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The crystalline structures and magnetic and thermodynamic properties of a Gd4Ga2O9 single crystal grown with the optical floating zone technique have been investigated. Gd4Ga2O9 crystallizes in a monoclinic structure with the space group P21/c at room temperature. Temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility measurements along the three crystallographic axes reveal a paramagnetic (PM) behavior between 2 and 300 K. A Curie–Weiss (CW) law fit was carried out and the CW temperature θCW and magnetic frustration parameter f were calculated; these suggest antiferromagnetic (AFM) interactions between Gd3+ spins and a strong magnetic frustration. The field dependence of the magnetization at 2 K further confirms the magnetic frustration characteristics. A distinct λ-shaped peak at 1.4 K in the heat capacity curves suggests a transition from the PM to AFM phase. The magnetic entropy is contributed solely by Gd3+ ions.

Background Amyloids are insoluble fibrillar aggregates that are highly associated with complex human diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and type II diabetes. Recently, many studies reported that some specific regions of amino acid sequences may be responsible for the amyloidosis of proteins. It has become very important for elucidating the mechanism of amyloids that identifying the amyloidogenic regions. Accordingly, several computational methods have been put forward to discover amyloidogenic regions. The majority of these methods predicted amyloidogenic regions based on the physicochemical properties of amino acids. In fact, position, order, and correlation of amino acids may also influence the amyloidosis of proteins, which should be also considered in detecting amyloidogenic regions. Results To address this problem, we proposed a novel machine-learning approach for predicting amyloidogenic regions, called ReRF-Pred. Firstly, the pseudo amino acid composition (PseAAC) was exploited to characterize physicochemical properties and correlation of amino acids. Secondly, tripeptides composition (TPC) was employed to represent the order and position of amino acids. To improve the distinguishability of TPC, all possible tripeptides were analyzed by the binomial distribution method, and only those which have significantly different distribution between positive and negative samples remained. Finally, all samples were characterized by PseAAC and TPC of their amino acid sequence, and a random forest-based amyloidogenic regions predictor was trained on these samples. It was proved by validation experiments that the feature set consisted of PseAAC and TPC is the most distinguishable one for detecting amyloidosis. Meanwhile, random forest is superior to other concerned classifiers on almost all metrics. To validate the effectiveness of our model, ReRF-Pred is compared with a series of gold-standard methods on two datasets: Pep-251 and Reg33. The results suggested our method has the best overall performance and makes significant improvements in discovering amyloidogenic regions. Conclusions The advantages of our method are mainly attributed to that PseAAC and TPC can describe the differences between amyloids and other proteins successfully. The ReRF-Pred server can be accessed at http://106.12.83.135:8080/ReRF-Pred/.

Objective. To test the biomechanical properties of 3D printed tantalum and titanium porous scaffolds. Methods. Four types of tantalum and titanium scaffolds with four alternative pore diameters, #1 (1000-700 μm), #2 (700-1000 μm), #3 (500-800 μm), and #4 (800-500 μm), were molded by selective laser melting technique, and the scaffolds were tested by scanning electronic microscope, uniaxial-compression tests, and Young’s modulus tests; they were compared with same size pig femoral bone scaffolds. Results. Under uniaxial-compression tests, equivalent stress of tantalum scaffold was 411 ± 1.43 MPa, which was significantly larger than the titanium scaffolds ( P < 0.05 ). Young’s modulus of tantalum scaffold was 2.61 ± 0.02 GPa, which was only half of that of titanium scaffold. The stress-strain curves of tantalum scaffolds were more similar to pig bone scaffolds than titanium scaffolds. Conclusion. 3D printed tantalum scaffolds with varying pore diameters are more similar to actual bone scaffolds compared with titanium scaffolds in biomechanical properties.

Uranium-containing wastewater poses a major threat to human health because of its toxicity and radioactivity. To address this issue, tea waste-derived porous biochar supporting the Fe–Mn bimetallic composite (FMBC) was fabricated using impregnation-pyrolysis and applied for U(VI) removal from aqueous solution. Batch experiments and characterization analysis were performed to investigate the adsorption properties and interaction mechanisms. Results showed that FMBC exhibit a maximum U(VI) removal capacity of 510.8 mg/g at pH = 5, T = 303 k, and t = 25 min. The kinetic and isotherm date fitted well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model, respectively, indicating that uranium adsorption is dominated by chemical adsorption on FMBC. FTIR and XPS analyses further confirmed that the U(VI) adsorption mechanism by FMBC was attributed to surface complexation, π–π bonding, and reduction processes. In addition, the Cationic competitive adsorption experiment further highlighted the excellent selective performance of FMBC for U(VI) removal from aqueous solutions, which is important in radionuclides' pollution treatment.

The adsorption performance and mechanism of the amino-modified zirconium-based metal organic framework (UiO-66-NH2) for the removal of U(VI) in aqueous solution were studied. Compared with UiO-66, UiO-66-NH2 shows better adsorption performance due to the introduction of amino groups. The adsorption characteristics of factors such as pH, UiO-66-NH2 dosage and contact time were investigated. The results show that the maximum adsorption capacity is 384.6 mg g−1 at pH = 6 and T = 313 K. The adsorption conforms to the quasi-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm model. The thermodynamic parameters indicate that the adsorption process of U(VI) is endothermic and spontaneous. After five cycles, the removal rate of U(VI) still exceeded 83.53%. The results indicate that UiO-66-NH2 is a promising adsorbent that can effectively remove U(VI) in radioactive wastewater.

Polyethyleneimine (PEI) modified magnetic yeast biomaterials composites (MY@SiO2-PEI) were prepared through a two-step solution polymerization method to remove U(VI) from aqueous solutions. The impact of six anions on U(VI) removal efficiency with MY@SiO2-PEI in single- and multi-ion systems was conducted in this article. A 26–2 Fractional factorial design (FFD) and Visual MINTEQ were employed to identify primary or interacting factors and the uranium chemical speciation calculations, respectively. In the single-ion systems, PO43−, humic acids (HA) slightly increased the U(VI) removal efficiency with MY@SiO2-PEI at low pH, whereas the U(VI) removal efficiency was largely reduced with SO42−, CO32−. The factorial effects of the six selected species on U(VI) removal efficiency via FFD in the multi-ion system were in the following sequence: CO32− > Cl− > HA > PO43− > SO42− > NO3−, and U(VI) removal was affected significantly by the combined of AB (Cl− × NO3−), BD (NO3− × SO42−).

Sewage sludge-derived biochar (SSB) was prepared at 600 °C pyrolysis temperature and modified by co-precipitation with Fe3O4 to obtain Fe3O4@SSB. The adsorption process of U(VI) onto the Fe3O4@SSB was accurately described by the pseudo-second order and Langmuir isotherm model. The maximum removal capacity of U(VI) was 149.15 mg/g at 303 K and initial pH of 4.0 by Langmuir isotherm model analysis. The removal mechanisms included complexation, ion exchange, reduction and electrostatic attraction. The U(VI) removal efficiency by Fe3O4@SSB remained above 90% after five adsorption–desorption. This work provided a reference for sewage sludge resource utilization and biochar modification for uranium-containing wastewater treatment.

A zirconium-based metal–organic framework (DUT-69) was fabricated via a hydrothermal synthesis for U(VI) removal in aqueous solutions. Experimental results showed that the maximum adsorption capacity for U(VI) was 362.32 mg·g−1 at 303 K, pH = 6 and initial U(VI) concentration of 80 mg L−1. The adsorption process fit well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir models. Various characterizations indicated that complexation interactions was the central adsorption mechanism and electrostatic was the secondary. The carboxyl, Zr–O, and C–S bonds in the framework participated in the adsorption process. Reusability experiments showed that 80.34% adsorption rate could be maintained after 5 cycles.

Due to the poor separability and low reducibility of fayalite in iron extracting from smelting waste slag, the composition of the original slag was modified for the nickel matte smelting process. Based on molecular dynamics simulation, thermodynamic calculation and experimental analyses, the influence mechanism of Fe/SiO2 ratio on physicochemical properties, Fe-containing phases and microstructure of the CaO-modified nickel matte smelting slag was investigated, to improve the FeO activity in the final slag and facilitate the subsequent iron extraction process. The results show that the SiO44− is the main form of silicon-oxygen anions in the FexO-SiO2-CaO-MgO-“NiO” slags. As the Fe/SiO2 ratio increased from 1.0 to 1.6, the fraction of SiO44− (Q0) in 15 wt pct CaO-modified nickel matte smelting slag are remarkably improved, and the degree of polymerization of silicate network is reduced correspondingly. Besides, the CaO-modified nickel slags with the Fe/SiO2 ratios of 1.2 to 1.4 present appropriate melting temperature, viscosity characteristics and interfacial tension between slag and matte. It indicates that the modified nickel slags are suitable candidates for nickel flash matte smelting. The concentration of Mg1−xFexO in 15 wt pct CaO-modified nickel slag is improved with increase of Fe/SiO2 ratio, which is conducive to the iron extraction from the smelting residues subsequently.

Background Methylation of cytosine bases in DNA is a critical epigenetic mark in many eukaryotes and has also been implicated in the development and progression of normal and diseased cells. Therefore, profiling DNA methylation across the genome is vital to understanding the effects of epigenetic. In recent years the Illumina HumanMethylation450 (HM450K) and MethylationEPIC (EPIC) BeadChip have been widely used to profile DNA methylation in human samples. The methods to predict the methylation states of DNA regions based on microarray methylation datasets are critical to enable genome-wide analyses. Result We report a computational approach based on the two layers two-state hidden Markov model (HMM) to identify methylation states of single CpG site and DNA regions in HM450K and EPIC BeadChip. Using this mothed, all CpGs detected by HM450K and EPIC in H1-hESC and GM12878 cell lines are identified as un-methylated, middle-methylated and full-methylated states. A large number of DNA regions are segmented into three methylation states as well. Comparing the identified regions with the result from the whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) datasets segmented by MethySeekR, our method is verified. Genome-wide maps of chromatin states show that methylation state is inversely correlated with active histone marks. Genes regulated by un-methylated regions are expressed and regulated by full-methylated regions are repressed. Our method is illustrated to be useful and robust. Conclusion Our method is valuable for DNA methylation genome-wide analyses. It is focusing on identification of DNA methylation states on microarray methylation datasets. For the features of array datasets, using two layers two-state HMM to identify to methylation states on CpG sites and regions creatively, our method which takes into account the distribution of genome-wide methylation levels is more reasonable than segmentation with a fixed threshold.

Proton conducting solid oxide fuel cells (H–SOFCs) with BaZr0·1Ce0·7Y0·2O3-δ as electrolyte were fabricated to couple the removal of nitrogen oxides in power generation technology. Specially, a deliberately designed cathode with the composition of La0·3Sr0·7Mn0·8Mg0·2O3−δ was prepared to realize this dual function. The results indicated that the incorporation of Mg ions in La0·3Sr0·7MnO3−δ can improve its ability to adsorb NO and the cathode activity. At 800 °C, when using the NO as oxidant, single cell with La0·3Sr0·7Mn0·8Mg0·2O3−δ cathode was able to obtain peak power density of 48 mW cm−2 and achieve the conversion of NO to N2 more than 48%. These findings suggested that power generation coupling deNO via H–SOFC is possible and La0·3Sr0·7Mn0·8Mg0·2O3−δ was a promising cathode for this application.

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) was planted in uranium-contaminated soil mixture (river sand and vermiculite mixed with equal volume ratio) supplemented with different amounts of citric acid (0, 1, 5, and 10 mmol/kg) and divided into 4 treatments (Con+0, Con+1, Con+5, and Con+10) to investigate the effects of citric acid concentrations on the remediation efficiency and enhanced mechanism of perennial ryegrass in the lab. The uranium content in the plant tissues showed that the roots were the predominant tissue for uranium accumulation, and the subcellular distributions of uranium in the root cells was in the order: cell wall fraction > cytosol fraction > organelle fraction. However, in the shoot cells the order was cell wall fraction > organelle fraction > cytosol fraction. In this study, the optimal concentration of citric acid added was 5 mmol/kg, and the removal efficiency of U in the shoots and roots increased by 47.37% and 30.10% respectively. The treatment with 5 mmol/kg citric acid had the highest contents of photosynthetic pigment and soluble protein, the highest activity of antioxidant enzymes, and the lowest content of MDA (malondialdehyde) and relative electrical conductivity. Moreover, the damage to the cell ultrastructure of perennial ryegrass observed by TEM (transmission electron microscope) was significantly alleviated when 5 mmol/kg citric acid was added. All results indicate that perennial ryegrass can accumulate uranium with elevated uranium tolerance and enrichment ability when 5 mmol/kg citric acid is added under uranium stress. These results suggest that citric acid has significant effects on improving the uranium phytoremediation potential of perennial ryegrass.

In this study, comparative effects of foliar application of ceria nanoparticles (NPs) and Ce3+ ions on common bean plants were investigated. Soil grown bean seedlings were exposed to ceria NPs and Ce3+ ions at 0, 40, 80, and 160 mg Ce·L−1 every other day at the vegetative growth stage for 17 d. The plants were harvested 47 d after the last treatment. Performed analyses involved growth, physiological and biochemical parameters of the plants and nutritional quality of the pods. Ceria NPs at 40 mg Ce·L−1 increased dry weight of the plants by 51.8% over the control. Neither ceria NPs nor Ce3+ ions significantly affected other vegetative growth parameters. Pod yields and nutrient contents except for several mineral elements were also not significantly different among groups. Compared to control, pods from ceria NPs at 80 mg Ce·L−1 had significantly less S and Mn. At 40 and 80 mg Ce·L−1, ceria NPs reduced pod Mo by 27% and 21%, while Ce3+ ions elevated Mo contents by 20% and 18%, respectively, compared with control. Ce3+ ions at 80 and 160 mg Ce·L−1 significantly increased pod Zn by 25% and 120%, respectively, compared with control. At the end of the experiment, Ce3+ ions at 40, 80, and 160 mg Ce·L−1 increased contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) by 46%, 65%, and 82% respectively as compared with control. While ceria NPs led to a significant increase of MDA level only at the highest concentration. X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) analysis of the leaf samples revealed that both ceria NPs and Ce3+ ions kept their original chemical species after foliar applications, suggesting the observed effects of ceria NPs and Ce3+ ions on the plants were probably due to their nano-specific properties and ionic properties respectively.

A highly efficient and regioselective annulation of benzodiynes promoted by triflic acid has been developed. This protocol provides a step and atom-economic access to a series of naphthalenyl triflates. Furthermore, direct synthetic applications of this reaction are also elaborated through cross-coupling reactions to generate synthetically useful multisubstituted naphthalenes.

To reduce the volatilization of the volatile-containing slags and obtain accurate measurement results of slag performance, the volatility degree and deviation mechanism must be determined. Non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis at different heating rates was used to establish the volatilization kinetic model, and it reveals the volatilization mechanism of CaF2–Na2O–CaO–SiO2–Al2O3–MgO–B2O3 synthetic sodium-containing fluoride mould flux. The results demonstrated that the evaporation of NaF and SiF4 was the decisive factor that led to the change in composition and deviation of properties of the tested slags. The most probable kinetic mechanism function for the evaporation of volatile component from sodium-containing fluoride mould flux could be expressed by $$g(\alpha ) = [ - \ln (1 - \alpha )]^{2/3}$$ , with an apparent activation energy of 164.866 kJ mol−1 and pre-exponential factor of 2.13 × 10−4 s−1, where α is the conversion rate at any time step in the volatilization process. The reaction mechanism was random nucleation followed by growth, which was the limiting factor for the volatilization of synthetic sodium-containing fluoride mould flux. The method of increasing heating rate and adding protection gas in the measurement system will help to obtain more accurate results of slag performance.

The thermal safety of electric vehicle battery packs is attracting more and more attention. A research is conducted on emergency cooling and overheating control in this paper. The research work coupled with the direct cooling battery thermal management system proposes an open-loop emergency thermal safety management method that sprays refrigerant directly into the battery box to achieve emergency cooling, oxygen suppression, cutting off heat and combustion once the thermal runaway is about to occur. Three typical spray modes, which are continuous spray, fixed-interval intermittent spray, and non-fixed-interval intermittent spray, are analyzed respectively. Studies indicate that the refrigerant spray cooling has an obvious cooling effect, oxygen suppression performance on the high temperature overheating battery. Among them, continuous spray shows a better cooling capacity, but the oxygen suppression performance is inferior to intermittent spray. Intermittent sprays with various spray states have different degrees of influence on cooling, uniformity, and oxygen suppression performance, but a single spray pattern does not optimize the effects upon all aspects. Additionally, vent position also plays an important role in cooling and oxygen suppression characteristics. Therefore, overheating battery emergency refrigerant spray cooling has important reference significance for the design of battery package and thermal safety management system.

The bacterial community of an anaerobic granular sludge associated with uranium depletion was investigated following its exposure to uranium under different initial pH conditions (pH 4.5, 5.5, and 6.5). The highest uranium removal efficiency (98.1%) was obtained for the sample with an initial pH of 6.5, which also supported the highest bacterial community richness and diversity. Venn diagrams visualized the decrease in the number of genera present in both the inoculum and the uranium-exposed biomass as the initial pH decreased from 6.5 to 4.5. Compared with the inoculum, a significant increase in the abundances of the phyla Chloroflexi and Proteobacteria was observed following uranium exposure. At initial pH conditions of 6.5 to 4.5, the proportions of the taxa Anaerolineaceae, Chryseobacterium, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, and Sulfurovum increased significantly, likely contributing to the observed uranium removal. Uranium exposure induced a greater level of dynamic diversification of bacterial abundances than did the initial pH difference.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21726-y

Epigenetic modifications of DNA play important roles in many biological processes. Identifying readers of these epigenetic marks is a critical step towards understanding the underlying mechanisms. Here, we present an all-to-all approach, dubbed digital affinity profiling via proximity ligation (DAPPL), to simultaneously profile human TF-DNA interactions using mixtures of random DNA libraries carrying different epigenetic modifications (i.e., 5-methylcytosine, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, 5-formylcytosine, and 5-carboxylcytosine) on CpG dinucleotides. Many proteins that recognize consensus sequences carrying these modifications in symmetric and/or hemi-modified forms are identified. We further demonstrate that the modifications in different sequence contexts could either enhance or suppress TF binding activity. Moreover, many modifications can affect TF binding specificity. Furthermore, symmetric modifications show a stronger effect in either enhancing or suppressing TF-DNA interactions than hemi-modifications. Finally, in vivo evidence suggests that USF1 and USF2 might regulate transcription via hydroxymethylcytosine-binding activity in weak enhancers in human embryonic stem cells., Identifying readers of epigenetic marks is a critical step for understanding the role of epigenetic marks in biology. Here, the authors applied DAPPL, an all-to-all approach to profile the interactions between TFs and epigenetic modified DNA libraries.

DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mechanism for gene regulation. The conventional view of DNA methylation is that DNA methylation could disrupt protein-DNA interactions and repress gene expression. Several recent studies reported that DNA methylation could alter transcription factors (TFs) binding sequence specificity in vitro. Here, we took advantage of the large sets of ChIP-seq data for TFs and whole-genome bisulfite sequencing data in many cell types to perform a systematic analysis of the protein-DNA methylation in vivo. We observed that many TFs could bind methylated DNA regions, especially in H1-hESC cells. By locating binding sites, we confirmed that some TFs could bind to methylated CpGs directly. The different proportion of CpGs at TF binding specificity motifs in different methylation statuses shows that some TFs are sensitive to methylation and some could bind to the methylated DNA with different motifs, such as CEBPB and CTCF. At the same time, TF binding could interactively alter local DNA methylation. The TF hypermethylation binding sites extensively overlap with enhancers. And we also found that some DNase I hypersensitive sites were specifically hypermethylated in H1-hESC cells. At last, compared with TFs’ binding regions in multiple cell types, we observed that CTCF binding to high methylated regions in H1-hESC were not conservative. These pieces of evidence indicate that TFs that bind to hypermethylation DNA in H1-hESC cells may associate with enhancers to regulate special biological functions.

Rhodioloside, the main effective constituent of Rhodiola rosea, demonstrates antiaging and antioxidative stress functions and inhibits calcium overloading in cells. These functions imply that rhodioloside may exert protective effects on hippocampal neurons after total cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury. In this study, male Wistar rat models of total cerebral ischemia were constructed and randomly divided into four groups: sham-operation, ischemia/reperfusion, low-dosage, and high-dosage groups. The result showed that rhodioloside treatment reduced the apoptosis rates of hippocampal neurons and the histological grades of cone cells in the hippocampal CA1 region, but neuronal density was significantly increased. Besides, the protein expressions of Bcl-2/Bax and p53 were measured and found Bcl-2/Bax was increased and p53 protein level was reduced. Therefore, rhodioloside might have protective effects on rats with ischemia/reperfusion brain injury.

Retinal Müller glia (MG) can act as stem-like cells to generate new neurons in both zebrafish in mice. In zebrafish, retinal regeneration is innate and robust, resulting in the replacement of lost neurons and restoration of visual function. In mice, exogenous stimulation of MG is required to reveal a dormant and, to date, limited regenerative capacity. Zebrafish studies have been key in revealing factors that promote regenerative responses in the mammalian eye. Increased understanding of how the regenerative potential of MG is regulated in zebrafish may therefore aid efforts to promote retinal repair therapeutically. Developmental signaling pathways are known to coordinate regeneration following widespread retinal cell loss. In contrast, less is known about how regeneration is regulated in the context of retinal degenerative disease, i.e., following the loss of specific retinal cell types. To address this knowledge gap, we compared transcriptomic changes between two selective cell ablation paradigms, targeted loss of rod photoreceptors or bipolar cells. Our study spanned twelve time points encompassing the entire degenerative and regenerative process of each targeted cell type. 2,531 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. Interestingly, the majority of DEGs were paradigm specific, including during MG activation phases, suggesting the nature of the injury/cell loss informs the regenerative process from initiation onward. For example, early modulation of Notch signaling was implicated in the rod but not bipolar cell ablation paradigm. Components of JAK/STAT signaling were activated in both paradigms but were more strongly induced during rod cell regeneration. We functionally validated the role of JAK/STAT signaling during rod cell regeneration using CRISPR/Cas9-based knockdown ofstat3which inhibited both MG proliferation and rod cell regeneration kinetics. Additionally, although more than a third of all DEGs are implicated as immune-system regulators, individual immune-related factors were largely paradigm specific. These data support emerging evidence that discrete “fate-biased” regenerative processes follow from selective retinal cell loss.Author SummaryBlinding diseases are linked to the loss of specific types of neurons in the retina. In humans, this eventually leads to loss of sight. In zebrafish, however, lost retinal neurons are regenerated resulting in restored vision. Our lab has developed zebrafish models that allow us to selectively induce the loss of disease-relevant retinal neurons, thereby allowing us to study how individual retinal cell types are regenerated. Here, to better understand how the regeneration of individual cell types is regulated, we compared gene expression changes occurring during the loss and regeneration of two different retinal cell types, rod photoreceptors and bipolar interneurons. We found that the majority of gene changes were specific to each cell type studied, providing strong evidence that genetic programs underlying stem cell activation in zebrafish vary depending on the cell type damaged. We also found that the immune system was strongly implicated as a regulator of regeneration in both models, but that individual genes immune-related genes tended to be more strongly associated with one of the two models.. We hope that a better understanding of how retinal cell regeneration is regulated in zebrafish will aid efforts to develop regenerative therapeutics designed to restore sight to patients who have lost their vision.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and associated inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) are caused by rod photoreceptor degeneration, necessitating therapeutics promoting rod photoreceptor survival. To address this, we tested compounds for neuroprotective effects in zebrafish and mouse RP models, reasoning drugs effective across species may translate better clinically. We first performed a large-scale phenotypic drug screen using a larval zebrafish model of inducible RP. 2,934 compounds, mostly human-approved drugs, were tested across six concentrations. Statistically, 113 compounds achieved “hit” status. Secondary tests of 42 high-priority hits confirmed eleven lead compounds. Nine leads were then evaluated in mouse RP models, with six exhibiting neuroprotective effects. An analysis of potential mechanisms of action suggested complementary activities. Paired lead compound assays in zebrafish showed additive neuroprotective effects for the majority. These results highlight the value of cross-species phenotypic drug discovery and suggest combinatorial drug therapies may provide enhanced therapeutic benefits for patients with RP and IRDs.

To improve the conditions of extracting iron from nickel smelting residues, the composition modulating from FexO-SiO2-CaO-MgO-&ldquo, NiO&rdquo, slag source for matte smelting using high MgO nickel sulfide concentrate was carried out. Based on the molecular dynamics simulation and experimental characterization, the effect of CaO content in nickel slags on the physicochemical properties, the microstructure evolution, and the feasibility of subsequent iron extraction were analyzed. The results showed that, for nickel smelting slag with 9 wt.% MgO, 13&ndash, 15 wt.% CaO and Fe/SiO2 ratio of 1.2, the melting temperature of nickel slag was lower than 1200 &deg, C, and the viscosity was lower than 0.22 Pa&middot, s at 1350 &deg, C. The electric conductivity was similar to that of the industrial slag, and the interfacial tension between slag and matte was relatively large, which ensured a good separating characteristic. It not only met the requirements for the slag performances in the existing flash smelting process but also improved conditions for the subsequent iron extraction. Additionally, it could be adapted to the current situation where an increasing MgO content exists in the nickel sulfide concentrate.

The microbial characteristics and bacterial communities of sediment sludge upon different concentrations of exposure to uranium were investigated by high solution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and high-throughput sequencing. After exposure to initial uranium concentrations of 10–50 μM for 24 h in synthetic wastewater, the removal efficiencies of uranium reached 80.7%–96.5%. The spherical and short rod bacteria were dominant in the sludge exposed to uranium. HRTEM-EDS and XPS analyses indicated that reduction and adsorption were the main mechanisms for uranium removal. Short-term exposure to low concentrations of uranium resulted in a decrease in bacterial richness but an increase in diversity. A dramatic change in the composition and abundances of the bacterial community were present in the sediment sludge exposed to uranium. The highest removal efficiency was identified in the sediment sludge exposed to 30 μM uranium, and the dominant bacteria included Acinetobacter (44.9%), Klebsiella (20.0%), Proteiniclasticum (6.7%), Enterobacteriaceae (6.6%), Desulfovibrio (4.4%), Porphyromonadaceae (4.1%), Comamonas (2.4%) and Sedimentibacter (2.3%). By comparison to the inoculum sediment sludge, exposure to uranium caused a substantial difference in the majority of bacterial abundance.

The trophic transfer and transformation of CeO2 nanoparticles (NPs) through a simulated terrestrial food chain were investigated using a radiotracer technique and X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES). Radioactive 141CeO2 NPs were applied to head lettuce (Lactuca sativa), treated via root exposure in its potting soil (5.5 or 11 mg/plant) for 30 days or foliar exposure (7.2 mg/plant, with half of the leaves treated and the other half not) for 7 days. Subsequently, two groups of land snails (Achatina fulica) were exposed to 141Ce via either a direct (i.e., feeding on the lettuce leaves with 141Ce-contaminated surfaces) or an indirect/trophic (i.e., feeding on the lettuce leaves with systemically distributed 141Ce) route. To evaluate the influence of exposure routes, the Ce contents of the lettuce, snail tissues, and feces were determined by radioactivity measurements. The results show that both assimilation efficiencies (AEs) and food ingestion rates of Ce are greater for the trophic (indirect) expos...

Objective Anterior disk displacement (ADD) is a most common subtype of temporomandibular disorders (TMD), which is promoted by chondrocytes apoptosis. However, the signaling pathways that trigger apoptosis are still unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-related proteins in the condylar cartilage of rabbits following ADD. Methods Sixty healthy adult rabbits were randomly assigned to the experimental and sham-operated control groups (n = 12). The experimental rabbits were subjected to surgical ADD in the right temporomandibular joints. The production of ER stress-related proteins C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78), cleaved caspase-3, and caspase-12 in cartilage was evaluated by immunohistochemistry, quantitative real-time PCR, and Western blot analysis. Results Our results showed that the expression of CHOP, GRP78, cleaved caspase-3, and caspase-12 increased significantly along with degenerative changes in cartilage after ADD. Conclusion These results indicate that the ER stress pathway is activated in ADD cartilage and might promote the development of TMD.

The development of efficient, low-cost, and stable electrocatalysts for overall water splitting is of great significance for energy conversion. Transition-metal carbides (TMCs) with high catalytic activity and low cost have attracted great interests. Nevertheless, utilizing an efficient catalyst for overall water splitting is still a challenging issue for TMCs. Herein, we report the synthesis of a high-performance electrocatalyst comprising Co3ZnC and Co nanoparticles embedded in a nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube-grafted carbon polyhedral (Co3ZnC/Co-NCCP) by the pyrolysis of bimetallic zeolitic imidazolate frameworks in a reductive atmosphere of Ar/H2. The Co3ZnC/Co-NCCP exhibits remarkable electrochemical activity in catalyzing both the oxygen evolution reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction, in terms of low overpotential and excellent stability. Furthermore, the Co3ZnC/Co-NCCP catalyst leads to a highly performed overall water splitting in the 1 M KOH electrolyte, delivering a current density of 10 mA ...

In this study, selective laser melting (SLM) of pure tantalum (Ta) was systematically investigated, with emphasis on densification, microstructure and mechanical properties of Ta specimen. The high laser scanning speed resulted in micropores and discontinuous scan tracks, owing to the elevated instability of the liquid induced by Marangoni convection and the balling effect. However, the interlayer thermal microcracks were produced at a low scanning speed, due to the thermal stress and balling effect. The microhardness and tensile strengths of the optimally SLM-processed Ta parts were improved to 445 HV and 739 MPa, respectively, which were considerably higher than specimens processed by cast (110 HV and 205 MPa) or powder metallurgy (120 HV and 310 MPa) method, due to the fine-grain strengthening. The fracture morphology of the tensile-failed SLM-processed specimens showed that the porosities and incompletely melted particles are responsible for the fracture of porous sample. While for dense sample, cleavage fracture and minor ductile fracture both account for the fracture. And the failure mechanisms were discussed. The reduced coefficient of friction of 0.3 and lowest wear rate of 7.1×10 −3 mm 3 N −1 m −1 in dry sliding wear tests were obtained for the optimally prepared Ta parts due to the formed adhesion of hardened tribolayers.

The development of advanced earth-abundant electrocatalysts for hydrogen production is highly desirable. In this paper, we report the design and synthesis of a novel and highly efficient electrode of NiCo2O4 nanoneedles decorated with FeCoNi layered ternary hydroxides supported on carbon cloth (FeCoNi-LTH/NiCo2O4/CC) by a facile and efficient two-step approach. It exhibits superior bifunctional catalytic activities for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media, due to the special structure and strong synergies. The FeCoNi-LTH/NiCo2O4/CC obtains an onset overpotential of 240 mV and an overpotential of 302 mV at the current density of 50 mA cm–2 for OER, which is superior to RuO2. It also efficiently catalyzes HER with onset overpotential of 96 mV and overpotential of 151 mV to achieve a current density of 20 mA cm–2. Serving as both cathode and anode in a two-electrode water splitting system, FeCoNi-LTH/NiCo2O4/CC only requires an overpotential of 1.65 V at...

Biooxidation-thiourea (TU) leaching is considered to be a more environmentally friendly and efficient method than cyanidation to recover gold from refractory sulfide gold-bearing ores/concentrates. However, high consumption of the TU reagent and additional oxidants hinders its commercial adoption. In this work, single TU leaching and novel two-step TU leaching processes were designed and performed after the biooxidation of refractory sulfide gold-bearing concentrate from Axi, China. The novel method contained an additional six-hour bioprocess and a six-hour lixiviant leaching. During the two-step TU leaching, the microbes remaining on the residue from biooxidation regenerated Fe3 + as oxidant. Compared with the highest gold recovery rate of the single TU leaching (92.2 ± 1.54%), which had additional Fe3 + and Na2SO3 supplied after prewashing, the rate reached 95.0 ± 0.73% in the two-step TU leaching process without additional oxidant and reductant. A microbial community analysis by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing indicated that the genera Acidithiobacillus and Leptospirillum greatly contributed to the regeneration of ferric ions during the two-step TU leaching process and further improved the recovery of gold. As a non-cyanide method, combining the two-step TU leaching process with biooxidation takes full advantage of the microorganisms and is worthy for industrial application.

In the past decades, enzyme mimetics based on ceria nanoparticles (nanoceria) have been developed as potential substitutes for nature enzymes. The mixed valence states of cerium and the patterns of oxygen vacancies on crystal planes result in different enzyme mimetic activities. In this review we survey the bio-applications of nanoceria-based enzyme mimetics as well as the underlying mechanisms. Factors influencing the enzyme mimetic activities and future perspective of nanoceria-based enzyme mimetics are also addressed.

Fate and toxicity of manufactured nanoparticles (NPs) in the living organisms and the environment are highly related to their transformation. In the present study, the effect of phosphate on the phytotoxicity and transformation of CeO2 NPs was investigated in an agar medium using head lettuce plants that are sensitive to Ce3+ ions. Plants were treated by CeO2 NPs with or without phosphate for 10 days. Results suggest that the treatments of P deficiency (P(-)) and CeO2 NPs (P(+)&Ce) could separately induce significant inhibition on the growth of lettuce seedlings and cause oxidative stress, but the inhibition was the most serious when the two conditions were combined (P(-)&Ce). In the absence of phosphate, more CeO2 NPs were transformed to Ce(III) in the roots and more Ce3+ ions were translocated to the shoots, which induced higher toxicity to head lettuce. Phosphates could alleviate the phytotoxic effect of CeO2 NPs through the precipitation of dissociated Ce3+ ions. Considering the wide existence of phosphate in the environment, phosphate-related transformation may be a critical factor in evaluating the toxicity and fate of many other metal-based NPs.

Toxicity and uptake of nano-CeO2 (nCeO2) in edible vegetables are not yet fully understood. In the present study, we grew romaine lettuce in sand amended with nCeO2. At high concentrations (1000 and 2000 mg/kg), nCeO2 diminished the chlorophyll content by 16.5% and 25.8%, respectively, and significantly inhibited the biomass production. nCeO2 (≥100 mg/kg) altered antioxidant enzymatic activities and malondialdehyde levels in the plants. nCeO2 (≥500 mg/kg) triggered a remarkable increase of nitrate-N level in the shoots, which can be converted to toxic nitrite in humans thereby posed risk to human health. Concentration dependent accumulation of Ce in the plant tissues was observed. X ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) results indicate that Ce presented as nCeO2 and CePO4 in the roots while as nCeO2 and Ce carboxylates in the shoots. Chelation of Ce3+ by citric acid or precipitation of Ce3+ by PO43- reduced the translocation and toxicity of nCeO2, indicating that release of Ce3+ played a critical role in the toxicity nCeO2.

Long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) are involved in multiple processes of human malignancy, and emerge as crucial molecules in RNA biology. However, the function of lncRNAs has not been well illustrated in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). In this research, the effects of dysregulated ladybird homeobox 2 antisense RNA 1 (LBX2-AS1) or ladybird homeobox 2 (LBX2) on vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) biological processes were surveyed via cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT), terminal-deoxynucleoitidyl transferase mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL) and caspase-3 activity assays. LBX2-AS1 and LBX2 both possessed pro-apoptosis and anti-proliferation functions in AAA. Mechanically, the regulation role of LBX2-AS1 on miR-4685-5p or that of miR-4685-5p on LBX2 was investigated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Additionally, the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network was confirmed by luciferase reporter, RNA pull-down, and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays. LBX2-AS1 sequestered miR-4685-5p to release LBX2 expression via ceRNA mechanism. Further, LBX2 could act as a transcriptional activator of LBX2-AS1. A positive feedback loop was formed by LBX2-AS1, miR-4685-5p and LBX2, deteriorating AAA formation and progression. To sum up, our data suggested that LBX2-AS1, miR-4685-5p and LBX2 constituted a positive feedback loop in promoting AAA development, implying a potential usage of LBX2-AS1/miR-4685-5p/LBX2 axis in AAA management.

Recycling effluent has become a bottleneck and an environmental risk associated with the regular production of bauxite via flotation and the sustainable development of the aluminum industry in China. To find a practical direction for biotreatment, the bacterial and archaeal communities in recycling effluents containing concentrate and tailings from bauxite flotation plants were investigated by a metagenomic sequencing method in association with the evaluated geochemical properties. The results showed that Paracoccus, Desulfomicrobium, Exiguobacterium, Tindallia, Ercella and Anoxynatronum were the primary bacterial genera and Methanothrix, Methanobacterium, Nitrososphaera and Methanosarcina were the dominant archaeal genera. Upon combining the microbial diversity and the geochemical properties of the two sample types, the microbial community containing Desulfomicrobium, Paracoccus, Tindallia, Methanobacterium, Methanothrix and Nitrososphaera was better adapted to the biodegradation of flotation collectors, and the microbial community consisting of Paracoccus, Exiguobacterium, Methanothrix and Methanobacterium was more efficient at hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) biodegradation. In addition, a large proportion of unclassified OTUs has indicated that recycling effluent is a worthy resource for isolating new strains from the Firmicutes phylum.

Despite certain defects hindering its clinical application, the CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-associated (Cas) Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (spCas9) system is the most studied and the most popular tool for genome editing. The mechanism underlying the action of the spCas9 system forms the critical base required for rational optimization. To further our understanding of the underlying mechanisms and to optimize the spCas9 system, we investigated and analyzed the following aspects: 1) the origin of the power promoting domain movement for initiating cleavage; 2) the mechanism underlying the searching and unwinding of the target DNA; 3) the key domains of spCas9 and their functions; and 4) the molecular mechanism of the cleavage reaction. We speculated that: 1) the extruded sgRNA-DNA hybrid extrusion is the original force promoting domain movement; 2) electrostatic interactions lead to a combination of spCas9 to sgRNA, and the hydrophobic environment is the key factor for melting the double-stranded DNA; 3) the REC2 domain could be removed; and 4) the cleaving basis of spCas9 is the Mg2+-dependent SN2-like reaction. This study will be helpful for systematically understanding and optimizing the spCas9 system.

The main aim of this study is to evaluate the removal efficiency of U(VI) using an environmentally sensitive amidoxime hydrogel (AO-NIAMP). The sensitivity of the swelling behaviours to the temperature and pH of AO-NIAMP could promote the adsorption of uranium and facilitate the extraction out itself from solutions. Under the reaction pH of 6.0, and an initial U(VI) concentration o of 16.65 mg L−1,with 22.43 mg of AO-NIAMP, the maximum adsorption capacity was 36.3 mg g−1 as calculated by using response surface methodology (RSM). The adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order and the Freundlich isotherm model. Moreover, AO-NIAMP showed a stable ability to remove U(VI) from a solution that contained multiple interfering metal ions. Based on spectroscopic analyses, the mechanisms of the removal of U(VI) by AO-NIAMP were the chelation of functional groups and electrostatic interactions. Additionally, the adsorption ability of sites on AO-NIAMP for UO22+ was calculated by density functional theory (DFT),which determined the following orders: oxime nitrogen > CO > oxime type O and N (C(NH 2)N OH) > oxime oxygen > SO3H. AO-NIAMP could maintain a uranium adsorption rate of 82.5 % after four adsorption (at 30 °C) - desorption (at 40 °C) cycles. By having good swelling properties triggered by external stimuli and the ability to remove uranium, AO-NIAMP has the potential to serve as a uranium extractor.

Background Transmethylation reactions play an important role on lymphocyte activation and function. S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase (SAHH) inhibitors prevent the feedback of transmethylation reactions by S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (SAH) accumulation, a competitive antagonist of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-dependent methyltransferases. However, the role of SAH in solid organ transplantation is currently unclear. Methods A murine model of cardiac transplantation (BALB/C to C57B/6) was established to assess allograft survival, histology, and T cell infiltration. The reversible SAHH inhibitor, DZ2002, and irreversible SAHH inhibitor, adenosine dialdehyde (AdOx), were used to assess their immunosuppressive effects in murine cardiac transplantation, compared with mice with DMSO. Results Both SAHH inhibitors prolonged the survival of cardiac allografts and alleviated alloimmune response. Notably, AdOx and DZ2002 both eliminated frequencies of Th1 and Th17 in CD4+ T cells in cardiac transplantation, and reduced the frequency of active CD4+ T cell (CD44+ CD62L-). The irreversible SAHH inhibitor facilitated the differentiation of regulatory T cells (Tregs) and increased Bim expression. Furthermore, both SAHH inhibitors alleviated infiltration of CD4+ T cells in cardiac allografts. Conclusions The SAHH inhibitors (AdOx and DZ2002) alleviates allograft rejection in cardiac transplantation by inhibition of CD4+ T alloimmune response. SAHH inhibitors, especially DZ2002, is a promising complementary therapeutic agent in organ transplantation.

Purpose The Diabetic Macular Edema Treated with Ozurdex (DMEO) Trial measured aqueous pro-permeability factors (PPFs) in diabetic macular edema (DME) patients before and after injection of dexamethasone implant or vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-neutralizing protein and correlated changes in levels with changes in excess foveal thickness (EFT) to identify potential PPFs contributing to DME. Design Prospective, randomized crossover clinical trial. Methods Twenty DME patients randomized to dexamethasone implant or VEGF-neutralizing protein had aqueous taps and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) at baseline and every 4 weeks for 28 weeks. Aqueous levels of 55 vasoactive proteins were measured with protein array. Crossover at week 16 provided changes in protein levels after each intervention in all 20 patients. Results After dexamethasone implant there was significant correlation between changes in levels of 13 vasoactive proteins with changes in EFT, including 3 known PPFs: angiopoietin-2 (r = 0.40, P = .001), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF; r = 0.31, P = .02), and endocrine gland-VEGF (EG-VEGF, r = 0.43, P Conclusions Correlation of edema reduction with reduction in the PPFs angiopoietin-2, HGF, and EG-VEGF provides potential insight into the multifactorial molecular mechanism by which dexamethasone implants reduce edema and suggest that additional study is needed to investigate the contributions of these 3 factors to chronic DME.

Recent technological advances have made it possible to decode DNA methylomes at single-base-pair resolution under various physiological conditions. Many aberrant or differentially methylated sites have been discovered, but the mechanisms by which changes in DNA methylation lead to observed phenotypes, such as cancer, remain elusive. The classical view of methylation-mediated protein-DNA interactions is that only proteins with a methyl-CpG binding domain (MBD) can interact with methylated DNA. However, evidence is emerging to suggest that transcription factors lacking a MBD can also interact with methylated DNA. The identification of these proteins and the elucidation of their characteristics and the biological consequences of methylation-dependent transcription factor-DNA interactions are important stepping stones towards a mechanistic understanding of methylation-mediated biological processes, which have crucial implications for human development and disease.

We report temperature-induced spin reorientation and magnetization jump effects in the rare earth (RE) orthoferrite Ho 0.5 Pr 0.5 FeO 3 single crystal. The single crystal of about 6 mm in diameter and 50 mm in length was successfully grown by optical floating zone method. Both X-ray diffraction and Laue photograph confirmed the homogeneity and high quality of the crystal. Magnetic properties of Ho 0.5 Pr 0.5 FeO 3 single crystal are studied over a wide temperature range from 2 to 300 K. Spin reorientation transition from Γ 2 to Γ 4 phase is observed in the temperature range of 75–90 K. At lower temperature, the Ho 0.5 Pr 0.5 FeO 3 shows an abrupt jump of magnetization along the a -axis, which occurs only in the field-cooling process, and is sensitive to external applied magnetic field. By analyzing the jump temperature and magnitude of the magnetization, we conclude that it is caused by the spin reversal of the rare earth ions. The isothermal magnetization versus field hysteresis loop measurements along a axis explain the spin configuration variation from 3 K to 60 K.

A novel protocol for the synthesis of polycyclic compounds from linear diynes and diaryliodonium salts has been realized. The reaction proceeded through Cu-catalyzed arylation of alkynes to generate two vinyl carbocation intermediates that subsequently reacted with arene groups to form fused rings containing diene moieties.

In order to improve the bio-oxidation efficiency of Axi refractory gold concentrate, a two-step process including a high temperature chemical oxidation and a subsequent bio-oxidation, combined with pH control during the bio-oxidation step was used. The results revealed that the optimum mode was to maintain solution pH at 1.0-1.2 during the biological oxidation stage. Under this condition, the activity of mixed culture could be sustained and the formation of jarosite could be diminished, thus the oxidation efficiency was improved. The oxidation levels of iron and sulfur were improved by 12.50% and 15.49%, and the gold recovery was increased by 21.02%. Therefore, the two-step process combined with pH control is an effective method for oxidizing the biohydrometallurgical process of Axi gold concentrate, and it will have a broad prospect of application in dealing with complex refractory gold concentrate.

A two-stage chemical-biological oxidation approach, which applied a high temperature chemical oxidation stage prior to the bio-oxidation stage, was employed to accelerate the bio-oxidation rate of Axi gold concentrate with pyrite as the main sulfide phase. The extraction levels of Fe and S were 67.0% and 72.9% in the traditional one-stage bio-oxidation approach, while the values were elevated respectively to 78.0% and 79.6% with the two-stage approach. Accordingly, the extraction rate of gold was increased from 83.6% to 90.3% when subjected to the two-stage approach. The intensification mechanism of the two-stage approach was carried out by using Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM- EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and particle size analysis. The results indicated that pyrite on the surface of the concentrate was partly oxidized and particle size of the concentrate diminished after the first stage (chemical oxidation), which would facilitate the subsequent bio-oxidation process.

The release of metal ions may play an important role in toxicity of metal-based nanoparticles. In this report, a life cycle study is carried out in a greenhouse, to compare the effects of ceria nanoparticles (NPs) and Ce3+ ions at 0, 50, 100, and 200 mg Ce kg-1 on plant growth, biological and physiological parameters, and nutritional value of soil-grown common bean plants. Ceria NPs have a tendency to negatively affect photosynthesis, but the effect is not statistically significant. Ce3+ ionic treatments at 50, 100, and 200 mg Ce kg-1 result in increases of 1.25-, 0.66-, and 1.20-fold in stomatal conductance, respectively, relative to control plants. Both ceria NPs and Ce3+ ions disturb the homeostasis of antioxidant defense system in the plants, but only 200 mg Ce kg-1 ceria NPs significantly induce lipid peroxidation in the roots. Ceria NP treatments tend to reduced fresh weight and to increase mineral contents of the green pods, but have no effect on the organic nutrient contents. On the contrary, Ce3+ ion treatments modify the organic compositions and thus alter the nutritional quality and flavor of the green pods. These results suggest that the two Ce forms may have different mechanisms on common bean plants.

In this work, the thermo-sensitive materials N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and acrylic acid (AA) were crosslinked with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) (CMC/P (NIPAM-co-AA)) via a free radical polymerization method for the removal of U(VI) from aqueous solution. The L16 (45) orthogonal experiments were designed for the optimization of the synthesis condition. The chemical structures of the crosslinking hydrogel were confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. The microstructural analyses were conducted though scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to show the pore structure of the hydrogel. The adsorption performance of the CMC/P (NIPAM-co-AA) hydrogel for the uptake of U(VI) from simulated wastewater was also investigated. The adsorption reached equilibrium within 1 h. Under the reaction of pH = 6 and a temperature of 298 K, an initial concentration of U(VI) of 5 mg&middot, L&minus, 1, and 10 mg of the CMC/P(NIPAM-co-AA) hydrogel, the maximum adsorption capacity was 14.69 mg g&minus, 1. The kinetics fitted perfectly with the pseudo-second-order model, and the isotherms for the composite hydrogel adsorption of U(VI) was in accordance with the Langmuir model. The chemical modification confirmed that the acylamino group played an important role in uranium adsorption. The desorption and reusability study revealed that the resolution rate was still available at approximately 77.74% after five alternate heating cycles at 20 and 50 &deg, C of adsorption-desorption.

In this study, we sought to predict the effects of a certain circular RNA (circRNA), hsa_circ_101280 (also known as hsa_circ_0100929 and hsa_circ_SLAIN1), on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and to determine the potential mechanism. After screening differentially expressed circRNAs in HCC tissues through Gene Expression Omnibus data analysis, hsa_circ_101280 was found to be highly expressed, and its high expression was verified in HCC cell lines with qRT-PCR along with the low expression of its downstream miRNA miR-375. Colony formation and flow cytometry assays showed that both hsa_circ_101280 silencing and miR-375 overexpression restrained proliferation and promoted apoptosis in HCC cells. JAK2 was identified as a downstream mRNA target of miR-375 by RNA pull-down and dual-luciferase reporter gene assays, its expression in HCC cell lines were positively regulated by hsa_circ_101280 and negatively by miR-375 expression. Furthermore, the silencing of hsa_circ_101280 significantly inhibited the growth of HCC xenografts in nude mice, with the downregulated expression of JAK2. Overall, both the in vitro and in vivo studies revealed that hsa_circ_101280 largely facilitated the tumorigenesis of HCC, characterized by the promoted proliferation and suppressed apoptosis of HCC cells, by sponging miR-375 and upregulating JAK2.

Revegetation of indigenous plants in a desert–oasis ecotone is an effective way of maintaining the stability of oases. Understanding the changes in vegetation and soil is crucial for restoration management. The properties of soil and vegetation at stabilized sites of different ages were investigated in a typical desert–oasis ecotone, located in the Hexi Corridor region in arid northwestern China, over a period of 40 years. The results indicated that after 40 years the organic matter, total-N and available-P at 0–2 cm soil depth increased from 0.1, 0.1 g kg−1, 7 mg kg−1 to 2.0, 0.9 g kg−1, and 75 mg kg−1, respectively. At 2–5 cm the organic matter, total-N and available-P increased from 0.4, 0.1 g kg−1, and 7 mg kg−1 to 2.3, 0.4 g kg−1, and 38 mg kg−1, respectively. The number of herbaceous species increased from 4 to 9 and the herbaceous cover increased from 6 to 28 % after 40 years. The height and cover of the sand-binding vegetation Haloxylon ammodendron (H. ammodendron) reached the highest levels of 446 cm and 68 % after 25 years. After 35 years H. ammodendron dwindled and its belowground and aboveground biomass both decreased significantly. With effective natural regeneration, after 40 years the population of H. ammodendron remained stable and its cover and density remained at 38 % and 1870 ha−1 respectively. The positive mutual feedback between vegetation and soil permitted the sand-binding vegetation community to become stable over time.