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Facilitating energy resource deficiency and environmental contamination, this work focuses on sustainable biodiesel production through the esterification reactions of oleic acid (OA) with methanol. To address the reaction, a novel heterogeneous acid catalyst, 12-tungstophosphoric acid (TPA) immobilized on Sn-based MOFs (Sn(II)-BDC) was synthesized via a simple, green solvent, and easy-to-implement synthesis strategy for the first time, and applied effectively for esterification process of OA to produce biodiesel. The structure and composition of as-obtained catalyst have been verified using XRD, FTIR, N2 physisorption, SEM, EDX, TG, Py-FTIR, TPD-NH3, and XPS techniques. The obtained TPA/Sn(II)-BDC catalyst was found to be the best with 60 wt% of TPA loading, which resulted in an OA conversion of 91.7 % at optimized conditions of 0.15 g catalyst loading and methanol to OA molar ratio of 20:1 at temperature of 120 °C in 4 h, and the excellent performance arises from available pores structure, large amounts of acidic sites, good stability and the synergistic catalytic effect of TPA and Sn(II)-BDC. Furthermore, the composite catalyst reusability has been studied for five cycles, and it exhibits an acceptable conversion. This research provides a green and large-scale synthesis route for the sustainable production of biofuels by constructing heteropolyacids/Sn-based MOFs synergistic catalysts.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy with high mortality rates. While surgery can be curative in early-stage disease, 80% of patients cannot undergo surgical resection. Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), an emerging, non-invasive, precision treatment, has shown promising results across various stages of HCC and has thus been adopted in practice to varying degrees around the world. This article aims to review current guideline recommendations on SBRT, clinical evidence, and outcome comparisons with other local treatment modalities. Attempts are also made to compare the differences in clinical trials between Asian and Western countries.

Severe pneumonia (SP) is a prevalent respiratory ailment characterized by high mortality and poor prognosis. Current scoring systems for pneumonia are not only time-consuming but also exhibit limitations in early SP prediction. To address this gap, this study aimed to develop a machine-learning model using inflammatory markers from peripheral blood for early prediction of SP. A total of 204 pneumonia patients from seven medical centers were studied, with 143 (68 SP cases) in the training cohort and 61 (32 SP cases) in the test cohort. Clinical characteristics and laboratory test results were collected at diagnosis. Various models including Logistic Regression, Random Forest, Naïve Bayes, XGBoost, Support Vector Machine, and Decision Tree were built and evaluated. Seven predictors—age, sex, WBC count, T-lymphocyte count, NLR, CRP, TNF-α, IL-4/IFN-γ ratio, IL-6/IL-10 ratio—were selected through LASSO regression and clinical insight. The XGBoost model, exhibiting best performance, achieved an AUC of 0.901 (95 % CI: 0.827 to 0.985) in the test cohort, with an accuracy of 0.803, sensitivity of 0.844, specificity of 0.759, and F1_score of 0.818. Indeed, SHAP analysis emphasized the significance of elevated WBC counts, older age, and elevated CRP as the top predictors. The use of inflammatory biomarkers in this concise predictive model shows significant potential for the rapid assessment of SP risk, thereby facilitating timely preventive interventions.

Magnesium silicate hydrate (M-S-H) samples were prepared utilizing reactive magnesia and quartz with six various Mg/Si molar ratios by the autoclaved curing system. The characteristics and microstructure of M-S-H samples were examined using XRD, TGA, FTIR, SEM and 29Si MAS NMR. Additionally, silica fume was utilized as the siliceous raw material to prepare the M-S-H samples that served as controls. The results showed quartz can be utilized as siliceous raw material for preparing M-S-H. Compared with the samples employing silica fume, the M-S-H samples utilizing quartz as the siliceous material had a layered structure and a significant amount of silicate polymerization. Moreover, the SEM images of M-S-H utilizing quartz as the raw material exhibited a denser structure when compared to the microstructure of granular morphology of M-S-H with silica fume. Remarkably, the existence of quartz as a siliceous raw material led to the production of M-S-H with an antigorite structure. At the same time, the 29Si MAS NMR observations revealed that quartz as a siliceous raw material is favorable for the conversion of Q2 to Q3, resulting in improvement of polymerization degree of M-S-H silicone tetrahedron. The study demonstrated that it is the feasible to prepare M-S-H by replacing silica fume with quartz, which can provide a reference and choice for the preparation of green cementitious materials.

Hard gold has excellent physical and chemical properties, and is widely used in jewelry and the electronics industry. The deposition of hard gold has long been focused on cyanide-based aqueous electrolytes, which are highly toxic with relatively low electroplating efficiency due to the coreduction of hydrogen. Ionic liquids have recently been studied as a solvent for the electrodeposition of various metals. Herein, choline chloride–urea ionic liquid was used as the solvent with 5,5-dimethylhydantoin as the complexing agent and Co2+ was added to produce cobalt-hardened gold deposits. The addition of Co2+ promoted grain size refinement and improved the hardness of deposits. With 62.5 mg/L Co2+ present in the electrolyte, the coating showed a high degree of hardness (2.3 GPa) and relatively good corrosion resistance.

ABSTRACT: Background: Livestock and poultry skeletal muscle development was regulated by a variety of genetic factors playing an essential role in this process. In our de novo sequencing, a missense mutation in ISPD exon 2 showed a selected signature for well-developed muscles. However, the relationship between this mutation and muscle phenotypes remains unclear. Results: Based on the genotype bias of this missense mutation in gamecock chickens, we compared the cross-section of muscle fibers among the individuals with different genotypes with the results showing a genotype preference of this missense mutation in the chickens with hypertrophic muscle fibers. Comparing TT- and CC-genotype ISPD showed that TT- genotype was associated with heavier skeletal muscle and a better effect on myogenesis and myofiber stability. At cellular level, ISPD was identified to inhibit myoblast proliferation, differentiation and antagonize of muscular atrophy. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the missense mutation of Arg84Lys in ISPD was associated with well-developed muscles and demonstrated to improve chicken muscles’ development.

Background: The study aimed to analyze aberrantly methylated genes, relevant pathways and transcription factors (TFs) in osteosarcoma (OS) development. Methods: Based on the DNA methylation microarray data GSE36002 that were downloaded from GEO database, the differentially methylated genes in promoter regions were identified between OS and normal samples. Pathway and function enrichment analyses of differentially methylated genes was performed. Subsequently, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed, followed by identification of cancer-associated differentially methylated genes and significant differentially methylated TFs. Results: A total of 1379 hyper-methylation regions and 169 hypo-methylation regions in promoter regions were identified in OS samples compared to normal samples. The differentially hyper-methylated genes were significantly enriched in Neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathway, and Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR) signaling pathway. The differentially hypo-methylated genes were significantly enriched in Toll-like receptor signaling pathway. In PPI network, signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT3) had high degree (degree=21). MAX interactor 1, dimerization protein (MXI1), STAT3 and T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia 1 (TAL1) were significant TFs enriched with target genes in OS samples. They were found to be cancer-associated and hyper-methylated in OS samples. Conclusion: Neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, PPAR signaling, Toll-like receptor signaling pathways are implicated in OS. MXI1, STAT3, and TAL1 may be important TFs involved in OS development. Keywords: Differentially methylated gene, Osteosarcoma, Protein-protein interaction, Transcription factor