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The anaerobic biodegradation of toluene proceeds very slowly owing to limited electron acceptors in contaminated aquifer. The liquid reagents traditionally used to enhance this process readily migrate away from the contaminated site, and continuous addition would cause secondary pollution. In our previous study, the reduced solid-phase humic substances (humin), which are redox active, were found to act as electron donors to promote the microbial reactions. Here, we provide new evidence that humin can promote the anaerobic biodegradation of toluene as a terminal electron acceptor. When inoculating nitrate-reducing (NR) and iron-reducing (IR) consortia with toluene degradation activities, the average toluene degradation rates reached 21.20 ± 1.18 μmol/(L·d) and 15.43 ± 0.41 μmol/(L·d) in the presence of a sediment humin (HMcj), and 94.69% ± 4.26% and 93.20% ± 3.73% of the electrons released from toluene oxidation to CO

Vismodegib is an oral and high selective hedgehog (Hh) inhibitor used for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma (BCC). In this work, analogs of Vismodegib with deuterium-for-hydrogen replacement at certain metabolically active sites were prepared and found to have a better pharmacokinetic properties in mice. In particular, deuterated compound SKLB-C2211 obviously altered the blood circulation behavior compared to its prototype, which was demonstrated by significantly prolonged blood circulation half-life time (t

Fossil coral communities are often simply considered as “coral reefs.” In fact, coral-bearing communities are not necessarily coral reefs. The key criterion is whether the corals are in situ and if they are abundant enough to form topographic relief. Two outcropped profiles in the western margin of the Ordos Basin, northwestern China, drill cores of the Lianglitag Formation from 4 wells in the Tarim Basin and 500 large thin sections were examined in this study to reveal the difference between coral reefs and coral-bearing carbonate open platform facies in Upper Ordivician carbonate succession. The second layer of the Shijiezigou section is massive in internal structure, mound-like in shape, 5.0 m in height and 33.6 m in width and is interpreted as a patch reef in an open platform. This layer has a variety of corals that are preserved in situ. Reef-dwelling organisms include dasycladaceans, crinoids and gastropods. Other layers of the section are bedded limestones, many of which bear corals and crinoids, while others bear dasycladaceans or only the Dasycladacea genus Vermiporella. Unlike in the reef, the corals in the open platform facies are sparse and generally occur as fragments, most of which are not preserved in situ. According to the dominant species, four communities are distinguished from the Shijiezigou section, namely, the Vermiporella community, coral community, crinoid-coral community and dasycladacean-crinoid community, each of which adapted to some special environmental conditions. The patch reef of the Shijiezigou section contain abundant and diverse tabulate corals, which form bafflestones, while stromatoporoids are the primary builders in the platform margin reefs of well TZ 822 and the Lijiapo section. The common biotic components of the open platform of the Shijiezigou section and well TZ 822 are crinoids and dasycladaceans. The restricted platform of the Shijiezigou section is dominated by the dasycladacean Vermiporella, while the organisms of the restricted platform facies in well TZ 35 are mainly composed of cyanobacteria, ostracods and Tetradium-like organisms.

The Lichuan Jiantianba reef is located at the platform margin between the carbonate platform and the marine trough in western Hubei, China. The water depth of this area became shallow in the late Permian Changhsingian Age, and a huge aggradation-progradation platform marginal reef developed. Based on precise field measurements and microscopic observation, this paper describes the petrological characteristics and biological assemblages of the reef in detail and distinguishes 10 microfacies: small echinoderm wackestone, sponge floatstone, bound sponge bioliestone, bound sponge framestone, large echinoderm wackestone, red algal limestone, bioclastic grainstone, dasycladales wackestone, shelly wackestone, and microbialites. Sponge floatstone and bound sponge bioliestone are defined as toppled sponge limestone. Comparisons of the petrological characteristics and biotic association of toppled sponge limestone, bound sponge framestone and bioclastic wackestone and grainstone revealed that the toppled sponge limestone and the bound sponge framestone are similar in sponge content in terms of the types and contents of reef-dwellers, except that the sponge content is slightly lower, and the preservation state is mainly toppled for the former and upright or inclined for the latter. The toppled sponge limestone is dominated by tabular calcite, and the bound sponge framestone is dominated by fibrous calcite. The bioclastic wackestone and grainstone do not contain reef-building sponge organisms, and the bioclast content is very high and often dominated by a certain class, such as echinoderms, foraminifers, green algae or shells. The toppled sponge limestone below the framework, which was classified as fore-reef breccia or bioherm bafflestone-bindstone in previous studies, should be defined as reef-core sponge limestone deposited in situ that experienced serious post-karstification. The vertical evolution of the sedimentary facies of the reef is analyzed based on the microfacies and sedimentary environment. The toppled sponge limestone and the bound sponge framestone should be classified as reef core, which is the only subfacies of the reef facies. The underlying small echinoderm wackestone should be classified as the shelf facies, whereas the overlying bioclastic wackestone and grainstone should be classified as the open platform facies. These classifications represent a modification of the sedimentary facies subdivision of the Jiantianba reef in Lichuan, Hubei Province, South China, and provide a new reference model for the subdivision of the Permian calcisponge reefs on platform margin.

Osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) plays an essential role in bone formation. Its imbalance can lead to osteoporosis. Estrogen and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been confirmed to participate in osteogenesis. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. The purpose of our study was to explore the function of lncRNA H19 in estrogen-induced osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. The present research demonstrated that the expression levels of lncRNA H19 and SIRT1 were markedly downregulated in postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP), while miR-532-3p expression was obviously increased. Moreover, estrogen induced the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs by upregulating lncRNA H19. Furthermore, our integrated experiments showed that lncRNA H19 caused a decrease in the expression of miR-532-3p, which was verified to target SIRT1 directly. Additionally, estrogen alleviated osteoporosis in OVX rats through lncRNA H19-mediated miR-532-3p/SIRT1 axis. Our findings imply that lncRNA H19 mediates estrogen-regulated osteogenic differentiation in BMSCs via miR-532-3p/SIRT1 signalling and may become a novel target for alleviating PMOP.

Organic reefs are favourable accumulation spaces for hydrocarbons and various mineral resources. A complete Permian organic reef profile about 44 m thick with distribution area no more than 1 km2 is exposed near Lengwu, Tonglu, Zhejiang Province. Examination of outcrops and thin sections revealed that the main reef-building organisms are calcisponges, with inozoans as dominant type. Five types of rocks have been recognized in the reef, and they are calcisponge framestone, calcisponge bafflestone, bindstone, rudstone and bioclastic wackestone. The profile was constructed in three reef-building stages. The thickness of the second stage is largest, followed by the first stage and the third stage is smallest. Each stage started with a framestone or bafflestone, ended as the reef grew near the sea-level, and died because of influx of terrigenous sediments. The development of the Lengwu reef is controlled by biological factors and sea-level changes. Based on the study a reef sedimentary model is established.

Calcified coccoid fossils in the Permian-Triassic boundary microbialites were widely considered to represent the remains of the organisms that formed the microbialites. However, this role has been recently attributed to the fossil casts of Microcystis cyanobacterial colonies, leaving the ecological role of the coccoid fossils, as well as their affinities, uncertain. Here we propose that these coccoid fossils bear morphological similarity and are related to the extant epiphytic cyanobacterium Stanieria, and that they lived in surface waters by attaching themselves to bloom-forming phytoplankton, in a hitch-hiking lifestyle. Calcification of the envelopes of these interpreted Stanieria cells produced the small thin-walled spherical calcareous coccoid fossils. Different from ordinary pseudoplanktons, Stanieria cells cannot attach themselves to sparse plankton, but only to densely packed phytoplanktons in bloom. The dependence of these calcified Stanieria fossils on this lifestyle makes them possible indicators of ancient planktonic blooms. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A highly effective and operationally practical method for the regioselective deuteration of N -alkyl-substituted anilines employing Ru 3 (CO) 12 (⩽1 mol %) as catalyst and D 2 O as deuterium source was described. A variety of N -alkyl-substituted anilines were efficiently deuterated (up to 98%) at the ortho and/or para position with respect to the nitrogen at neutral conditions. Under the present conditions, deuterated anilines can be easily obtained with simple extraction and evaporation. Substituents with aromatic methoxy groups would not influence the selectivity compared to previous method.

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) for perennial apple trees (PAT) and apple tree saplings under continuous cropping (ATS) from two places in China were isolated and analyzed, and cluster analysis of BOX-PCR data was performed. The results showed that the quantities of both total rhizobacteria and the four kinds of PGPR (nitrogen-fixing bacteria, phosphate-solubilizing bacteria, silicate bacteria and antagonistic bacteria) from PAT were higher than those of ATS at different sampling points. The largest dissimilitude of BOX-PCR patterns for the PGPR indicated the genetic evolutionary distance of bacteria isolates was closer for the same sampling point. The shared cluster groups of the same variety of PGPR from two kinds of apple rhizosphere or different sampling points were very few. The diversity index, richness index and evenness index of PGPR from PAT were higher than those of ATS at both sampling points, while the dominance index was lower. The amounts and varieties of PGPR significantly changed between the PAT and ATS from different areas, which indicated the PGPR of the same plant varied from place to place due to the different environmental conditions. These results indicate that PGPR from PAT have the advantage of species diversity compared with ATS.

This study aims to assess the effects of copper exposure on hatching status and antioxidant defense at different stages of embryos and larvae of goldfish Carassius auratus . In this study, day-old embryos were randomly grouped after fertilization and then exposed to copper concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.4, 0.7, and 1.0 mg L −1 . Copper-exposed fish embryos were sampled every 24 h to determine superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) activities, as well as malondialdehyde (MDA) content. In addition, cumulative mortality and larval deformity were also investigated. The findings showed that cumulative mortality and larval deformity rate increased gradually with copper concentration increase. SOD and CAT activities were inhibited at higher copper concentrations. At a lower concentration (0.1 mg L −1 ), SOD activity increased in larvae, whereas CAT activity showed no significant change ( p > 0.05). MDA, as the lipid peroxidation product, gradually accumulated in embryos and larvae with increasing copper concentration and the extension of exposure time. At 0.4 mg L −1 and more, copper toxicity was shown in embryos and larvae. In conclusion, copper-exposed effects on hatching status and antioxidant defense in C. auratus embryos and larvae showed concentration- and time-dependent patterns. The biochemical parameters in this study can be used as effective indicators for evaluating the responses of copper-exposed fish embryos. In addition, this study demonstrates that 0.4 mg L −1 copper (corresponding to 1 mg L −1 copper sulfate), used to kill parasites in aquaculture, is not safe concentration, because it can result in toxicity to larvae. Therefore, the copper concentration to kill pathogen should be less than 0.4 mg L −1 for C. auratus .

This study assessed the impact of mercury exposure on goldfish (Carassius auratus) embryos based on the dynamic characteristics of chemical parameters. Day-old embryos were exposed to different Hg(2+) concentrations (0, 0.2, 1, 5, and 10 μg/L). Subsequently, the embryos were sampled every 24 h during embryonic development to measure acid phosphatase (ACP), alkaline phosphatase (AKP), lysozyme (LSZ), and catalase (CAT) activities, as well as malondialdehyde (MDA) content. The results revealed that the responses of ACP and AKP to mercury exposure presented in dose-dependent and time-dependent manners. The enzyme activities were significantly induced with increased concentrations and extended exposure (at 5 μg/L after 72 h and 10 μg/L after 48 h; p

The microbial communities blooming immediately after the end-Permian mass extinction represent abnormally extreme environments, and vary in different areas. In this study, filamentous cyanobacterial biota was found in the strata after the extinction in the famous Permian-Triassic boundary section at Laolongdong, Chongqing, southwest China. In thin sections, the filamentous cyanobacterial fossils are below 1 mm in length, and generally taper to one end, with the widest diameter up to 0.08 mm. Some of them are curved, indicating that they are soft in life. Their walls are composed of cryptocrystalline to microcrystalline calcites. The filaments have round cross section, and are internally filled with micrites and fine sparry calcites, which indicate that the filaments are originally empty. They are randomly distributed in the rocks, but in some places, they tend to be distributed in radial pattern. The filamentous organisms are morphologically similar to Rivularia of Rivulariaceae, Cyanobacteria Phylum, but with calcified sheaths, and are tentatively regarded as an indeterminate new species in Rivularia: Rivularia sp. Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic autotrophic, and can survive in dysoxic condition. The blooming of this organism and the absence of other organisms may indicate that the environment was oxygendeficient and shallow, since this photosynthetic autotrophic organism needed to live within photic zone.