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China has abundant coal resources, which are extensively developed in marine-influenced, continental, and transitional environments. The coal-bearing strata in China have complicated geneses and distributions. There were eight major coal-forming periods in China, namely the Terreneuvian, Mississippian, Pennsylvanian-Cisuralian-Guadalupian, Lopingian, Late Triassic, Early-Middle Jurassic, and Early Cretaceous Epochs, as well as the Palaeogene-Neogene Periods. The distributions of the coal-bearing strata formed during these different coal-forming periods displayed obvious regional and regularity characteristics. In accordance with their plate-tectonic settings and coal-bearing characteristics, the coal-bearing basins in China can be divided into six types. The coal-bearing basins that were formed during the Palaeozoic Era were mainly large epicontinental sea basins. During the early Palaeozoic Era, the shallow sea was the most important coal-forming sedimentary environment. In addition, coastal delta and delta-detrital coast systems were the most important coal-forming sedimentary environments in the late Palaeozoic Era. The coal-bearing basins that were formed during the Late Triassic Epoch were mainly offshore basins, and coastal, coast-delta, coastal alluvial, and coastal inter-mountainous plain environments dominated their coal-forming sedimentary environments. Coast-bay and lagoon-estuary systems comprised additional main coal-forming sedimentary environments. The coal-bearing basins that formed during the Early-Middle Jurassic Epochs were large- and medium-sized inland lake basins, in which alluvial-lake delta systems recorded the best coal formation processes, followed by lakeshore sedimentary environments. The coal-bearing basins that formed during the Early Cretaceous Epoch and Palaeogene-Neogene Periods were mainly small-sized continental basin groups. Coal-forming processes mainly occurred in the lake-delta swamp environments during lake siltation stages when the filling evolution of the lake basins occurred. In addition, this study proposed a new coal-forming process that occurs during transgression events. Finally, this study generally summarized the characteristics and evolution theories of coal-forming processes in China and especially focused on the characteristics of the evolution of coal-forming sedimentary environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymeric materials are commonly found in orthopedic implants due to their unique mechanical properties and biocompatibility but the poor surface hardness and bacterial infection hamper many biomedical applications. In this study, a ceramic-like surface structure doped with silver is produced by successive plasma implantation of silicon (Si) and silver (Ag) into the polyamine 66 (PA66) substrate. Not only the surface hardness and elastic modulus are greatly enhanced due to the partial surface carbonization and the ceramic-like structure produced by the reaction between energetic Si and the carbon chain of PA66, but also the antibacterial activity is improved because of the combined effects rendered by Ag and SiC structure. Furthermore, the modified materials which exhibit good cytocompatibility upregulate bone-related genes and proteins expressions of the contacted bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). For the first time, it explores out that BMSCs osteogenesis on the antibacterial ceramic-like structure is mediated via the iNOS and nNOS signal pathways. The results reveal that in situ plasma fabrication of an antibacterial ceramic-like structure can endow PA66 with excellent surface hardness, cytocompatibility, as well as antibacterial capability. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 104A: 1102-1112, 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Poly(butylene succinate- co-butylene adipate) (PBSA)/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites were synthesized via in situ polymerization for the first time. Atomic force microscopy demonstrated the achievement of a single layer of GO, and transmission electron microscopy proved the homogeneous distribution of GO in the PBSA matrix. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results showed the successful grafting of PBSA chains onto GO. With the incorporation of 1 wt % GO, the tensile strength and flexural modulus of the PBSA were enhanced by 50 and 27%, respectively. The thermal properties characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis showed increases in the melting temperatures, crystallization temperatures, and thermal stability. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 4075-4080, 2013 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article analyzed the geological conditions of the gas in Weifang mining area from aspects of the regional hydrogeology, the fault and the fold, the roof and the floor lithologic characteristic, the distribution of magmatic rock and the thickness of the coal seam roof. The study shows that the Zhuliu coal mine is of moderately complicated hydrogeology type; most of the faults in Wutu coal mine and all the faults in the other 5 coal mines are normal faults, belonging to open faults. The faults generally have water conductivity, which are beneficial to gas drainage; the roof and floor, most of which are mudstone, shale, claystone, and some sandstone and limestone with joint and bedding, have poor stability, which contributes to the overflow of the gas. The wide distribution of magmatic rocks in Wujing coal mine remarkably impacts the gas reservation, thus the gas emission is higher than the other 5 coal mines. The low thickness and lithology of coal seam roof are in favor of the emission of gas. For the reasons given above, the 6 coal mines of Weifang mining area are all low gas field. This article also predicted the gas content and the absolute gas emission of Weifang mining area. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Transparent polyamide (TPA) is a type of optically transparent material with high performance, and poly(decamethylene terephthalamide) (PA10T) is an emerging bio‐based opaque polyamide. With the purpose of preparing bio‐based and low‐cost TPA based on PA10T, we chose dodecanedioic acid and isophthalic acid as comonomers, and successfully obtained a series of transparent PA10T/10I/1012. The basic properties of these copolyamides were characterized by intrinsic viscosity measurement, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, X‐ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis, ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometer, solvent resistance test, water absorption measurement, and tensile measurement. Results show that PA10T/10I/1012 copolymers are amorphous and have high optical transparency. Moreover, these copolymers exhibit high thermal stability, low water absorption, and good solvent resistance, and they also show better mechanical properties compared to some commercial TPAs. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 136, 47305. The mechanical properties and light transmittance of PA10T/10I/1012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid gas sensing with high sensitivity and selectivity is pivotal in advanced production, in smart living, and increasingly in medical health applications. This study presents a novel Pt@InNiO x nanoflake isoprene sensor that achieves an exceptionally low limit of detection (LOD) at 2 ppb, the lowest reported for isoprene sensors to date. Notably, it exhibits high selectivity and remarkable antihumidity capacity, thus meeting the stringent requirements for lung cancer screening. To unravel the sensing mechanism, we fabricate an operando DRIFTS-Raman cell coupled to online electrical measurements. It reveals that the ultrasensitive performance of Pt@InNiO x nanoflakes stems from the activated conjugated structure of isoprene by Pt nanoclusters and from the enhanced isoprene adsorption and electron interaction due to the nanoflake morphology. The p-n junction constructed by doping Ni maintains Fermi level equilibrium, shielding it from humidity interference. Practically, we integrate these ultrasensitive Pt@InNiO x nanoflakes into a miniaturized portable electronic device that successfully distinguishes lung cancer patients with expiratory isoprene below 40 ppb, from the healthy population with isoprene above 60 ppb, enabling an accurate diagnosis in clinics. Our work not only provides a breakthrough in low-cost, noninvasive cancer screening through breath analysis but also advances the rational design of cutting-edge gas sensing materials.

With the development of miniaturization and integration of electrical and electronic equipment, the heat accumulation problems caused by the long-term operation of devices have become more and more serious. High thermal-conductivity and high-performance plastic composites have attracted significant interest from both academia and industry. Numerous studies have been recently conducted to enhance the thermal conductivity (TC) of nanofiller-filled polymeric composites. However, the homogeneous dispersion and directional arrangement of nanofillers in the resin matrix are the key factors limiting their effectiveness in enhancing thermal conductivity. Based on the feasibility considerations of mass production and industrial application, this paper reports on a novel preparation method of Poly(decamethylene terephthalamide)/graphite nanoparticle (GNP) nanocomposites with high thermal conductivity. Without borrowing solvents or other reagents, this method can effectively strip the inexpensive scaled graphite into nanoscale for its uniform dispersion and orientation arrangement by relying only on mechanical external forces. The whole technology is simple, green, and easy to industrialize. The fillers were well-dispersed and aligned in the PA10T, which played a role in significantly enhancing the thermal conductivity of the PA10T. In addition, we found that the thermal conductivity of the composites reached 1.20 W/(m·K) at 10 wt% filler content, which was 330% higher than that of the pure matrix. The mechanical properties of the composites were also significantly improved. This work provides guidance for the easy fabrication of thermally conductive composites with aligned structures.

Background: This study aimed to establish a comprehensive clinical prognostic risk model based on pulmonary function tests. This model was intended to guide the evaluation and predictive management of patients with resectable stage I-III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy., Methods: Clinical pathological characteristics and prognostic survival data for 175 patients were collected. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis were employed to identify variables and construct corresponding models. These variables were integrated to develop a ridge regression model. The models' discrimination and calibration were evaluated, and the optimal model was chosen following internal validation. Comparative analyses between the risk scores or groups of the optimal model and clinical factors were conducted to explore the potential clinical application value., Results: Univariate regression analysis identified smoking, complete pathologic response (CPR), and major pathologic response (MPR) as protective factors. Conversely, T staging, D-dimer/white blood cell ratio (DWBCR), D-dimer/fibrinogen ratio (DFR), and D-dimer/minute ventilation volume actual ratio (DMVAR) emerged as risk factors. Evaluation of the models confirmed their capability to accurately predict patient prognosis, exhibiting ideal discrimination and calibration, with the ridge regression model being optimal. Survival analysis demonstrated that the disease-free survival (DFS) in the high-risk group (HRG) was significantly shorter than in the low-risk group (LRG) (P=2.57×10 -13 ). The time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve indicated that the area under the curve (AUC) values at 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years were 0.74, 0.81, and 0.79, respectively. Clinical correlation analysis revealed that men with lung squamous cell carcinoma or comorbid chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were predominantly in the LRG, suggesting a better prognosis and potentially identifying a beneficiary population for this treatment combination., Conclusion: The prognostic model developed in this study effectively predicts the prognosis of patients with NSCLC receiving neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy. It offers valuable predictive insights for clinicians, aiding in developing treatment plans and monitoring disease progression., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Zhang, Zhu, Liang, Mao, Li, Yang, Yang, Wang, Wang and Chen.)

Background: CD93 reportedly facilitates tumor angiogenesis. However, whether CD93 regulates antitumor immunity remains undeciphered. Methods: Lung tumor tissues, malignant pleural effusions (MPEs) were obtained from lung cancer patients. Blood was obtained from healthy volunteers and lung cancer patients with anti-PD-1 therapy. Furthermore, p53 fl/fl LSL-Kras G12D , Ccr7 -/- , Cd93 -/- mice and CD11c-DTR mice were generated. Specifically, EM, NTA and western blotting were utilized to identify Tumor extracellular vesicles (TEVs). EV labeling, detection of EV uptake in vitro and in vivo, degradation of EV proteins and RNAs were performed to detect the role of TEVs in tumor progression. Pleural mesothelial cells (pMCs) were isolated to investigate related signaling pathways. Recombinant proteins and antibodies were generated to test which antibody was the most effective one to increase CCL21a in p-pMCs. RNA-Seq, MiRNA array, luciferase reporter assay, endothelial tube formation assay, protein labeling and detection, transfection of siRNAs and the miRNA mimic and inhibitor, chemotaxis assay, immunohistochemical staining, flow cytometry, Real-time PCR, and ELISA experiments were performed. Results: We show that CD93 of pMCs reduced lung tumor migration of dendritic cells by preventing pMCs from secreting CCL21, thereby suppressing systemic anti-lung tumor T-cell responses. TEV-derived miR-5110 promotes CCL21 secretion by downregulating pMC CD93, whereas C1q, increasing in tumor individuals, suppresses CD93-mediated CCL21 secretion. CD93-blocking antibodies (anti-CD93) inhibit lung tumor growth better than VEGF receptor-blocking antibodies because anti-CD93 inhibit tumor angiogenesis and promote CCL21 secretion from pMCs. Anti-CD93 also overcome lung tumor resistance to anti-PD-1 therapy. Furthermore, lung cancer patients with higher serum EV-derived miR-5193 (human miR-5110 homolog) are more sensitive to anti-PD-1 therapy, while patients with higher serum C1q are less sensitive, consistent with their regulatory functions on CD93. Conclusions: Our study identifies a crucial role of CD93 in controlling anti-lung tumor immunity and suggests a promising approach for lung tumor therapy., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (© The author(s).)

Neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) is a specific receptor for immunoglobulin G (IgG) and albumin, which binds to them in a pH-dependent manner and prevents them from lysosomal degradation to keep a long plasma half-life. In addition, FcRn plays an important role in transmembrane transport of IgG and albumin and in antigen presentation. In autoimmune diseases, anti-FcRn antibody can promote the degradation of pathogenic IgG by competitive binding to FcRn. In infectious diseases, the half-life of drugs can be prolonged by increasing the affinity between therapeutic antibody and FcRn, while the combination of viral antigen and Fc fragment of IgG can cause local immune response of mucosa for disease prevention and treatment. In cancer, albumin as a carrier of anticancer drugs can achieve efficient drug delivery, and FcRn itself may be used as a predictor of the prognosis of cancer patients. This review details the functions of FcRn, highlights its role in autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases and cancer, as well as the mechanism of drug development based on FcRn, to provide a reference for the clinical application and drug development of FcRn.

Food safety is closely related to human health and life. Contaminated foods may result in illness or poisoning. For example, perfluorinated compounds can concentrate in the human body, or they can be transferred to the baby during breastfeeding, thus leading to serious health risks. Phthalate esters may cause damage to the liver, lungs, and kidneys. Therefore, food safety has become a hot topic at a global level. Poisonous and harmful substances in foods are derived from the environment, planting or breeding, food contacting materials, and food processing, or due to unsuitable storage conditions. Residues of pesticides and veterinary drugs, organic pollutants, additives, heavy metals, and biotoxins often hamper food safety, causing diseases or even death. The diversity of available food species, complexity of the sample matrix, and lack of information about the source of pollutants render the direct determination of food contaminants difficult. Pretreatment is vital for the accurate analysis of trace toxins in foods. Optimal pretreatment can not only improve the extract efficiency and determination sensitivity, but also prevent instrument contamination. Pretreatment techniques have played an important role in trace determination for complex matrices. Pretreatment methods can be classified as solvent-based and adsorption-based methods. Adsorption-based techniques such as solid-phase extraction, magnetic solid-phase extraction, and solid-phase microextraction are simple and efficient, and hence, are widely used. In these pretreatment techniques, adsorbents play a key role in the extraction effect. In the last few years, metal organic frameworks, metal oxide materials, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and magnetic nanoparticles, as well as a combination of these materials, have been used as adsorbents. These materials are porous and have a large surface area; they are used to enrich trace targets and eliminate interferents. Covalent organic polymers (COPs) are a class of organic porous materials constructed from organic monomers via covalent bonding. Given their excellent characteristics such as light density, good stability, high surface area, structural controllability, and ease of modification, COPs are potential adsorbents. COPs are often synthesized by solvent thermal methods. However, these methods are time-consuming and require toxic solvents and harsh reaction conditions. As alternatives, room-temperature methods, mechanical chemical methods, microwave-assisted methods, and UV-assisted methods have been developed. This has facilitated the synthesis of a wide range of COPs. In this article, the recent applications of COPs in sample pretreatment for food safety analysis are reviewed. COPs can be used in solid-phase extraction by simple packing into columns, polymerization, or chemical bonding in the capillary. Magnetic compounds have been prepared by one-pot synthesis, in situ growth, in situ reduction, or coprecipitation methods and used in magnetic solid-phase extraction. Coatings of solid-phase microextraction fibers are fabricated by physical methods, chemical bonding, sol-gel methods, or in situ growth. Toxic and harmful substances in foods and foodstuffs are efficiently extracted by exploiting the high adsorbent capacities and specificity of COPs. Future development prospects and challenges in sample pretreatment are also discussed herein. There is increased focus on the development of simple, efficient, and environment-friendly methods to synthesize COPs with specific functions; further, high-throughput, sensitive analytical methods may be established. In the future, more specific COPs will be prepared in a cost-effective manner for widespread use in sample pretreatment.

Micro free flow electrophoresis (micro-FFE) is a continuous micro-separation or preparation technique, which has been applied in the analysis of biomolecules, such as cells, sub cell organics and proteins. In this review, the recent progresses in micro FFE are summarized, with emphasis on the design of microchips, the separation modes and the applications of micro-FFE. Furthermore, the further developments of micro-FFE are prospected.

Objective: To explore breeding method and breed new varieties of Erigeron breviscapus., Method: Superior individual were selected from natural outcrossing population of E. breviscapus, lines and strains were established and selected and compared., Result: The scutellarin contents of two E. breviscapus strains of 2003-15 and 2003-6 through line breeding were 3.21% and 3.01%, respectively, and increased 15.77% and 23.46% comparing with the control strain (QS-1), respectively, the yield increased 20.37% and 17.59%, scutellarin yield per hectare enhanced 39.31% and 44.82%., Conclusion: New varieties of E. breviscapus can be bred through lines breeding.

Microchip free flow electrophoresis (microFFE) is a significant microscale technique for the continuous pre-fractionation and the preparation of valuable biological samples. In our recent work, monolithic polyacylamide (PAM) materials were polymerized in microchamber by ultraviolet (UV) initiated polymerization. With the further immobilization of a stable pH gradient on the monolith, a novel microchip free flow isoelectric focusing (microFF-IEF) with monolithic immobilized pH gradient (M-IPG) materials was developed, by which fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate (FITC) labeled glycin, proline and lysine, with a minimum pI difference of 0.33 units, were well separated with a resolution higher than that performed by traditional microFF-IEF. Our experimental results demonstrate that by microFF-IEF with M-IPG, not only the interference of mobile carrier ampholytes in buffer, usually indispensable in traditional microFF-IEF, on the further separation by other techniques and the identification by mass spectrometry (MS) could be avoided, but also the improved resolution and detection sensitivity could be obtained compared with traditional microFF-IEF. Therefore, such a novel technique might be promising in microscale consecutive separation and preparation of samples.

With Beauveria brongniartii and Metarhizium anisopliae var. anisopliae as the reference, this paper studied the biological characteristics and invading ability of Metarhizium anisopliae var. major, a new variety separated from white grubs. The results showed that the optimal culture condition of M. anisopliae var. major was similar with that of other entomopathogenic species, and the optimal temperature was 25 degrees C. Among the three test media, PPDA was the most appropriate one, followed by SDAY and Czapek. M. anisopliae var. major had a stronger virulence than B. brongniartii at lower temperature, with an accumulative mortality of white grubs being 88.23% and 76.47%, respectively, after treated with soil and through spraying, suggesting that M. anisopliae var. major had a good prospect to widely apply in field.