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The microbial community structure of sediments in the Bahe River Basin, China was studied using a high-throughput sequencing platform and PCR amplification to investigate the pattern changes in microbial communities in urban rivers affected by anthropogenic activities and their environmental driving mechanisms. The results demonstrated that the average total nitrogen and total phosphorus in the sediments were 524 and 734 mg/kg, respectively. The T, COD and $${\text{NH}}_{4}^{ + }$$ NH 4 + -N of the water and the moisture content of the sediments has significantly impacted on the microbial community structure. Twenty microbial species with a relative abundance > 1% in the sediments of the river were observed, accounting for 95–99% of the total microbial community. The primary species were Proteobacteria (13.86–69.14%), Firmicutes (1.45–58.33%), Chloroflexi (3.68–26.18%), Actinobacteria (2.7–21.51%), Acidobacteria (0.73–16.36%), Bacteroides (1.53–14.11%), and Thermodesulfobacteria (0.1–8.9%), accounting for over 90% of the total microbial community. At the class level, the primary species were γ-proteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Anaerolineae, Bacillus, Bacteroidota, Actinobacteriota, and Clostridia, accounting for over 70% of the total microbial community. Our results provide direct evidence for a link between microbial community structure and environment factors. This evidence demonstrates that sediment microorganisms can be applied to evaluate urban rivers pollution levels, which can provide a scientific basis for pollution control and management in the urban river affected by human activities.

Introduction High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) is considered to be the end-stage of acute mountain sickness (AMS); however, its pathophysiological mechanism remains unknown. Increasing evidences support that inflammation is an important risk factor for the occurrence of HACE. Including our published papers, previous studies demonstrated that the levels of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α in both serum and hippocampus were increased in the mouse HACE model induced by LPS stimulation combined with hypobaric hypoxia exposure; however, the expression profile of other cytokines and chemokines remains unknown. Objective This study was to analyze the expression profile of cytokines and chemokines in the HACE model. Methods The mouse HACE model was established by LPS stimulation combined with hypobaric hypoxia exposure (LH). The mice were divided into the normoxic group, LH-6 h group, LH-1 d group, and LH-7 d group. Brain water content (BWC) was determined using the wet/dry weight ratio. The levels of 30 cytokines and chemokines in the serum and hippocampal tissue were detected using LiquiChip. The mRNA expression of cytokines and chemokines in hippocampal tissue were determined by q-PCR. Results In the current study, we found that the brain water content was increased after the combinational treatment of LPS and hypobaric hypoxia. The results of LiquiChip showed that, in the serum and hippocampal tissue, most factors in all 30 cytokines and chemokines were dramatically upregulated at 6 h, and then declined at the 1st d and 7th d. Among these factors, G-CSF, M-CSF, MCP-1, KC, MIG, Eotaxin, Rantes, IP10, IL-6, MIP-2, and MIP-1β were all increased in both serum and hippocampal tissue at 6 h. In addition, the results of q-PCR showed the mRNA levels of G-CSF, MCP-1, KC, MIG, Eotaxin, Rantes, IP10, IL-6, MIP-2, and MIP-1β in hippocampal tissue were dramatically upregulated at 6 h. Conclusion This study showed that the dynamic expression profile of 30 cytokines and chemokines in a mouse HACE model induced by LPS plus hypobaric hypoxia. The levels of G-CSF, MCP-1, KC, MIG, Eotaxin, Rantes, IP10, IL-6, MIP-2, and MIP-1β in both serum and hippocampus were significantly increased at 6 h, which may be involved in the occurrence and development of HACE.

Objective At present, there is no definite suggestion about effective tumor biomarkers for the diagnostic accuracy and prognostic significance of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver cirrhosis (LC). The aim of our research was to determine the value of the tumor biomarker osteopontin (OPN), which is encoded by the Spp1 gene, in the diagnosis, prognosis and development of HCC and LC through meta-analysis.Methods A systematic literature search was performed in the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and China National Knowledge Infrastructure electronic databases up to March 2021. Studies evaluating the diagnostic and/or prognostic value of OPN in HCC and/or LC were included.Results From the systematic search, 35 studies including 9150 participants were eligible, 25 of which provided data on the diagnostic value of OPN overexpression, while 15 studies provided data on the prognostic value. OPN had high diagnostic accuracy in both HCC and LC patients compared with healthy controls, and the diagnostic efficiency was increased by the biomarker combination OPN + AFP.Conclusions OPN may be adopted as a promising predictive tumor biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC and LC and may be a potential therapeutic target.

The influence of infrared frying (IF) on the physicochemical properties of fried apple slices and the oil deterioration was investigated, considering conventional frying (CF) as a reference. IF had a more favorable impact on the heating rate and thermal efficiency, which subsequently resulted an accelerated moisture removal rate. The oil uptake in infrared-fried apple slices were reduced by 12.9%-17.3%, when compared to the CF, as attributed to the denser and smoother morphological microstructure. The color of apple slices was better preserved in IF and the total phenolic and flavonoid contents had a higher retention rate with the optimal infrared power (2000 W in this study). Additionally, infrared frying was proved to be a promising technology to slow down the oil deterioration rate as was observed from lower values of acid value, and carbonyl value, which was also supported by the results of gas chromatography, FT-IR, and LF-NMR analysis.

The emergence of resistance genes is a global phenomenon that poses a significant threat to both animals and humans. Lakes are important reservoirs of genes that confer resistant to antibiotics and metals. In this study, we investigated the distribution and diversity of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and metal resistance genes (MRGs) in the sediment of Daihai Lake using high-throughput sequencing and metagenomic analysis. The results indicated that all sampling sites had similar bacterial community structures, with Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes being the most abundant. A total of 16 ARG types containing 111 ARG subtypes were deposited in the sediment. Among the resistance genes to bacitracin, multidrug, macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin (MLS), tetracycline, beta-lactam, and sulfonamide were the dominant ARG types, accounting for 89.9-94.3% of the total ARGs. Additionally, 15 MRG types consisting of 146 MRG subtypes were identified. In all samples, MRGs of the same type presented resistance to Pb, Ni, Hg, W, Zn, Ag, Cr, Fe, As, Cu, and multimetals. Overall, the distribution and diversity of antibiotic and metal resistance genes showed no significant differences in the samples. Plasmids (91.03-91.82%) were the most dominant mobile genetic elements in the sediments of Daihai Lake. Network analysis indicated that the target ARGs and MRGs were significantly positively correlated with the microorganisms. Potential hosts for various ARGs and MRGs include Proteobacteria, Euryarchaeota, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Bacteroidetes.

Frying is one of the most common units in food processing and catering worldwide, which involves simultaneous physicochemical and structural changes. However, the problems of traditional frying technology, such as low thermal utilization and poor processing efficiency, have been gradually exposed to industrial production. In this paper, strategies of applying physical fields, such as pressure field, electromagnetic field, and acoustic field in frying technology separately or synergistically with improved efficiency and quality attributes are reviewed. The role of physical fields in the frying process was discussed with modifications in heat and mass transfer and porous structures. The effects of physical fields and their processing parameters on moisture loss kinetics, oil uptake, texture, color, and nutrients retention of fried food are introduced, respectively. Recent advances in multi-physical field-based frying techniques were recommended with synergistic benefits. Furthermore, the trends and challenges that could further develop the multi-physical field-based frying techniques are proposed, showing further commercial prospects for the purpose. The application of physical fields has brought new inspiration to the exploitation of efficient and high-qualified frying technologies, while higher technical levels and economic costs need to be taken into consideration.HighlightsThe role of physical fields in pretreatments and frying process were reviewed.The mechanism of physics fields on frying efficiency and quality was summarized.The physicochemical and microstructure changes by physics fields were discussed.The synergy of physical fields in frying technology were outlined.The trends for further multi-physical field-based frying techniques were proposed.

The selection of time constant is the key to suppress the fluctuation of wind power output by using the first-order filter. This paper analyzes the relationship between the filtering time constant and the fluctuation smoothing quantity in different time scales according to the wind power fluctuation smoothing index. And proposes a strategy of putting two time-constant filters in series to suppress the fluctuation of wind power on two time scales. Setting the wind power fluctuation threshold of energy storage switching and adjusting the time constant near the threshold smoothly to reduce the impact of energy storage switching on the wind/storage system output fluctuation. Finally, the wind power data measured in a wind field is taken as an example to conduct simulation analysis through MATLAB/Simulink, which shows that the proposed strategy can meet the requirements of wind power index and reduce the energy storage grid operation time and charge and discharge times.

Presently, the effectiveness of combined ultrasonic and ethanol (US + ethanol) pre-treatment was evaluated with an aim to reduce the oil uptake and enhance the frying efficiency of deep-fried apple slices. The US + ethanol pre-treatment was conducted by immersing apple slices in 95% ethanol and ultrasonic treatment (40 kHz, 300 W) for 30 min. Results revealed that the permeability of cells was greatly increased and the mass transfer during the pre-treatment was significantly enhanced by the US + ethanol pre-treatment. Subsequently, the heat transfer and moisture loss kinetics of fried apple slices were significantly improved by the US + ethanol pre-treatment. The oil uptake was achieved the lowest value and reduced by 34.5% and 28.2% in the fried samples pre-treated by 95% ethanol and US + ethanol, respectively, compared with the untreated samples (60.5 g/100 g db). The appearance, total phenolic and flavonoid contents in fried apple slices were also improved by the US + ethanol pre-treatment. The morphology observation revealed that the US + ethanol pre-treatment induced a denser and smoother surface and more micron-sized pores on the crust of fried apple slices. Conclusively, the US + ethanol pre-treatment would be a promising method for the reduction of oil uptake in fried fruits and vegetables with an enhanced frying efficiency.

Spectral quantitative fingerprinting including ultraviolet (UV) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) coupled with combustion heat (CH) analytical techniques was employed and compared for rapid screening quality grade and discriminating San-Huang Tablets (SHT) of different commercial brands. The systematic quantified fingerprint method (SQFM) was applied to evaluate, qualitatively and quantitatively, the quality consistency of the herbal preparation. It was possible to deduce that the quantitative similarity analysis by SQFM was enabled to make a good discrimination of the tested samples. It was a particularly useful method for the overall quality evaluation of herbal medicine and their preparations.

In this study, the apoptosis induction and antitumor activity of a novel complex, seleno-β-lactoglobulin (Se-β-Lg), on H22 cells were explored. In in vitro experiments, the MTT assay showed that Se-β-Lg was cytotoxic to H22 cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner and displayed few proliferation inhibition effects on normal liver L02 cells. Annexin V-FITC/PI and PI staining assays showed that Se-β-Lg induced apoptosis changes of H22 cells from early to late apoptosis and led to S phase cell cycle arrest. Western blot and Z-VAD-FMK inhibitor assays showed that Se-β-Lg triggered the Fas/FasL-mediated caspase 8-dependent extrinsic death receptor pathway in H22 cells. In in vivo experiments, Se-β-Lg effectively repressed the growth of transplanted H22 solid tumors in a dose-dependent manner and exhibited few toxic effects on the host animals. H&E and PI staining of tumor tissues showed that Se-β-Lg caused the occurrence of typical apoptosis morphology features and dose-dependently increased the proportion of apoptosis peaks (Sub-G1 peak) in H22 solid tumors. These results suggest that Se-β-Lg has the capacity to induce H22 tumor cell apoptosis in vitro and in vivo and support that Se-β-Lg can be applied as a functional complex in food.

Selenium is important to human health, particularly for immune response and cancer prevention. Chitosan has good biocompatibility and low toxicity. In this paper, we synthesized chitosan selenate (CS), a novel therapeutic compound, using chitosan and selenium. CS synthesis was evaluated using FTIR, which verified the presence of a characteristic Se O absorption peak at 892 cm−1, and with HPGPC, which calculated the molecular weight as approximately 41.8 kDa. Next, we evaluated the proliferation-inhibitory and apoptosis-inducing effects of CS on lung cancer A549 cells and explored its potential molecular mechanisms. MTT assay indicated that CS could significantly inhibit A549 cells viability in a dose-dependent manner. Typical morphological features of apoptosis were observed by Hoechst staining in A549 cells treated with CS, and Annexin V-FITC/PI staining confirmed that CS induced cell death via apoptosis and not necrosis. Cell cycle detection showed that CS triggered S and G2/M phase arrest in a dose-dependent manner. Finally, western blot analysis indicated that CS up-regulated the expression levels of Fas, FasL, and Fadd; subsequently, activated the caspase cascade in A549 cells. These results show that CS induces apoptosis in A549 cells via the Fas/FasL signaling pathway, and has potential chemopreventive effects for lung cancer treatment.

Green approaches are much more appreciable during the present scenario. Soil amendments are frequently applied for improving water use efficiency, reducing soil salinity in arid and semi-arid areas, controlling the secondary salinization of cultivated soils, and increasing the carbon sequestration capacity of soils. Thus, lab soil column simulation experiments and field experiments were carried out to evaluate these functions of two separate amendments, polyacrylamide-based super absorbent polymer (SAP) and corn straw biochar at different application rates. The simulation experiments showed that both SAP and biochar inhibited the accumulation of soil salinity, with a reduced rate of 9.7&ndash, 26.3% and 13.5&ndash, 37.2%, respectively, dependent on the amendment application rates. The field experiments found different salt inhibition effects of the two amendments with growth stages of maize. Soil salinization was inhibited in the pre-germination and early jointing stages by SAP, but throughout the whole growth period by biochar. Both soil amendments reduced soil electrical conductivity, and biochar increased the soil contents of Ca2+, Mg2+, and K+. Our observations demonstrated that application of biochar and SAP played important roles in increasing soil fertility and inhibiting soil salt accumulation. It provided an effective method to potentially mitigate the environmental crisis and promote sustainable development in agriculture.

The composition of traditional Chinese medicine is extremely complex, so it is difficult to ensure quality consistency. We took Compound Danshen Tablets as the object of the study, by using high-performance liquid chromatography to establish multiwavelength fusion fingerprints. Characteristic fingerprints of 30 batches of samples were generated at four wavelengths and evaluated by systematic quantified fingerprint method. An on-line antioxidant determination method was used for the determination of the antioxidant components in Compound Danshen Tablets. The fingerprint analysis of the marker compounds can reflect the content of the marker compounds, which were determined by using the external standard method. This study elucidated that multiwavelength fusion fingerprint profiles and multiple markers compound analysis in conjunction with the assay of antioxidant activity offered a reliable and efficient approach to quantitatively evaluate the quality consistency of the traditional Chinese medicine and herbal preparations.

The present study was designed to establish a multi-wavelength quantitative fingerprinting method for San-Huang Tablets (SHT), a widely used and commercially available herbal preparation, where high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a diode array detector (DAD) was employed to obtain the fingerprint profiles. A simple linear quantitative fingerprint method (SLQFM) coupled with multi-ingredient simultaneous determination was developed to evaluate the quality consistency of the tested samples qualitatively and quantitatively. Additionally, the component-activity relationship between chromatographic fingerprints and total radical-scavenging capacity in vitro (as assessed using the 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay) was investigated by partial least squares regression (PLSR) analysis to predict the antioxidant capacity of new samples from the chromatographic fingerprints and identify the main active constituents that can be used as the target markers for the quality control of SHT. In conclusion, the strategy developed in the present study was effective and reliable, which can be employed for holistic evaluation and accurate discrimination for the quality consistency of SHT preparations and other traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and herbal preparations as well.

The structure transition of nanoparticles has a significant effect on their practical applications. In this study, the transition temperature of CdS nanoparticles with the size of 3–5 nm from sphalerite to wurtzite structure is significantly reduced to 150 °C under a high pressure of 1 GPa, much lower than that 300–400 °C for CdS nanoparticles and 600 °C for bulk CdS under room pressure. The lower transition temperature leads to an ultrafine grain size d = 5 nm for the formed wurtzite phase as compared with that d = 33 nm yielded under room pressure with a similar transition volume fraction of ~80%. The underlying physical mechanism is discussed.