Search

2,6-dichloro-1,4-benzoquinone (2,6-DCBQ), as an emerging disinfection by-product, has been frequently detected in waters, posing potential health risk on public health. Although some studies have pointed out that 2,6-DCBQ exposure can induce cytotoxicity, limited information is available for underlying mechanism for 2,6-DCBQ-induced cytotoxicity. To explore this mechanism, we assessed the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), acridine orange (AO) staining, and the mRNA transcriptions of genes (Chk2, Cdk2, Ccna, Ccnb and Ccne) involved in cell-cycle and genes (p53, bax, bcl-2 and caspase 3) involved in apoptosis in zebrafish embryo, after exposed to different concentrations (10, 30, 60, 90 and 120 μg/L) of 2,6-DCBQ for 72 h. Our results indicated that 2,6-DCBQ exposure induced ROS generation and cell apoptosis, and disturbed the mRNA transcription of genes related to cell cycle and apoptosis in zebrafish embryo. Moreover, we also found that 30 ~ 60 μg/L 2,6-DCBQ is the important transition from cell-cycle arrest to cell apoptosis. These results provided novel insight into 2,6-DCBQ-induced cytotoxicity.

2,6-Dichlorobenzoquinone (2,6-DCBQ), as an emerging disinfection by-production, was frequently detected and identified in the drinking water; however, limited information is available for the toxic effect of 2,6-DCBQ on mice. In the present study, adult mice were used to assess the impact of 2,6-DCBQ via measuring the responses of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT)), the key genes (Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), NADPH quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) and glutamate-L-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC)) in the Nrf2-keap1 pathway, and lipid peroxidation (malonaldehyde, MDA). Our results clearly indicated that 2,6-DCBQ decreased the activities of SOD and CAT, repressed the transcriptional levels of key genes in Nrf2-keap1 pathway, further caused oxidative damage on mice. These results provided evidence for assessing the threat of 2,6-DCBQ on human.

One of the primary concerns for sustainable and safety development of urban underground space is to find out the key restrictive factors and the corresponding methods to avoid or modify the constraints. Aiming to provide practical decisions, a four-stage evaluation framework with fuzzy mathematics comprehensive evaluation (FMCE) method was adapted and proposed considering the restrictive factors and management programs. The four stages are 1) identifying the major indicators and restrictive factors that represent geological conditions, 2) collecting data from literature, field investigation and experts’ judgements, 3) combing the qualitative information and quantitative calculation to evaluate the suitability, 4) providing feasible suggestions with management programs that weaken the disadvantage. The four-stage framework is applied in Jinan Pilot Zone as an example. The FMCE method is conducted by employing hydrology, hydrogeology, engineering geology, mining goaf (the restrictive factor), building foundation, and developed underground space as the primary evaluation factors. Protected areas are indicated and two schemes of recharge filling and secondary landscape development are compared in terms of costs and benefits. It is suggested that the existing facilities should be used to develop the underground space with exploration and tourism projects, which might become one highlight of the Pilot Zone.

Monohaloacetic acids (mono-HAAs), a class of disinfection by-products widely occurred in drinking water, receives significant attention due to their extremely high toxicity. Many studies on the biological toxicity of mono-HAAs have been reported, yet the toxic effects of mono-HAAs on human renal cells (kidney is one of the target organs for disinfection by-products) has not been involved. Studies on organic precursors for mono-HAAs formation were also very limited due to their lower levels as compared to di-HAAs and tri-HAAs. Based on this, the formation of mono-HAAs after chlorination of some typical source water samples and their relationship with water quality parameters were investigated. Meanwhile, the cytotoxicity of monochloroacetic acid (MCAA), monobromoacetic acid (MBAA), and monoiodoacetic acid (MIAA) were tested using human embryonic kidney cells (HEK-293 T cells). The results showed that the levels of mono-HAAs formed during chlorination of source water samples were between 0.44 and 0.87 μg/L. Formation of MBAA positively (p 0.05) correlated with bromide ion and dissolved organic carbon, but negatively (p 0.01) correlated with SUVA

Moraine-talus zone (hereafter referred to as MTZ) refers to the non-glacial area (including glacier mass supply area) above the upper boundary of alpine meadow in high mountains, where vegetation is sparsely distributed and coarse fragment (diameter > 2 mm) is widespread. The MTZ acts as the headwater region for many large river basins, and the freeze–thaw process of its coarse-fragment soil largely affects regional hydrological processes, carbon exchange, and ecosystem diversity. However, our knowledge of the physical and thermal properties of coarse-fragment soil in MTZs remains limited. Mainly distributed in the surroundings of Hala Lake, the area ratio of the MTZ in the Qilian Mountains is about 21%. On the basis of 170 samples collected from 22 soil profiles at a depth of 80 cm, coarse fragments dominated the compositions of soil textures in the MTZ, with relatively high volume proportion (about 63.3%) and mass proportion (about 75.0%). The mean volume and mass ratio of the coarse fragments tended to increase gradually from the surface to the deep soils and varied largely at different particle size ranges (i.e., 2–5, 5–10, 10–20, 20–40, 40–60, and >60 mm). Thermal conductivity measurements for the 24 samples collected from three soil profiles in dry (Kdry) and water-saturated (Ksat) conditions indicated that Kdry increased rapidly with temperatures from −20 °C to 25 °C (with a 5 °C interval), which appeared to be closely related with soil porosity. Ksat did not obviously change with temperature at the two designated temperature ranges (i.e., from −20 °C to −5 °C and from 5 °C to 25 °C), but fluctuated largely at 0 °C, possibly due to the drastic phase change. More detailed experimental designs combined with more influential elements should be considered in future research to fully understand the thermal properties of coarse-fragment soil in the MTZ.

Kai Zhou, Shaoshan Li, Guojia Du, Yandong Fan, Pengfei Wu, Hongjie Sun, Tingrong ZhangDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi 830054, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Tingrong ZhangDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, No. 137, Liyushan South Road, Urumqi 830054, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 1 869 088 1506Email xjzk2012@sina.cnBackground: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are vital mediators in human cancers including pituitary neuroendocrine tumor (PitNET) and could function as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) of microRNAs (miRNAs). The main objective of this study is to identify effect of lncRNA X-inactive specific transcript (XIST) and microRNA-424-5p (miR-424-5p) on PitNET.Methods: Microarray analysis was employed to identify the PitNET-related differentially expressed lncRNAs. PitNET tissues, including both invasive and non-invasive subtypes in parallel with normal pituitary tissues were collected for the determination of the expression of XIST, miR-424-5p and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and the interaction among them. Subsequently, the expression of XIST, miR-424-5p and bFGF in PitNET cells was altered to elucidate their biological significance in the aspects of proliferation, migration, invasion, and the apoptosis.Results: Both XIST and bFGF exhibited high expression, but miR-424-5p had a low expression in invasive PitNET tissues as compared to non-invasive PitNET normal pituitary tissues. Additionally, XIST competitively bound to miR-424-5p to elevate the expression of bFGF. Furthermore, depleted XIST or bFGF, or elevated miR-424-5p was revealed to suppress the proliferation, migration, invasion, and promote cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of invasive PitNET cells. miR-424-5p repressed the proliferation, migration, invasion of invasive PitNET cells by targeting bFGF.Conclusion: In conclusion, the fundamental findings of the present study suggested that the functional suppression of XIST downregulated bFGF to inhibit the development of PitNET by increasing miR-424-5p expression, proposing XIST as a novel therapeutic target for PitNET.Keywords: invasive pituitary neuroendocrine tumor, lncRNA XIST, microRNA-424-5p, bFGF, invasion, migration

Simultaneous (SPW and propyzamide) wastewater treatment and the production of biochemicals by Rhodopseudomonas capsulata (R. capsulata) were investigated with supplement of soybean processing wastewater (SPW). Compared to control group, propyzamide was removed and biochemicals production were enhanced with the supplement of SPW. Propyzamide induced camH gene expression through activating MAPKKKs gene in MAPK signal transduction pathway. The induction of camH gene and CamH occurs after 1 day for R. capsulata. However, lack of organics in original wastewater did not maintain R. capsulata growth for over 1 day. The supplement of SPW provided sufficient carbon source for R. capsulata under three addition dosages. This new method resulted in the mixed (SPW and propyzamide) wastewater treatment and improvement of biochemicals simultaneously, as well as the realization of reutilization of wastewater and R. capsulata as sludge. Meanwhile, high-order nonlinear mathematical model of the relationship between propyzamide removal rate, Xt and Xt/r, was established.

To identify the lithology of coal seam roof and explore the influence of these roofs on the enrichment of coalbed methane, low-frequency rock petrophysics experiments, seismic analyses and gas-bearing trend analyses were performed. The results show that the sound wave propagation speed in rock at seismic frequencies was lower than that at ultrasound frequencies. Additionally, the P-wave velocities of gritstone, fine sandstone, argillaceous siltstone and mudstone were 1,651 m/s, 2,840 m/s, 3,191 m/s and 4,214 m/s, respectively. The surface properties of the coal seam roofs were extracted through 3D seismic wave impedance inversion. The theoretical P-wave impedance was calculated after the tested P-wave velocity was determined. By matching the theoretical P-wave impedance of the four types of rocks with that of the coal seam roofs, we identified the lithology of the roofs. By analyzing known borehole data, we found that the identified lithology was consistent with that revealed by the data. By comparing and analyzing the coal seam roof lithology and the gas-bearing trends in the study area, we discovered that the coal seam roof lithology was related to the enrichment of coalbed methane. In the study area, areas with high gas contents mainly coincided with roof zones composed of mudstone and argillaceous siltstone, and those with low gas contents were mainly associated with fine sandstone roof areas. Thus, highly compact areas of coal seam roof are favorable for the formation and preservation of coalbed methane. RESUMEN Para identificar la litología de una cima con gas de filones de carbón y explorar la influencia de estas cimas en el enriquecimiento de metano en capas de carbón, se realizaron experimentos de petrofísica en rocas de baja frecuencia, análisis sísmicos y análisis de tendencias con gas. Los resultados muestran que la velocidad de propagación de la onda de sonido en roca a frecuencias sísmicas fue menor que la de las frecuencias de ultrasonido. Además, las velocidades de la onda P de arenisca, arenisca fina, limolita arcillosa y lutita fueron 1.651 m/s, 2.840 m/s, 3.191 m/s y 4.214 m/s, respectivamente. Las propiedades de la superficie de los techos con gas de filones de carbón se extrajeron mediante inversión de impedancia de onda sísmica 3D. La impedancia teórica de la onda P se calculó después de determinar la velocidad de la onda P probada. Al hacer coincidir la impedancia teórica de la onda P de los cuatro tipos de rocas con la de las cimas con gas de filones de carbón, se identificó la litología de las cimas. Al analizar los datos conocidos del pozo, se encontró que la litología identificada era consistente con la revelada por los datos. Al comparar y analizar la litología de la cima con gas de filones de carbón y las tendencias con gas en el área de estudio, descubrimos que la litología de esta cima estaba relacionada con el enriquecimiento del metano de las capas de carbón. En el área de estudio, las áreas con alto contenido de gas coincidieron principalmente con zonas de techo compuestas de lutita y limolita arcillosa, y aquellas con bajo contenido de gas se asociaron principalmente con áreas de techo de arenisca fina. Por lo tanto, las áreas altamente compactas del techo con vetas de carbón son favorables para la formación y preservación del metano de las capas de carbón.

Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) diesel fuel from indirect coal-to-liquid (CTL) is a promising alternate fuel for diesel engines. To study the effects of F-T diesel/ petrochemical diesel blends on combustion and emission characteristics under various injection timing (IT) and engine loads, the experiment is conducted on a common-rail diesel engine fueled with pure petrochemical diesel (D100), F-T diesel blended in petrochemical diesel by volume of 30% (D70F30) and 60% (D40F60), respectively. Besides, the combustion stability, including cyclic variation and degree of rough work are compared. The results show that F-T blending fuels always have lower heat release rate (HRR) and pressure rise rate (PRR) than D100 during premixed combustion period, while the differences are not obvious during diffusion combustion period. Additionally, two blends have better ignition property and smaller coefficient of variation of peak cylinder pressure (COVpmax). The rough work has no clear difference for all test fuels at medium–high loads, while the engine has remarkably gentle operation with F-T blending fuels at low and partial loads. Although NOx emissions of two blends are only slight reduced, soot emissions are significantly reduced. So the NOx-soot trade-off can be obviously alleviated.

Wastewater sludge from metropolitan areas has become a source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and may result in pollution of soils and plants if applied to agricultural areas. It is important to stabilize wastewater sludge before its application to agricultural land. Constructed wetlands (CWs) have been widely applied for stabilization of sludge. In CWs, plants, especially reeds, promote degradation of pollutants in the rhizosphere and are the principal mechanisms for PAH-contaminated sludge phytoremediation. We studied PAH removal in sludge planted with Phragmites australis (common reeds) in onsite experiments over a 3-year period comprising 2 years of sludge application and 1 year of resting. The average PAH content in the feeder sludge was 5.7 mg kg–1 (DW), consisting of approximately 48% low-molecular-weight (2–3 ring) PAHs, 27% middle-molecular-weight (4 ring) PAHs and 25% high-molecular-weight (5–6 ring) PAHs. After 3 years, the average PAH content in stabilized sludge was 2.1 mg kg–1 (DW), which was lower than that of the feeder sludge. Overall, about 66% of low-molecular-weight PAHs (dominant type), 57% of middle-molecular-weight PAHs and 32% of high-molecular-weight PAHs were removed from the stabilized sludge. Additionally, there were spatial variations in PAHs in stabilized sludge, with PAHs being highest in the surface layer (12–14 cm) sludge, lower in the middle layer (6–8 cm) and lowest in the bottom layer (0–2 cm).

Mitigating climate change and ensuring regional equity development is equitable are matters of global concern. Systematic and in-depth research into theseissues is seldom conducted. In this research we combine qualitative and quantitative studies and use six state-of-the-art energy-economy analysis models and four long term scenarios to explore the distribution of regional contributions for climate change mitigation in the future. We focus on the energy investment gap and policy cost. The study&rsquo, s conclusion is that, under the assumption of carbon tax as a source of energy investment from 2025, the global positive energy investment gap in the climate change mitigation scenario will not appear until around 2035&ndash, 2040. Asia and OECD90+EU (Countries from the OECD 1990, EU and its candidates) are the regions that will have a significant direct impact on the global energy investment gap under climate policies in the future. However, from the perspective of the relative value (the percentage of the energy investment gap relative to the energy investment in the Current Policies (CPol) scenario), Asia will contribute the most to the global energy investment gap under the climate stability policies. Under the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) scenario, Asia will contribute the most in the near term and REF will contribute the most in the medium term.The findings show that OECD90+EUwill bear more cost in the pledges scenario, and Asia will bear more cost in the climate stability scenarios in the medium term. Contrary to the common sense expectation, the developed regions will contribute the least in terms of the proportion of the policy cost to the respective economic aggregates under the climate stability scenarios in the medium and long term, but the opposite is true in the developing regions. By and large, from the perspective of the current climate change mitigation policies, the developed regions and developing regions will achieve a win-win situation in the long run, but the relative contribution of the developed regions is not as great as was previously expected. These novel findings should prove to be useful to policy makers when developing transition strategies for climate change mitigation.

Simultaneous (SPW and propyzamide) wastewater treatment and the production of biochemicals by Rhodopseudomonas capsulata (R. capsulata) were investigated with supplement of soybean processing wastewater (SPW). Compared to control group, propyzamide was removed and biochemicals production were enhanced with the supplement of SPW. Propyzamide induced camH gene expression through activating MAPKKKs gene in MAPK signal transduction pathway. The induction of camH gene and CamH occurs after 1 day for R. capsulata. However, lack of organics in original wastewater did not maintain R. capsulata growth for over 1 day. The supplement of SPW provided sufficient carbon source for R. capsulata under three addition dosages. This new method resulted in the mixed (SPW and propyzamide) wastewater treatment and improvement of biochemicals simultaneously, as well as the realization of reutilization of wastewater and R. capsulata as sludge. Meanwhile, high-order nonlinear mathematical model of the relationship between propyzamide removal rate, Xt and Xt/r, was established.

A novel cobalt monoxide/tungsten trioxide p-n heterojunction was fabricated via a two-step hydrothermal method for improving the photocatalytic activity for gaseous pollutant degradation and oxygen evolution. The TEM characterization results indicated that the CoO nanoparticles with diameter of 30 nm were uniformly distributed on the surface of WO3 nanoplates, which not only increased the light absorption efficiency but also promoted charge separation efficiency owing to a formed internal electric field in p-n junction hybridized system. In all samples, 15 wt% CoO/WO3 displayed the highest photocatalytic activity, where the degradation conversion of toluene achieved to 85.4% in 4 h, which were 2.0- and 20.3-folds higher than that of WO3 and CoO, respectively. Besides, the as-prepared CoO/WO3 composite also exhibited significantly increased photocatalytic oxygen production under visible light irradiation. Moreover, by in-situ infrared spectra, the main intermediate products, including benzyl alcohol, benzaldehyde, benzoic acid and formate or acetate were clearly clarified at the interface over the catalysts. Combined with the ESR, VB-XPS and UPS, a possible mechanism for the photocatalytic process over the CoO/WO3 p-n heterojunctions were proposed and discussed.

Microenvironment-sensitive fluorescent nucleosides are highly important for biotechnological applications. Here, we report the synthesis and photophysical properties of various new 8-phenylethynylated 2′-deoxyadenosines and 2′-deoxyisoguanosines. 8-phenylethynylated 2′-deoxyadenosines are synthesized using Sonogashira cross-coupling reaction (76–91%), which are further transformed to 8-phenylethynylated 2′-deoxyisoguanosines (50–63%). All new compounds exhibit strong solvatochromicity and pH-dependent fluorescence in aqueous solutions. Furthermore, 8-phenylethynylated purine analogues are sensitive to solvent viscosity changes, indicating their potential sensitivity to environmental changes.

Simultaneous (SPW and propyzamide) wastewater treatment and the production of biochemicals by Rhodopseudomonas capsulata (R. capsulata) were investigated with supplement of soybean processing wastewater (SPW). Compared to control group, propyzamide was removed and biochemicals production were enhanced with the supplement of SPW. Propyzamide induced camH gene expression through activating MAPKKKs gene in MAPK signal transduction pathway. The induction of camH gene and CamH occurs after 1 day for R. capsulata. However, lack of organics in original wastewater did not maintain R. capsulata growth for over 1 day. The supplement of SPW provided sufficient carbon source for R. capsulata under three addition dosages. This new method resulted in the mixed (SPW and propyzamide) wastewater treatment and improvement of biochemicals simultaneously, as well as the realization of reutilization of wastewater and R. capsulata as sludge. Meanwhile, high-order nonlinear mathematical model of the relationship between propyzamide removal rate, X

Bismaleimide matrix composites (abbreviated as MT700/802) reinforced by domestic carbon fiber (MT700) were prepared by autoclave process. The properties of tensile, compressive and in-plane shear for quasi-isotropic laminates were comprehensively studied at room temperature and at -55 °C. The experimental results showed that 90° compressive strength and 0° in-plane shear strength at -55 °C were improved by 10% than those at room temperature, however, both of 0° and 90° tensile strength and modulus at -55 °C were reduced by near 9% than those at room temperature. Meanwhile, a component with local variable thickness was developed, and it was tested under the working condition of tensile and shear load. The results exhibited that the tensile failure load of the component run at 31.45 kN and the shear failure load was more than 54.11 kN.

Chitosan, a natural biodegradable polymer, was studied as a selective depressant in copper–molybdenum sulfide separation by flotation. Although chitosan depressed both molybdenite and chalcopyrite in single mineral flotation, selective flotation was achieved during the flotation of molybdenum-bearing copper sulfide concentrate at pH 6; the recovery of molybdenum in the froth product was over 70% while the recovery of copper was less than 24%. Adsorption measurements showed that chitosan had a higher adsorption density on chalcopyrite than on molybdenite. FTIR and ToF-SIMS measurements were carried out to confirm the different degrees of interaction of chitosan with molybdenite and chalcopyrite and the results showed that chitosan mostly adsorbed on chalcopyrite via amide groups when both molybdenite and chalcopyrite were present in the suspension.

Chemical reaction is the most important source of combustion irreversibility in premixed conditions, but details of the exergy loss mechanisms have not been explored yet. In this study numerical analysis based on non-equilibrium thermodynamics combined with detailed chemical kinetics is conducted to explore the exergy loss mechanism of gasoline engine like combustion process which is simplified as constant volume combustion. The fuel is represented by the common accepted gasoline surrogates which consist of four components: iso-octane (57%), n-heptane (16%), toluene (23%), and 2-pentene (4%). We find that overall exergy loss is mainly composed of three peaks along combustion generated from chemical reactions in three stages, the conversion from large fuel molecules into small molecules (as Stage 1), the H2O2 loop-related reactions (as Stage 2), and the violent oxidation reactions of CO, H, and O (as Stage 3). The effects of individual combustion boundaries, including temperature, pressure, equivalence ratio, oxygen concentration, on combustion exergy loss have been widely investigated. The combined effects of combustion boundaries on the total loss of gasoline surrogates are also investigated. We find that in a gasoline engine with a compression ratio of 10, the total loss can be reduced from 31.3% to 24.3% using lean combustion. The total loss can be further reduced to 22.4% by introducing exhaust gas recirculation and boosting the inlet charge. If the compression ratio is increased to 17, the total loss can be decreased to 20.4%, and finally to 16.8%, if the compression ratio is further increased to 100.