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The proportion of maize mechanical harvesting in China is still at a low level although mechanical harvesting has been widely used in the cultivation of other crops. A major reason is that the mois...

During the fermentation of corn stalk bio-feed, the quantity of bacteria in corn stalk bio-feed was counted by fluorescence quantitative PCR and plate colony counting respectively. The comparative analysis of these studies was used to explore the feasibility of fluorescence quantification methods and changes in microbiota during fermentation. The results showed that the standard deviation of fluorescence quantitative method was smaller than that of plate method, but the trend was similar. The biomass of Bacillus subtilis, Lactobacillus plantarum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae reached their maximum on the third, fifth and fifth day respectively, and then decreased gradually and maintained at a certain level. The experiment showed that the fluorescence quantitative PCR method can accurately quantify the number of bacteria in corn stalk bio-feed, and it is a better method to quantitatively detect the dynamic changes of different kinds of bacteria in corn stalk bio-feed.

Lactic acid bacteria play an important role in the fermentation of biological feed. In this experiment, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus rhamnosus were used to ferment corn stalk by single and mixed bacteria. The changes of Lactobacillus flora during fermentation were analyzed by fluorescence quantitative PCR. The results showed that the maximum number of lactic acid bacteria appeared on the 7th day of mixed fermentation, and the total bacteria content could be significantly increased by adding five kinds of lactic acid bacteria at the same time, and the number of each bacteria in mixed fermentation was close to that measured by single fermentation, which indicated that these five kinds of lactic acid bacteria could cooperate during fermentation and help to improve the quality of stalk fermented feed.

Hydrodesulfurization reaction, as the last step of hydrothermal cracking reaction, is of great significance for the reduction of viscosity and desulfurization of heavy oil. Based on Density Functional Theory and using Dmol3 module of Materials Studio, this research simulated the adsorption and hydrodesulfurization of thiophene on Ni2P (001) surface, and discussed the hydrodesulfurization reaction mechanism of thiophene on Ni2P (001) surface. It was found that the direct hydrodesulfurization of thiophene had more advantages than the indirect hydrodesulfurization of thiophene. Finally, the optimal reaction path was determined: C4H4S+H2→C4H6.

A new spherical cellulose-based adsorbent and high phosphate removal rate microcrystalline cellulose-g-acrylamide/ethylenediamine/phthalic anhydride (MCC-g-AM/EDA/PA) loaded Fe(III) adsorbent was prepared by a pre-radiation grafting and chemical modification method. Fe(III) was successfully introduced into the modified grafted chains of the MCC-g-AM/EDA/PA resin, and characterized by FTIR, TG, XRD, SEM and XPS. The optimized conditions for the grafting reaction of acrylamide (AM) onto MCC were 20% AM emulsion at an absorbed dose of 30 kGy, and a grafting rate as high as 247%. In addition, the adsorption performance of the adsorbent was tested by static adsorption experiments with phosphate. The adsorbent resin showed excellent adsorption performance under alkaline conditions, contributions to the synergetic effect of precipitation, and inner-sphere surface complex reactions. The adsorption efficiency can reach 89.7% at low concentration. In summary, the neotype spherical cellulose-based adsorbent has the advantages of being separation-free in bulk materials, avoiding secondary pollution, and being easy to recycle, and it could be employed as an environmentally friendly adsorbent for phosphate removal in eutrophic water.

Hydrogenolysis of lignin to obtain value-added phenolic chemicals is an important approach for its comprehensive utilization. Herein, H4Nb2O7 modified MoS2 catalyst with short slabs and narrow stacking degree was successfully synthesized by the one step hydrothermal method and used in the selective demethylation of anisole to phenol. The MoS2–H4Nb2O7-160 catalyst exhibited the best activity with 97.7% conversion of anisole and 98.0% selectivity of phenol under 3 MPa H2 pressure at 270 °C for 4 h, which has been rarely reported on anisole transformation over heterogeneous catalysts so far. The characterizations results demonstrated that the H4Nb2O7 modification reduced the slab length and stacking degree of MoS2 during the hydrothermal process and enhanced the acidity property therefore improved the cleavage ability of CArO–CH3 bond. This study provides a new scheme for the activity enhancement of MoS2 in lignin demethylation, laying a foundation on the improvement of lignin utilization and the development of renewable energy strategy.

This study investigated the effect of thermal processing methods, namely, boiling, microwaving, baking, and frying, on the 4'-O-methylpyridoxine (MPN) analogues of Gingko biloba seeds. All thermal processing methods decreased MPN, pyridoxine, and pyridoxal-5'-phosphate, total MPN (TMPN), and total vitamin B6 (VB6) contents but increased MPN-5'-glucoside and pyridoxamine contents. Baking and frying reduced TMPN content by 46.54%–54.67% and 46.54%–54.67%, respectively. Frying was identified as the optimal thermal processing method that maintains the VB6 compound content of G. biloba seeds at high levels (72.92%–84.62%). Principal component analysis revealed the different effects of thermal processing methods on MPN analogues in G. biloba seeds. The results of this study demonstrate that compared with other thermal processing methods, frying can better reduce the toxic compound content (TMPN) of G. biloba seeds and promote VB6 retention.

A new type of N-isopropyl acrylamide/high-substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose/graphite carbon nitride (NIPAAm/HHPC/g-C3N4) smart hydrogel-based photocatalyst with thermally driven characteristic was successfully prepared by electron beam pre-radiation polymerization and radiation cross-linking methods. The agglomeration and loss of g-C3N4 nanosheets can be avoided effectively, and ensured high photocatalytic activity under visible light, once the g-C3N4 nanosheets are uniformly dispersed into the skeleton of a thermosensitive NIPAAm/HHPC hydrogel. NIPAAm/HHPC/g-C3N4 (NHC) hydrogel was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The microstructure of NHC was further characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller. The adsorption–photocatalytic removal rate of rhodamine B reached 71.4% at the mass ratio of g-C3N4 of 0.8% (NHC-0.8%) hydrogel in an aqueous medium under visible light. The thermal shrinkage ratio can reach 90.6% at 60°C after 5 min and could effectively achieve the function of recycling-free in a portable photocatalytic reaction device under the optimal conditions. Possible mechanism of adsorption–photocatalysis and thermally driven recycling-free on NHC hydrogel was also obtained. These thermally driven recycling-free characteristic and highly photocatalytic properties of the hybrid hydrogel-based photocatalyst show that it can be used as a promising new material with extensive applications in wastewater treatment.

Butyrate has been shown to be effective in ulcerative colitis (UC). However, its oral administration is rare due to its rancid odour and unpleasant taste. In this study, the effect of a butyrate-releasing polysaccharide derivative, xylan butyrate ester (XylB), was evaluated in a dextran sodium sulphate (DSS)-induced UC model in C57BL/6 mice. Linear xylan was extracted from corn cobs. The C-2 and C-3 positions of the linear xylan were esterified with butyrate, forming XylB. The protective and therapeutic effects of XylB against UC were determined in a DSS-induced mouse model. The results showed that XylB treatments reversed the imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, XylB rebalanced the gut microbiota that interfered with DSS treatment and significantly decreased the relative abundance of the genera Oscillibacter, Ruminococcaceae UCG-009, Erysipelatoclostridium, and Defluviitaleaceae UCG-01. XylB increased butyrate content in the colon, upregulated G-protein coupled receptor 109A protein expression, inhibited histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity, and exerted anti-inflammatory activity through autophagy pathway activation and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) inhibition. XylB reduces inflammatory intestinal damage in mice, suggesting that it would be a potential drug for the treatment of UC and could be used to overcome the limitations of the oral administration of sodium butyrate.

Background/aims MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, non-coding RNA molecules that control gene expression trough negative translational regulation. MiR-623 is a tumor suppressor, and it's function and mechanism in breast cancer has not been reported. Results Exogenous overexpression of miR-623 suppressed cell proliferation, migration and invasion, meanwhile, but promoted cell apoptosis. MiR-623 knockdown displayed opposite results. Overexpression of miR-623 resulted in the downregulation of CDK4/6 as well as the inhibition of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt and Wnt/β-Catenin signaling pathways. MiR-623 knockdown displayed opposite results. Results of the reporter assay revealed that the luciferase activity was decreased in XRCC5-wt cells, suggesting that miR-623 could directly combine with 3' UTR of XRCC5. MiR-623 significantly suppressed XRCC5 expression, which is critical for miR-623-induced proliferation and migration block in breast cancer cells. Conclusion miR-623 suppressed cell proliferation, migration and invasion through downregulation of cyclin dependent kinases and inhibition of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt and Wnt/β-Catenin pathways by targeting XRCC5. Methods miR-623 was either overexpressed in breast cancer cell lines through exogenous transfection or knocked down by specific siRNA. Cell proliferation, migration and invasion were examined using CCK-8, colony formation and transwell assay. The direct target of miR-623 was verified using luciferase reporter gene assay.

In clinical cohort studies, high expression of long-chain acyl-coenzyme A synthetases 1 (ACSL1 gene) in peripheral white blood cells of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has been utilized as molecular markers of myocardial infarction diagnosis. The plasma triglyceride level of AMI patients is significantly higher than that of healthy individuals. We hypothesized that the high expression of ACSL1 increases the level of triglyceride, which is one of the pathogenesis of AMI promoted by ACSL1. In this report, cell culture based methods were adopted to test the hypothesis and further investigate the effect and mechanism of ACSL1 on lipid metabolism. In this study, liver cells of healthy individuals were cultured, the overexpression and the knockdown vectors of ACSL1 were constructed and transfected into liver cells. The transfection was verified at the mRNA and protein level. Intracellular triglyceride content was quantitatively analyzed using ELISA. Changes of genes related to lipid metabolism were subsequently measured through PCR array. Overexpression of ACSL1 led to higher gene expression and protein levels compared to control and the triglyceride content was significantly increased in overexpressing cells. The expression level of fatty acid oxidation pathway PPARγ was significantly down-regulated compared with the control group, as were genes associated with fatty acid synthesis pathways: SREBP1, ACC, FAS, and SCD1. ACSL1 knockdown decreased the content of triglyceride whereas PPARγ was up-regulated and SREBP1, ACC, FAS, and SCD1 were down-regulated compared with the control group. In summary, high expression of ACSL1 reduced fatty acid β-oxidation through the PPARγ pathway, thereby increasing triglyceride levels.

In this work, particles of activated carbon supported by Fe-N-TiO2 (Fe-N-TiO2/AC) were synthesized and used as the three-dimensional (3D) particle electrode for folic acid wastewater treatment in the 3D electrolysis and photocatalysis coupling process. The structure, morphology, and physical and electrochemical properties of the Fe-N-TiO2/AC particles were characterized, and the results showed that Fe-N-TiO2 was bound on the surface of AC particles by chemical attachment, and the Fe-N-TiO2/AC particles had better capability of adsorption and charge transfer as compared with the TiO2/AC particles. The effects of key operating parameters in the reaction process, including the current density (optimum 0.6 mA/cm2), aeration (optimum 5 L/min), pH value (optimum 5) and the ratio of Fe-N-TiO2/AC particles to cellulose acetate film coating AC particles (optimum 4:1), were optimized regarding the total oxygen carbon (TOC) removal. Under the optimum conditions, TOC removal from folic acid wastewater reached 82.4% during 120 min photoelectrocatalysis. The kinetic analysis and mechanism study showed that the degradation process fitted to the second-order kinetic model better than to the first-order, and the system exhibited synergistic effects in inhibiting photogenic electron–hole recombination and improving electrolytic efficiency. At the same time, this system has the ability to overcome the interference of the strong ionic strength in folic acid wastewater.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of different growth factors on the proliferation of Bama mini-pig spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) in vitro. The growth factors glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF), GDNF family receptor alpha-1 (GFRα1) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) were investigated. The SSCs were seeded on SIM mouse embryo-derived thioguanine- and ouabain-resistant (STO) feeder layers. Cultivation of the cells were subjected to a factorial design of the growth factors GDNF + bFGF, GDNF + bFGF + GFRα1, LIF + bFGF and LIF + bFGF + GFRα1. The SSCs could propagate for 25 passages in the medium adding GDNF + bFGF + GFRα1, 22 passages in the medium adding GDNF + bFGF, 6 passages in the medium adding LIF + bFGF, or LIF + bFGF + GFRα1. qRT-PCR analysis showed that the highest mRNA expression levels of NANOG, POU5F, DDX4, GFRα1 and UCHL1 were detected in the group adding GDNF + bFGF + GFRα1. The SSCs from the group adding GDNF + bFGF + GFRα1 also showed UCHL1-, DBA- and CDH1-positive staining. Moreover, Stra8 and Scp3 expression, and haploid peak were detected after induction of the SSCs from the group adding GDNF + bFGF + GFRα1. In conclusion, pig SSCs could be maintained for long term in the presence of GDNF, bFGF, and GFRα1.

Directed hydrolysis of corn crude peptides was performed by sequential digestion with α-chymotrypsin and carboxypeptidase A. With the additional step of adsorption of aromatic amino acids by activated carbon, corn oligopeptides with a Fischer’s ratio of 41.87 and low bitterness were prepared. The fraction with molecular weight of 180–1000 Da was found to constitute 71.37% of these oligopeptides, where the proportion of Phe and Tyr among all amino acid residues was only 0.73%. In addition, a model of liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride was established. Through the analysis of the body–mass index, liver index, liver histopathological features, and various serum biochemical indicators of liver function, high Fischer’s ratio corn oligopeptides were found to be safe and slightly superior in terms of liver injury repair when compared with a commercial high Fischer’s ratio amino acid product. Crude corn peptides (raw material) and skimmed milk powder had no effect on repairing liver injury.

Titanium oxide (TiO2), with excellent cycling stability and low volume expansion, is a promising anode material for lithium-ion battery (LIB), which suffers from low electrical conductivity and poor rate capability. Combining nano-sized TiO2 with conductive materials is proved an efficient method to improve its electrochemical properties. Here, rutile TiO2/carbon nanosheet was obtained by calcinating MAX (Ti3AlC2) and Na2CO3 together and water-bathing with HCl. The lamellar carbon atoms in MAX are converted to 2D carbon nanosheets with urchin-like rutile TiO2 anchored on. The unique architecture can offer plentiful active sites, shorten the ion diffusion distance and improve the conductivity. The composite exhibits a high reversible capacity of 247 mA h g−1, excellent rate performance (38 mA h g−1 at 50 C) and stable cycling performance (0.014% decay per cycle during 2000 cycles) for lithium storage.

IMPORTANCE: Therapies that improve survival in critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are needed. Tocilizumab, a monoclonal antibody against the interleukin 6 receptor, may counteract the inflammatory cytokine release syndrome in patients with severe COVID-19 illness. OBJECTIVE: To test whether tocilizumab decreases mortality in this population. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The data for this study were derived from a multicenter cohort study of 4485 adults with COVID-19 admitted to participating intensive care units (ICUs) at 68 hospitals across the US from March 4 to May 10, 2020. Critically ill adults with COVID-19 were categorized according to whether they received or did not receive tocilizumab in the first 2 days of admission to the ICU. Data were collected retrospectively until June 12, 2020. A Cox regression model with inverse probability weighting was used to adjust for confounding. EXPOSURES: Treatment with tocilizumab in the first 2 days of ICU admission. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Time to death, compared via hazard ratios (HRs), and 30-day mortality, compared via risk differences. RESULTS: Among the 3924 patients included in the analysis (2464 male [62.8%]; median age, 62 [interquartile range {IQR}, 52-71] years), 433 (11.0%) received tocilizumab in the first 2 days of ICU admission. Patients treated with tocilizumab were younger (median age, 58 [IQR, 48-65] vs 63 [IQR, 52-72] years) and had a higher prevalence of hypoxemia on ICU admission (205 of 433 [47.3%] vs 1322 of 3491 [37.9%] with mechanical ventilation and a ratio of partial pressure of arterial oxygen to fraction of inspired oxygen of

Yi Zhang,1 Deshu Zhuang,1,2 Yi Zhang,3 Huiying Lu,3 Haijiao Zhang,3 Tingting Li,3 Liangjia Bi1 1Department of Stomatology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, People’s Republic of China; 2Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Oral Biological and Medical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC V6T 1Z3, Canada; 3National and Local Joint Stem Cell Research & Engineering Center for Aging Diseases, Tian Qing Stem Cell Co., Ltd., Harbin 150028, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Liangjia BiDepartment of Stomatology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, People’s Republic of ChinaTel/Fax +86-451-82576565Email biliangjia6601@126.comPurpose: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the expression of inflammasome and cytokine on experimental periodontitis with super activated platelet lysate (SPL) in rats.Methods: Periodontitis was induced by submerging cotton ligatures on the right side of the maxillary second molar in 36 Wistar rats. The rats were divided into 3 groups randomly: the rats received no treatment (control group); local injection with sterile saline (ligature+saline group) and local injection with SPL (ligature+SPL group). After treatments, the alveolar bone level and inflammation of periodontal tissue were evaluated by micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) scanning and histological examination, respectively. The expression of inflammasome and cytokine was evaluated by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assay.Results: Compared with the control group, the bone loss significantly increased by 0.9 mm in the ligature+saline group and 0.4 mm in the ligature+SPL group (P < 0.001). 0.5 mm reduction in the bone loss was founded in the ligature+SPL group compared with the ligature+saline group (P < 0.001). The gene expression of CCL2, CXCL2, IL-6, IL-18, IL-1α, IL-1β, CXCL10, CXCL16, CCL5 was significantly reduced in the ligature+SPL group compared with the ligature+saline group (P < 0.05). Compared with the ligature+saline group, the expression for inflammasome NLRP3, AIM2, CASP1 was both downregulated in the ligature+SPL group (P < 0.05).Conclusion: Our present study demonstrated local injection of SPL regulated the expression of inflammasome and cytokine and had a visible effect of relieving inflammation in the experimental periodontitis in rats.Keywords: periodontitis, super activated platelet lysate, inflammasome, cytokine

A green primary explosive with high energy density and electrostatic safety was synthesized in this work. A precursor consisting of wrinkled reduced graphene oxide sheets wrapped around copper nanowires (CuNWs@rGO) was fabricated through a facile one-pot hydrothermal approach. The as-prepared precursor was deposited on a silicon wafer by electrophoretic deposition technology, which significantly reduced the safety risks of directly handling the powder sample in the azide reaction. Wrinkled rGO sheets wrapped around copper azide nanowires (CANWs@rGO) were prepared in situ by reaction of the precursor with HN3 gas. The initiation capability was tested by using it to detonate hexogen (RDX) against a lead plate with a thickness of 5 mm, and its detonation performance was found to be better than that of commercial diazodinitrophenol (DDNP). The electrostatic sensitivity of the CANWs@rGO composite was investigated, and the result shows that the discharge energy at 50% (E50%) of CANWs@rGO was 0.96 mJ, which indicates that it has a much higher electrostatic safety than that of pure copper azide (0.05 mJ).

The role of Ni-Ag bimetallic magnetic catalysts in the catalytic transfer of hydrogenated soybean oil was studied. First, a Ni-Ag0.15/PVP-DB-171/SiO2/Fe3O4 magnetic catalyst with a magnetic saturation value of 10.431 emu / g was prepared. It was found that the addition of the metal Ag promoter enhanced the dispersion of Ni on the PVP-DB-171/SiO2/Fe3O4 support. The conditions of the catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) (temperature 80°C, catalyst loading 0.23%, donor concentration 0.32 mol /50 mL H2O, and time 90 min) showed the effects of the bimetallic catalysts on the soybean oil hydrogenation process. The hydrogenated soybean oil linolenic acid, linoleic acid and oleic acid reaction rate constants were 4.95×10-2, 8.6×10-3 and 7.54×10-4, respectively. The selectivity of linolenic acid and linoleic acid is as high as 5.75 and 11.4, respectively; the iodine value (IV) of soybean oil after hydrogenation is 102 g I2/100g and the trans fatty acids(TFAs) content is only 1.7%. The use efficiency of the catalyst decreased to 60% after 8 cycles. Catalytic transfer hydrogenation has important research significance and application prospects for the preparation of low-trans hydrogenated oils and fats. This method also provides a theoretical basis for the development of the oil hydrogenation industry.

This work presents the development and characterization of a new and environmentally friendly wood bio-adhesive using cassava starch and bio-oil that was from the fast pyrolysis of larch sawdust. Bio-oil contains large amounts of chemicals and is cheap and renewable compared to the traditional modification methods for starch-based adhesives. It will bring great benefits if bio-oil can be used as the chemical additive to improve the quality of the regular starch-based wood adhesive. This study prepared the bio-oil-starch (BOS) adhesive and examined its properties. The structure and thermal decomposition stability were characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. Results showed that, compared with a regular starch-based wood adhesive, the BOS adhesive displayed better liquidity, longer storage period (extended from 13 days to 55 days) and higher shear strength (the bonding strength of starch-based wood adhesive with 25% of bio-oil increased 17.4% in the dry state and 50.9% in the wet state, and its water resistance increased by 10.0%). Characterization showed that the improved performance of the BOS adhesive was supported by its strengthened molecular structure and enhanced thermal stability. The introduction of bio-oil significantly improved the properties and modified the structure of the regular starch-based wood adhesive.

This study investigated the impact of electrolysis modification on the structural characteristics of SPI and used the prepared novel emulsifier to improve the storage stability of the oil-in-water emulsion. The exposed sulfhydryl group content increased from 12.62 × 10−5 mol/g in the control to 14.35 × 10−5 mol/g in the SPI following electrolysis for 120 min. In addition, after electrolysis the secondary structural analysis using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) indicated that samples showed a decrease in the α-helix proportion, and fluorescence spectra revealed tertiary conformational changes of the SPI. The particle size distributions of the electrolysis-treated protein solutions had monomodal distributions, and the ζ-potential absolute values became larger. The water holding capacity (WHC) and fat holding capacity (FHC) were significantly improved. The peroxide value (POV) of oil in the electrolysis-treated SPI emulsion was 14.59 mmol/kg oil, and the protein carbonyl content was also lower than that in the native protein emulsion after it was stored at 25 °C for 4 weeks. In summary, this study might suggest that an electrochemical reactor could be applied to modify the structural characteristics and functions of proteins in order to obtain the desired products.

Montmorillonite (Mt) plays a very important role in controlling drug delivery. In this paper, the hydrochloric acid (HCl) treated Mt. was exploited to obtain composites, which were able to enhance dexibuprofen (IBU) loading and achieve to sustain release drug. The textural properties of the Mt. were strongly dependent on the treatment of HCl. The drug loading of pristine Mt. was 190 mg/g, while it was increased to 298 mg/g for Acid-Mt. In vitro release showed that the IBU was released about 92% from IBU/Acid-Mt within 12 h, while the pure IBU was released all within 4 h in simulated intestinal fluid, which meant that the IBU/Acid-Mt were able to retard the drug release with a controlled manner. The release profiles of IBU from composites were fitted by Higuchi and Korsmeyer-Peppas equations, which manifested that diffusion sustained release dominated the main mechanism. Meanwhile, in vivo pharmacokinetics studies in rats displayed that the IBU/Acid-Mt exhibited better gradual drug release than the commercial IBU suspension. For the IBU/Acid-Mt composites, the area under the plasma concentration-time curve from 0 to 24 h (AUC0–24) and mean residence time (MRT0–24) were 644.49 ± 73.26 μg/h/mL and 7.65 ± 0.48 h, both of which were significantly larger than commercial IBU suspension (AUC0–24 of 439.88 ± 84.41 μg/h/mL and MRT0–24 of 3.10 ± 0.38 h), respectively (P

Nanos2 belongs to the Nanos gene-coding family and is an important RNA-binding protein that has been shown to have essential roles in male germline stem cells development and self-renewal in mouse. However, little is known about Nanos2 in inchoate buffalo spermatogonia. Here, rapid-amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) was used to obtain the full-length buffalo Nanos2 sequence and bioinformatic analysis revealed a highly conserved Nanos2 sequence between buffalo and other mammalian species. Although Nanos2 was expressed in various tissues, the highest mRNA expression levels were found in testes tissue. Moreover, Nanos2 mRNA was abundant in fetal and pre-puberal testes but markedly decreased in the testes of adults. At the protein level, immunohistochemistry in pre-puberal testes revealed a pattern of NANOS2 expression similar to that for the undifferentiated type A spermatogonia marker PGP9.5. Furthermore, NANOS2 expression was low in adult testes and restricted to elongating spermatids. Altogether, our data suggest that Nanos2 is a potential preliminary molecular marker of inchoate buffalo spermatogonia, and may play an important role in buffalo spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) development and self-renewal, as has been observed in other model animals.

Currently, the systems for culturing buffalo spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) in vitro are varied, and their effects are still inconclusive. In this study, we compared the effects of culture systems with undefined (foetal bovine serum) and defined (KnockOut Serum Replacement) materials on the in vitro culture of buffalo SSC-like cells. Significantly more DDX4- and UCHL1-positive cells (cultured for 2 days at passage 2) were observed in the defined materials culture system than in the undefined materials system (p < 0.01), and these cells were maintained for a longer period than those in the culture system with undefined materials (10 days vs. 6 days). Furthermore, NANOS2 (p < 0.05), DDX4 (p < 0.01) and UCHL1 (p < 0.05) were expressed at significantly higher levels in the culture system with defined materials than in that with undefined materials. Induction with retinoic acid was used to verify that the cultured cells maintained SSC characteristics, revealing an SCP3+ subset in the cells cultured in the defined materials system. The expression levels of Stra8 (p < 0.05) and Rec8 (p < 0.01) were significantly increased, and the expression levels of ZBTB16 (p < 0.01) and DDX4 (p < 0.05) were significantly decreased. These findings provided a clearer research platform for exploring the mechanism of buffalo SSCs in vitro.

Synthetic chemistry remains a time- and labor-intensive process of inherent hazardous nature. Our organic solvent disintegrating tablet (O-Tab) technology has shown potential to make industrial/synthetic chemistry more efficient. As is the case with pharmaceutical tablets, our reagent-containing O-Tabs are mechanically strong, but disintegrate rapidly when in contact with reaction media (organic solvents). For O-Tabs containing sensitive chemicals, they can be further coated to insulate them from air and moisture.

Hierarchical Ag 2 CO 3 /Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 microflowers were synthesized at room temperature using a facile solution method. The as-prepared composite was composed of numerous two-dimensional nanosheets with oriented terminal arrangement. The photocatalytic activities of Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 , Ag 2 CO 3 and Ag 2 CO 3 /Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 were evaluated through the photodegradation of wastewater which contains organic dyes of rhodamine B (RhB), methyl orange (MO), methylene blue (MB), or their mixture under visible light irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm). Results showed that the photocatalytic activity of Ag2CO3/Bi2O2CO3 was much higher than that of single phase Bi2O2CO3 or Ag2CO3. In addition, the Ag2CO3/Bi2O2CO3 photocatalyst also showed good photostability and recyclability. The excellent photocatalytic efficiency of the Ag2CO3/Bi2O2CO3 photocatalyst could be ascribed to the improved light absorption ability and the reduced recombination of photo-generated electron-hole pairs during photocatalytic reactions. Moreover, the possible transferred and separated behavior of electron-hole pairs and photocatalytic reaction mechanism on the Ag2CO3/Bi2O2CO3 photacatalyst are illustrated in detail.

This work investigates the effect of shortening aptamer sequences on the colorimetric detection of acetamiprid using aptamer-wrapped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Truncated 37-mer and 25-mer aptamers were generated by deleting excess flanking nucleotides from parental 49-mer acetamiprid-target aptamer. In comparing the responses of the three sequences, truncated aptamers did not improve the ability to discriminate against other tested pesticides. However, comparison between 49-mer and other shorter aptamers showed that shortening aptamer sequences through removing excess flanking nucleotides outsides of binding region improved colorimetric sensitivity for acetamiprid by 3.3 fold. Due to excess bases, the target-bound aptamer might still adhere to AuNPs, resulting in incomplete dissociation of aptamer from AuNPs and therefore the suppression of aggregation responses. This work provides further insight to the effects of aptamer structure on detection of the target, as well as a method by fine-tuning aptamer length for rapid detection of pesticide residues in environments or food.

Quantitative analysis of 33 free amino acids (AAs) in serum, milk, and muscle samples was achieved using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS). The samples were extracted using methanol and derivatized with 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl carbamate to enhance chromatographic retention. Thirty-three AAs were separated on a 1.7-μm BEH C18 column within 15 min, which is at least six times faster than that of an AA analyzer. Serum, milk, and muscle samples spiked with free AAs were tested in terms of linearity, sensitivity, repeatability, and recovery. Results indicated that recoveries for the AAs ranged from 77.7 to 124.8 % with relative standard deviations (RSD) less than 12.3 %. The lower limit of detection ranged from 0.003 to 0.68 μmol/L and 0.003 to 0.27 nmol/g for body fluid and muscle samples, respectively. Finally, the developed method was used for the determination of free AAs in actual serum, milk, and muscle samples with good results.

Sanghuangporous sanghuang is a rare medicinal fungus which contains polysaccharide as the main active substance and was used to treat gynecological diseases in ancient China. The intracellular polysaccharide yield of S. sanghuang was enhanced by the strain A130 which was screened from mutant strains via atmospheric and room temperature plasma (ARTP) mutagenesis. The objective of this research was to investigate the effects of ARTP mutagenesis on structural characteristics and biological activities of intracellular polysaccharides from S. sanghuang. Six intracellular polysaccharide components were obtained from S. sanghuang mycelia cultivated by the mutagenic strain (A130) and original strain (SH1), respectively. The results revealed that the yields of polysaccharide fractions A130-20, A130-50 and A130-70 isolated from the mutagenic strain fermentation mycelia were significantly higher than those of the original ones by 1.5-, 1.3- and 1.2-fold, and the clear physicochemical differences were found in polysaccharide fractions precipitated by 20% ethanol. A130-20 showed a relatively expanded branching chain with higher molecular weight and better in vitro macrophage activation activities and the IL-6, IL-1, and TNF-&alpha, production activities of macrophages were improved by stimulation of A130-20 from the mutagenic strain. This study demonstrates that ARTP is a novel and powerful tool to breed a high polysaccharide yield strain of S. sanghuang and may, therefore, contribute to the large-scale utilization of rare medicinal fungi.

A novel and enhanced adsorption-photocatalytic reduction performances of Cr (VI) photocatalyst on TiO2-g-GMA/NMG (noted as: TGN) was prepared by pre-radiation grafting and ring-opening reaction with Glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and N-methyl glucamine (NMG). The surface and microstructure properties of photocatalyst were manifested by FTIR, TG, XRD, DRS, XPS, BET and contact angle. Morphologies of TGN were characterized further by FE-SEM and HR-TEM. The highly activity of TGN was tested by the reduction of Cr (VI) into Cr (III) in aqueous medium under mixed light. The results showed that the TGN (NMG:18%, 60 kGy) also had a highest removal rate (81.8%) of Cr (VI) only for 1 h at [Cr(VI)] = 10 ppm, [TGN] = 10 mg/50 mL and pH = 3.0. In addition, the adsorption-photocatalytic reduction mechanism of Cr (VI) by TGN consisted of three processes was proposed. Generally, this TGN complex photocatalyst has good potential for application in the field of water pollution treatment containing high valence heavy metal ions.

A low-cost novel lateral flow nucleic acid assay (LFNAA) was developed for rapid and sensitive authentication of yak milk on-site. In this method, a special abasic spacer C3 and tail nucleotide sequence modified reverse primers were innovatively designed for rapid isothermal recombinant polymerase amplification (RPA) to obtain a double-stranded amplicon with a single-stranded DNA tail, which could directly bind to gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-labeled detection probes, and produce a sandwich complex to show a red color on the test line of the strip. Compared to conventional RPA-lateral flow assay based on expensive antibodies, the proposed method in this work demonstrated massive cost reduction, avoided time-consuming and laborious AuNP-antibody conjugation process. The LFNAA revealed high specificity and sensitivity, which allowed detecting as low as 5% of yak milk within 40 min. This LFNAA facilitated non-specialized operators to field determine the authenticity of yak milk by naked eyes, and could be readily applied to other nucleic acid detection such as food safety inspection and point-of-care medical tests.

Overexpression of connexin 43 (Cx43) was related to dysfunction of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Our previous study reported that rutaecarpine, an active ingredient of herbal medicine Evodia, modulated connexins expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. This study aims to explore the effects of rutaecarpine on Cx43 expression and VSMCs dysfunction induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL). In cultured rat thoracic aortic VSMCs, ox-LDL upregulated the level of Cx43 in a time- and dose-dependent manner, which were abolished by the NF-κB inhibitor BAY11–7082 and PDTC. Furthermore, exposure to ox-LDL for 4 h induced the nuclear translocation of the NF-κB p65 in VMSCs. Ox-LDL (50 mg/l,48 h) induced dysfunction of VSMCs, demonstrated as excessive proliferation, migration, and phenotype switch of cells, which were attenuated by treatment with Cx43 gap junction blocker Gap26(100 μM)) or rutaecarpine (1, 3, and 10 µM). Rutaecarpine inhibited ox-LDL-induced upregulation of Cx43, prevented nuclear translocation of the NF-κB p65, and increased intracellular calcium level in VSMCs. These effects were abolished by pretreatment with transient receptor potential vanilloid subtype 1 (TRPV1) antagonist capsazepine, intracellular calcium chelator BAPTA-AM or CaM antagonist W-7. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that rutaecarpine inhibited Cx43 overexpression through TRPV1/[Ca2+]i/CaM/NF-κB signal pathway, thereby preventing VSMCs dysfunction induced by ox-LDL. Our study provides a novel mechanism by which rutaecarpine modulate Cx43 expression and VSMC function.

The effects of acetyl-l-carnitine (ALC) supplementation during IVM on subsequently vitrified buffalo oocytes were evaluated, followed by determination of the mitochondrial DNA copy number, measurement of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and identification of the lipid profile of oocyte membranes as markers of oocyte quality after vitrification. Supplementation with ALC during IVM significantly improved the rates of oocyte cleavage and morula and blastocyst formation, and increased MMP after vitrification compared with unsupplemented vitrified oocytes (P

A crystalline bisindolylmaleimide (BIM) 3 with strong fluorescence in the solid state was prepared and studied. Its analogous cross-linked polymer 4 with the same BIMs fluorophore was designed and characterized. The investigation of the covalent bonding networking effect on the solid-state fluorescence was carried out by the comparison between 3 and 4.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contaminated soil was studied under electrokinetic enhanced biodegradation with polarity-reversal. The effects of polarity reversal were investigated on electric current, pH, microbial counts and the spatial distribution of pyrene biodegradation rate during the application of electro-bioremediation. Three types of treatment were conducted: PYR-degrading microbial treatment only (Bio), electro-bioremediation without polarity-reversal (EK-Bio), electro-bioremediation with polarity-reversal at an interval of 2 hours (EK-Bio-PR). After 42 days, EK-Bio-PR maintained a neutral soil pH (7.20) and relatively stable electric current. After running for 17 days, the electric current stabilized around 10 mA in EK-Bio-PR, and which was 5 times than that in KE-Bio. Polarity-reversal enhanced microbial counts, and improved the PYR degradation. The bacterial counts reached up to 4.8 × 1011 cfu/g and the best PYR degradation efficiency was 55.9% in EK-Bio-PR at the end of experiment. Thus, the application of electrokinetics with periodic polarity-reversal enabled better microbial growth and biodegradation, which further improved the overall removal of PAHs pollutant.

Melatonin is a hormone found in animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria, which can be used as a sleep aid and in the treatment of sleep disorders. Here, a rapid and accurate method was developed for the determination of melatonin in plasma, milk, and egg using high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorimetric detection (HPLC-FLD) and ultra high performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole-orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS). Sample was extracted with methanol and cleaned by passing through hydrophilic–lipophilic balanced (HLB) solid phase extraction cartridge. The method validation results showed that recovery for melatonin was between 80.3 and 105.1 % with relative standard deviations less than 9.8 %. UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS was employed as a further means of confirmation to assure accuracy of the results. Limits of detection for melatonin were 0.13 ng g−1 and 0.14 ng mL−1 for solid and liquid samples, respectively. Thus, the proposed method can be applied to detect melatonin in milk, plasma, and egg samples. Meanwhile, the metabolites of melatonin were identified using Q-Orbitrap HRMS. The approach identified five metabolites; among them, a novel metabolite, named mono-oxygenation-demethylation-melatonin, was found in plasma.

Red emitting materials containing D(donor)–A(acceptor) systems with “pyramid-mimetic” structures often gave intensive red fluorescence in the solid state. However, there is no guiding approach to fix such conformations of bisindolylmaleimides (BIMs) in the solid state. In this paper, the location of N-dodecyl chains on indole rings of BIMs was found to have the “pyramid-mimetic” structure and thus gave intensive solid-state red fluorescence in single crystals.

In this paper, the delamination behavior of an end-linked PDMS/copper interface is investigated through molecular dynamics simulations. A stepwise end-linking protocol based on an iterative MD simulation/energy minimization is utilized to develop the post-cured microstructure of the PDMS. Stress versus strain relation is calculated to understand the PDMS/copper interfacial tensile strength and thus to predict the interface delamination behavior. The resulted stress-strain relations can be also applied in cohesive zone finite element simulation to evaluate stretchability of stretchable interconnects.

Nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) is a heterotrimeric transcription factor that consists of three subunits, NF-YA, NF-YB, and NF-YC. Although NF-Ys play multiple roles in plant development, their functions during endosperm development are not well understood. In this study, we identified eight NF-Y encoding genes, including OsNF-YA8, OsNF-YB1,9, and OsNF-YC8,9,10,11,12, which predominantly express in the rice endosperm. Interestingly, the closest homologs of these OsNF-Ys are present only in the monocot species. All the genes are preferentially expressed in the endosperm, suggesting their roles in the regulation of endosperm development. A systemic analysis of the interactions between rice endosperm-preferential NF-Ys in yeast revealed that NF-YBs and NF-YCs could interact with each other. OsNF-YA8 is a recently evolved NF-YA in rice. Generally, NF-YA does not interact with NF-YB monomers in plants; however, in the present study, we found that OsNY-YA8 interacts with OsNF-YB9. Our results also indicated that the endosperm-preferential OsNF-YBs and OsNF-YCs could interact with some ethylene response factors (ERFs) of rice. Unlike the OsNF-YC8,9,10, the members of OsNF-YB1, 9 or OsNF-YC 11 and 12 showed lack of transcriptional activation when present alone. However, they displayed functional activity while in dimer form. In addition, OsNF-YB1 knockout lines showed significant changes in the seed morphology, further confirms its role in endosperm development. Our findings have provided strong evidences that the group of phylogenetically conserved NF-Ys are differentiated in monocots to regulate the endosperm development.

Self-sensitized FOX-7 (1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethy- lene) was prepared by a facile heat treatment process near the decomposition temperature. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) shows the self-sensitized FOX-7 becomes multiple layers and porous after heat treat- ment. N2 adsorbance measurements revealed that its spe- cific surface area (6.754 m 2 g � 1 ) is 20 times of the area of ex- panded ammonium nitrate. The SAXS tests further indicate the existence of a large amount of voids in self-sensitized FOX-7 and the pore size is about 30 nm, belonging to mes- opore (2.0-50 nm). Based on the analysis of X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), the self-sensitized porous FOX-7 consists of a-phase and a spot of g-phase. The TG-DSC results show that the self-sensitized FOX-7 exhibits excellent thermal sta- bility. The impact, frication and electrostatic spark sensitivi- ties of self-sensitized FOX-7 also have considerable en- hancement. This new method provides a promising route for exploring new green primary explosive replacements.

Novel biodegradable dendritic contrast agents (DCAs) based on polyester dendrimers were synthesized and characterized. The DCAs were stable at acidic pH, but hydrolyzed rapidly at physiological pH, which rendered the DCA's long-term Gd3+ retention as low as that of small molecule CAs. Their longitudinal relaxivities of 10.2 to 17.5 L·mmol−1·s−1 were about 2.4 to 4.1 times higher than that of DTPA-Gd, indicating their superior contrast-enhancing capability to the clinically used contrast agent. The in vivo MRI study suggested that the DCA at lower generation (G2-DTPA-Gd) could effectively enhance the MRI of tumor, while the one at higher generation (G5-DTPA-Gd) showed more potential in liver imaging.

High-quality vinegars are traditionally produced by aging them in barrels or bottles. However, these processes are very time-consuming. To accelerate of Zhenjiang vinegar maturation, the ultrasound was used to treat the steeped vinegar. Results showed that, the optimum ultrasonic power, time and ethanol addition for aging vinegar were determined to be 50W/100mL, 75min and 0.75% (V/V), respectively. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the total amino acid of fresh vinegar decreased from 1082.259mg/100mL to 871.045mg/100mL. Several volatile components increased significantly, such as the total esters, aldehydes and heterocyclic. Total non-volatile organic acids increased from 202.59mg/10mL to 233.87mg/10mL. The changes of above-mentioned components develop towards the direction of mature vinegar. Coupling the HS-SPME/GC-MS analysis data with Principal Components Analysis, ultrasonic treatment vinegar was determined to be equivalent to 2-3years of natural aged Zhenjiang vinegar. This study has showed that ultrasound is promising not only in shortening the aging time and lowering costs for the vinegar-making industry, but also in producing fine vinegar.