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Among numerous heterometallic chalcogenidoantimonates, relatively a few amine-directed Ge-Sb-S compounds have been synthesized. Presented here are the solvothermal syntheses, crystal structures, and ion-exchange, optical, and photocatalytic properties of two novel amine-directed Ge-Sb-S compounds, namely, [CH3NH3]20Ge10Sb28S72·7H2O (1) and [(CH3CH2CH2)2NH2]3Ge3Sb5S15·0.5(C2H5OH) (2). The structure of 1 features an unprecedented two-dimensional Ge-Sb-S double-layer composed of two twofold rotational symmetry-related thick [Ge8Sb28S72]n(28n-) single layers adhered via vertex-sharing [GeS4] tetrahedra. Compound 2 features a unique [Ge3Sb5S15]n(3n-) slab perforated with large elliptic-like windows. Remarkably, compound 1 exhibited excellent Cs(+) ion-exchange property despite the presence of excess competitive cations, such as Na(+), K(+), Mg(2+), and Ca(2+) ions. In addition, compound 1 displayed visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity for degradation of rhodamine B.

The tea plant (Camellia sinensis L.) is an important commercial crop with remarkably high catechin concentrations. Tea is popular worldwide given the plant's health benefits. Catechins are the main astringent substance in tea and are synthesized mainly via the phenylpropanoid pathway. In this study, eight cultivars of tea plants harvested both in spring and autumn were used to investigate differences in catechin concentrations by using high-performance liquid chromatography. The expression levels of genes associated with catechin biosynthesis were investigated using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results indicated that the total catechin (TC) concentrations were significantly higher in tea plants harvested in autumn than in those harvested in spring, based on higher concentrations of epigallocatechin (EGC) in autumn tea (P<0.01). The expression of the genes phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H), flavonoid 3',5'-hydroxylase (F3'5'H), dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), and anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) is closely related to the TC content of tea plants in both spring and autumn. Positive correlations between PAL, cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H), F3H, and DFR expression and EGC accumulation in autumn tea were identified, with correlation coefficients of 0.710, 0.763, 0.884, and 0.707, respectively. A negative correlation between ANS expression level and EGC concentrations in tea plants harvested in spring was noted (r=-0.732). Additionally, negative correlations between F3H and ANS expression levels and the catechin content were identified in spring tea, whereas the correlations were positive in autumn tea. Significant differences in the F3H and ANS expression levels between spring and autumn tea indicate that F3H and ANS are potentially key genes affecting catechin accumulation in tea plants.

Presented is an inorganic-organic hybrid compound Mn2(api)Sb2S5 (1) with uniaxial NTE behaviour. The NTE of reflects a strong synergistic role of organic and inorganic components, which results from the novel zigzag linkage of interlamellar organic ligands. An "elevator-platform" expansion mechanism was proposed, with implications for future design of sensitive hybrid thermomechanical actuators.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer death in the world. The gene glypican-3 (GPC3) is reported to be a potential therapeutic target for HCC. In this study, we use RNA interference with lentiviral vectors to explore the effect of GPC3 silencing on the biological behavior of HCC cells and the potential role of the GPC3 protein in the activation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which relates to HCC cell invasion and migration. Our data suggest that GPC3 silencing leads to a decrease in HCC cell proliferation and to an increase in apoptosis. We demonstrated that GPC3 silencing regulates cell invasion and migration, most probably through the activation of the EMT cellular program. In conclusion, GPC3 is associated with the HCC cell biological behavior, while the relationship between GPC3 and EMT in tumorigenesis of HCC deserves future investigation.

Amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) has been implicated as a key molecule in the neurodegenerative cascades of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Humanin (HN) is a secretory peptide that inhibits the neurotoxicity of Aβ. However, the mechanism(s) by which HN exerts its neuroprotection against Aβ-induced AD-like pathological changes and memory deficits are yet to be completely defined. In the present study, we provided evidence that treatment of rats with HN increases the number of dendritic branches and the density of dendritic spines, and upregulates pre- and post-synaptic protein levels; these effects lead to enhanced long-term potentiation and amelioration of the memory deficits induced by Aβ(1-42). HN also attenuated Aβ(1-42)-induced tau hyperphosphorylation, apparently by inhibiting the phosphorylation of Tyr307 on the inhibitory protein phosphatase-2A (PP2A) catalytic subunit and thereby activating PP2A. HN also inhibited apoptosis and reduced the oxidative stress induced by Aβ(1-42). These findings provide novel mechanisms of action for the ability of HN to protect against Aβ(1-42)-induced AD-like pathological changes and memory deficits.

The first organically directed bismuth thiogermanate, namely [(Me)2NH2][BiGeS4] (), has been solvothermally synthesized and characterized. The structure features a two-dimensional anionic network of [BiGeS4]n(n-), with dimethylammonium as a counterion and a structure-directing agent. is able to undergo ion exchange with Rb(+) ions.

Two mixed-valent thioarsenates, namely (enH2)(4.5)[In(As(V)S4)3][As2(III)(μ-S2)S3]Cl (1) and (enH2)MnAs(III)As(V)S6 (2) (en = ethylenediamine), have been solvothermally synthesized and characterized. Thermal stability, magnetic and mixed-valent optical properties, as well as theoretical band structures and DOSs, of 1 and 2 have also been studied.

An indirect adaptive controller is developed for a class of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) nonlinear systems with unknown uncertainties. This control system is comprised of an L 1 adaptive controller and an auxiliary neural network (NN) compensation controller. The L 1 adaptive controller has guaranteed transient response in addition to stable tracking. In this architecture, a low-pass filter is adopted to guarantee fast adaptive rate without generating high-frequency oscillations in control signals. The auxiliary compensation controller is designed to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions by MIMO RBF neural networks to suppress the influence of uncertainties. NN weights are tuned on-line with no prior training and the project operator ensures the weights bounded. The global stability of the closed-system is derived based on the Lyapunov function. Numerical simulations of an MIMO system coupled with nonlinear uncertainties are used to illustrate the practical potential of our theoretical results.

NaYF4 : Yb3+, Er3+, Tm3+ nanoparticles were prepared by microemulsion-hydrothermal method. Crystal phase, morphology and structure of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The luminescence properties were studied by up-conversional fluorescence spectroscopy. The XRD patterns of as-prepared samples were in agreement with the PDF # 77-2042 of cubic NaYF4. SEM images of the particles showed that the samples were cotton-like spherical in shape and which were assembled by smaller nano-particles. The average size was 120 nm, while the shape was regular and the particle size was homogeneous. Under the excitation of 980 nm, the as-prepared particles could emit blue (438 and 486 nm), green (523 and 539 nm) and red (650 nm) light simultaneously. It can be seen from the color coordinates figure (CIE) that when doping concentration ratio of Tm3+ and E3+ increased from 0 to 2, the whole emitting light color of samples movedto green region. While the ratio was 1 : 1, pseudo white light was obtained. As the ratio changed from 2 to 7, the luminous color was moved to red region.

Europium doped CaMoO4 and bismuth co-doped CaMoO4 : Eu3+ phosphors were prepared via microemulsion-hydrothermal method. The structure, morphology and luminescence properties of samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and fluorescence spectroscopy, respectively. The XRD patterns of as-prepared samples were in agreement with the PDF # 29-0351 of CaMoO4, which indicated that the phosphor possessed tetragonal crystal structure. SEM images showed that the samples were basically flake in shape and their average size was 1.5-2.5 microm. The critical molar concentration of activator (Eu3+) in CaMoO4 : Eu3+ was 5%, and the predominant peak of CaMoO4 : Eu3+ located at 616 nm, corresponding to the 5D0 -->7 F2 electronic dipole transition of Eu3+. The photoluminescence color can be tuned from orange-yellow (0.514, 0.537) to white (0.339, 0.333) by adjusting the doping concentrations of Eu3+ ions. To enhance the red emission intensity of Eu3+, Bi3+ was used to co-dope CaMoO4 : Eu3+ as sensitizers. When the concentration of Bi3+ is 3%, luminescence intensity was maximum. The chromaticity coordinates (CIE) varied from orange (0.497, 0.347) to red (0.585, 0.349) with increasing the content of Bi3+.

Objective: To investigate the coverage rate of primary immunization of measles containing vaccine (MCV1) among migrant children in Yiwu,Zhejiang province., Methods: Household cluster sampling survey and probability proportion to size sampling method were adopted. A total of 967 migrant children born from 1st July 2007 to 1st July 2010 and their caregivers were selected as target population. Standard face-to-face interviews were conducted to investigate the subjects' knowledge, attitude, practice (KAP) of immunization, MCV1 vaccination and determinants. Multi-variable weighted average score method was adopted to evaluate the result of our survey on KAP. Kaplan-Meier analysis was adopted to assess the coverage of MCV1 and Cox regression analysis was adopted to explore the influencing factors associated with the coverage of MCV1., Results: Out of the 967 children, 104 were born in 2007, accounting for 10.8%; 301 were born in 2008, accounting for 31.1%; 343 were born in 2009, accounting for 35.5% and 219 were born in 2010, accounting for 22.6%. Among the surveyed caregivers, 71.9% (695/967) were mothers and 90.2% (872/976) were migrant from other provinces. According to the result of survey on KAP among caregivers, 56.2% (543/967) scored ≥ 4 points on knowledge, 75.8% (734/967) scored ≥ 4 points on attitude and 48.7% (471/967) scored ≥ 4 points on behavior. 86.6% (838/967) of surveyed caregivers' education levels were under junior middle school.85.9% (831/967) of the migrant children were born in hospitals.36.3% (351/967) of the surveyed families' household income were under 2000 yuan per month.32.7% (316/967) of surveyed caregivers waited less than 15 min for immunization for each time. Coverage rate of MCV1 was 85.9% (831/967; 95%CI: 83.7%-88.1%). The timely coverage rates at 8 months, 12 months, and 24 months were 58.8% (569/967; 95%CI: 55.5%-62.1%), 88.2% (853/967; 95%CI: 86.0%-90.4%) and 98.6% (953/967; 95%CI: 97.8%-99.4%), respectively. The average age of MCV1 immunization for each birth cohort between 2007 and 2010 were 10.4, 10.1, 10.1 and 9.3 month, respectively; without statistical significance (χ(2) = 0.722, P = 0.398). According to the analysis by Cox regression, the caregivers aged ≤ 25 years (24.3% (235/967), RR = 1.520 (95%CI: 1.280-1.800)), the caregivers' education level above college (2.8% (27/967), RR = 3.841 (95%CI: 2.287-6.451)), delivered in county-level hospital (49.4% (478/967), RR = 6.048 (95%CI: 4.311-8.485)), household income > 4000 yuan per month (21.7% (210/967), RR = 1.366 (95%CI:1.163-1.604)), the average score of attitude towards immunization ≥ 4 points (75.9%(734/967), RR = 2.613 (95%CI: 1.026-6.655)), the average waiting time for each vaccination ≤ 15 min (32.7% (316/967), RR = 2.116 (95%CI: 1.341-3.339)) were the important factors to improve the timely immunization coverage rate of MCV1 among migrant children., Conclusion: The coverage of MCV1 were obviously delayed among migrant children in Yiwu, Zhejiang province. We suggest that the investigation of migrant children should be strengthened and remind or recall mechanism for immunization should be established. Increasing the open days for immunization clinics and reducing the waiting time for vaccination could also improve the coverage and timeliness of the MCV vaccination.

It is generally accepted that Raman spectroscopy is an advanced method with simple operation, small amount of specimens needed as well as rapid on-line screening, detection and identification. However, in the technology of determination, sample preparation is also an significant factor during analysis process. It would affect the accuracy and precision of the results, and normally involved complicated procedure. Developing a rapid and effective sample preparation method coupled with Raman detective technology is a method worth study. In the present paper, the simply basic principle, the origin and development of generating Raman spectra were introduced, some Raman technology, such as the surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, shell-isolated nanoparticle enhanced Raman spectroscopy and the sample preparation were discussed.

The total partition function was calculated for carbon monoxide with approximation. Using the dipole moment function and the wave function with Morse approximation, we computed the matrix elements of vibrational-rotational transition and absorption coefficient at normal and high temperature. The computed results agreed with the HITRAN database and literature, which shows that the calculation of total partition function and matrix elements of vibrational-rotational transition is reliable. Furthermore, the absorption coefficient and radiant spectrum are also presented at higher temperature of 4 000 and 6 000 K.

Objective: To study the effect of LY294002 on the adriamycin- induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in human breast carcinoma cells., Methods: Human breast carcinoma cells MCF-7 was cultured in vitro and then exposed to adriamycin with or without LY294002. The protein expression levels of Akt, phosphorylated-Akt (p-Akt), Snail, and E-cadherin was detected by Western blot analysis. The mRNA expressions of Snail and E-cadherin were determined by RT-PCR., Results: Adriamycin significantly increased the protein expression of Snail and depressed the protein expression of E-cadherin (P<0.05). The pre-treatment with LY294002 significantly reversed the changes of activities and levels of the above proteins (P<0.05)., Conclusion: LY294002 could reverse the adriamycin-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in human breast carcinoma cells by regulating the expressions of Snail and E-cadherin through suppressing PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

High-throughput tag-sequencing (Tag-seq) analysis based on the Solexa Genome Analyzer platform was applied to analyze the gene expression profiling of cucumber plant at 5 time points over a 24h period of waterlogging treatment. Approximately 5.8 million total clean sequence tags per library were obtained with 143013 distinct clean tag sequences. Approximately 23.69%-29.61% of the distinct clean tags were mapped unambiguously to the unigene database, and 53.78%-60.66% of the distinct clean tags were mapped to the cucumber genome database. Analysis of the differentially expressed genes revealed that most of the genes were down-regulated in the waterlogging stages, and the differentially expressed genes mainly linked to carbon metabolism, photosynthesis, reactive oxygen species generation/scavenging, and hormone synthesis/signaling. Finally, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction using nine genes independently verified the tag-mapped results. This present study reveals the comprehensive mechanisms of waterlogging-responsive transcription in cucumber., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To elucidate the genetic diversifications of avian influenza subtype H5N1 viruses in the boundary regions of Yunnan province during 2009 to July, 2011., Methods: Swab samples were collected from foreign poultry and wild birds in boundary regions of Yunnan province during 2009 to July, 2011 and tested by H5/N1 subtype-specific multiplex RT-PCR. The HA genes of H5N1 virus from the positive samples were amplified by RT-PCR and cloned into pMD18-T vectors for sequencing. Both alignment and phylogenetic analysis were performed with sequences of the known reference strains., Results: Fifteen different HA sequences were obtained from 36 representative positive samples and could be divided into 2 distinct Clades (2.3.2 and 2.3.4). Through phylogenetic analysis, Clade 2.3.2 and 2.3.4 could then be further divided into 3 (II-1 to II-3) and 2 smaller clades (I-1 and I-2), respectively. The viruses of Clade 2.3.2 II-1 and II-2 were new variant strains of H5N1 virus. The cleavage sites of HA from positive samples all possessed molecular characterization of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus. Mutation of key amino acids had been found among receptor binding sites, potential glycosylation sites, neutralizing epitopes and others., Conclusion: It seemed evident that the H5N1 subtype viruses showed genetic diversifications and had undergone the evolution progress of multi-clade (2.3.2, 2.3.4) to single calde (2.3.2) in the boundary regions of Yunnan province, during 2009 to July, 2011.

Applying Raman spectrometry to detect several kinds of oils such as petrol, diesel oil, naphtha and KHF (aviation fuel hydro treating), the authors can explore the regular laws existing among these oils. The authors detected 150 cases of oils using Raman spectrometer developed by ourselves with 785 nm excitation wavelength miniature portable, and dealed with these spectra-paragraphs of the oils on level and SNV (normalization method) methods. The spectrograms of four categories of oils including petrol, diesel oil, naphtha and KHF and also the additives of them have different characteristics and rules. According to the alkenes peak's location and intensity we can distinguish petrol and naphtha, and then screen out some unqualified petrol. Raman spectrometry is very simple and has advantages that it needs a small amount of oil samples, at the same time, it also has no damage to test samples. The spectra-paragraphs show that different kinds of samples have different character on location and intensity of Raman peak. The Raman spectrometry method has great potential on establishing a rapid oil screening detection and identification method.

Two extracellular polysaccharides, ENP1 and ENP2, were isolated from the fermentation liquid of the marine fungus Epicoccum nigrum JJY-40 by anion-exchange chromatography and gel-filtration chromatography, and their structures were investigated using chemical and spectroscopic methods including methylation analysis and NMR spectroscopy. The results demonstrated that ENP1 was composed of mannose, glucose, and galactose in the molar ratio of 5.0:2.1:1.0, and the main chain of the polysaccharide consisted of (1 → 2)-linked mannose, (1 → 3)-linked mannose, terminal mannose, (1 → 6)-linked glucose, (1 → 4)-linked glucose, and (1 → 4)-linked galactose. ENP2 was composed of mannose, galactose, glucose, and glucuronic acid in a molar ratio of 12.4:11.2:8.3:1.0, and its glycosidic linkage patterns included terminal mannose, (1 → 6)-linked glucose, (1 → 4)-linked galactose, and (1 → 3)-linked mannose. The two polysaccharides had a partially branched structure with branch point located at C-3 position of (1 → 6)-linked glucose residue. The molecular weights of ENP1 and ENP2 were 19.2 kDa and 32.7 kDa, respectively. Antioxidant properties of the two polysaccharides were evaluated with hydroxyl, superoxide, and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activities and lipid peroxidation inhibition in vitro, and results showed that ENP2 and ENP1 had good antioxidant activities, especially ENP2. ENP2 could be effective as a potential antioxidant.

Bacteria communicate with each other by a process termed "quorum sensing" (QS), and diffusible, low-molecular-weight chemicals, called signal molecules, are used as the communication languages. In cell-free Burkholderia cepacia CF-66 culture supernatants, five compounds suspected of being signal molecules were identified. The gene (cepI) related with AHLs synthesis were not detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using specific primers. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) revealed that these compounds were not AHLs but the diketopiperazines (DKPs) cyclo(Pro-Phe), cyclo(Pro-Tyr), cyclo(Ala-Val), cyclo(Pro-Leu), and cyclo(Pro-Val), all of which were both D and L-type. Four kinds of DKPs had been isolated from other gram-negative bacteria, but the other was a novel kind discovered in CF-66, and L-cyclo (Pro-Phe) was quantified by GC-MS. It was found that exogenous DKPs had a negative effect on the candidacidal activity of the culture supernatant extracts.

This study aims to investigate the inhibitory effect on proliferation and metastasis of 20-O-(beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-20(S)-protopanaxadiol (IH901) on ECV304 cell line. MTT assay was used to examine the effect of cell proliferation inhibition and the adhesive ability of ECV304 cells to artificial basement membrane. Morphology of cell apoptosis was observed with phase contrast microscope. Apoptosis rate and cell cycle were detected by flow cytometry (FCM). Cell migration was measured by wound healing assay. ELISA kit was used to detect VEGF and bFGF. Caspases were detected by Western blotting. Results indicated that ginseng saponin IH901 can downregulate the expression of growth promoting protein VEGF and bFGF, and upregulate pro apoptosis protein cleaved caspase-9 and cleaved caspase-3. The increase in the apoptotic sub-G1 fraction is in a dose-dependent manner, and cell cycle arrests in the G0/G1 phase was detected by FCM. Morphological examination of IH901-treated samples showed cells with chromatin condensation, cell shrinkage, and all typical characteristics of apoptotic cells. Therefore, IH901 dramatically suppresses cell proliferation and adhesion and migration of ECV304 cell line.

We investigate the phase coherence between a seed laser and a laser amplified by a tapered semiconductor amplifier (TSA) when the seed laser is either continuous wave (CW) or pulsed. The phase fluctuations in the time domain are employed to describe the degradation of phase coherence induced by a TSA. The amplified laser is measured to be approximately 99.98% coherent with the seed, when the CW or pulsed laser is seeded, at different supplying currents of the TSA. Furthermore, the phase coherence is measured when the seed laser is modulated. The results reveal that the phase coherence degradations induced by the TSA remain the same for a seed laser with and without modulation, when different supplying currents of the TSA are applied.

The authentication of olive oil and its adulteration with lower priced oils are still serious problems in the olive oil industry. In this study, a method based on the intensity ratio of the Raman spectroscopy vibration bands, especially on the intensity ratio of the cis ( ==C-H) and cis (C=C) bonds normalized by the band at 1441 cm(-1) (CH(2)), was established to authenticate genuine/fake olive oil. These intensity ratios of the vibration bands given in the form of a two-dimensional chart allow first the discrimination between the various grades of olive oil and the seed oils and then the detection of olive oil fraud by the line of y = 0.7, which is observed under most experiments and dot charts. This method can reliably distinguish the genuine olive oils from the olive oils containing 5% (volume percentage) or more of other edible oils, such as soybean oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower seed oil, or corn oil. Compared to the traditional principal component analysis method, this method is more intuitive, more precise, and easier to use. Moreover, this method also has the advantages of simplicity efficiency and has no need for sample preprocessing, being especially suitable for on-site testing in field applications.

Genetic effects and genotype by environment (GE) interaction effects for some important agronomic traits of Chinese vegetable mustard were analyzed by using a genetic model including additive, dominance, additive x additive effects and their interaction effects with the environment. Four variations of Chinese vegetable mustard as parental lines and their F(1s), F(2s) were evaluated in two locations. It was revealed that the agronomic traits of Chinese vegetable mustard were mainly controlled by genetic effects except plant weight (PW) and leaf weight (LW) were observed to be more affected by GE interaction effects. Among the genetic effects, additive effects took the main proportion for tiller number (TN), leaf number (LN), leaf breadth (LB) and LW; dominance effects were the main components of PW, leaf length (LL), root weight (RW) and plant height (PH); additive x additive effects were the main components of plant breadth (PB). Among the GE interaction effects, additive x environment interaction effects mainly affected LB, LW and RW, while PW, LL, PH and PB were mainly controlled by dominance x environment interaction effects. Besides, additive x additive x environment interaction was the main factor, which controlled TN and LN of Chinese vegetable mustard. For heterosis analyses, TN, LN, LB and LW of Chinese vegetable mustard showed positive H(PM) and negative H(PB). The other traits showed positive H(PM) and H(PB). Heterosis arising from GE interaction was found to varying degree for different environments. It was shown that genetic heterosis and GE interaction effects were important factors for agronomic traits in Chinese vegetable mustard.

A new source of two diode laser beams, spatially separated but optically phase-locked with each other, is used to study the modulation transfer spectroscopy of coherent population trapping resonance (CPT). The spectrum for the (87)Rb D2 line is obtained with narrow linewidth and high signal-to-noise ratio, and analyzed with different experimental parameters. A theoretical analysis of the CPT modulation transfer spectra is deduced from the density matrix equation of motion, and found to be in good agreement with the experimental results.

A multitarget antibody immunoaffinity column was proposed for the purification and enrichment of nandrolone, testosterone, and methyltestosterone from urine. Nandrolone-3-site substituted antigen was designed and synthesized and the polyclonal antibody was prepared with immunizing rabbits. The stationary phase of the immunoaffinity column was synthesized by covalently bonding the antibodies specific to nandrolone, testosterone, and methyltestosterone onto CNBr-actived Sepharose 4B. The analytes of interest were extracted with a methanol/water mixture in one step. The immunoaffinity column showed high affinity and high selectivity to a class of structurally related compounds. The elution was then transferred to a micellar electrokinetic CE system with a running buffer of sodium borate and sodium cholate for separation and determination. Recoveries of the three steroids from complex matrix were 88-94% with RSD values less than 5.2%. Optimization of the immunoaffinity column purification was achieved and the feasibility of the technique for the analysis of steroid hormone was discussed. The results indicated that the combination of multi-immunoaffinity column and CE was an effective technique, which was rapid, simple, and sensitive for the assay of steroids.

With the soils cropped Rehmannia glutinosa for one and two years as test materials, this paper studied the variations of microbial flora and enzyme activities in rhizosphere. The results showed that with increasing year of cropping, the numbers of bacteria and fungi in rihzosphere had a slight decrease. In the soil successively cropped R. glutinosa for two years, the number of actinomycetes in rihzosphere was 4 times higher, the ammonifier, aerobic azotobacter, sulphate reducer, denitrifier, and anaerobic cellulose-decomposer increased by 25.99, 45.39, 11.43, 1.36, and 1.43 folds, respectively, while aerobic cellulose-decomposer reduced by 86.74%, compared with those in the soil cropped R. glutinosa for one year. The root exudates of successively cropped R. glutinosa increased the activities of urease, polyhphenol oxidase, sucrase, protease and cellulase in rhizosphere by 62.87%, 9.43%, 47.91%, 139.62% and 31.33%, respectively, but inhibited the activity of catalase. The findings suggested that successive cropping R. glutinosa would destroy the balance of rhizosphere soil microbial flora.

Experiments were conducted to investigate the degradation of microcystin-RR in order to assess the effectiveness and feasibility of the combined UV/H(2)O(2) catalytic system for purification of water polluted by microcystins. The operating parameters such as hydrogen peroxide dosage, pH value, UV light intensity, initial concentration of microcystin-RR and reaction time were evaluated, respectively. The degradation efficiency increased nonlinearly with increasing UV light intensity and hydrogen peroxide dosage, respectively. There existed an optimal hydrogen peroxide dosage, beyond which the reagent exhibited an inhibitory effect, for degrading microcystin-RR. The degradation process could be fitted by both of the pseudo-first-order and second-order kinetics well and primarily followed a mechanism of both direct photolysis and hydroxyl radical oxidation. Compared with the treatment using UV radiation and hydrogen peroxide individually, the combined UV/H(2)O(2) system could significantly enhance the degradation efficiency due to the synergetic effect between UV radiation and hydrogen peroxide oxidation. The observed rate constants decreased and the corresponding half-lives prolonged as the concentrations of microcystin-RR increased. The combined UV/H(2)O(2) process provides an effective technology for the removal of microcystins from drinking water supplies.

In this paper, reactive brilliant X-3B was used as a model compound to study the photocatalytic activity of TiO2. Experimental results showed that the adulteration of iron and silver on TiO2 could greatly improve the activity of TiO2, and the optimum adulteration amount of iron and silver was 0.1 wt.% (Fe/TiO2) and 0.05 wt.% (Ag/TiO2), respectively, at the adulteration range of experiments. The photocatalytic degradation kinetics of X-3B on TiO2, Fe/TiO2 and Ag/TiO2 were also studied. The results showed that the degradation of X-3B on all of them were in accordance with the Langmiur-Hinshelwood kinetics model well, and the sequence of apparent reaction rate constants k of X-3B degradation catalyzed by TiO2, Fe/TiO2 and Ag/TiO2 was Ag/TiO2>Fe/TiO2>TiO2, while adsorption equilibrium constants KA of X-3B on Fe/TiO2 and Ag/TiO2 were approximately the same, and both were greater than that of TiO2.

RNA was extracted from spleens of diarrhea and non-diarrhea piglets of Jiuyang Pig, Jianbai Pig and Landrace. RNA pools were established and DDRT-PCR using three anchored and seven arbitrary primers combined with silver staining was conducted to identify ESTs differentially expressed in diarrhea resistance to E. coli K88. Five cDNA were identified in the non-diarrhea RNA pools. Among them two are new sequences and three are highly identical to the ESTs in the GeneBank, of which two have known functions. One is the mammalian Nck adaptor protein 1 and the other is the human LINE-1 reverse transcriptase.

The fluxes of dissolved nutrients at sediment-water interface were investigated at 4 stations in the HAB area of East China Sea in May 2001 and May 2002. The benthic fluxes of nutrients were determined by incubating the sediment core samples with bottom seawater bubbled with air or nitrogen. The transfer of nutrients was more active under anoxic condition. The fluxes of dissolved nutrients were generally high at the stations close to the coast. The sediment was the source of SiO3(2-), which accounted for 6% of primary production. For DIN and PO4(3-), the sediment was the sink. DIN and PO4(3-) adsorbed by sediment accounted for 5.9% and 67% of the riverine DIN and PO4(3-) inputs, respectively, and the inputs of SiO3(2-) accounted for 7.8%.

The decomposition of aniline in supercritical water (SCW) was studied. Experiments were performed at various temperatures, pressures, residence times, dosage of oxidant H2O2 and initial aniline concentrations to investigate their effect on the destruction efficiency. Manganous sulfate and ferrous sulfate were screened out during the experiment to study the effect of the homogenous catalysts on destruction efficiency. The effect of pH was also studied. The experiments showed that the dosage of oxidant H2O2, experimental temperature, pressure, reaction residence time and even initial concentration of the aniline in wastewater have a significant affect on the TOC removal; manganous sulfate and ferrous sulfate improve the oxidation; TOC removal improves slightly with a decrease in the initial pH value. At a system temperature 450 degrees C, pressure 28 MPa, initial pH 4.0, residence time 46 s and K value 1.1, TOC removal can reach 100%.

The mitochondria of anther in pollen mother cell stage of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) line 3197A in sorghum were extracted after heat shock. The number of the mitochondria was measured by flow cytometer and some isoenzymes were analyzed by PAGE combined with stain for enzyme activity. The result of mitochondria quantity measurement shows that the number of the mitochondria in CMS line 3197A increased greatly up to 4.5 folds after heat shock. The analysis of isoenzymes also demonstrates that the type of isoenzyme in CMS line is in consistent with maintainer line. The study denoted the change of the quantity of mitochondria after heat shock and the relationship between this change and the fertility in sorghum.