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Energy penalty of solvent regeneration in CO2 absorption process is a critical challenge. To avoid the energy consumption, novel ammonia absorption-microalgae hybrid CO2 capture process has been designed in this work. In the proposed process, the conventional desorption column is replaced by a microalgae cultivation system. As a result, the NH4HCO3 could be utilized as nutrient for microalgae growth and converted into biofuel or value-added ingredients. Meanwhile, the challenge of ammonia escape could be avoided via high purity ammonia recycling in the hybrid process. The experimental results indicated that the selected Chlorella sp. L166, L38 and UTEX1602 could be potential microalgae to be used in chemical-biological hybrid CO2 capture and utilization process with carbon fixation efficiency over 85%, and the yield of protein, lipid and polysaccharides was 164 ± 1 mg/L (L166), 710.6 ± 165.8 mg/L (UTEX1602) and 143.6 ± 28.8 mg/L (L38), respectively. The above results also indicated that the novel absorption-microalgae hybrid process could be a promising alternative to the conventional CO2 absorption technology.

Integration of chemical absorption and microalgae bioconversion is a promising alternative to overcome the low CO2 fixation efficiency of conventional microalgae CO2 fixation technologies. In this ...

Camellia oleifera (Ca. oleifera) is a woody tree species cultivated for the production of edible oil from its seed. The growth and yield of tea-oil trees are severely affected by anthracnose (caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides). In this study, the transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses were performed to detect the key transcripts and metabolites associated with differences in the susceptibility between anthracnose-resistant (ChangLin150) and susceptible (ChangLin102) varieties of Ca. oleifera. In total, 5001 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained, of which 479 DEGs were common between the susceptible and resistant varieties and further analyzed. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that these DEGs were significantly enriched in tyrosine metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, flavonoid biosynthesis and isoquinoline alkaloid biosynthesis pathways. Furthermore, 68 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) were detected, including flavonoids, such as epicatechin, phenethyl caffeate and procyanidin B2. Comparison of the DEGs and DAMs revealed that epicatechin, procyanidin B2 and arachidonic acid (peroxide free) are potentially important. The expression patterns of genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis were confirmed by qRT-PCR. These results suggested that flavonoid biosynthesis might play an important role in the fight against anthracnose. This study provides valuable molecular information about the response of Ca. oleifera to Co. gloeosporioides infection and will aid the selection of resistant varieties using marker-assisted breeding.

Camellia oleifera, C. meiocarpa, C. yuhsienensis, and C. chekiangoleosa originate from China and are important non-timber trees used for the production of edible oil in South China. The oils extracted from these four Camellia species from two locations in Zhejiang Province were analyzed for fatty acid composition and metallic element content. The predominant fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acid content were similar, whereas the fatty acid composition in the crude oil extracts was quite different among the four Camellia species examined. The lowest oleic acid content and the highest palmitic and linoleic acids content were found in the oil extract of C. yuhsienensis. The content of metallic elements in the crude camellia oil extract considerably varied among the four Camellia species, and they were found in the following decreasing order: Al > Mg > Ca > Mn > Fe > Zn > Cu. The content of these metallic elements was higher in the crude oil extracts of C. yuhsienensis and C. meiocarpa than in those of C. oleifera and C. chekiangoleosa. More than 90% of metallic elements were removed by refining after alkalizing, washing, and decolorization steps.

Pecan ( Carya illinoinensis) is an important tree nut throughout the world. The high concentration of flavonoid in its kernels makes it an excellent food with health benefits. However, the molecular basis of flavonoid biosynthesis in pecan remains unclear, which hinders quality breeding in this plant. Therefore, in order to find the crucial genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis, the changes in flavonoid profiles and the transcriptomes of pecan kernels at four developmental stages (late water, gel, dough, and mature stages) were analyzed. As a result, the highest levels of total phenolic, condensed tannin, and flavan-3-ols were observed at the "late water stage". Catechin was the most abundant flavan-3-ol at different development stages. In total, 64 773 unigenes were obtained, and 46 924 (72.44%) unigenes were annotated. After differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis, 12 750 unique DEGs were identified. Flavonoid-related DEGs of 36 structural genes and eight MYBs were obtained. The structural gene set contained three PALs, three CHSs, two CHIs, one F3H, two F3'Hs, two F3'5'Hs, one DFR, one ANS, two LARs, and two ANRs. The expression patterns of most of the structural genes were consistent with the changes in flavonoid profiles during kernel development. We believe that this RNA-Seq data set will provide valuable resources for unraveling the molecular mechanism of flavonoid metabolism in pecan and will significantly promote genetic studies and quality breeding in this plant.

Camellia oleifera is a major tree species for producing edible oil. Its seed oil is well known for the high level of oleic acids; however, little is known regarding the molecular mechanism of lipid biosynthesis in C. oleifera. Here, we measured the oil contents and fatty acid (FA) compositions at four developmental stages and investigated the global gene expression profiles through transcriptomics sequencing. We identified differentially-expressed genes (DEGs) among the developmental stages and found that the distribution of numbers of DEGs was associated with the accumulation pattern of seed oil. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed some critical biological processes related to oil accumulation, including lipid metabolism and phosphatidylcholine metabolism. Furthermore, we investigated the expression patterns of lipid biosynthesis genes. We showed that most of the genes were identified with single or multiple copies, and some had correlated profiles along oil accumulation. We proposed that the higher levels of stearoyl-ACP desaturases (SADs) coupled with lower activities of fatty acid desaturase 2 (FAD2) might be responsive to the boost of oleic acid at the late stage of C. oleifera seeds' development. This work presents a comprehensive transcriptomics study of C. oleifera seeds and uncovers valuable DEGs that are associated with the seed oil accumulation.

A practical method for the determination of cyanide in bamboo shoots has been developed using microdiffusion preparation integrated with ion chromatography–pulsed amperometric detection (IC-PAD). Cyanide was released from bamboo shoots after Conway cell microdiffusion, and then analysed by IC-PAD. In comparison with the previously reported methods, derivatization and ion-pairing agent addition were not required in this proposed microdiffusion combined with IC-PAD method. The microdiffusion parameters were optimized including hydrolysis systems, temperature, time, and so on. Under the optimum conditions, the linear range of the calibration curve for cyanide was 0.2–200.0 µg kg −1 with satisfactory correlation coefficients of 0.9996 and the limit of detection was 0.2 µg kg −1 ( S/N = 3). The spiked recovery range was from 92.8 to 98.6%. The intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations of cyanide were 2.7–14.9% and 3.0–18.3%, respectively. This method was proved to be convenient in operation with high sensitivity, precision and accuracy, and was successfully applied in the determination of cyanide in bamboo shoot samples.

A series of aromatic gossypol Schiff bases have been successfully synthesized via a feasible chemical modification. The antiviral activity against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) of these gossypol Schiff bases has been tested for the first time. The bioassay studies indicated most of these derivatives exhibited excellent anti-TMV activity, in which o-trifluoromethylaniline Schiff base (19) displayed the best antiviral activities. Furthermore, compound 19 exhibited an eminent anti-TMV effect in the field and low toxicity to mice. These results suggest it is a promising candidate for the inhibitor of plant virus.

A novel ammonia absorption-microalgae hybrid CO2 capture and conversion process was investigated in this study. Using rich ammonia solution (ammonium bicarbonate) as a nutrient source for microalgae cultivation, the challenge of energy-intensive regeneration may potentially be overcome. To provide other nutrients for microalgae apart from ammonium bicarbonate, soybean wastewater was used to replace BG-11 medium for resource recycling and could adjust the pH of cultivation solution to reduce the threat of NH3 escape and inhibition. Chlorella sp. L166 and L38 were cultivated in ammonium bicarbonate solution using 5-times and 10-times diluted soybean wastewater under two culture modes (direct and batch feeding). The experimental results indicated that microalgae growth could be promoted by using 5-times diluted soybean wastewater as a cultivation medium with a removal rate of 50–65% COD, 70–80% NH3-N and 95–100% TP from a wastewater purification perspective. In the hybrid system, the NH3 escape ratio decreased to 15.8% with a carbon conversion efficiency of over 60%, and effectively achieved carbon and nitrogen utilization with 78.8 mg/L/d of microalgae biomass.

Phenolics are a group of important plant secondary metabolites that have been proven to possess remarkable antioxidant activity and to be beneficial for human health. Pecan nuts are an excellent source of dietary phenolics. In recent years, many studies have focused on the separation and biochemical analysis of pecan phenolics, but the molecular mechanisms of phenolic metabolism in pecans have not been fully elucidated, which significantly hinders quality breeding research for this plant. Chalcone synthase (CHS) plays crucial roles in phenolic biosynthesis. In this study, three Carya illinoinensis CHSs (CiCHS1, CiCHS2, and CiCHS3), were isolated and analyzed. CiCHS2 and CiCHS3 present high expression levels in different tissues, and they are also highly expressed at the initial developmental stages of kernels in three pecan genotypes. A correlation analysis was performed between the phenolic content and CHSs expression values during kernel development. The results indicated that the expression variations of CiCHS2 and CiCHS3 are significantly related to changes in total phenolic content. Therefore, CiCHSs play crucial roles in phenolic components synthesis in pecan. We believe that the isolation of CiCHSs is helpful for understanding phenolic metabolism in C. illinoinensis, which will improve quality breeding and resistance breeding studies in this plant.

In this study, we synthesized (±)-tylophorine malate (NK-007), an analog of tylophorine (DCB3503), and analyzed its anti-inflammatory effect in vivo using a dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis model and an acetic acid-induced colitis model. As indicated by disease activity index (DAI) and degree of macroscopic colonic damage, NK-007 can significantly suppress colitis. To delineate the underlying mechanism, we have explored the influence of NK-007 on the production of TNF-α by murine primary bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) as well as monocyte/macrophage cell line Raw 264.7 triggered by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). For both types of innate immune cells, NK-007 showed a potent TNF-α inhibitory effect, and has in addition reduced the expression of IL-12 in BMDCs. Moreover, Raw cells treated with NK-007 also showed decreased phosphorylation of NF-κB, which may explain the protective immune-regulatory effect of NK-007 for experimental colitis.

A series of phenanthroindolizidine and phenanthroquinolizidine alkaloids and their 14-amino-derivatives (1-44) were prepared and systematically evaluated for their anti-tumor activities against A549 and HL60 cell lines. The bioassay results showed that most of these alkaloids possess good anti-tumor activities. Especially, compounds 15, 22, 28, 33-36, 40 and 42 displayed low nanomolar or subnanomolar levels of anti-tumor activity. The configuration of (13aS,14S)-14-hydroxyphenanthroindolizidines and (14aR,15R)-15-hydroxyphenanthroquinolizidines was confirmed to be optimal. 14-Amino-phenanthroindolizidines with increased polarity possess good anti-tumor activity, especially for compounds 26 and 28. Most of the phenanthroquinolizidine alkaloids exhibited higher anti-tumor activity than that of phenanthroindolizidine alkaloids. Our present study provides fundamental support for development and optimization of phenanthroindolizidine and phenanthroquinolizidine alkaloids as potential anti-tumor drugs.

A series of C9-substituted phenanthrene-based tylophorine derivatives (PBTs) were designed, synthesized, and first evaluated for their antiviral activities against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). These compounds contain a phenanthrene core structure and can be synthesized some efficiently with excellent yields compared with tylophorine alkaloid. The bioassay results show that some of these compounds exhibited higher antiviral activity against TMV in vivo than tylophorine and commercial Ningnanmycin. Especially, compounds 3, 4, 9, 13, and 16 emerged as potential inhibitors of plant virus. These new findings demonstrate that these phenanthrene-based tylophorine derivatives (PBTs) represent another new template for antiviral studies and could be considered for novel therapy against plant virus infection.

A mild synthesis of a series of phenanthrenes with different substituents on the phenanthrene ring is described. The method involves intramolecular oxidative coupling of a variety of 1,2-diarylethylene derivatives in the presence of m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid (m-CPBA) in trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) to yield phenanthrenes in high yields. The present approach solves a key step for the synthesis of polycyclic structures related to an alkaloid tylophorine.

A concise, efficient and modular route involving Parham-type cycloacylation as the key step has been used to synthesize six enantiopure phenanthro-indolizidine alkaloids 1a-c. The preparation of enantiomerically pure tylophora alkaloids and their seco analogues on a large-scale is now feasible. The alcohol intermediates 8a-c, which are difficult to prepare by other synthetic methodologies, have been synthesized by a metallation-cyclization-reduction sequence in excellent yields.

The synthesis of (S)-(+)-tylophorine and its seco analogues has been accomplished by using free radical reaction. (−)-N-(2,3,6,7-Tetramethoxyphenanthren-9-ylmethyl)-2-bromomethylpyrrolidine (7) and (−)-N-(2,3,6,7-tetramethoxyphenanthren-9-ylcarbonyl)-2-bromomethylpyrrolidine (9) have been obtained for the first time in three and two linear steps from 2,3,6,7-tetramethoxyphenanthrene-9-carboxylic acid (4), respectively. When bromide 7 was subjected to the action of tri-n-butyltin hydride and catalytic amount of azobisisobutyronitrile in acetonitrile at reflux, only a new structural N-((2,3,6,7-tetrame-thoxyphenanthren-9-yl)methyl)piperidine (2) was obtained in excellent yield, without expected (+)- tylophorine. As an alternative route, when bromide 9 was treated with azobisisobutyronitrile and tri-n-butyltin hydride in toluene at reflux, tylophorin-9-one (10) was provided in 33.6% yield. At the same time, a new structural (+)-N-((2,3,6,7-tetramethoxyphenanthren-9-yl)carbonyl)-2-methylpyrrolidine (11) was afforded as the main product in 65% yield. Notably, azobisisobutyronitrile plays dual roles in this reaction, and the possible mechanism has been described. Compounds 10 and 11 were reduced by lithium aluminum hydride to give (+)-tylophorine and (+)-N-((2,3,6,7-tetramethoxyphenanthren-9-yl) methyl)-2-methylpyrrolidine (3), respectively.

Easily available and nontoxic FeCl(3) catalyzes intramolecular oxidative coupling for the direct construction of the phenanthrene ring using meta-chloroperbenzoic acid as sole oxidant at room temperature in excellent yields. The mechanistic investigations show that FeCl(3)-catalyzed coupling proceeds through the heterolytic coupling (A(+) + B). The catalytic approach has been applied to intermolecular biaryl coupling of 2-naphthols and phenol ether.

Iron(III) chloride has been used to prepare the polymethoxy substituted phenanthrene derivatives via intramolecular oxidative coupling of (E or Z)-2,3-di(substituted phenyl)acrylate at room temperature in excellent yields. Mild reaction conditions and the use of inexpensive and nontoxic FeCl3 provide a novel practical and large-scaled viable route for the synthesis of the important phenanthrene rings.

Iron(III) chloride has been used to prepare polymethoxy-substituted phenanthrene-9-carboxylic acid via intramolecular oxidative coupling at room temperature in excellent yields. Mild reaction conditions and the use of environmentally friendly FeCl 3 provide a novel practical route for the synthesis of the important phenanthrene ring. The further application of this protocol as the key step to total synthesis of tylophorine, deoxytylophorinine, and antofine was achieved starting from readily available pyrrole in 48%, 44%, and 46% overall yields, respectively. This new and efficient strategy enjoys a number of advantages. The experimental procedure is simple under mild conditions, atom economy is very high without any protecting-group, starting materials are cheap or easily prepared. Hence this short and practical method is applicable to large-scale production.

A series of novel N ′- tert -butyl- N ′-substitutedbenzoyl- N -5-chloro-6-chromanecarbohydrazide derivatives were synthesized, and their larvicidal activities against Oriental armyworm were evaluated. The results of bioassays indicated that most of these title compounds exhibit higher larvicidal activities than RH-5849, and several of them somewhat lower than the commercial insecticide tebufenozide. The larvicidal activities are strongly associated with the types and patterns of substitution on the benzene, and 3,5-dimethyl, 2-nitro-4-chloro and 3-methyl derivatives are most prominent in increasing activity. Toxicity assays indicated that these derivatives could induce a premature, abnormal, and lethal larval moult.

Gossypol is a part of the cotton plant's defense system against pathogens and herbivorous insects. To discover gossypol analogs with broad spectrum and high activity, a series of gossypol alkylamine Schiff base, oxime and hydrazone derivatives were synthesised and bioassayed. The biological results indicated that most of these derivatives exhibited higher anti-TMV activity than gossypol. Interestingly, the activities of compounds 10, 15, 18, 20, 23 and 26 were much higher than that of ribavirin. Furthermore, compound 26, which was low toxicity to rat, showed better activity than control plant virus inhibitors in the field. Additionally, allyl amine Schiff base (9) displayed remarkable insecticidal activities against Mythimna separata, Helicoverpa armigera and Ostrinia nubilalis, whereas (pyridin-3-yl)methanamine Schiff base (13) showed excellent activity against Culex pipiens pallens. The fungicidal results revealed that all of compounds exhibited good activity against Physalospora piricola.

Electromechanically driven fluid displacement over solid surfaces has significant advantages over bulk flow regimes, particularly when the fluid volume is in the form of a droplet. Voltage-induced interfacial surface tension alterations at the unbound surface of a droplet increase the droplets' wettability over a hydrophobic surface. This phenomenon is known as electrowetting (EW). Concurrently, the electrical force acting on the droplet volume produces a mechanical force that drives motion. The theories behind droplet motion are covered along with salient limiting factors that need to be considered as theory deviates from observation. Generation of digitised droplets on microarray architectures, referred to as digital microfluidics (DMF), provides confined microenvironments for a range of chemical, biochemical, biological and screening processes to be conducted in volumes ranging from pL to nL. With multiplexing of tasks and automation of processes being developed for full on-chip functionalities, the development of novel architectures and routing strategies for contamination avoidance will be explored along with system demonstrations for sector specific application.

A series of trans-3-aryl acrylic acids 1-27 and their derivatives 28-34 were prepared and evaluated for their antiviral activity against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) for the first time. The bioassay results showed that most of these compounds exhibited good antiviral activity against TMV, of which compounds 1, 5, 6, 20, 27 and 34 exhibited significantly higher activity against TMV than commercial Ribavirin both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, these compounds have more simple structure than commercial Ribavirin, and can be synthesized more efficiently. These new findings demonstrate that trans-3-aryl acrylic acids and their derivatives represent a new template for antiviral studies and could be considered for novel therapy against plant virus infection.

Algorithms used to compensate the radon and thoron progeny's interference are one of the key technologies for continuous air monitors (CAMs). In this study, a CAM that can automatically change filter was manufactured, and equations used to calculate the transuranic aerosol concentration and the corresponding critical level were derived. The parameters used in calculation were acquired by continuous measurement in a high radon environment. At last, validation of the calculation was tested in a cave where the radon concentration fluctuated frequently, and the results were analysed.

In the presence of an optimized amount of MCPBA, (E)- or (Z)-bis(dialkoxyaryl)ethenes undergo an intramolecular coupling reaction in TFA as solvent to give phenanthrenes.

Oxidative intramolecular coupling of the aryl rings of various stilbenes for direct construction of the phenanthrene ring system is promoted efficiently by manganese dioxide―trifluoroacetic acid at room temperature in excellent yields. This approach is also applied to the intermolecular biaryl coupling of 2-naphthols, 2-naphthalenethiol, 2-naphthylamine, a phenol ether and a phenol under very mild conditions. An electron-transfer mechanism is proposed in which manganese dioxide acts as a two-electron oxidant.

Dibutyl phthalate (DBP), an important representative of endocrine disrupting chemical, is suspected of affecting the cognitive function of humans and animals. In this study, effects of DBP on maze performance in male rats were evaluated by spatial learning tasks; the effects of DBP on the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were also analyzed in both mRNA and mature protein levels in the hippocampus, with intent to investigate the possible mechanism underlying the behavioral findings. Pregnant Wistar rats were treated orally by gavage with 0, 25, 75, 225 and 675 mg DBP/kg BW/day from gestational day (GD) 6 to postnatal day (PND) 21, and then the weaned offspring continued receiving the same treatment till PND 28. We found that male pups treated with high-dose DBP showed enhancement in spatial acquisition in a Morris water maze during PNDs 30–33, and displayed better retention of spatial memory in a probe trial after a reverse trail during PNDs 60–62. Real-time PCR and western blotting analysis of the hippocampus from DBP-treated male rats on PND 21 revealed an increase in BDNF expression, compared to the vehicle-matched control. BDNF variant III, a transcription promoted by active CREB (i.e. p-CREB), as well as the immunocontent of p-CREB, was scarcely altered by the treatment. Our results suggest that developmental treatment with high-dose DBP improves spatial memory in male rats, and this effect may be related to an increase in BDNF expression in the hippocampus in a p-CREB independent route.

A new structural phenanthroindolizidine, 2,3,6,7-tetramethoxyphenanthro[9,10,3',4']indolizidine, has been synthesized efficiently from pyrrole. An important feature of this synthesis is that intramolecular oxidative coupling and rearrangement of 6,7-bis(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-8-methoxy-1,2,3-trihydroindolizin-5-one by using VOF3 and TFA have been achieved in one pot.

A new structural phenanthroindolizidine, 2,3,6,7-tetramethoxyphenanthro[9,10,3',4']indolizidine, has been synthesized efficiently from pyrrole. An important feature of this synthesis is that intramolecular oxidative coupling and rearrangement of 6,7-bis(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-8-methoxy-1,2,3-trihydroindolizin-5-one by using VOF3 and TFA have been achieved in one pot.

Oxidative intramolecular coupling of the aryl rings of various stilbenes for direct construction of the phenanthrene ring system is promoted efficiently by manganese dioxide―trifluoroacetic acid at room temperature in excellent yields. This approach is also applied to the intermolecular biaryl coupling of 2-naphthols, 2-naphthalenethiol, 2-naphthylamine, a phenol ether and a phenol under very mild conditions. An electron-transfer mechanism is proposed in which manganese dioxide acts as a two-electron oxidant.