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Objective: Jue tone is a kind of sound, using 3-mi as the main tone, and is melodious, profound, makes people feel comfortable and pleasant. This study aimed to explore the probable mechanism of Jue tone to reduce blood pressure (BP) in hypertensive rats with a liver-fire hyperactivity pattern by observing changes in BP as well as physiochemical indexes in plasma. Methods: Sixteen male spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHR) with a liver-fire hyperactivity pattern were randomly divided into a control group and a Jue tone group. The rats in the Jue tone group were treated with Jue tone (55–65 dB, played by the five elements of music rhythm instrument, a kind of physiotherapy regimen music played by Shen Wu) once a day for 4 weeks. The BP levels in each group were measured twice a week, on Monday and Friday. The levels of angiotensin II (Ang- II), thromboxane B2 (TXB2), endothelin-1 (ET-1), calcitonin gene-related peptide (cGRP), norepinephrine (NE), cortisol (CORT), and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT). in plasma were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay after 4 weeks of intervention. Results: BP and the levels of TXB2 and ET-1 in the plasma of the treatment group were significantly lower than those of the control group, while the level of cGRP was significantly higher. Conclusion: Jue tone can reduce the BP of hypertensive rats with a liver-fire hyperactivity pattern. The mechanism may correlate with a reduction in TXB2 and ET-1 and an increase in cGRP with the reduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Combination of anionic doping and multicomponent synergism are effective approach to improve the performance of electrocatalysts toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) process. Herein, P-doped CoS2–MoS2 hollow spheres assembled by countless sheets on oxidized Mo foil (P–CoS2/MoS2/MoO2) was synthesized by hydrothermal and phosphorization process. The unique hollow structure with countless sheets as wall endows more accessible active sites, fast electron/mass transport and high conductivity. P-doping could redistribute the local charge density and optimize the surface charge state to improve the intrinsic activity and accelerate reaction kinetics. The optimized P–CoS2/MoS2/MoO2 exhibits an outstanding HER performance with an overpotential of 85 mV to reach 10 mA cm−2, a small Tafel slope of 84.6 mV dec−1, superior intrinsic HER activity and robust durability under alkaline solution. This work proposed a feasible strategy to build the hollow, heterostructured and binder-free electrode in renewable energy application.

In this paper, we report the finding and basic characterization of a new multiferroic material in the form of the Y2FeAlO6 (YFAO) double perovskite with orthorhombic structure. In order to study the structural and multiferroic properties in detail, we prepared the polycrystalline YFeO3 (YFO) and Y2FeAlO6 ceramic samples through traditional high temperature solid-state reaction method. XRD analysis confirmed that these two samples are single-phase and all the peaks in the pattern can be indexed with orthorhombic symmetry of the Pnma space group. Compared to YFO, YFAO is more symmetric, and has a more stable crystalline structure and smaller grain size. The Fe ion in YFO and YFAO are in the mixed oxidation state of Fe2+ and Fe3+, while the relative amount of Fe2+ in YFAO is higher than that of YFO. Al3+ with filled 2p orbital and grain refinement may be the main reasons for the greatly enhanced multiferroicity of YFAO. The magnetic properties of YFO and YFAO are mainly dominant antiferromagnetism and weak ferromagnetism, and the exchange bias effect disappears in YFAO. The coexistence of ferroelectricity and ferromagnetic orders at room temperature in YFAO promises new opportunities and improvements in next generation applications for spintronic, information storage, and sensors etc.

A facile oxidation-sulfidation strategy is proposed to fabricate the vertically aligned amorphous MoS2 nanosheets on MoO2 films/Mo foil (MF) as free-standing electrode, which features as the integration of three merits (high conductivity, abundant exposures of active sites, and enhanced mass transfer) into one electrode for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal the strong interaction between MoS2 and MoO2, which can enhance the intrinsic conductivity with narrow bandgap, and decreases hydrogen adsorption free energy (ΔGH∗ = ~0.06 eV) to facilitate the HER process. Benefiting from the unique hierarchical structure with amorphous MoS2 nanosheets on conductive MoO2 films/MF to facilitate the electron/mass transfer by eliminate contact resistance, controllable number of stacking layers and size of MoS2 slabs to expose more edge sites, the optimal MoS2/MoO2/MF exhibits outstanding activity with overpotential of 154 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm−2, Tafel slope of 52.1 mV dec−1, and robust stability. Furthermore, the intrinsic HER activity (vs. ECSA) on MoS2/MoO2/MF is significantly enhanced, which shows 4.5 and 18.6 times higher than those of MoS2/MF and MoO2/MF at overpotential of 200 mV, respectively.

Objective To evaluate the effect of Qishen granule (QSG) on heart failure (HF) and the potential mechanisms involved in animal models. Methods Studies of QSG in animals with HF were identified by searches of eight databases up to August 1, 2019. Two authors independently reviewed each study and the Collaborative Approach to Meta-analysis and Review of Animal Data from Experimental Studies 10-item checklist was used for quality assessment. The primary outcomes were indicators of left ventricular ejection fraction and/or left ventricular fractional shortening. The secondary outcome measures were ventricular structure, hemodynamics, myocardial injury-related indicators, and the mechanisms whereby QSG ameliorates HF. A meta-analysis was performed and all the data were analyzed using RevMan 5.3 software. Results Thirteen studies containing a total of 240 animals met the criteria for the meta-analysis. The quality score of the studies ranged from three to six points. The meta-analysis showed a significant effect of QSG to improve cardiac function, inhibit ventricular remodeling, improve circulation, and attenuate myocardial injury. The possible mechanisms was identified to be suppression of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, which has anti-fibrotic, anti-apoptotic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidative effects in the myocardium, the prevention of calcium overload, and the promotion of myocardial energy metabolism. Conclusion Our review shows that QSG has a cardioprotective effect in animal models of CHF. However, due to the relatively poor quality of the included studies and the differences between humans and animal models, the results should be interpreted with caution.

The unique hollow nanostructures (Ni1-xFex-HP) were fabricated by the template-engaged pyrolysis from amorphous (bi)metal-organic-frameworks with tunable polyhedron-like morphology by various Fe content. Ni1-xFex-HP features as hollow polyhedron with mesoporous wall, consisting of dominant metal/alloy coupled with a small fraction of their oxides and few-layer N-graphene shell (FLNG). Thanks for the structural and compositional feature to strengthen the synergism of Ni, NiO and N-graphene on HER, as well as FeNi alloy, NiFe oxide, and N-graphene on OER, the optimal Ni-HP and Ni0.5Fe0.5-HP octahedron present good bifunctional properties for HER (overpotential of 215 mV to reach 10 mA cm−2, Tafel slope of 133 mV dec−1) and OER (overpotential of 280 mV to reach 10 mA cm−2, Tafel slope of 79 mV dec−1) on glass carbon electrode in 1.0 M alkaline solution. Moreover, the electrocatalytic performance can be further enhanced by directly coating on nickel foam (NF), where the overpotentials of Ni-HP/NF and Ni0.5Fe0.5-HP/NF is only 98 and 220 mV at current density of 10 mA cm−2 for HER and OER, respectively. The integrated asymmetrical two-electrode configuration (Ni0.5Fe0.5-HP/NF||Ni-HP/NF) displays low cell voltage of 1.57 V to reach 10 mA cm−2, accompanying with strong durability for overall alkaline water splitting. This work opens up an effectively time-saving strategy using aMOFs with well-defined structure instead of highly crystalline metal-organic frameworks (cMOFs) as precursor to design hollow and nanostructured hybrids for energy conversion.

The variations of microstructure and mechanical properties of the joints with different welding heat input were investigated. As the heat input increased, excessive melting of TA15 alloy facilitated the formation of Ti-Cu compounds at the TA15 interface, increasing the brittleness of the TA15 interface. Moreover, high heat input also caused the HAZ softening by grain coarsening and deteriorated the performance of the joint. However, low heat input was adverse to the complete melting of Cu66V34 alloy and induced the formation of welding pores. It also weakened the strength of the joint. Under optimum welding parameters, (Ti,V) solid solution formed at the titanium interface, replacing Ti-Cu intermetallic compounds (IMCs). Therefore, the joint of sample 2 presented the highest strength (378MPa) and fractured along the HAZ of QCr0.8 alloy due to the HAZ softening resulting from grain coarsening.

Tuning the surface property of Pt based nanocrystals at the atomic level is of vital significance to meet superior electrocatalytic performance criteria. In this work, a new strategy to advance fundamental surface study on Pt based nanocrystals is addressed by implanting foreign metals as “active auxiliaries” onto the surface of Pt based nanocrystals to engineer a stable structured catalyst. Under the guidance of this concept, the Ru component was selected as “active auxiliary” to construct Ru containing Pt3Mn catalysts by doping the isolated Ru atoms (Pt3Mn–Ru) and Ru nanoparticles (Pt3Mn@Ru) onto surface layer of Pt3Mn concave nanocubes (CNCs). Strikingly, the Pt3Mn–Ru CNCs showed the most optimal catalytic activity, durability and CO anti-poisoning ability toward ethylene glycol oxidation reaction (EGOR). The specific activity of Pt3Mn–Ru CNCs is 1.32 mA cm−2, which is 1.47 and 3.07 times higher than Pt3Mn@Ru CNCs (0.90 mA cm−2) and pure Pt3Mn CNCs (0.43 mA cm−2). The results of in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy experiments revealed that Pt3Mn–Ru CNCs were more in favor of C C bond cleavage of EG and rapid oxidation/removal of intermediate poisonous COads. Furthermore, the theoretical calculations revealed that the Pt3Mn–Ru CNCs possessed a lower reaction barrier (1.69 eV) for oxidation of COads assisted by adsorbed OHads species, and an energy-favorable position (2.88 A) for reaction between COads and OHads. This work disclosed a new tactics to develop a novel structured catalyst in possession of excellent electrocatalytic performance, which provided a promising methodology for designing Pt-based nanoparticles as efficient fuel cell catalysts.

Objective According to theory of Chinese medicine property, the ecological environment shapes properties (natures and flavors) of Chinese materia medica (CMM) and there are close relationships between certain natures and flavors. However, to date these observations have not been validated scientifically in the context of the whole flora of a region. The present study aims to address this gap. Methods We collected geographical distributions of 3637 vascular plant species native to the Xinjiang region of northwest China, of which around 812 are medicinal plants. The CMM property characters of these medicinal plants were also collected. All medicinal plants were then analyzed in the occurrence of their natures (cold, cool, neutral, warm, and hot) and flavors (sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and pungent). Possible correlations between these properties and environmental factors, notably climate, as well as correlations with plant species richness of the wider native flora of Xinjiang were then investigated using permutation test and regression. Results Cold species (38.5%) were more numerous than warm (21.0%) and neutral (22.3%), while bitter species (43.3%) were more numerous than pungent (25.6%), sweet (22.4%) and sour (6.7%) ones. Species with bitter flavor were most commonly also cold (48.6%) in nature, sour flavor usually coincided with cold (44.2%) or cool nature (26.0%), whereas pungent or sweet species tended to be warm (34.4%, 28.4%) or neutral (27.8%, 28.4%). The percentages of species of cold/cool nature, bitter flavor were higher in mountainous regions, and the percentages of warm/neutral and pungent/sweet/sour were higher in basins. The percentages of species of cold/cool, bitter were positively correlated with actual evapotranspiration (AET), and also plant species richness but had a bell-shaped relationship with potential evapotranspiration (PET), whereas the inverse situation was shown for warm/neutral and pungent/sweet/sour species. Conclusion Analysis of the data in Xinjiang region of China supports the qualitative observations concerning natures and flavors in traditional theory of Chinese medicine property. Specifically, (i) certain natures and flavors co-occur more frequently than if randomly distributed; (ii) correlations between proportions of natures and flavors and climatic variables suggest a role for the environment in shaping the properties of CMM.

Considering the acoustoplastic effect, an application of ultrasonic vibrations to Friction Stir Welding (FSW) evokes more and more interests in recent years. The material in the lower region of one FSW joint is the most in need of acoustic energy to improve its flow ability due to a relatively low peak temperature over there. However, the backing plate in Conventional Friction Stir Welding (CFSW) prevents the ultrasonic vibrations from being directly transmitted from the workpiece bottom surface. One aim of this paper was to propose an innovative welding technique, i.e. friction stir welding assisted by ultrasonic vibrations on the bottom surface of workpieces (UVBS-FSW). Precipitates evolution in different zones of the joint was analyzed in detail. High-density helical dislocations and prismatic dislocation loops were detected, indicating a significant increase of vacancy density. With the vacancy density increasing, the climb of jogs and edge dislocations were both enhanced and thus the intrinsic resistance of deformation can be significantly reduced. The enhanced mobility of dislocations as a result of high-density vacancy due to the application of ultrasonic vibrations is the physical nature of the acoustoplastic effect.

Nicotinamide (NAM) was evidenced to have the capacity to improve energy metabolism and attenuate oxidative stress during the perinatal period. As there is an association between maternal nutrition and the developmental outcomes of offspring, the aim was to investigate the effect of maternal NAM supplementation on small intestine morphology and some antioxidative parameters of offspring kids. Fifteen multiparous does were paired and allocated into 3 treatments: control (C), postpartum (P, supplemented post-kidding), and entire-perinatal (EP, supplemented from d -21 to 28 around kidding). NAM was drenched to does at 5 g/d and at 0700 h every day. After kidding, the kids were named LC, LP, and LEP, respectively, and fed milk from their mothers until d 28 of life. For the offspring kids, BW and ADG were not affected. The villus height in the duodenum was higher in LP than in LC, and that in the ileum was higher in LEP. The ratio of villus height to crypt depth of intestine was increased in LEP. The serum IgG was tended to elevate by maternal NAM supplementation, and the total antioxidant capacity was decreased in both LP and LEP. The does supplemented with NAM had an improved antioxidative status, and lower level of milk IL-1β was found in EP. The MDA of the mammary tissue was also decreased by NAM. Moreover, the milk metabolomics profile showed that glycerol was decreased while citramalic acid and sucrose were elevated with NAM supplementation. Glycerolipid metabolism, galactose metabolism, and starch and sucrose metabolism were enriched. Thus, these data indicated that maternal NAM supplementation improved the small intestinal development of offspring kids partially by affecting the antioxidative status and milk metabolites of the does. This knowledge further suggested that the development of a nutritional strategy from prepartum period and milk feeding in early life are important for offspring kids.

Ultrathin nickel-iron carbonate hydroxides nanosheets/sulfides (denoted as NixFeyS/CH) are fabricated by sulfurizing treatment of nickel-iron carbonate hydroxide (NixFeyCH). The partial sulfuration of NiFe carbonate hydroxides by replacing the CO3/OH groups with the S group can well remain the hexagonal morphology, regulate the electronic structure and expose more electrochemical active sites. Benefiting from the ultrathin-layered sheet with mesoporous structure for more available active sites, the strong coupling between metal carbonate hydroxides/sulfides, as well as bimetal synergism for modulation the composition and electronic structure, the optimal NixFeyS/CH exhibits excellent OER catalytic performance, which reaches 20 mA cm−2 at an ultra-small overpotential of 261 mV, lower Tafel slope (103 mV dec−1) and outstanding stability. This work highlights the importance regarding the modulation of composition and electronic structure by the interface coupling and bimetal synergism for boosting OER performance.

Background Both of the modern medicine and the traditional Chinese medicine classify depressive disorder (DD) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) to one type of disease. Unveiling the association between depressive and the fatigue diseases provides a great opportunity to bridge the modern medicine with the traditional Chinese medicine. Methods In this work, 295 general participants were recruited to complete Zung Self-Rating Depression Scales and Chalder Fatigue Scales, and meanwhile, to donate plasma and urine samples for 1H NMR-metabolic profiling. Artificial intelligence methods was used to analysis the underlying association between DD and CFS. Principal components analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were used to analyze the metabolic profiles with respect to gender and age. Variable importance in projection and t-test were employed in conjunction with the PLS-DA models to identify the metabolite biomarkers. Considering the asymmetry and complexity of the data, convolutional neural networks (CNN) model, an artificial intelligence method, was built to analyze the data characteristics between each groups. Results The results showed the gender- and age-related differences for the candidate biomarkers of the DD and the CFS diseases, and indicated the same and different biomarkers of the two diseases. PCA analysis for the data characteristics reflected that DD and CFS was separated completely in plasma metabolite. However, DD and CFS was merged into one group. Limitation Lack of transcriptomic analysis limits the understanding of the association of the DD and the CFS diseases on gene level. Conclusion The unmasked candidate biomarkers provide reliable evidence to explore the commonality and differences of the depressive and the fatigue diseases, and thereby, bridge over the traditional Chinese medicine with the modern medicine.

The excess emission of ammonia nitrogen is a common issue encountered by many industry wastewater treatment plants, due to the elevated concentrations and toxicities of compounds released from a large number of industries which might inhibit the growth of nitrifying bacteria. In this work, we are aiming at addressing the above issue raised by an industry wastewater treatment plant and elucidating the nitrification inhibitory mechanisms. A straight-forward and reliable method i.e., respirometry, was developed for the characterisation of nitrification inhibition. The pretreatment methods of Fenton and ozone oxidations and iron carbon micro electrolysis have been attempted to reduce the nitrification inhibition and the former two turned out to be effective. The nitrification inhibition rate (NIR) of the wastewater after Fenton oxidation was reduced from 87% to 13.6% with the optimized condition (pH = 3.0, H2O2 dosage of 14.7 mM, Fe2+ dosage of 4.90 mM, and reaction time of 20 min). The optimal parameters for ozonation were: pH = ∼8.2 (original pH of wastewater), reaction time of 25 min (equivalent to an ozone dosage of 381 mg/L), under which the NIR was declined to 12.7%. The nitrification inhibition might be attributed to the presence of compounds with hydrophobic properties, high molecular weight, and aromatic and unsaturated structures in industry wastewater. The coupling use of Fenton-SBR and ozone-SBR achieved NH3-N removal efficiency of 98% and 93%, respectively. The effluent NH3-N finally met with the Integrated Wastewater Discharge Standard (DB31/199-2009).

A lamellar reverse micelle directed assembly strategy was proposed to integrate NiCo layered hydroxides (NiCoDH) nanodots and NiCo sulfide (NiCoS) nanosheets (NiCoDH/NiCoS) by one-step solvothermal method. The NiCoDH/NiCoS features with an interconnected 3D architecture composed of ultrathin amorphous NiCoS nanosheets (∼1.5 nm), decorated by ultra-small NiCoDH nanodots (2–3 nm). The optimal NiCoDH/NiCoS exhibits a low overpotential of 303 mV at current density of 20 mA cm−2, together with a small Tafel slope of 77.6 mV dec−1, the high Faraday efficiency of about 95% as well as good stability. The excellent OER performance and enhanced stability should be ascribed to the strong interface-coupling of NiCoDH nanodots/NiCoS nanosheets, highly synergistic effect of bimetal Co and Ni, amorphous-like structure to expose more active sites, and interconnected 3D architecture for effective mass transport and structural stability. This work provides a significant insight regarding the strong interface-coupling effect on OER electrocatalysis, and offers a new strategy to design highly efficient OER catalysts.

Porous organic frameworks (POFs) catalysts with a combination of the well-developed porosity and highly dispersed of active sites hold promise for boosting catalyst activity and selectivity. Among their many synthetic methods, one-step knitting strategies have gained superiority and potential for development. Here, two copper porphyrin based microporous polymers (SC-Cu and FC-Cu) were directly synthesized through Scholl coupling reaction and Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction respectively, which possess high surface area and efficient catalytic performance for styrene oxidation. Moreover, the hierarchical pores of SC-Cu gave it a unique catalytic performance with various olefins with excellent conversion rate. The insight achieved by this systematic analysis will contribute to the rational design of other POFs catalysts and widening extent of applications.

Adopting an impregnation strategy, the homogeneous and efficient pore-creating are simultaneously achieved by one-pot KOH activation making full use of the swelling feature of hydrophilic soybean protein gels in alkaline solution. N, O co-doped porous carbons (NOPCs) have been fabricated using soybean meal as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen sources for an abundance of protein with a smaller amount of corrosive KOH. The as-obtained NOPCs exhibit advantageous characteristics for electrochemical energy storage including unique honeycomb-like morphology with interconnected carbon frameworks, high specific surface area, hierarchical porosity and controllable surface chemistry, which provides a large number of favorable nanochannels with suitable surface property for fast electrolyte diffusion and efficient electron transfer in the carbon networks. When tested as supercapacitor electrodes with symmetric configuration in 3 M KOH electrolyte, the NOPC-700 electrode prepared at 700 °C with a KOH/soybean meal mass ratio of 0.25 presents a high specific capacitance (330 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1), remarkable cycling stability (94.6% capacitance retention after 10000 cycles at 2.5 A g−1), and superior rate capability (270 F g−1 at 5 A g−1). Furthermore, the NOPC-700//NOPC-700 supercapacitor delivers a maximum energy density of 8.4 Wh kg−1. The coordination between protein-rich soybean meal and one-pot KOH activation plays an important role in efficiently synthesizing porous carbons with robust energy storage performance for supercapacitors.

In this article, we present the structural and magnetic studies of pristine SmFeO3 nanocrystalline ceramic samples as sintered at temperature 850 °C and 1000 °C. X-ray powder diffraction data confirm the existence of single-phase nature with orthorhombic (Pbnm) structure of the samples. The SEM image reveals spherical particles with a size range of 60–130 nm for SFO-850 and SFO-1000 samples. X-ray absorption spectroscopy studies on Fe L3,2 and O K-edges of SmFeO3 sample revealed the homo-valence state of Fe in these materials. From magnetization studies it has been observed the materials exhibit ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic (canted spin structure) sub-lattices, which results strong magnetic anisotropy in the system.

Qijian mixture, a new traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula comprising of Astragalus membranaceus , Ramulus euonymi , Coptis chinensis and Pueraria lobata , was designed to ameliorate the type 2 diabetes (T2D), and its safety and efficacy were evaluated in the research by metabonomics, gut microbiota and system pharmacology. To study the hypoglycemic effect of Qijian mixture, male KKay mice (28–30 g, 8–9 week) and C57/BL6 mice (18–19 g, 8–9 week) were used. Thirty KKay diabetic mice were randomly distributed into 5 groups, abbreviated as Model group (Model), Low Qijian Mixture group (QJM(L)), High Qijian Mixture group (QJM(H)), Chinese Medicine (Gegen Qinlian Decoction) Positive group (GGQL), and Western Medicine (Metformin hydrochloride) Positive group (Metformin). C57/BL6 was considered as the healthy control group (Control). Moreover, a system pharmacology approach was utilized to assess the physiological targets involved in the action of Qijian mixture. There was no adverse drug reaction of Qijian mixture in the acute toxicity study and HE result, and, compared with Model group, Qijian mixture could modulate blood glycemic level safely and effectively. Qijian Mixture was lesser effective than metformin hydrochloride; however, both showed similar hypoglycemic trend. Based on 1 H NMR based metabonomics study, the profoundly altered metabolites in Qijian mixture treatment group were identified. Qijian mixture-related 55 proteins and 4 signaling pathways, including galactose metabolism, valine, leucine and isoleucine degradation metabolism, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis metabolism and alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism pathways, were explored. The PCoA analysis of gut microbiota revealed that Qijian mixture treatment profoundly enriched bacteroidetes. In addition, the system pharmacology paradigm revealed that Qijian mixture acted through TP53, AKT1 and PPARA proteins. It was concluded that Qijian mixture effectively alleviated T2D, and this effect was linked with the altered features of the metabolite profiles and the gut microbiota.

Background Decitabine is widely used in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in elderly patients. Low-dose Vitamin C has also been indicated to induce DNA demethylation at the cellular level. However, little is known whether low-dose Vitamin C has a synergistic effect with decitabine in clinic. Methods The effect of combined low-dose Vitamin C and decitabine on cell proliferation, the cell cycle, apoptosis and the expression level and activity of TET2 was investigated in HL60 and NB4 human leukemic cells. Additionally, we analyzed the clinical outcomes of 73 elderly AML patients who received A-DCAG (intravenous Vitamin C [IVC] plus DCAG [ n = 39]) or DCAG ( n = 34) treatment. Results We found that low-dose Vitamin C and decitabine has a synergistic efficacy on proliferation, apoptosis, TET2 expression and activity, compared to drug–alone treatment in HL60 and NB4 cell lines in vitro . In clinic, feasibility and safety evaluations revealed that patients who received A-DCAG regimen have a higher complete remission (CR) rate than those who received the DCAG regimen (79.92% vs. 44.11%; P = 0.004) after one cycle of chemotherapy. The median overall survival (OS) was better in the A-DCAG group compared with the DCAG group (15.3 months vs. 9.3 months, P = 0.039). Patients with adverse cytogenetics did benefit from CR. There was no clinically significant additional toxicity observed with the addition of IVC. Conclusion On the basis of these results, the addition of IVC at low doses to DCAG appeared to improve CR and prolong OS, compared with DCAG, in elderly patients with AML.

The coordination driven self-assembled materials are in high demand of advanced energy chemistry, which remain largely unexplored. Here an ultra-simple and environmental friendly strategy for fabricating metal-organic gels (MOGs) in terms of electrochemical overall water splitting was reported. Through electrochemical testing, the Ni0.6Fe0.4-MOG achieves the lowest oxygen evolution reaction (OER) overpotential of 285 mV (j10), 347 mV (j100), 445 mV (j500) (GC electrode) and 173 mV (j10, NF electrode) in 1 M KOH, an ultra-low Tafel slope of 33 mV dec−1 and long-term stability, outperforming most of the reported polymer catalysts. On account of the moderate hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance (159 mV (j10)), thereby can drive the two-electrode electrolyzer at a relatively low cell voltage of 1.61 V (1.48 V when using Pt/C as cathode) and no significant attenuation after 20 h. Our work has demonstrated that the MOGs could break the shackles of current polymer catalysts for electrocatalysis.

In this work, the electronic structures and magnetic performance of SmFeO3 (SFO) powders prepared by standard solid-state reaction route and thin films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on SrTiO3 (STO) (1 0 0) substrates were investigated. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigations prove the phase purity of both SmFeO3 powders and thin films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was employed to study the chemical composition and the valence states of elements. With the purpose of studying the electronic structure of SFO samples, especially the orbital hybridization in the samples, X-ray absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) were also accomplished. Remarkably, we observed the difference in XAS of O K-edge and Fe L-edge between SmFeO3 powders and thin films. It was observed that the samples exhibited different exchange bias effect (EB) from magnetization investigations, which were probably dependent on the changes of the orbital hybridization and bond length of the samples.

The fungus Fusarium oxysporum causes tomato plant wilt, which lead to economic losses worldwide. Bacillus spp. has been widely used as a biological control agent against tomato wilt; in a previous study, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SN16-1 showed great potential for controlling F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (FOL). However, little is known about the effects of SN16-1 and FOL on tomato rhizosphere bacterial community composition. To address this issue, the present study investigated changes in community diversity following SN16-1 and FOL treatment by Illumina MiSeq sequencing of the 16S rRNA V4 region. The sequences were used to establish operational taxonomic units and were classified into 22 phyla and 323 genera, respectively. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, and Bacteroidetes were the most highly represented phyla in each sample. Pseudomonas and Massilia were more abundant in the SN16-1 group, whereas Chthoniobacter and Haloferula were more highly represented in the FOL group. Diversity indices and principal component analysis indicated that treatment with SN16-1 and FOL had transient effects on the rhizosphere bacterial community. In summary, these results combined with the functional analysis of the changed genera provide safe and effective measure associated with using B. amyloliquefaciens SN16-1 for the control of tomato wilt.

The optimal treatment for elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains a great challenge. Establishing a more feasible, acceptable, accessible and safe treatment strategy for elderly patients is urgently needed. We conducted a prospective study of 23 elderly patients (median age, 68 years; range, 60 to 87 years) with newly diagnosed AML to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of decitabine plus granulocyte colony–stimulating factor priming, low-dose aclarubicin, and cytarabine (DCAG) chemotherapy combined with HLA-mismatched stem cell microtransplantation (SC-MST) without graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis. After the first cycle, the overall response and the complete remission (CR) rates were 86.4% and 81.8%, respectively. CR was achieved in 90.9% of the normal karyotype group and in 80.0% of patients with unfavorable karyotypes at baseline. The median overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival rates were 17 and 13 months, respectively, with a 2-year OS of 34.8%. The median OS of the patients who received ≥3 cycles of SC-MST was significantly longer than those who received only 1 or 2 cycles of treatment. The regimen was well tolerated with a 4-week mortality of 4.3%, and no GVHD was observed. The most common adverse events were hematologic toxicities. Our data suggest that the innovative combination of DCAG with SC-MST may optimize the clinical strategy for elderly patients with newly diagnosed AML.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) constitute a large, diverse group of organic compounds that commonly have detrimental biological effects that pose a great environmental threat. Hence, development of isolation and culture techniques for PAH-degrading bacteria is necessary. In this study, a variety of phenanthrene-degrading bacteria were enriched and isolated using an in situ soil substrate membrane system (SSMS) and a traditional cultivation method with phenanthrene as the sole carbon source. In the traditional method, the major species of phenanthrene-degrading bacteria found was Pseudomonas (Gammaproteobacteria). By contrast, the major phenanthrene-degrading bacteria observed using SSMS were Sphingomonas (Alphaproteobacteria). Phenanthrene utilization by bacteria with SSMS was higher than traditional cultivation method. High throughput functional microarray, Geochip, and polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis were used to characterize the response of soil bacterial communities upon addition of phenanthrene. Results indicated that members of the class Alphaproteobacteria were the dominant bacteria in phenanthrene-contaminated soils, and their characteristic phenanthrene-degrading genes have important role in degradation of contaminants. Sphingomonas was isolated using SSMS and found to be capable of adapting to nutrient-poor environments by utilizing a variety of substrates. The SSMS method is more suitable for the growth of Sphingomonas in simulated environmental conditions.

A hierarchically-structured nylon 6 (PA6) nanofiber membrane decorated with silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) was fabricated by electrospinning and impregnation methods. The as-fabricated hierar-chically-structured Ag/PA6 nanofiber membrane (HS-Ag/PA6 NM) exhibits a morphology in which Ag NPs are deposited on the surfaces of both thick fibers and thin fibers. The content and size of the Ag NPs can be controlled by varying the concentration of the silver colloid solution. Compared with the non-hierarchically-structured Ag/PA6 nanofiber membrane, HS-Ag/PA6 NM has a higher spe-cific surface area and exhibits a higher degradation rate for methylene blue of 81.8%-98.1% within 2 h. HS-Ag/PA6 NM can be easily recycled and exhibits good reusability. It retains a degradation rate for methylene blue of 83.5% after five consecutive cycles. The hierarchically-structured nano-fiber membrane is therefore a potential nanocatalyst.

Polycrystalline-BiFeO3(BFO)/Co bilayers were grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and magnetron sputtering, with fast laser annealing under magnetic field. The enhanced exchange bias (EB) had been found in the BFO/Co bilayers (Appl. Surf. Sci. 367 (2016) 418). In order to reveal the origin of the enhanced EB in the samples, X-ray absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) of Fe 2p, Co 2p and O 1s were performed. The Co 2p XAS indicated the increase of Co oxidation state and the Fe 2p XAS of sample A and B under laser annealing processes showed that crystal field splitting energy decreased and led to the weakening of spin-orbit coupling with the increasing of the laser fluence. It was considered that the appearance of the oxidation state of Co and Fe2+ ions and the existence of the unidirectional anisotropy due to the laser fluence was responsible for the results and also for the enhanced EB.

An analytical method has been developed and validated for the determination of six estrogens and estrogen mimics, namely estriol (E3), bisphenol A (BPA), 17β-estradiol (E2), estrone (E1), ethynyl estradiol (EE2) and dienestrol (DIE), with frequent occurrence in the natural environment. Solid phase extraction coupled with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (SPE-LC-MS/MS) using electrospray ionization (ESI) in a negative mode was applied to concentration, identification, and quantification of estrogens and estrogen mimics. The SPE conditions were optimized as the selection of C18 as cartridges and MeOH as an eluent, and the control of solution pH at 9.0. The method was validated by satisfactory recoveries (80–130%) and intra-day and inter-day precision ( 0.996). The limits of detection (LODs) for six target estrogenic compounds ranged between 2.5 and 19.2 ng/L. The effects of matrix background on the determination were evaluated in terms of LODs, LOQs, analyte recovery, and slopes of calibration curves in five different water matrices. Matrix effects by tap water were negligible. However, both matrix suppression and enhancement (i.e., E3, E1, DIE) were observed in surface water and wastewater. The positive correlation between LODs and TOC in various water matrices indicated the negative effect of organic pollutants on the method sensitivity. The sum of target estrogenic compounds in environmental samples were within 17–9462 ng/L.

Dairy ruminants are often in negative energy balance, primarily in the postpartum period, resulting in many metabolic disorders and economic losses. Improving energy efficiency during the peripartum period is urgently important. It has been previously highlighted that nicotinamide (NAM) supplementation during the peripartum period could benefit energy balance, while the underlying metabolic alterations and differences between postpartum NAM supplementation and peripartum NAM supplementation have not been extensively studied. This study attempted to elucidate the effects of NAM supplementation during the postpartum and peripartum periods on rumen fermentation, liver mitochondrial respiratory chain status, lipid metabolism, oxidative status, and liver metabolite profile of does. Fifteen multiparous does with similarity were paired and allocated to 3 groups (n = 5): control (C, no NAM supplementation), postpartum supplementation (P, NAM supplemented from d 1 to 28 after kidding), and entire-peripartum supplementation (EP, NAM supplemented from d -2 1 to 28 around kidding). Does were drenched with NAM at 5 g/d and subsequently slaughtered on d 28. The ruminal proportion of acetic acid tended to decrease, and propionic acid and valeric acid were increased in P and EP. The does in P and EP had a decreased acetic acid to propionic acid ratio. Does in EP had higher liver mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes. The activity of liver complex Ⅱ was elevated in P and EP, and NAM supplementation tended to increase ATP production. Liver metabolomics and tissue biochemical analyses demonstrated that TG synthesis was decreased in abdominal adipose tissue by NAM supplementation. In the liver, the decomposition and synthesis of TG were both promoted, and amino acid metabolism was enriched by NAM supplementation. Moreover, the oxidative status of the blood and liver was improved by NAM supplementation, and NAM supplementation during the postpartum period was more effective but did not appear to be sufficient to cope with the metabolites of oxidative phosphorylation. Overall, these data suggested that NAM supplementation during postpartum and entire peripartum periods favored the rumen fermentation pattern to propionic acid-type and improved liver energy efficiency with benefited lipid metabolism. Supplementing NAM starting in the prepartum period is necessary for better oxidative status and energy metabolism in the peripartum period.

The direct determination Mn2+ using carboxymethyl chitosan crosslinked with cyclodextrin containing hydrogen-bonded N C QDs (N C QD/CCSCD nanocomposites). The probable mechanism of the N C QD/CCSCD nanocomposites' fluorescence was quenched by Mn2+ could be interpreted as acyclic crown ether chelation. Mn2+ induced the N C QD/CCSCD clusters assembly to form large aggregates, which resulted in aggregation-caused quenching. The linear detection (I = 479.93–15.94C (R2 = 0.9954)) can be established at Mn2+ concentrations from 0 to 21.11 × 10−6 mol/L. Common metal ions, except iron and magnesium, showed minimal effect on detection. It could satisfy the standard range of Mn2+ in actual water samples. The method which using chelating assembly mechanism to build a novel sensor would provide a new model for the application of polymer materials in this field, but the precise assembly of polymer is an unsolved challenge.

Conventional MnOX nanostructure/hierarchical porous carbon (HPC) composites meet two problems: non–optimized mass loading and poor rate capability. Here we present a judicious design of MnOX–modified corrugated carton–derived HPCs by depositing MnOX nanostructures in the mesopores of HPCs. Using a synergy of gas pore formation and KOH etching, mesopore–rich HPCs with a high aspect ratio suitable for the efficient loading of MnOX are synthesized. The Mn catalysis–induced graphitization process achieved by hydrothermal carbonization yields the MnOX–modified corrugated carton–derived HPCs (CBPC–2–800@MnOX) with ultrafast kinetics behaviour. Even at an extremely low loading of MnOX, the CBPC–2–800@MnOX electrodes exhibit a higher gravimetric capacitance (302 F g−1 at 0.05 A g−1), better rate performance (capacitance retention of 87.4% from 0.05 to 5 A g−1), higher energy/power density (8.4 W h kg−1 at 1000 W kg−1) and longer cycle life (98.8% capacitance retained after 5000 charge/discharge cycles at 2.5 A g−1) than those of pure HPC electrodes. The novel MnOX–modified biomass–derived HPCs with efficient mass loading and outstanding rate capability are concluded to be promising electrode materials for high–performance symmetric supercapacitors.