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Arsenic (As) is a highly toxic metalloid that is classified as a non-threshold class-1 carcinogen. Millions of people worldwide suffer from As toxicity due to the intake of As-contaminated drinking water and food. Reducing the As concentration in drinking water and food is thus of critical importance. Phytoremediation of soil contaminated with As and the reduction of As contamination in food depend on a detailed understanding of As uptake and transport in plants. As transporters play essential roles in As uptake, translocation and accumulation in plant cells. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of As transport in plants, with an emphasis on As uptake, mechanisms of As resistance and the long-distance translocation of As, especially the accumulation of As in grains through phloem-mediated transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the In(OH)3/Co(OH)2/rGO (ICG) nanohybrids have been synthesized via a simple reflux method. It was found that the nanostructures were actually composed of thin nanosheets or nanowires. The addition of indium in Co(OH)2 on rGO results in increase in the specific area of nanohybrids (105.7m2g-1). That enhanced the gas sensing responses to NOx compared with Co(OH)2/rGO significantly. The ICG nanohybrids with the mass ratio of 5:1 (ICG-5) exhibited excellent gas-sensing properties with low detection limit of 0.97ppm and high sensitivity of 75.32% to 97ppm NOx at room temperature (RT). The gas sensor also showed excellent selectivity to NOx when other common gases such as NH3, CO, C2H2 and H2 were present. The sensing mechanism could be attributed to the charge carrier concentration of Co(OH)2 greatly increased by indium doping, which at last encourages the electron transfer during the interaction with gases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The control and dispersal of graphene nanosheets in polymer hosts are challenges in the development of high-performance graphene-based nanocomposites due to the strong interlayer cohesive energy and surface inertia. Here we report a simple and practical approach to synthesize graphene-reinforced poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) composite films by incorporating graphene oxide and graphene into PVA aqueous solution. The resulting nanocomposites revealed increases of up to 212% in tensile strength and 34% in elongation at break with only 0.5 wt% graphene content. Water absorption measurements showed that the water absorption ratio of the graphene/PVA composites decreased from 105.2 to 48.8%, and the barrier properties were obviously improved. Contact angle measurements showed that the composites were hydrophobic (θ > 90°) in contrast to the highly hydrophilic (θ < 90°) pure PVA. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry Graphene/poly(vinyl alcohol) composites with enhanced mechanical properties and water resistance were prepared by incorporating graphene oxide into poly(vinyl alcohol) aqueous solution with subsequent reduction of graphene oxide to graphene sheets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infects various types of cells and mainly establishes latent infection in B lymphocytes. The viral latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) plays important roles in transformation and proliferation of B lymphocytes infected with EBV. Triptolide is a compound of Tripterygium extracts, showing anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressive, and anti-cancer activities. In this study, it is determined whether triptolide inhibits proliferation of Epstein-Barr virus-positive B lymphocytes. The CCK-8 assays were performed to examine cell viabilities of EBV-positive B95-8 and P3HR-1 cells treated by triptolide. The mRNA and protein levels of LMP1 were examined by real time-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. The activities of two LMP1 promoters (ED-L1 and TR-L1) were determined by Dual luciferase reportor assay. The results showed that triptolide inhibited the cell viability of EBV-positive B lymphocytes, and the over-expression of LMP1 attenuated this inhibitory effect. Triptolide decreased the LMP1 expression and transcriptional levels in EBV-positive B cells. The activity of LMP1 promoter ED-L1 in type III latent infection was strongly suppressed by triptolide treatment. In addition, triptolide strongly reduced growth of B95-8 induced B lymphoma in BALB/c nude mice. These results suggest that triptolide decreases proliferation of EBV-induced B lymphocytes possibly by a mechanism related to down-regulation of the LMP1 expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]