal milieu, and chronologic age affect brain development in females., Methods: We described brain growth trajectories in 55 girls with TS and 53 typically developing girls (258 magnetic resonance imaging datasets) spanning 5 years. Using novel nonparametric and mixed effects analytic approaches, we evaluated influences of X chromosome genomic imprinting and hormone replacement therapy on brain development., Results: Parieto-occipital gray and white matter regions showed slower growth during typical pubertal timing in girls with TS relative to typically developing girls. In contrast, some basal ganglia, cerebellar, and limited cortical areas showed enhanced volume growth with peaks around 10 years of age., Conclusions: The parieto-occipital finding suggests that girls with TS may be particularly vulnerable to altered brain development during adolescence. Basal ganglia regions may be relatively preserved in TS owing to their maturational growth before or early in typical pubertal years. Taken together, our findings indicate that particular brain regions are more vulnerable to TS genetic and hormonal effects during puberty. These specific alterations in neurodevelopment may be more likely to affect long-term cognitive behavioral outcomes in young girls with this common genetic condition., (Copyright © 2019 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Significant concerns had been given raise to the pollution of tetracycline in aquatic environment in recent years. In this study, a novel phenolic hydroxyl (bayberry tannin) functionalized copper alginate microspheres adsorbent for the adsorption of tetracycline from contaminated water environment had been synthesized by a facile gelation and solidification process. The structure and chemical properties were characterized by the various analytical methods. The as-prepared adsorbent displayed the excellent adsorption performance with the maximum adsorption capacity of 153.89 mg·g -1 , and the equilibrium data were well fitted the Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. In addition, the thermodynamic values (ΔH 0  > 0, ΔS 0  > 0, ΔG 0  < 0) demonstrated that the tetracycline adsorption process was feasible, endothermic and spontaneous in nature. The possible preparation and adsorption mechanisms of as-prepared adsorbent were the result of hydrogen bond, cation bonding bridge, n-π EDA interaction, hydrophobic interaction and π-π EDA interaction. Compared with other adsorbents, the as-prepared adsorbent could be considered a high performance and promising candidate for the effective removal of tetracycline from aquatic environment., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A novel gelatin/PVA composite nanofiber band loaded with bayberry tannin (GPNB-BT) was prepared by electrostatic spinning and crosslinking for extraction of uranium (VI) from simulated seawater. The influential factors of tannin loaded on the nanofiber band were investigated in detail. Surface morphology and fiber diameter of GPNB-BT were studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Functional groups of GPNB-BT were investigated by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR). The adsorption process and mechanism of uranium on GPNB-BT was characterized by Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The results revealed that the BT had been stably solidified on the GPNB. Compared with other tannin-immobilized membranes, the nano-network structure of GPNB-BT with 200-400 nm diameter of fibers can promote solidification of tannins and improve adsorption capacity of GPNB-BT for uranium. The maximum adsorption capacity of the GPNB-BT for uranium is 170 mg/g at the optimal pH of 5.5 in 80 mg/L of initial uranium concentration and 1.4 μg/g even at extremely low initial concentration of 3 μg/L in the simulated seawater for 24 h. The GPNB-BT with good hydraulic properties, floatability and adsorption capacity for uranium is expected to be widely used in separation and enrichment of uranium in seawater and radioactive waste water., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The extensive occurrence of antibiotics (such as ciprofloxacin) in aqueous environment had raised severe concerns due to their impacts on humans and the ecosystem. In this study, a novel nickel alginate particles adsorbent had been successfully developed by combining an alginate matrix with nickel ion through immobilization and crosslinking technology and then was applied for the batch adsorption study of ciprofloxacin to evaluate its potential performance. The as-prepared adsorbent exhibited excellent adsorption performance at the condition of the pH 7 and 328.15 K, and the results indicated that the maximum adsorption capacity was 135.18 mg g -1 . The isotherm and kinetic studies were well fitted to the Langmuir and pseudo-second-order models, respectively. A thermodynamics analysis displayed that the ciprofloxacin adsorption process was endothermic, feasible and spontaneous. The as-prepared adsorbent before and after adsorption was characterized through SEM, EDX and XPS analyses, and the particle size of the as-prepared adsorbent was roughly 914 µm. Hydrogen bond, the cation bonding bridge and n-π electron-donor-acceptor interaction might be the driving force of the ciprofloxacin adsorption process. This study demonstrated that this as-prepared adsorbent was a promising and efficient material for the ciprofloxacin adsorption from the aqueous solution., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Widespread concern had been given raise to the pollution of antibiotics including tetracyclines in water environment in recent years. A novel Cu-immobilized alginate adsorbent had been synthesized successfully through a facile fabrication way called sol-gel method, and its adsorption performance had been investigated for the tetracycline removal at various conditions, including the pH, temperature, the dosage of adsorbent, concentration and contact time. The adsorbent was characterized with SEM, EDX, FT-IR and XPS analyses to confirm its properties before and after adsorption. The equilibrium data was fitted well with the Freundlich isotherm model and the maximum adsorption capacity for tetracycline was 53.26 mg·g -1 at pH 3, 318.15 K, and 90 mg·L -1 tetracycline solution. The pseudo-second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models combining with the correlative analysis implied that the tetracycline adsorption onto the Cu-immobilized alginate adsorbent was administrated by the n-π electron-donor-acceptor interaction (n-π EDA interaction), hydrogen bond and the cation bonding bridge. Moreover, thermodynamic study demonstrated that the nature of tetracycline adsorption was endothermic, feasible and spontaneous. Compared with the other adsorbents, the as-prepared adsorbent had an excellent tetracycline adsorption capacity, and was expected to be widely applied in the adsorption treatment of tetracycline wastewater., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Phosphorus removal was an important measure in the control of eutrophication of water environment. In this study, a novel phosphorus removal adsorbent of lanthanum-loaded carboxymethyl konjac glucomannan microspheres (CMKGM-La) was successfully prepared by the method of electrostatic spraying and sol-gel, and was characterized by SEM, XPS and EDX. Batch experiments were performed to evaluate the adsorption capacity at different conditions: pH, temperature, initial concentration, adsorbent dosage and contact time. The results showed that the adsorption kinetics data correlated well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the adsorption isotherm was well described by the Langmuir isotherm model with the maximum capacity of 16.06 mg·g -1 for CMKGM-La microspheres at pH of 4 and 318.15 K. The adsorption of phosphorus was a spontaneous, entropy-increasing and endothermic process. The possible adsorption mechanism of phosphorus on the CMKGM-La microspheres consisted of the coordination reaction of La (III) with phosphorus and electrostatic attraction between protonated hydroxyl and phosphorus. The presence of co-existing ions (such as NH 4 + , Cl - , SO 4 2- , SiO 3 2- and CO 3 2- ) had no significant effect on phosphorus removal. These results suggested that the adsorbent of CMKGM-La microspheres was a promising adsorbent for the removal of phosphorus from slaughterhouse wastewater., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Cadmium (Cd) pollution is a serious widespread environmental problem that not only destroys the microbial ecology of soil and decreases crop production, but also poses a serious risk to human health. Many methods have been used for the remediation of Cd pollution but none of these is totally satisfactory. Microbial remediation strategies have attracted increasing interest since they are environmentally friendly and cost-effective. In the present study, three Cd-resistant bacteria were isolated and evaluated for potential application in Cd bioremediation. Based on their morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics, together with 16S rDNA gene sequence analyses, bacteria were identified as Stenotrophomonas acidaminiphila (2#), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (9#) and Delftia tsuruhatensis (12#). Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed very high tolerance to metals, especially Cd (2200mg/L), Zn (1800mg/L) and Pb (1200mg/L), and is thought to be a multi-metal-resistant bacterium. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was also sensitive to 13 different antibiotics. The effects of the bacterial strains on the growth of rice plants and their ability to reduce Cd accumulation from Cd-contaminated soils in pot experiments were also evaluated. For Oryza sativa L. A grown in contaminated soil (3mg/kg Cd), the accumulation of Cd was decreased by 31.2 and 25.5% in brown rice and polished rice, respectively, by strain 9#; Pseudomonas aeruginosa was more effective in reducing Cd accumulation in rice grains than a mixture of strains. For Oryza sativa L. B, a mixture of strains acting synergistically was more effective than a single strain in reducing Cd accumulation; treatment with mixed strains (strains+3mg/kg Cd) resulted in 41.3, 35.9, and 32.6% reductions in Cd accumulation in unhulled rice, brown rice and polished rice, respectively. Although different results were obtained for two rice varieties, it can still be concluded that Cd-resistant bacteria are suitable for reducing Cd accumulation in rice grains and show potential for bioremediation of Cd-contaminated soils., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Previous study showed that hepatocellular carcinoma related protein 1 (HCRP1) is decreased in breast cancer. HCRP1 expression is inversely related to epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) in breast cancer tissues, and patients with breast cancer expressing lower HCRP1 tended to suffer a shorter life expectancy. However, the detailed biological functions of HCRP1 in breast cancer as well as the interaction between HCRP1 and EGFR remain unexplored. In this study, we examined HCRP1 expression in breast cancer tissues and cell lines by western blot. Thereafter, we performed transwell migration and matrigel invasion assays after siRNA interference and lentiviral vector of HCRP1 infection. To further investigate the interaction between HCRP1 downregulation and EGFR signaling pathway, we evaluated the phosphorylation status of EGFR, Erk1/2 and Akt by western blot following HCRP1-siRNA transfection. Moreover, we investigated the in vivo functions of HCRP1 using a breast cancer xenograft model. We found that HCRP1 depletion significantly promoted breast cancer migration and invasion while HCRP1 overexpression produced an opposite effect. In addition, HCRP1 depletion decreased EGFR degradation and enhanced phosphorylation of EGFR. Interestingly, HCRP1 depletion also led to insensitivity to EGFR inhibitors treatment. The in vivo experiment confirmed the metastasis inhibition function of HCRP1. The present data indicate that HCRP1 inhibits breast cancer metastasis through downregulating EGFR phosphorylation., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background & Aims: Bile acids (BAs) play a crucial role in dietary fat digestion and in the regulation of lipid, glucose, and energy metabolism. Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) is a hormone produced by the anterior pituitary gland that directly regulates several metabolic pathways. However, the impact of TSH on BA homeostasis remains largely unknown., Methods: We analyzed serum BA and TSH levels in healthy volunteers under strict control of caloric intake. Thyroidectomized rats were administered thyroxine and injected with different doses of TSH. Tshr(-/-) mice were supplemented with thyroxine, and C57BL/6 mice were injected with Tshr-siRNA via the tail vein. The serum BA levels, BA pool size, and fecal BA excretion rate were measured. The regulation of SREBP-2, HNF-4α, and CYP7A1 by TSH were analyzed using luciferase reporter, RNAi, EMSA, and CHIP assays., Results: A negative correlation was observed between the serum levels of TSH and the serum BA levels in healthy volunteers. TSH administration led to a decrease in BA content and CYP7A1 activity in thyroidectomized rats supplemented with thyroxine. When Tshr was silenced in mice, the BA pool size, fecal BA excretion rate, and serum BA levels all increased. Additionally, we found that HNF-4α acts as a critical molecule through which TSH represses CYP7A1 activity. We further confirmed that the accumulation of mature SREBP-2 protein could impair the capacity of nuclear HNF-4α to bind to the CYP7A1 promoter, a mechanism that appears to mediate the effects of TSH., Conclusions: TSH represses hepatic BA synthesis via a SREBP-2/HNF-4α/CYP7A1 signaling pathway. This finding strongly supports the notion that TSH is an important pathophysiological regulator of liver BA homeostasis independently of thyroid hormones., (Copyright © 2015 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Although photocatalysis has been actively surveyed on removing organic pollutants in ultraviolet (UV) environment, because of lacking UV in solar exposure, photodegradation is difficult to be considerably degraded in conventional exposure condition. In this work, an innovative approach was proposed to compensate for it, which was developed in model wastewater using thermal sensitizer at room temperature. At the optimal component condition, the removal rate of adsorption and thermocatalytic degradation processes can reach the highest level of 82.07% solely response to temperature in the dark. Moreover, the kinetics of degradation rate was modeled considering that it was found similarly to Langmuir-Hinshelwood behavior, and a tentative mechanism was objectively established, describing reasonably well in line with the experimental results. On the other hand, it was found that high amount of methylene blue (MB) adsorbed onto thermal sensitizer was of unambiguous importance to subsequent thermocatalytic performance. Briefly, all above suggest that the feasibility to the thermodegradation route has been successfully verified under room temperature excitation. Herein the insight into degradation pattern of dye over thermal excitation may further enlarge applications for wastewater treatment., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A specific HPLC-MS/MS method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of ten constituents including albiflorin, oxypaeoniflorin, paeoniflorin, liquiritin, isoliquiritin, liquiritigenin, isoliquiritigenin, ononin, glycyrrhizin and glycyrrhetinic acid in rat plasma using genistein as an internal standard (IS). The rat plasma samples were prepared by a one-step direct protein precipitation procedure with methanol. HPLC separation was achieved on a Zorbax XDB-C18 column (2.1mm×50mm i.d., 3.5μm) with gradient elution (A: 0.1% aqueous formic acid; B: methanol with 0.1% formic acid) at a flow rate of 0.5mL/min in a run time of 7min. All analytes and IS were detected by multiple reaction monitoring scanning with electrospray ionization in the negative ion mode. Calibration curves showed good linearity (r>0.998) over a wide concentration range for all analytes. The intra- and inter-day precisions were all within 15% and the accuracies were in the range of -6.2% to 10.1%. The validated method was successfully applied to determination and comparative pharmacokinetics investigation of the ten constituents in rat plasma after oral administration of different combinations (Radix Paeoniae Alba:Glycyrrhiza uralensis=1:1 or 4:1) of Shaoyao-Gancao-Decoction (SGD) extracts. Pharmacokinetic parameters were evaluated by a compartment model. There were perceptible differences in pharmacokinetic parameters (Cmax, AUC0-t, CL) of the analytes except for liquiritin between the two groups of SGD., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Resilience is proposed as a significant component of successful aging. Young adult carriers of the Serotonin Transporter Polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) short(s) allele appear to have reduced resilience to stress. We examined whether the presence of the short allele was associated with poorer emotional resilience in older adults., Methods: In a cross-sectional study of 99 healthy, community-dwelling, older adults, we determined 5-HTTLPR genotype status and administered the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and self-reported measures of successful aging, cognition, and health., Results: There was no significant association between the 5-HTTLPR s allele and resilience. S allele carriers had worse cognition and self-report ratings of successful aging., Conclusion: These findings suggest that the impact of the 5-HTTLPR s allele on stress-related outcomes may attenuate with older age. However, s allele status appears to be a biomarker of poorer self-rated successful aging, and cognitive performance in older adults.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with structural and functional compromise of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which may in turn be associated with impairment of its ability to regulate the amygdala. The Val158Met polymorphism in the catechol-O-methyltransferase gene, which substantially influences dopamine inactivation in the frontal lobe in general and in ACC in particular, may moderate ACC integrity in PTSD., Methods: We tested this hypothesis in a sample of Vietnam and Persian Gulf War veterans who experienced substantial military operational stress, including 51 who met criteria for PTSD and 48 matched controls who did not., Results: Participants with PTSD were previously reported to have smaller ACC volumes than controls in this sample. A novel repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted with PTSD diagnosis, Val158Met genotype, and their interaction predicting left and right ACC volume. Genotype was not directly related to ACC volume, but it did significantly interact with the PTSD diagnosis. The difference in ACC volume between the participants without PTSD and participants with PTSD was greater among individuals homozygous for the Val allele than among carriers of the Met allele. This finding was driven largely by the right ACC. Analyses of Caucasian-only, non-Caucasian-only, and male-only subsamples indicated similar patterns., Conclusions: Our findings suggest Val158Met genotype moderates the effect of PTSD-related processes on right ACC volume., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

This paper deals with removal of copper ions from solution by raw rice husk (RRH) and expanding rice husk (ERH). Different column design parameters like bed depth, flow rate and initial copper concentration were investigated. It was found that the equilibrium uptake (q(eq(exp))) of the ERH and RRH increased with increase in initial copper concentration but decreased with increase in flow rate and bed depth, respectively. The higher adsorption capacity and longer breakthrough time were observed for ERH in comparison with RRH, under the same conditions. Compared to coconut-shell activated carbon (C-AC), ERH was also found more effective in removing Cu(2+). 0.01 mol L(-1) HCl solution was used for desorption of column which was prior to absorb copper ion, and 0.01 mol L(-1) NaOH solution was used for re-activation. Column regeneration and reuse studies were conducted for adsorption-desorption cycle., (Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Konjac glucomannan treated by alkali solution through deacetylated reaction was used as a new water insoluble adsorbent to remove tannin from aqueous solution. A comprehensive study on adsorption of tannin by deacetylated konjac glucomannan (DKGM) was conducted regarding the effects of initial pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, temperature and initial tannin concentration. The adsorption process was much dependent on the pH and temperature and was found to follow pseudo-second-order kinetics. The optimum pH value was at pH ranging from 2 to 6. The maximum removal efficiency of tannin from aqueous solution was 90%. Increasing the adsorption temperature would result in lower adsorption capacity, suggesting that adsorption of tannin onto DKGM was exothermic in nature. The adsorption isotherms were measured at various temperatures and correlated to Freundlich isotherms. Adsorption mechanism was confirmed that the interaction of DKGM and tannin was through hydrogen bonding. It was also observed that DKGM possesses excellent reusability for tannin removal., (Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Carboxylic acid functionalized deacetylated konjac glucomannan was synthesized by free radical graft copolymerization of methyl acrylate (MA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) onto the backbone of deacetylated konjac glucomannan with subsequent chemical activation of the ester groups in the side chains of the resulting graft copolymer by sodium hydroxide. Effects of sodium hydroxide concentration and hydrolyzed time on the conversion of ester groups into carboxylic acid groups were studied. A comprehensive adsorption study of Cu(2+) and Pb(2+) ions from aqueous solution was also conducted regarding the effects of initial pH, adsorbent dosage, time, and initial concentration. The new konjac glucomannan adsorbent offered high removal efficiency, fast adsorption rate and high uptake capacity for Cu(2+) and Pb(2+) ions. The maximum removal efficiency at pH 5.0 was found to 98% for Cu(2+) and 99% for Pb(2+) ions. The kinetic data were fitted well to pseudo-second-order model. The maximum uptake capacity of Cu(2+) and Pb(2+) ions onto carboxylic acid functionalized deacetylated konjac glucomannan was found to 64.5 mg g(-1) and 191.3 mg g(-1), respectively. The isotherm adsorption data was well described by the Langmuir isotherm model.

Oxidative stress enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and ATPase, from two Gram-positive bacteria and one Gram-negative bacterium, respectively, were tested for response to the oxidative stress caused by bensulfuron-methyl (BSM). Native PAGE was used to detect the SOD isoenzyme profiles of these bacteria. All three bacteria possessed a basal level of SOD, CAT, and ATPase activity prior to being exposed to BSM. Enzyme activities changed in a BSM-concentration-dependent manner after exposure to BSM for 24 h. Activity of all the enzymes was increased and reached the first activity peak after being exposed to BSM at 1 or 1.5 h, respectively, then a decline occurred, and after that another simulation appeared at 9h or 14 h. Only one and three detectable SOD isoenzyme bands were observed in Gram-positive strains and the Gram-negative strain, respectively. BSM could bring short-term ecotoxicity to three bacteria, but the effect of BSM was not lethal.

The present study deals with the degradation of bensulfuron-methyl by microorganisms cultured with different sources of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Addition of carbon source accelerated the degradation of bensulfuron-methyl under co-metabolism process. Sodium lactate was the best carbon source for the degradation of bensulfuron-methyl, compared to other carbon sources studied, and the degradation ratio of bensulfuron-methyl reached 79.5%, whereas only 34.6 and 29.7% were removed in the presence of glucose and sucrose, respectively. Supplement of nitrogen source also enhanced degradation of bensulfuron-methyl. However, no significant differences were observed in the loss of bensulfuron-methyl between organic nitrogen and inorganic source. Phosphate buffer was supplemented into the media to maintain neutral conditions for the advantage of the strain growth since increase in pH value was observed. An orthogonal array design was applied to arrange main factors singled out for investigating the influence of factor and interaction between them on the degradation of bensulfuron-methyl. Statistical analysis showed that the concentration of sodium lactate, bensulfuron-methyl and inoculum size were the main effects, and the interaction of sodium lactate and bensulfuron-methyl was of statistical significance.

The H19 gene is a paternally imprinted gene located on chromosome 11p15.5. In this study, the H19FR1 and H19FR2 haplotype polymorphisms including four and three SNPs, respectively, upstream of the H19 gene according to the GenBank sequence (accession no. AF125183) were investigated. Five haplotypes and nine genotypes were detected for H19FR1 in the Chinese Han population by means of PCR and subsequent denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The power of discrimination (Dp), polymorphism information content (PIC) and probability of paternity exclusion (PE) were estimated to be 0.803, 0.58 and 0.322, respectively. For the H19FR2, two haplotypes and three genotyes were observed, and the Dp, PIC and PE were 0.626, 0.37 and 0.162, respectively. Sequencing results showed that only two of the four reported SNPs, a7342g and g7547a, were detected in H19FR1 in the Chinese Han population, and two new SNPs, g7351c and a7357g, were found. In the H19FR2 region, only one of the three reported SNPs, a8097g, was detected. Based on the methylation status of the genomic DNA, selective detection of the parental alleles for H19FRs was examined by using two types of enzymes, the methylation-sensitive restriction enzyme (msRE) HpaII or HhaI and McrBC. Genomic DNA digested by either HpaII or HhaI, revealed a single band derived from the paternal allele, as a result of cleavage of unmethylated recognition sites on the maternal allele. On the contrary, the use of McrBC, which can digest a methylated paternal sequence, resulted in exclusively amplifying the maternal allele. This parentally imprinted allele (PIA) typing method could be one of the useful techniques for discriminating the parental origin of alleles.