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The influence of nanosecond laser cleaning created surface textures on hot-dip galvanizing coating quality of industrial HSLA steel plate has been investigated in this work. The results show that the zinc coating of the sample with laser cleaning pretreatment is more uniform, bright and no-defect as compared to the traditional pickling process treated sample. With laser cleaning created surface textures, the ζ phase of the zinc-iron alloy layer is easy to form and grow in the protrusions on the base surface, and the δ phase is easy to form in the depressions. When the coating thickness is approximately the same, the special phase structure of the zinc coating on the surface of the laser cleaned sample makes the cracks preferentially expand from the coating depression to the coating surface, reducing the shedding of the coating, and improving the coating resistance to pulverization.

Microplastic (MP) pollution in marine environments and organisms has received substantial international attention. However, long-term field studies of MPs are scarce. Here, we assessed the seasonal variation in MP abundance in the Zhoushan fishing ground (ZFG), one of the most abundant and productive fishing grounds worldwide, and analyzed the long-term MP accumulation in fish gastrointestinal tracts from September 2017 to June 2018. The most common MP particles in the ZFG were polyethylene terephthalate and polypropylene. After four seasons of continuous monitoring, we did not find accumulation of MPs in the fish after 10% KOH digestion. In total, 254 MP particles were removed from the gastrointestinal tracts of all fish. The average number of particles per fish was lower than that reported in previous global marine studies. There were significant differences among species. Moreover, this study provides the calculation of the weight of MPs ingested by fish and an estimate of the load of accumulated MPs in fish. According to the estimation, the load of MPs ingested by fish annually was approximately 3 kg in ZFG. These findings provide the long-term evidence of MP contamination in biota from the ZFG. The amounts of MPs ingested by fish require more detailed and improved investigation and estimation in further studies.

Crown roots are essential for plants to obtain water and nutrients, perceive environmental changes, and synthesize plant hormones. In this study, we identified and characterized short crown root 8 (scr8), which exhibited a defective phenotype of crown root and vegetative development. Temperature treatment showed that scr8 was sensitive to temperature and that the mutant phenotypes were rescued when grown under low temperature condition (20 °C). Histological and EdU staining analysis showed that the crown root formation was hampered and that the root meristem activity was decreased in scr8. With map-based cloning strategy, the SCR8 gene was fine-mapped to an interval of 126.4 kb on chromosome 8. Sequencing analysis revealed that the sequence variations were only found in LOC_Os08g14850, which encodes a CC-NBS-LRR protein. Expression and inoculation test analysis showed that the expression level of LOC_Os08g14850 was significantly decreased under low temperature (20 °C) and that the resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Oryzae (Xoo) was enhanced in scr8. These results indicated that LOC_Os08g14850 may be the candidate of SCR8 and that its mutation activated the plant defense response, resulting in a crown root growth defect.

Phytoplankton blooms are a widespread phenomenon in oceans that support the food webs and ecosystem. In this study, we analyzed temporal and spatial variations of phytoplankton blooms in the southern Yellow Sea (SYS) during 2003–2018, using the 8-day satellite datasets. An empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis was performed to evaluate seasonal variability of phytoplankton blooms in the SYS. The first two EOF modes explained the main features of phytoplankton blooms in the SYS. The first EOF mode and the second EOF mode accounted for 49% and 10% of the total spatial variance of blooms in the SYS, respectively. The indices of phytoplankton phenology (bloom timing) revealed distinct phytoplankton growth patterns/regimes in different subregions of the SYS. Specifically, the coastal area of Shandong Peninsula (CASP) showed significantly higher biomass and longer duration of phytoplankton blooms from fall to following early spring, which spanned an average of about 20 weeks. However, spring and fall blooms were observed in the central area of the SYS (CASYS). The spring bloom was more than twice the size of the fall bloom. By exploring the relationships between the phytoplankton biomass and the physical and biological parameters between these two regions, we established that a relatively stable shallow water depth and sufficient nutrients concentrations were the mechanisms driving phytoplankton blooms.

A multifunctional nanoprobe (based on Au nanostars@PDA@Fe3O4) is developed for tumor targeted imaging and targeted photothermal therapy. Au nanostars and Fe3O4 are connected with polydopamine, and combined with antibody-FITC or antibody-quantum dots for in vitro or in vivo fluorescence labeling (FL), respectively, to form the composite nanoprobe. The shape and lattice structure of Au nanostars and Fe3O4 were confirmed with TEM, HRTEM and XRD experiments. Compared with other Au nanoparticles@Fe3O4 composite probes, the Au nanostars@PDA@Fe3O4 structure has a low photothermal conversion threshold. Compared with the corresponding pure Au nanostars, the photothermal efficiency of the probe has increased by 50%, while maintaining 171% and 32% fluorescence enhancement in vitro and in vivo, respectively. Due to the charge transfer channel, the phonon emission of Au can go on in Fe3O4 via the PDA linking. Under the precise guidance of multimodal imaging, the nanoprobe conducts homogeneous photothermal ablation of bulky solid tumors (~ 400 mm3) in a xenograft mouse model. Animal model magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results found that the MRI T2 signal intensity of the probe was 65% stronger than that of pure Fe3O4 nanoparticles. These results suggest that this nanoplatform is promising for integrated tumor diagnosis and targeted cancer therapy.

We prepared novel photoanodes structured as FTO/ZnO nanoflowers/ZnTiO3/CdS/CdTeS/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) with highly exposed large specific area and energy coupling. The design of the photoanode expressed significant enhanced photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance such as improved absorption efficiency, reduced recombination rate, and enhanced charge transportation state, resulting in a significant increase in photoelectron current. The multinanoheterostructures photoanode provides a high photocatalytic activity and a maximum photocurrent density up to 9.41 mA/cm2 under AM 1.5 G illumination. The novel cosensitized multinanoheterostructures photoanodes lead to a remarkable and promising application in photoelectrochemical and water splitting reactions.

Guided by the hexagonal lattice symmetry, triangles and hexagons are the most basic morphological units for two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Also, it is widely acknowledged that these units start from the single nucleation site and then grow epitaxially. Accordingly, the triangular monolayer (ML) samples are generally considered as single crystals. Here, we report a 2D core–shell growth mode in the CVD process for ML-MoS2, which leads to one kind of “pseudo” single-crystal triangles containing triangular outline grain boundaries (TO-GBs). It is difficult to be optically distinguished from the “true” single-crystal triangles. The weakening of Raman peaks and the remarkable enhancement of photoluminescence (PL) are found at the built-in TO-GBs, which could be useful for high-performance optoelectronics. In addition, the electrical measurements indicate that the TO-GBs are conductive. Furthermore, TO-GBs and the common grain boundari...

As a two dimensional material with extraordinary optoelectronic properties, graphene has been persistently focused and studied. Inspired by the effects of prominent near-field enhancement and tight field confinement of graphene surface plasmons, tunable perfect absorber constituted by square graphene-dielectric arrays is proposed in this work and investigated with numerical simulation. Complete monolayer graphene is utilized in the arrays, without demand of manufacture process to cut graphene layer into periodic patterns. Within a wide range of specific geometric parameters, the arrays achieve two absorption peaks with near unity absorbance at near-infrared wavelengths. The absorption performance of the arrays is also independent of polarization. It's discovered that surface plasmonic modes are simultaneously excited on graphene and gold-dielectric interface, and there is a strong coupling between such two modes. Moreover, both of the two peaks can be dynamically tuned by adjusting chemical potential of graphene, without salient absorption reduction. With these excellent features, the arrays may provide prospects in development of new sensors and switches. Keywords: Graphene, Surface plasmons, Perfect absorption, Tunable absorption

Water samples were collected from the Changjiang Estuary (CE) and adjacent East China Sea (ECS) during two cruises in March 2013 and July 2014 to investigate the distributions and dynamics of dissolved carbohydrate species. The concentrations of surface dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total dissolved carbohydrates (TCHO) were higher in summer compared with those in spring. The dissolved polysaccharides (PCHO) in surface waters accounted for 65 ± 14% and 47 ± 18% of TCHO on average in spring and summer, respectively. The average TCHO/DOC ratio in summer was 17 ± 5%, compared with 11 ± 3% in spring. DOC and dissolved monosaccharides (MCHO) were significantly correlated with salinity in both seasons, indicating that physical mixing was a major controller of the DOC and MCHO distributions. By contrast, PCHO exhibited greater variations with increasing salinity, which suggest that MCHO and PCHO had different features in the study area. According to principal component analysis, PCHO were significantly correlated with the second principal component “biological factors” and they had the opposite loading with nutrients, especially NO2−, which suggest that PCHO were affected greatly by nutrient-related biological processes, such as primary production and bacterial assimilation. By contrast, MCHO were affected mainly by physical factors, especially terrigenous inputs. After comparing the stations with similar salinity along the Changjiang diluted water transport pathways during summer, we observed the obvious production of PCHO and DOC, as well as the consumption of nutrients, which further demonstrated biological impacts on the PCHO concentrations. Furthermore, the increase in PCHO was only half that of DOC, demonstrating the production of other organic matter via the transformation of PCHO, or other biological processes. However, the MCHO concentrations remained constantly high in Changjiang diluted water patches in CE, and appeared to decrease with dilution, suggesting that these molecules persisted rapid microbial turnover. In general, the dynamics of MCHO and PCHO were very different in the study area. MCHO exhibited conservative behavior, whereas PCHO were highly bioactive and influenced greatly by biological factors in the CE and adjacent ECS.

Semiconductor with photocatalytic property is the potential solution to solve the problem about water pollution. Novel floriated AgBr/Bi 2 O 3 fabricated through a facile simple two-step hydrothermal method is an efficient photocatalyst. The eminent performance for degradation of methyl orange (MO) was evaluated under visible light irradiation. Many characterization methods, including XPS, XRD, FT-IR, SEM, TEM and UV–vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy, were used to investigate the structure, elemental composition, morphology and catalytic activity. Broad contact between AgBr and Bi 2 O 3 interface enabled hybrid materials possess superior efficiency for the decomposition of MO under visible light irradiation. The optimum photocatalytic activity of samples was approximately 11.7 times higher than pure Bi 2 O 3 . In addition, the photo-generated reactive species were identified based on free radicals trapping experiments, which revealed that superoxide radical is the key factor to the photocatalytic process.

Superhydrophobic surfaces on metal materials play a significant role in considerable industries because of its eminent water-repel and anti-pollutant ability. A facile green methodology is proposed to in situ fabricate superhydrophobic surface on aluminum surface by simply immersing the plate in an aqueous mixture solution of HCl and stearic acid. Sample possesses high contact angle (150°) and low roll-off angle (8°), because the surface simultaneously combines rough structure with low surface energy. SEM images and contact angle measurements directly show the rough structures and contact angles. It did not require any toxic chemical agents, sophisticated techniques or equipments. The surface modification and ligand bonding of stearic acid on aluminum surface were characterized by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. More importantly, the obtained superhydrophobic surfaces show remarkable stability in acidic and alkaline conditions, and the contact angle can stay above 150° without apparent fluctuation for water droplet with pH value ranging from 1 to 14. A prominent enhancement on the corrosion resistance capacity of the aluminum and zinc plates was achieved after the superhydrophobic treatment.

The spatio-temporal variabilities in sea surface temperature (SST) were analyzed using a time series of MODIS datasets for four separate regions in the Yellow Sea (YS) that were located along a north-south axis. The space variant temporal anomaly was further decomposed using an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) for estimating spatially distributed SST. The monthly SSTs showed similar temporal patterns in each region, which ranged from 2.4°C to 28.4°C in the study years 2011 to 2013, with seasonal cycles being stronger at the higher latitudes and weaker at the lower latitudes. Spatially, although there were no significant differences among the four regions (p < 0.05) in any year, the geographical distribution of SST was characterized by an obvious gradient whereby SST decreased along the north-south axis. The monthly thermal difference among regions was largest in winter since the SST in the southeast was mainly affected by the Yellow Sea Warm Currents. The EOF1 mode accounted for 56% of the total spatial variance and exhibited a warming signal during the study period. The EOF2 mode accounted for 8% of the total variance and indicated the warm current features in the YS. The EOF3 mode accounted for 6% of the total variance and indicated the topographical features. The methodology used in this study demonstrated the spatio-temporal variabilities in the YS.

In this study, a wave flume experiment was performed with a scaled floating model to optimise the design of a floating body and control unwanted motions due to the offshore environment. A cylindrical test model was chosen as a standard and classical representative design of a floating structure in an ocean environment. The attachment of a heave plate at the bottom of the floating structure has been suggested as an effective tool to control its motion. However, the associated hydrodynamic effects, particularly the added mass variation, need to be investigated. Therefore, a scaled cylindrical model with a height of 300 mm, an outer diameter of 60 mm, and various heave plates was designed, manufactured, and tested. The motion responses of a scaled model in a water flume (i.e. forced oscillation, free decay, and regular wave response) were analysed. The results were compared for similar cylindrical models with various heave plates attached at different gaps from the cylinder bottom, different oscillating frequencies, and different Keulegan–Carpenter (KC) numbers. An empirical formula was formulated to calculate the added mass of the combined structure of the cylinder and heave plate. The results indicated that varying the heave plate diameter had the most significant effect on the added mass compared to the gap and KC (0.2–1.4). The added mass coefficient of the combined cylinder and heave plate was below 0.05, while KC varies from 0.2 to 1.4 and the gap ratio ( D g / ( 0.5 D c + 0.5 D p ) ) varied between 0.2 and 1.2. The peak heave response amplitude operator (RAO) for the combined cylinder and heave plate was 40% less than that of the cylinder without a heave plate.

// Peng Chen 1, * , Xiaohu Zheng 2, * , Yonggang Zhou 2 , Yechuan Xu 1 , Lixin Zhu 3 , Yeben Qian 1 1 Department of General Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China 2 Institute of Immunology and the CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Life Sciences and Medical Center, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China 3 Center Laboratory, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Yeben Qian, email: qianyeben@hotmail.com Keywords: Talin-1, hepatocellular carcinoma, tumor growth and metastasis, ion transport, membrane depolarization Received: October 09, 2016 Accepted: January 09, 2017 Published: January 16, 2017 ABSTRACT Talin-1 is a known oncogene-associated protein. In this study, we set out to determine its role and mechanisms in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression. We found Talin-1 to be highly expressed in HCC cells relative to non-cancer liver epithelial cells and to promote tumor growth and metastasis. We used Whole Human Genome Oligo Microarray analysis with HCC cells and HCC cells in which Talin-1 was knocked down using shRNA to identify transcripts regulated by Talin-1. Of the 40,000 tested genes, 3099 were differentially expressed after Talin-1 knockdown; expression of 1924 genes was increased, while expression of 2175 was decreased. Gene ontology (GO) profiling indicated that Talin-1 promotes many HCC progression-related activities, including ion transport and membrane depolarization, cell growth, and cell adhesion. We also characterized the network of gene transcripts regulated by Talin-1 and their role in promoting HCC progression. Our findings confirm the role of Talin-1 in carcinogenesis and provided a set of novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of HCC.

To develop a highly sensitive immunochromatographic test card for zearalenone.Gold nanoflowers(AuNFs) with a particle size of(116. 7±2. 0) nm and multiple branches was prepared and labeled to the zearalenone monoclonal antibody. Based on the gold nanoflower-labeled zearalenone monoclonal antibody(AuNF-ZEN-Mab), a zearalenone gold nanoflower immunochromatographic test card(ZEN-GFICT) was developed for the detection of food and feed.The detection sensitivities of ZEN-GFICT(contrast method) and(cancellation method) for ZEN standards were 0. 5 and 6 ng/mL, respectively, and the limit of detection(LOD) for actual samples were 5 and 60 μg/kg, respectively. It was 6 times(contrast method) and 4. 5 times(cancellation method) of the traditional ZEN nano gold immunochromatographic test card(ZEN-GICT). The total conformity of the ZEN-GFICT judgment result(contrast method and cancellation method) of 21 samples compared with those of the ELISA kit were 90. 5% and 90. 5%, respectively.The ZEN content in the sample with three intervals of less than 5 μg/kg, 5-60 μg/kg and more than 60 μg/kg could be screened by the ZEN-GFICT contrast method and the cancellation method. It is possible to screen samples with a low degree of ZEN contamination.

Bile acids and microbiota differ significantly in the gut of children and adults. In the first 3 yr of life, intestinal bile consists mostly of two primary bile acids, cholic acid (CA) and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA); however, in adults, primary bile acids are transformed into the secondary bile acids, deoxycholic acid (DCA) and lithocholic acid. This difference has a major impact on the gut microbiome, especially on anaerobic spore-forming bacteria. CA augments germination of spores in the terminal ileum. On the other hand, DCA curtails the number of germinated anaerobes entering the cecum from the terminal ileum. The control mechanism that exists in the adult cecum is absent in the young child and results in unrestrained proliferation of anaerobes, such as

Purpose: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) seeded on biocompatible scaffolds have therapeutic potential for bone defect repair. However, MSCs can be affected by hypoxia and nutritional deficiency due to a lack of blood vessels in the scaffolds. Here, we explored the effects of hypoxia on MSC differentiation to clarify these mechanisms. Methods: Peripheral blood mesenchymal stem cells (PBMSCs) were cultured in small individual chambers with oxygen concentrations of 1%, 9%, and 21%. Cell proliferation was evaluated by Cell Counting Kit 8 assays, and cell survival was determined using live/dead assays. Scratch assays were performed to evaluate cell migration. Ca2+ deposition/mineralization experiments, reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, and Western blotting were performed to assess the osteogenic differentiation of cells. Notch1 expression was downregulated by lentivirus-transfected PBMSCs to observe the effects of Notch1 knockdown on osteogenic gene and protein expression. Results: PBMSCs exposed to hypoxia (1% O2) demonstrated accelerated proliferation, increased migration, and reduced survival in the absence of serum. Although 9% oxygen promoted osteogenic differentiation, the osteogenic differentiation of PBMSCs was significantly reduced by 1% O2, and this effect was associated with increased Notch1 expression. Reducing Notch1 expression using small interfering RNA significantly restored the osteogenic differentiation of PBMSCs. Conclusions: Hypoxia accelerated proliferation, increased migration, and reduced PBMSC differentiation into osteoblasts by increasing Notch1 expression. These findings may contribute to the development of appropriate cell culture or in vivo transplantation conditions to maintain the full osteogenic potential of PBMSCs.

Plastic pollution, including microplastics (MPs), poses a global threat to environmental and human health. Studies on the transference of MPs along marine food webs are limited. In the present study, we investigated MP pollution in 11 wild fish species (193 individuals) and 8 wild crustacean species (136 individuals) captured from the Zhoushan fishing ground, off the East China Sea. The average abundance of MPs found in two main tissues, the gill and gastrointestinal (GI) tract, were 0.77 ± 1.25 and 0.52 ± 0.90 items/individual, respectively. The MPs we found were predominantly fiber-shaped, blue, and composed of polyester polymers. Our results suggest that MP pollution is ubiquitous in the East China Sea. We suggest that MPs are likely aggregated in the higher trophic level fish species throughout the marine food web. Furthermore, we suggest that marine organisms which occupy higher trophic levels might be suitable MP indicator species.

In this work, we prepared ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets with exposed active edge sites and high electric conductivity that can sufficiently absorb light in the visible region to enable solar energy conversion. The gold nanocrystal-decorated MoS2 nanosheets facilitate sufficiently enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting in the UV-visible region. Different Au nanostructures, such as Au nanoparticles and nanorods, were modified on the surface of MoS2 nanosheets to promote photoelectrochemical water decomposition. By spin-coating a synthetic gold-modified MoS2 hybrid photoanode on a FTO substrate, the efficiency of photoelectrochemical water oxidation was significantly enhanced, by 2 times (nanorods) and 3.5 times (nanoparticles) in the visible-infrared region; furthermore, the average optical resistance was reduced by a factor of two compared to the MoS2 photoanode without Au, and the photocurrent increases exponentially when the system bias was greater than 0.7 volts. The Au-MoS2 metal-semiconductor interface plays an important role in studying the surface plasmon interactions, charge transfer mechanism, and electric field amplification. This rational design for such a unique hybrid nanostructure explains the plasmon-enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting. This current contribution provides a new path for using the plasmonic metal/semiconductor heterostructure to effectively harvest UV-visible light for solar fuel generation.

Background Fibrosis is a common pathogenesis in most diseases, thus different diseases may share targets and drugs related to fibrosis. For a drug that targets fibrotic process, it is likely an effective drug for treating diseases other than its original purpose. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the anti-fibrosis characteristic of drugs for repositioning purpose. Method Anti-fibrosis compounds identified from PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov were selected as positive samples. FDA-approved drugs from DrugBank and compounds from Connectivity Map (CMap) were selected as potential negative samples after excluding those compounds known as anti-fibrosis drugs. MACCS Keys fingerprint (RDKit) and molecule-stimulated gene signatures (CMap) are collected as the structural descriptors and transcriptomic profiles of compounds respectively. OneClassSVM was used to remove outliers. Gradient Boosting Classifier was performed to build a Structural Model based on molecular structures and to build a Gene Mode...

Wnt ligands regulate metabolic pathways, and dysregulation of Wnt signaling contributes to chronic inflammatory disease. A knowledge gap exists concerning the role of aberrant Wnt signaling in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which exhibits metabolic syndrome and inflammation. Using a mouse model of methionine-choline deficient diet (MCDD)-induced NASH, we investigated the Wnt signaling pathways in relation to hepatic glucose oxidation. Mice fed the MCD diet for 6 weeks developed prominent NASH marked by macrovesicular steatosis, inflammation and lipid peroxidation. qPCR analysis reveals differential hepatic expression of canonical and non-canonical Wnt ligands. While expression of Wnt3a was decreased in NASH vs chow diet control, expression of Wnt5a and Wnt11 were increased 3 fold and 15 fold, respectively. Consistent with activation of non-canonical Wnt signaling, expression of the alternative Wnt receptor ROR2 was increased 5 fold with no change in LRP6 expression. Activities of the metabolic enzymes glucokinase, phosphoglucoisomerase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, pyruvate kinase, and pyruvate dehydrogenase were all elevated by MCDD. NASH-driven glucose oxidation was accompanied by a 6-fold increase in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)-B with no change in LDH-A. In addition, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, the regulatory and NADPH-producing enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway, was elevated in NASH. These data support a role of accelerated glucose oxidation in the development of NASH, which may be driven by non-canonical Wnt signaling.

Cancer stem cells, which are a population of cancer cells sharing common properties with normal stem cells, have strong self-renewal ability and multi-lineage differentiation potential to trigger tumor proliferation, metastases, and recurrence. From this, targeted therapy for cancer stem cells may be one of the most promising strategies for comprehensive treatment of tumors in the future. We design a facile approach to establish the colon cancer stem cells-selective fluorescent probe based on the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and the novel AgGa

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the ability of differentiating into bone. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms of MSC differentiation into bone could provide new therapeutic strategy for bone-related diseases. Growing evidence confirmed that Wnt signal played the key role in osteoblast differentiation, but the role of individual Wnt protein in osteogenesis need to be investigated. Here, we aim to explore the role of Wnt7a in bone formation. Methods: Human bone-derived MSCs were identified by flow cytometry and its differentiation potentials. Wnt7a expression were measured by osteogenic inducer BMP4/7 treatmemt, osteogenenic or adipogenic differentiation. The influence of Wnt7a ectopic expression in MSCs on osteogenic differentiation were detected by osteocyte markers and Alizarin Red S staining. The mechanismof Wnt7a regulating Runx2 expression were detected by promoter reporter assay and ChIP assay. Findings: Our results showed that knockdown of Wnt7a in MSCs decreased the expression of osteocyte markers and inhibited osteogenic differentiation. Concordantly, the overexpression of Wnt7a in MSCs increased the expression of osteocyte marker and promoted osteogenic differentiation. Mechanistically, the knockdown of Wnt7a in MSCs reduced Runx2 expression and the overexpression of Wnt7a in MSCs promoted Runx2 expression. Furtherly, we confirm that Wnt7a regulated Runx2 promoter activities by promoter report assay, and TCF1, a downstream target of Wnt, binding to the Runx2 promoter by ChIP assay. Interpretation: Our research confirmed that Wnt7a played a key role in MSCs differentiation into bone and this maybe provide a promising therapy target for bone-related disease. Funding Statement: This work was supported with funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81860516), the start-up grant from the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University (No. I201802), Guizhou science and Technology Department (No. 2016J7234), Guizhou science and Technology Department (No. 2014LH7149), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.81460448), the R&D infrastructure and facility Development and Program of Guizhou (No. 20154005). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interests. Ethics Approval Statement: Human bone tissues from surgical resection were from patients in the Department of Orthopedics of the Affiliated Hospital of Guiyang Medical University. All work and protocols were under the guidelines by the Human Care and Use Committee of Guiyang Medical University. Each patient wrote informed consent before the preparation of the bone tissues.

One of the most hindrance for bone tissue engineering to reconstruct a bone defect is that the insufficient oxygen supply, which has an extremely negative influence upon the survival of seed cells in the scaffold, especially during the initial transplantation period. Herein, we devised a controlled-oxygen-generating composite scaffold that removes this limitation. This oxygen-generating composite scaffold consists of calcium peroxide (CaO2)-releasing microparticles, hydrogel, and a poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) membrane. The microparticles, which are composed of gelatin and CaO2, are hydrolytically activated to generate oxygen when they make contact with water. The hydrogel, self-assembling peptide(SAP), and PLGA membrane were designed to prevent direct exposure of the gelatin-CaO2 microspheres to a large quantity of water and provide a three-dimensional environment for cell growth. The oxygen-generating composite scaffold has the capability of sustainably controlling oxygen generation for about 21 days in vitro and 28 days in vivo. The capacities of this oxygen-generating composite scaffold to improve seed cell survival and the reparation of bone defects were tested using peripheral blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells and a critical-sized cranial defect. Compared with the control groups, survival of seed cells both in vitro and in vivo was significantly improved when the cells were co-cultured or co-transplanted with the oxygen-generating microspheres. Moreover, the presence of the gelatin-CaO2 microspheres significantly improved the repair of bone defects. These results indicated that the oxygen-generating composite scaffold in this study has great potential to increase seed cell survival and enhance bone defect reconstruction.

A novel rare-earth complex containing hindered phenol groups (DTSm) was prepared through coordination reaction between 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxybenzoic acid and samarium chloride hexahydrate (SmCl3·6H2O). The chemical structure of DTSm was confirmed by FTIR, XPS, ICP-OES and elemental analysis. The results of the accelerated thermo-oxidative aging tests, FTIR-ATR, TGA, methanol extraction experiments, whiteness and yellowness index revealed that DTSm significantly improved the long-term thermo-oxidative aging resistance of styrene-butadiene rubber/silica composites without discoloration, and the DTSm exhibited excellent volatility resistance and solvent extraction resistance. The outstanding antioxidative ability of DTSm for SBR/silica composites was attributed to the synergistic antioxidative effect between hindered phenols and samarium ions due to its excellent thermal stability and volatility resistance. This research is fruitful for the preparation of long-term highly aging-resistant rubber composites.

Atmospheric transport could be a significant pathway for inland microplastics (MPs, with size＜5 mm) to the ocean in addition to catchment runoff and coastal discharge. However, atmospheric input of MPs to the ocean is rarely quantified. To address this issue, transport of atmospheric MPs from source to sink was studied in the Asia-Pacific region during nine cruises from October 2018 to September 2019. Both deposited atmospheric MPs (DAMPs) and suspended atmospheric MPs (SAMPs) were collected, ranging from 23.04 n/(m2·d) to 67.54 n/(m2·d), and 0 to 1.37 n/m3, respectively. Size composition revealed that atmospheric deposition of MPs originating in terrestrial regions seems inadequate and insufficient to quantify the atmospheric input to the ocean. In addition, combined with aerodynamic modelling, for the first time, we estimated that 7.64-33.76 t of fibrous atmospheric MPs was globally generated in 2018, which is 3 % and 31 % of riverine input MPs of The Yangtze River and The Pearl River in terms of mid-point mass, respectively. The increasing load of ingestible plastics from sea air could have a far-reaching impact on marine ecosystem.

A hypoxia event occurred in the nearshore of the northern Yellow Sea in summer 2016, and a bloom of small jellyfish occurred in June of this year. As a key copepod species in the Yellow Sea, Calanus sinicus exhibits early recruitment mainly in this nearshore area. Therefore, this study assessed the effects of these two phenomena on C. sinicus especially on their early recruitment. Sampling in nearshore waters was performed every month from May to December, except for October 2016. The numerical abundance of eggs and nauplii (E + N), copepodites and adults (C + A) of C. sinicus was determined in relation to environmental factors. Results showed that dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations decreased from June on, attaining a minimum in August, and showed a significant positive relationship with C. sinicus E + N abundance. This suggested that decreasing DO had potential negative effects on early recruitment of C. sinicus. The abundance of small jellyfish, dominated by Sugiura chengshanense (Hydromedusa), also showed a significant positive relationship with C. sinicus E + N abundance, indicating a potential predator-prey relationship between them. Spatial relationships were also examined between E + N abundance and DO concentration in July and with small jellyfish abundance in June. Both bottom DO (B-DO) and E + N abundance in inshore waters were significantly lower than those in offshore water in July, indicating a potential negative effect of low B-DO (

A lack of mitochondrial genome data from myriapods is hampering progress across genetic, systematic, phylogenetic and evolutionary studies. Here, the complete mitochondrial genomes of two millipedes, Asiomorpha coarctata Saussure, 1860 (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae) and Xystodesmus sp. (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae) were assembled with high coverage using Illumina sequencing data. The mitochondrial genomes of the two newly sequenced species are circular molecules of 15,644 bp and 15,791 bp, within which the typical mitochondrial genome complement of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs and two ribosomal RNA genes could be identified. The mitochondrial genome of Asiomorpha coarctata is the first complete sequence in the family Paradoxosomatidae (Diplopoda: Polydesmida) and the gene order of the two flat-backed millipedes is novel among known myriapod mitochondrial genomes. Unique translocations have occurred, including inversion of one half of the two genomes with respect to other millipede genomes. Inversion of the entire side of a genome (trnF-nad5-trnH-nad4-nad4L, trnP, nad1-trnL2-trnL1-rrnL-trnV-rrnS, trnQ, trnC and trnY) could constitute a common event in the order Polydesmida. Last, our phylogenetic analyses recovered the monophyletic Progoneata, subphylum Myriapoda and four internal classes.

The focus of this study was on the thermo-oxidative aging resistance of a new rare earth complex, samarium lysine dithiocarbamate (Sm-LDC), in the styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR)/silica composites. The anti-aging behavior of SBR/silica composites with Sm-LDC, as well as several common commercial antioxidants, was systematically investigated by oxidation induction time (OIT), mechanical testing, crosslink density determination, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR), and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA). The results demonstrated that Sm-LDC significantly improve the thermo-oxidative stability of SBR/silica composites and protect the composites against the thermo-oxidative aging more effectively than the widely used antioxidant 4010NA and antioxidant MB in rubber industry. It could be attributed to the synergistic effect between dithiocarboxyl groups and samarium ions in Sm-LDC, which can high-efficiently decompose the hydroperoxide and scavenge the oxy radicals, respectively. Besides, the results of whiteness and yellowness index ( Y.I. ) analysis indicated that Sm-LDC can hardly cause discoloration to the SBR/silica composites and is better than the recognized light-colored antioxidant MB in the aspect of color. This research might open up new opportunities for preparing highly thermo-oxidative aging-resistant rubber composites without color contamination.

Traditionally, a geochemical exploration index is based mainly on elemental concentration, and focusses on positive anomalies rather than negative anomalies. This results in two problems: firstly, it ignores depleted elements, negative anomalies, and immobile elements, and secondly, elemental concentration does not directly reveal the degree of elemental mobility. To discover information on element mobility and utilize negative anomalies, the Isocon method was employed to calculate mass-transfer, and study anomalous elemental characteristics in the Zhaojikou epithermal Pb-Zn deposit, SE China. Subsequently, the concept of a multi-attribute anomaly structure is proposed, which refers to enrichment and depletion zones of multiple elements co-existing in an ore deposit. This includes major elements, mineralizing agents, and ore-forming and associated elements. Results show that there are system mass-transfer ( μ ), Na 2 O, and S anomalies, correlations between S-FeO-Pb + Zn, and Pb, Zn, Cu, Ag, As, and Sb anomalies in the multi-attribute anomaly structure model of the Zhaojikou Pb-Zn ore deposit. The presence of the μ anomaly indicates there was at least one mass-exchange geological event, with the extent of the anomaly representing the impact area of the event(s). The extent of the negative Na 2 O anomaly represents the fluid-rock interaction zones. The positive S anomaly suggests the presence of sulphides. The correlations between S-FeO-Pb + Zn reveal there are numerous other economic metal sulphides (i.e., excluding noneconomic Fe-rich sulphides like pyrite). Ore-forming and associated elemental anomalies indicate the potential presence of polymetallic sulphides. μ > 0.3, ΔC Na2O O-A μ Na2O

For the first time, ZnTiO 3 applied as an innovative photoanode material in quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) has been systematically researched both theoretically and experimentally in this paper. The electron mobility (150–400 cm 2 /vs) of this material, achieved via the deformation potential theory, is much higher than that of most known photoanodes, including TiO 2 and ZnO which have been heavily researched. The preparation of QDSSCs with the structure of ZnTiO 3 /CdS/CdSe yielded a high energy conversion efficiency of 1.95% and a large short-circuit current density of 5.96 mA/cm 2 , which are also superior to the characteristics of other emerging photoanode materials, such as SnO 2 , Zn 2 SnO 4 , BaTiO 3 , and so on, indicating the good potential of this material for using in QDSSCs.

Attention on semiconductor nanocrystals have been largely focused because of their unique optical and electrical properties, which can be applied as light absorber and luminophore. However, the band gap and structure engineering of nanomaterials is not so easy because of their finite size. Here we demonstrate an approach for preparing ternary AgInS2 (AIS), quaternary AgZnInS (AZIS), AgInS2/ZnS and AgZnInS/ZnS nanocompounds based on cation exchange. First, pristine Ag2S quantum dots (QDs) with different sizes were synthesized in one-pot, followed by the partial cation exchange between In(3+) and Ag(+). Changing the initial ratio of In(3+) to Ag(+), reaction time and temperature can control the components of the obtained AIS QDs. Under the optimized conditions, AIS QDs were obtained for the first time with a cation disordered cubic phase and high photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY) up to 32% in aqueous solution, demonstrating the great potential of cation exchange in the synthesis for nanocrystals with excellent optical properties. Sequentially, Zn(2+) ions were incorporated in situ through a second exchange of Zn(2+) to Ag(+)/In(3+), leading to distinct results under different reaction temperature. Addition of Zn(2+) precursor at room temperature produced AIS/ZnS core/shell NCs with successively enhancement of QY, while subsequent heating could obtain AZIS homogeneous alloy QDs with a successively blue-shift of PL emission. This allow us to tune the PL emission of the products from 483 to 675 nm and fabricate the chemically stable QDs core/ZnS shell structure. Based on the above results, a mechanism about the cation exchange for the ternary nanocrystals of different structures was proposed that the balance between cation exchange and diffusion is the key factor of controlling the band gap and structure of the final products. Furthermore, photostability and in vitro experiment demonstrated quite low cytotoxicity and remarkably promising applications in the field of clinical diagnosis.

Drug discovery and development is a costly and time-consuming process with a high risk for failure resulting primarily from a drug's associated clinical safety and efficacy potential. Identifying and eliminating inapt candidate drugs as early as possible is an effective way for reducing unnecessary costs, but limited analytical tools are currently available for this purpose. Recent growth in the area of toxicogenomics and pharmacogenomics has provided with a vast amount of drug expression microarray data. Web servers such as CMap and LTMap have used this information to evaluate drug toxicity and mechanisms of action independently; however, their wider applicability has been limited by the lack of a combinatorial drug-safety type of analysis. Using available genome-wide drug transcriptional expression profiles, we developed the first web server for combinatorial evaluation of toxicity and efficacy of candidate drugs named "Connection Map for Compounds" (CMC). Using CMC, researchers can initially compare their query drug gene signatures with prebuilt gene profiles generated from two large-scale toxicogenomics databases, and subsequently perform a drug efficacy analysis for identification of known mechanisms of drug action or generation of new predictions. CMC provides a novel approach for drug repositioning and early evaluation in drug discovery with its unique combination of toxicity and efficacy analyses, expansibility of data and algorithms, and customization of reference gene profiles. CMC can be freely accessed at http://cadd.tongji.edu.cn/webserver/CMCbp.jsp .

Using multi-satellite remote sensing and numerical model data, we investigated the biological responses to nine powerful typhoons that affected the East China Sea (ECS) between 2010 and 2013. The spatial distribution patterns of the surface chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) in response to the passage of typhoons were quite different. Some typhoons clearly induced phytoplankton blooms in part of the surface seawater, whereas the Chl-a concentrations were not significantly altered by the other typhoons. In the case that the ocean’s precondition was similar, the pre-typhoon Chl-a concentration and transit time were the main factors that affected the post-typhoon Chl-a concentration. Besides strong vertical mixing and upwelling, the surface current change and heavy precipitation induced by the typhoons also influenced the distribution and growth of phytoplankton in surface seawater after passage of individual typhoons. In addition, the typhoons that directly affected coastal regions increased the nutrient concentrations in these areas, which influenced the occurrence of red tides in the ECS over a long time scale.

Layered inorganics are promising in the fabrication of elastomeric nanocomposites with enhanced barrier property. Recently, boehmite (BM) nanoplatelets have emerged as alternative layered inorganics to clays and double hydroxylates as the functional reinforcement for rubbers. In the present paper, natural tannic acid (TA) is introduced as a novel interfacial modifier in BM-filled styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) nanocomposites. The modification mechanism and interfacial interactions in the nanocomposites are fully characterized. Due to the strengthened interface and the comparatively finer dispersion state of BM in the nanocomposites, significantly enhanced mechanical properties are found in the modified system. At higher BM loadings (higher than 40 phr), the modified system possesses a much lower gas permeability compared with the unmodified counterpart. Very interestingly, the TA-modified SBR/BM nanocomposites exhibit high tensile strength yet impressively low moduli compared with previously reported rubber nanocomposites filled with other nanofillers. Keywords: Nanocomposite, Boehmite, Tannic acid, Interface, Gas permeability