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This study was conducted in response to the current situation in our country in which neonicotinoid pesticides (NNIs) are used in large quantities and their concentration in surface water is gradually increasing. Based on the species sensitivity distribution (SSD), the hazard quotient (HQ) and probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) were used to compare single and mixture risks of NNIs in the surface water in China. The target and recommended values of NNIs in China's surface water quality supervision were also presented. The results showed that:① in the single acute hazard assessment, imidacloprid (IMI) was the most harmful insecticide, and in the single chronic hazard assessment, imidacloprid (IMI) and acetamiprid (ACE) were more harmful. Furthermore, insects were the most sensitive creatures. ② Hainan province was the region with the highest single acute and chronic hazard in the study area. ③ Based on the joint probability curves of five neonicotinoids, the probability in which 5% of species would be affected by long-term exposure was approximately 91.12%. Thus, the combined ecological risk of these five neonicotinoids cannot be ignored. ④ Based on the toxicity reference value from SSD and the combined results of HQ and PRA, the regulatory values of surface water quality in China were as follows:acetamiprid (ACE) 0.04 μg·L

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disorder characterized by progressive synovial inflammation and joint destruction, with a largely unknown etiology. Studies have suggested that autophagy and its expression may be involved in the pathogenesis of RA; however, autophagy-related genes in RA are still largely unidentified. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to identify and validate autophagy-related genes in RA.We identified differentially expressed autophagy-related genes between patients with RA and healthy individuals using gene expression profiles in the GSE55235 dataset and R software. Subsequently, correlation analysis, protein-protein interaction, gene ontology enrichment, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses were carried out using these differentially expressed autophagy-related genes. Finally, our results were validated by examining the expression of differentially expressed autophagy-related hub genes in clinical samples using qRT-PCR.We identified 52 potential autophagy-related genes in RA based on bioinformatic analyses. Ten hub genes, CASP8, CTSB, TNFSF10, FADD, BAX, MYC, FOS, CDKN1A, GABARAPL1, and BNIP3, were validated to be differentially expressed and may serve as valuable prognostic markers and new potential therapeutic targets for RA via the regulation of autophagy.Our results may help improve the understanding of RA pathogenesis. Autophagy-related genes in RA could be valuable biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis and they might be exploited clinically as therapeutic targets in the future.

The diversity and interactions of soil fungal community are the key to maintain the diversity and stability of ecosystem. In this study, we examined the structure, diversity and co-occurrence networks of fungal community in rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils of planted and natural土壤真菌群落多样性和菌群关系是维持生态系统的多样性及稳定性的关键。本文以粗枝云杉人工林和天然林为研究对象,利用高通量测序技术和生物信息学分析方法,研究了云杉根际和非根际土壤真菌群落组成、多样性及菌群网络关系。结果表明: 从群落组成上看,人工林中相对丰度最高的科是丝盖伞科,而天然林中是蜡壳耳科,两处林型下占比最高的属均为丝盖伞属。群落的

Properties and reliability of using newly-developed pyrolysis and incineration process to dispose typical Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) like motherboard of personal computer (MPC) and circuit board of Light Emitting Diode subtitle (CBLEDS) (model: FR-4) have been explored by utilizing large-scale self-developed 50.0 kg/h consecutive pyrolysis incinerator. First confined Pyrolysis Chamber (PC) is used to thermally degrade and gasify wastes into gaseous products and chars in low-oxygen level atmosphere first, and gaseous products are transmitted to second confined High-temperature Burning Chamber (HTBC) for further clean incineration in this setup. Diesel oil and pine wood were adopted as piloted ignitor and fuel in PC respectively. Disposed solid WEEE waste materials were mixed at the same mass ratio (wood: circuit board=3:1). The technical reliability (reflected by waste temperature of incinerator, combustion efficiency, gas residence time, thermal reduction rate, mass loss ratio and volume reduction ratio) was analyzed and evaluated, environmental pollution levels of 13 items like SO2 and NOx were inspected according to a series of Chinese Standards like GB/T16157-1996 and GB18484-2001. Results show flue gas peak temperature of MPC and CBLEDS in HTBC reach 910.0 ℃ and 1120.0 ℃, combustion efficiency in HTBC is as high as 99.90 %, gas residence time of pyrolysis in PC of both MPC and CBLEDS are 3.0 s, their thermally reduction rates of residues are 1.87 % and 1.76 %, mass loss ratios reach 85.80 % and 83.01 % and volume reduction ratios reach 78.06 % and 72.13 % respectively, the detection results of exhaust ringelman emittance hazardous gas and heavy metal content basically comply with atmospheric pollutant emission permit requirements, indicating FR-4 based WEEE can be disposed by consecutive pyrolysis and incineration process quite well with high temperature stability, technical reliability, combustion efficiency and friendly environmental safety.

An efficient, transparent, convenient sol-gel process was attempted to produce hybrid sols including flame retardant and finish cotton fabrics. Using TEOS (Tetraethyl Orthosilicate) as a precursor and gelatin as a flame retardant additive, a series of hybrid silica sols were prepared and then coated on a cotton fabric. KH550 was used as cross-linking agent for the sake of strong linkage formation between the hybrid silica sol and cotton fabric. Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) experiments were conducted to determine flame retardancy, characterize pyrolysis properties and identify microstructural functional groups on the surfaces of sols-finished fabrics. Results show that finished cotton fabrics have improved flame retardancy, especially the samples treated with KH550-SiO2-gelatin hybrid sol processes higher LOI (23.0-24.5 %) than original fabric; after treatment cotton fabrics show widened pyrolysis range of temperature and the fabric finished by KH550-SiO2-gelatin hybrid sol shows maximum range of 293.5-564.5 ℃. Besides, the residual char ratio is also increased. In the FTIR experiment, it is found that the stretching vibration of the -CHO at 1700 cm-1 from cotton fabric is greatly attenuated in the presence of KH550-SiO2-gelatin. Also a strong absorption peak appears at 1030 cm-1 due to stretching vibration of C-N from gelatin, indicating that the KH550-SiO2-gelatin particles have been successfully attached to the cotton fabric. Generally, the flame retardant effects induced by sols are ranked as follows: KH550-SiO2-gelatin> SiO2-gelatin> SiO2-KH550> SiO2.

To evaluate fire risk of typical liquid oils applied in nacelle of wind turbine, pyrolysis properties prior to combustion should be known. Pyrolysis properties of three kinds of typical oils of hydraulic oil, gearbox oil and transformer oil were studied by using Thermogravimetry (TG)- Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) technique. Pyrolysis kinetics was analyzed. Apparent activation energy and pre-exponential factor were calculated by using Kissinger method. Results show that according to the TG-DSC analysis, for all three oils, the pyrolysis processes can be divided into three stages. The first stage is evaporation from room temperature to 140.1 °C (gearbox oil), 123.4 °C (transformer oil), and 144.1 °C (hydraulic oil). The second stage is the primary mass loss stage, corresponding temperature is in the range of 140.1–542.0 °C (gearbox oil), 123.4–294.1 °C (transformer oil), and 144.1–329.5 °C (hydraulic oil), among which the temperature of maximum heat mass loss rate of gearbox oil, transformer oil and hydraulic oil is 402.6, 220.1 and 262.6 °C. The third stage is the end of char oxidation and mass of residual char is kept constant, the temperature is higher than 542.0, 294.1, and 329.5 °C. Activation energies and pre-exponential factors were obtained by kinetic analysis, according to the pyrolysis kinetics analysis, the hydraulic oil is more prone to be pyrolyzed than gearbox oil and transformer oil and this provides a basis for judging the combustion characteristics of oil products by pyrolysis kinetic parameters in the future.

Aspirin (Asp) is commonly used as an anti-inflammatory drug, but the long-term usage of Asp can lead to severe gastrointestinal damage. Thus the co-administering of Asp with another drug that can suppress its side effect while having no impact on its anti-inflammatory activity would be ideal. Astragaloside IV (AST-IV) is a natural anti-inflammatory compound that has been shown to protect rat gastric mucosa from anhydrous ethanol-inflicted damage. In this study, we investigated whether AST-IV could protect rat gastric mucosa against Asp-induced gastric mucosal damage. Wistar rats administered 150mg/kg Asp showed significant damage to the gastric mucosa, as revealed by gastric damage score and histological evaluation. However, this was largely abolished by co-administering Asp and 25mg/kg or 50mg/kg AST-IV. The protective mechanism of AST-IV involved the suppression of Asp-induced inhibition of cycloxygenase-1 (COX-1) expression, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and nitric oxide (NO) production. AST-IV blocked Asp-induced inhibition of SOD activity through preventing Asp from inhibiting the expression of SOD-1, both at the mRNA and protein levels. AST-IV did not appear to interfere with the anti-inflammatory activity of Asp since COX-2 level in model gastritis rats treated with Asp plus AST-IV was equally suppressed as in model gastritis rats treated with Asp alone. The results clearly showed that AST-IV could neutralize the toxicity of Asp while having no impact on its anti-inflammatory activity. AST-IV could therefore be considered as a potential drug for relieving the side effect associated with the long-term usage of Asp.

The concept of culture-led urban regeneration is one design solution for restoring urban vitality and re-creating urban culture based on the tangible and intangible cultural resources of the city. As an important part of culture, residential culture is changing with the development of society. Literature shows that there are still deficiencies in the study of residential culture in culture-led urban regeneration. This study tried to find the cultural identity and belonging in the residential space in one hand, create a suitable space layout in the other hand. The living space pattern of traditional and modern is summarized. The cultural characteristics of Henan province have been abstract and offering the basis of the improvement solution for living space from the perspective of cultural. This study offered the reference to the culture-led urban regeneration of Henan province.

Summary Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease mediated by T cells. Proinflammatory cytokines plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of RA. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of synthetic peptides (HP-R1, HP-R2 and HP-R3), derived from the sequence of 65 kDa mycobacterial heat shock protein (HSP), on the proliferation of and cytokine secretion by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from RA patients. The PBMC were obtained from RA patients and collected by Ficoll-Hypaque density centrifugation. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were treated with one of the three synthetic peptides for 4 h, after which time proliferation and cytokine production were determined. The effects of the three peptides on the proliferation of PBMC were analysed by the colorimetric cell proliferation (CCK-8) assay. Cytokine production was measured in culture supernatants using specific ELISAs. None of the three peptides had any significant effect on the proliferation of PBMC from healthy controls. However, the proliferation of PBMC from RA patients was inhibited by all three peptides. The production of tumour necrosis factor-α from RA patients was significantly inhibited by all three peptides. The secretion of interferon-γ was significantly suppressed by HP-R1 and HP-R2. Unlike the other two peptides, HP-R2 increased the secretion of interleukin (IL)-4. None of the peptides had any significant effect on the production of IL-10. The results of the present study suggest that the synthetic peptides derived from HSP65 exhibit antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory activity, and support the potential use of synthetic peptides as therapeutic drugs in RA patients.

Aspirin has been used in the treatment and chemoprevention of many malignant cancers. The mechanism of its anti-cancer activity mainly involves the inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). However, the application of aspirin is limited by the serious gastric mucosal damage that accompanies its usage. We have previously reported the preparation of a novel aspirin derivative that we named Ca-Asp, and showed that it causes less damage to gastric mucosa of rat and inhibits the expression of COX-2 to higher degree than Asp. However, the anti-cancer effect and mechanism of Ca-Asp was not demonstrated. In this study, the anti-cancer effect of Ca-Asp was investigated and compared with those of Asp and Hydroxyapatite (Hap) at the cell level. The results showed that treatment of SGC-7901 cells (human gastric cancer cell line) with 200-400μg/ml Ca-Asp resulted in significant reduction in cell viability, compared to treatment with either Asp or Hap, and at a higher concentration (500μg/ml). Subsequent investigation into the possible underlying mechanism showed that Ca-Asp induced apoptosis and caused cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase. Ca-Asp also up-regulated the levels of caspase-3 and p53, but down regulated the level of cyclin D1, NF-κB, COX-2 and PGE2. Furthermore, simultaneous treatment of SGC-7901 cells with Ca-Asp and exogenous PGE2 reduced the anti-proliferative effect of Ca-Asp on the cells. Taken together, the results suggested that Ca-Asp might act as a potential anti-cancer drug, and that its suppression of PGE2 production might constitute an important part of its anti-cancer activity.

The effect of ferrous sulfate addition on production of cordycepin (3′-deoxyadenosine), a useful bioactive product with some pharmacological activities, was investigated in submerged cultures of Cordyceps militaris in shake flasks. The results showed that the optimal addition condition was on day 0 with 1 g/L of ferrous sulfate, and the maximal amount of cordycepin reached 596.59 ± 85.5 mg/L, about 70% higher than the control without ferrous sulfate addition. Meanwhile, the consumption of inosine 5′-monophosphate (IMP), a potential precursor of cordycepin, was decreased rapidly. Transcription levels of important genes encoding adenylosuccinate synthetase ( pur A), IMP cyclohydrolase ( pur H) and IMP dehydrogenase ( gua B) in the purine nucleotide biosynthetic pathway were also studied. Compared to the control, the transcription level of pur A was significantly up-regulated in ferrous sulfate supplemented cultures, while pur H and gua B were slightly down-regulated. This work indicated that ferrous sulfate addition was a simple and useful strategy for improving cordycepin production, and the related information might be helpful for further manipulation and understanding of the cordycepin biosynthesis.

A location method aiming at suppressing non-line of sight (NLOS) errors using single observer is proposed, which is named by pseudo-target dynamic feasible region constraint (PTDFRC) method. The method needs less resources and cost than traditional multi-observer location methods. The scatters around the target are regarded as pseudo-target. Angle of arrival (AOA) and the changing rate of AOA of pseudo-target are measured to get the location of pseudo-target. Then the feasible region of real target is constructed according to the location of pseudo-target and the geometrical relationship between real target and pseudo-target. In the feasible region, the optimization methods are applied to estimate the location of real target and deal with the NLOS errors. PTDFRC method converts multi-path signals, usually regarded as harmful factors, to advantage factors. Optimized route of maneuvering observer is also calculated to improve the location accuracy and shorten the convergence time. As proved in simulation experiments, the proposed method can depress the location errors effectively and rapidly.

Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease mediated by T cells. The aim of the present study was to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of synthetic peptides (HP-R1, HP-R2 and HP-R3), derived from the sequence of 65-kD mycobacterial heat shock protein (HSP), in the treatment of RA using adjuvant-induced arthritis (AA) animal model. Methods AA was induced by a single intradermal injection Freund’s complete adjuvant in male Lewis rats. At the first clinical sign of disease, rats were administered nasally by micropipette of peptides or phosphate buffer saline (PBS). Disease progression was monitored by measurement of body weight, arthritis score and paw swelling. The changes of histopathology were assessed by hematoxylin eosin staining. The serum levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) - alpha and interleukin (IL)-4 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results The peptides efficiently inhibited the footpad swelling and arthritic symptoms in AA rats. The synthetic peptides displayed significantly less inflammatory cellular infiltration and synovium hyperplasia than model controls. This effect was associated with a suppression of pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha production and an increase of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-4 production after peptides treatment. Conclusions These results suggest that the synthetic peptides derived from HSP65 induce highly effective protection against AA, which is mediated in part by down-regulation of inflammatory cytokines, and support the view that the synthetic peptides is a potential therapy for RA that may help to diminish both joint inflammation and destruction.