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For obtaining a thick ceramic coating with good film-forming and wear resistance, a new type of composite electrolyte was composed of sodium phosphate and sodium hexametaphosphate as the basic electrolytes, while sodium tungstate and sodium tetraborate were added as additives. In this composite electrolyte system, micro-arc oxidation treatment was performed on 1060 aluminum alloy. Using the coating thickness and surface porosity as optimization indicators, the electrolyte formula was optimized using the L9(34) orthogonal test. Meanwhile, the microstructure, surface porosity, phase composition, thickness, microhardness and wear resistance of ceramic coatings prepared under this electrolyte formula were studied systematically. Results showed that the ceramic coating prepared with a formula of Na3PO4 concentration of 32.0 g/L, Na2B4O7 concentration of 16.0 g/L, Na2WO4 concentration of 4.5 g/L and(NaPO3)6 concentration of 30.0 g/L had the structure with uniform micropores and dense film layer, the thickness of 22.8 μm, the porosity of 3.86%, and the microhardness of 475 HV. Furthermore, the wear resistance of the coating was significantly improved compared to the substrate, and the ceramic coating were mainly composed of γ-Al2O3 and a small amount of α-Al2O3 composition.

Objective To explore the effect of esculin on the biological behavior of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells and its possible mechanism. Methods Different concentrations of esculin were used to treat human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells HNE-3, si-NC, si-circ-ZNF609 were transfected into HNE-3 cells, pcDNA, pcDNA-circ-ZNF609 were respectively transfected into HNE-3 cells and then treated with esculin. CCK-8 experiment was used to detect cell proliferation. Intracellular glucose uptake levels and lactate levels were tested using kits. The activity of pyruvate kinase and hexokinase was tested using an enzyme activity kit. The Transwell chamber test was used to find cell migration and invasion. RT-qPCR method was used to detect the expression of circ-ZNF609. Protein expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 was calculated by Western blot. Results Esculin could reduce cell survival rate and the protein levels of MMP-2, MMP-9 in a concentration-dependent manner (P＜0.001), could reduce glucose uptake and lactate levels (P＜0.001), and may reduce pyruvate kinase and the activity of hexose kinase (P＜0.001), could also reduce the number of migrating and invading cells (P＜0.001). Esculin could reduce the expression of circ-ZNF609 (P＜0.001), and it was dose-dependent. After transfection with si-circ-ZNF609, the cell survival rate and the protein levels of MMP-2, MMP-9 were decreased (P＜0.001), glucose uptake and lactate levels were decreased(P＜0.001). The activity of pyruvate kinase and hexokinase and the number of migrating and invasive cells were all decreased (P＜0.001). Transfection of pcDNA-circ-ZNF609 may restore the inhibitory effects of esculin on the proliferation, glycolysis, migration and invasion of HNE-3 cells. Conclusions Esculin could inhibit cell proliferation, glycolysis, migration and invasion in HNE-3 cells by regulating the expression of circ-ZNF609.

The screening and identification of functional genes is a key step to deeply understand various biological phenotypes. Forward genetics including traditional genetics, genome-wide association analysis, the comparison of gene expression profiles and bioinformatics, and reverse genetics including cDNA library, RNA interference, CRISPR-Cas9 technology, insertion mutation as well as model organisms have been applied to screening functional genes. Different methods have their own advantages and disadvantages and technology combination to screen and to identify functional genes is a good choice of strategy.

Twelve compounds, including eleven bisabolane-type sesquiterpenoids (1 − 11), and one bacillibactin (12) were identified from marine-derived fungus Aspergillus sydowii SCSIO 41041 isolated from Creseis acicula. The chemical structures were elucidated by the basis of spectroscopic evidences, including HRESIMS, NMR and optical rotation. Biologically, all compounds were evaluated for their acetyl cholin-esterase (AChE) enzyme, pancreatic lipase (PL) enzyme, neuraminidase (NA) and phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitory activities. Compound 12 displayed significant inhibitory activity against neuraminidase (NA) with an IC50 value of 24.0 μM, which was equivalent to the positive drug oseltamivir phosphate (IC50 value of 20.0 μM). And the NA inhibitory activity was confirmed by molecular docking analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. The origins of lenticular galaxies (S0s) can be classified into two main categories: "minor mergers" in low-density environments (LDEs) and "faded spirals" in high-density environments (HDEs). The transitional phase in the evolution of S0s, namely, star-forming lenticular galaxies (SFS0s), can serve as an important probe for analyzing the complex processes involved in the transformation between different galaxy types and the quenching of star formation (SF). Aims. We attempt to find the impact of different environments on the global properties and spatially resolved quantities of SFS0s. Methods. We selected 71 SFS0s from the SDSS-IV MaNGA Survey, comprising 23 SFS0s in HDEs (SFS0s_HE) and 48 SFS0s in LDEs (SFS0s_LE). We examined the effects of the environment, by studying the global properties, concentration index, and radial profiles of the derived quantities. Results. The varied environments of SFS0s do not lead to any significant difference in global properties (e.g., Sérsic index). By calculating CIHα/cont, we observe that different environments may cause varying concentrations of SF. Specifically, SFS0s_LE, affected by external gas mergers or inflow, exhibit a more centrally concentrated SF (i.e., larger CIHα/cont). This trend is further supported by CISFR, Hα, which only considers the gas disk of the galaxy. This observation is aligned with the observed shrinking of gas disks in galaxies affected by ram-pressure stripping in HDEs. Furthermore, their ΣSFR or resolved sSFR are comparable. On average, SFS0s_LE display significantly higher values for both quantities. Finally, the observed Dn4000 and gas-phase metallicity gradient correspond well to their assumed origins. However, we did not find a significantly lower gas-phase metallicity in SFS0s_LE. Conclusions. We suggest that different environments (i.e., origins) do not have a significant impact on the global properties of SFS0s, but they do indeed affect the distribution of SF. Considering the size of our sample and the unique nature of the galaxy, additional atomic and molecular gas data may provide further details to improve our understanding of these systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acidic stress is a formidable environmental factor that exerts adverse effects on plant growth and development, ultimately leading to a potential reduction in agricultural productivity. A low pH triggers Ca2+ influx across the plasma membrane (PM), eliciting distinct responses under various acidic pH levels. However, the underlying mechanisms by which Arabidopsis plant cells generate stimulus-specific Ca2+ signals in response to acidic stress remain largely unexplored. The experimentally induced stimulus may elicit spikes in cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) spikes or complex [Ca2+]i oscillations that persist for 20 min over a long-term of 24 h or even several days within the plant cytosol and chloroplast. This study investigated the increase in [Ca2+]i under a gradient of low pH stress ranging from pH 3.0 to 6.0. Notably, the peak of [Ca2+]i elevation was lower at pH 4.0 than at pH 3.0 during the initial 8 h, while other pH levels did not significantly increase [Ca2+]i compared to low acidic stress conditions. Lanthanum chloride (LaCl3) can effectively suppress the influx of [Ca2+]i from the apoplastic to the cytoplasm in plants under acid stress, with no discernible difference in intracellular calcium levels observed in Arabidopsis. Following 8 h of acid treatment in the darkness, the intracellular baseline Ca2+ levels in Arabidopsis were significantly elevated when exposed to low pH stress. A moderately low pH, specifically 4.0, may function as a spatial-temporal input into the circadian clock system. These findings suggest that acid stimulation can exert a continuous influence on intracellular calcium levels, as well as plant growth and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]