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The production of ammonia (NH3) from nitrogen (N2) in mild electrochemical conditions is of prime importance to obtaining sustainable fertilizers and carbon-free energy conversion, which strongly depends on the electronic occupation state at reactive sites. Herein, the structural symmetry breaking is regulated to rearrange spin electron configuration in an effort to optimize the reaction pathway of nitrogen reduction. The structure distortion is achieved in multistage-coupled BiErRu2O7 pyrochlores by controlling the bonding interaction from Bi-6s lone pair electrons. The results demonstrate that the structural symmetry breaking can effectively optimize the bonding interaction and charge transfer between active sites and reactants, finally leading to the selection of reaction pathway from N2 to NH3. The structural symmetry breaking is regulated to rearrange spin electron configuration in multistage-coupled BiErRu2O7 pyrochlores, which can effectively optimize the bonding interaction and charge transfer between active sites and reactants, finally leading to the selection of reaction pathway from N2 to NH3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrochemical conversion of CO 2 to HCOOH has been extensively regarded as a promising strategy to achieve carbon utilization. However, the direct synthesis of value-added HCOOH still encounters the difficulty of low energy conversion and selectivity. The performance of catalysts is determined by the electronic occupation at their half-filled 3d orbitals and their structural symmetry. Herein, we intentionally decorate some Co atoms onto Pd metallene to form a series of topological patterns to reveal their reaction kinetics, in an effort to achieve a higher catalytic activity. This work provides a new insight into boosting CO 2 electroreduction by designing topological patterns. • The electronic occupations at metal sites are optimized in their bonding interaction and charge transfer with adsorptive CO 2. • The morphology of Co active sites anchored onto Pd matrix directly affects the reaction kinetics of CO 2 electroreduction. • The electronic state coupling between Pd metallene and single Co atom boosts CO 2 electroreduction to HCOOH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problems of insufficient image contrast in three-dimensional reconstruction of UAV in low illumination environment and the unstable iteration times of the RANSAC algorithm in the feature matching process, real-time matching method of UAV aerial image is proposed. First, a new image enhancement algorithm is applied to the image to enhance its quality and visibility. Second, the enhanced fast algorithm in ORB extracts the feature points from the preprocessed image, and cross-matching performs rough matching. Finally, the PROSAC algorithm solves the homography matrix by selecting the highest quality interior points from the extracted feature points. To improve the matching accuracy, some exterior points that do not conform to the geometric characteristics of the image are removed based on the homography matrix and the set mismatch threshold. The results show that the improved ORB algorithm is applied to the low illumination environment of UAV aerial photography, the image matching accuracy in 3D reconstruction is improved, and the correct matching rate tends to 97.24~99.39%. The relevant research findings and conclusions provide a fast and effective method for UAV image matching in different low illumination environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of alkalinity addition with different strategies on the start‐up, performance, and microbial community of completely autotrophic nitrogen removal over nitrite (CANON) were investigated over 450 days. In phase I, the alkalinity was increased gradually from 300 to 2,000 mg/L to obtain the optimal range. In phase II, the reactor was restarted to verify the appropriate alkalinity value of 1,600 mg/L. The fact that it only took 90 days (phase I: 170 days) to complete the start‐up of CANON in phase II demonstrated that an alkalinity value of 1,600 mg/L was suitable when the influent NH4+‐N concentration was 200 mg/L (alkalinity/NH4+‐N = 8:1). The slope (k = 2.00) of NH4+‐N concentration decrease in phase II during the start‐up process was significantly higher than that in phase I (k = 1.50). High removal efficiencies of NH4+‐N (98%) and TN (80%) were attained in both phases. Specific anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) activity tests showed that the anammox activity of the two phases reached 3.31 and 5.31 mg TN/(g VSS·h), respectively. High‐throughput sequencing analysis revealed that appropriate alkalinity could promote the enrichment of Candidatus Brocadia, C. Jettenia, and C. Kuenenia (total abundance of 31.96%) while effectively inhibiting Nitrospira (abundance of less than 0.50%). Practitioner Points: An alkalinity/NH4+‐N ratio of 8 promoted the rapid start‐up and stable performance of CANON.NH4+‐N and TN removal efficiencies of 98% and 80%, respectively, were obtained.High alkalinity promoted the enrichment of Candidatus Brocadia, Candidatus Jettenia, Candidatus Kuenenia and inhibited Nitrospira.Nitrogen concentration of influent and effluent in Phase Ⅰ and Ⅱ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioconversion of CO2 into liquid fuels or chemicals, preferred medium chain carboxylic acids (caproic and caprylic acid), is an attractive CO2 utilization technology. The present study aims to investigate the effects of different ratios of H2/CO2 on regulating the distribution of C2‐C8 carboxylic acid products, while the headspace pressure of 1.5 bar was set to amplify the effect of different ratios. The H2/CO2 ratio of 4:1 was more suitable for preparing acetic acid, where the highest acetic acid yield was 17.5 g/L. And the H2/CO2 ratio of 2:1 showed excellent chain elongation ability with the highest n‐caprylic yield of 2.4 g/L. Additionally, the actual H2/CO2 ratios of 4:1 reactors were higher than that in 2:1 may be course chain elongation often accompanied by H2 production. The 16S rRNA genes analysis shows that the genus Terrisporobacter and Coriobacteriales may be related to acetic acid production enriched in H2/CO2 ratio 4:1 reactors, and the genus Clostridium and Paenibacillaceae may associate with the chain elongation pathway were enriched in H2/CO2 ratio 2:1 reactors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon doping has been proven to be an effective method for extending the light trapping of graphite carbon nitrides and improving its charge separation and transport, while the specific location of their doping has received little attention. Herein, using 2,4,6-triaminopyrimidine as the precursor of doped carbon, a simple, green and template-free method is applied to prepare carbon doping graphitic carbon nitride by supramolecular self-assembly techniques. In this process, the three precursors could be closely linked by hydrogen bonds because of the structural similarity between 2,4,6-triaminopyrimidine and melamine. Spectral and electrochemical tests demonstrated that the best carbon-doped samples owned narrow band gaps, longer carrier life and low photoelectron-hole recombination rate. Meanwhile, its hydrogen evolution rate reached 299.05 μmol h−1, almost 25.89 times than that of pristine carbon nitride. This work provided new opportunities for the precise control of the heteroatoms in the carbon nitride structure and the accurate adjustment of its inherent band-gap structure. Image 1 • Carbon-doped g-C 3 N 4 was synthesized via a green and template-free method. • TAP was used as doped carbon to form a supramolecular framework. • CN-TAP 0.10 exhibited the optimum hydrogen evolution of 299.05 μmol h-1, 25.89 times that of BCN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A facial, template-free and green strategy was developed to prepare C-doped hollow spherical g-C 3 N 4 derived from supramolecular self-assembly of melamine, glucose and cyanuric acid. Especially, the precursors were tightly connected by hydrogen bonds, wherein glucose was served as a source of doped carbon. Spectroscopic and electrochemical analysis confirmed that the endmost nitrogen was replaced by the doped carbon to combine two melon parts, leading to the possible existence of the delocalized big π bonds in the system. Moreover, the GCN-x not only maintained the excellent properties of the hollow sphere, such as high surface area, moderate porosity and short charges diffusion distance, but also overcame the drawbacks of low visible light response and high electron-holes recombination rate from bulk g-C 3 N 4. Thereby, the visible light utilization rate and the photogenerated electron-holes separation efficiency of the catalyst were improved. The highest hydrogen yield of 305 μmol h−1 from GCN-0.2 was 28.5 times that of bulk g-C 3 N 4. Finally, a possible mechanism underlying the photocatalytic performance of C-doped g-C 3 N 4 hollow spheres was proposed tentatively. Image 1 • The C-doped hollow spherical g-C 3 N 4 was successfully prepared. • The doped carbon leading to the possible existence of the delocalized big π bonds. • GCN-0.2 owned the hydrogen evolution of 305 μmol h−1, 28.5 times than the BCN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon doped honeycomb-like graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4) was prepared by one-step thermal polymerization, which derived from chitosan as a carbon source together with the melamine-cyanuric acid complex as a supramolecular precursor. Interestingly, the carbon doped g-C 3 N 4 displayed an increased specific surface area and a more negative conduction band energy level, which not only provided a large number of reaction sites for the photocatalytic hydrogen production, but also effectively enhances the separation of photogenerated electrons-holes. And the experimental results showed that the hydrogen evolution rate of the optimal sample was as high as 320 μmol·h−1, which is 29.10 times than that of bulk g-C 3 N 4 (11 μmol·h−1). More importantly, this work may provide a promising idea for the design of efficient g-C 3 N 4 by controlling the material morphology and combining the electronic modulation strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nut residues are common wastes which abandoned with more than 5 million tons in China annually. In this study, anaerobic digestion (AD) was firstly applied to treat 18 kinds of nut residues and their characterization, methane production, and kinetics were comprehensively investigated. Results implied that nut residues with low lignin content, high lipid and carbohydrate contents, such as lotus seed shells (expressed the highest biodegradability of 95.11% among others), showed good performance in AD. Kinetic analysis proved that modified Gompertz and Cone model were well fitted to describe the AD process of nut residues. Multiple linear regression equation was developed to determine the correlation between experimental methane yield and biochemical compositions of different nut residues, based on which, the highest cumulative methane yield could be predicted. The findings of this research provided useful knowledge for bioconversion of nut waste to renewable energy, and also showed a promising possibility for practical industrial application in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel environmentally friendly type of corrosion and scale inhibitor acrylic acid-allylpolyethoxy carboxylate copolymer (AL15) was synthesized and characterized by FT-IR and 1 H NMR spectroscopic techniques. The performance of the synthesized copolymer as corrosion inhibitor for mild steel corrosion was evaluated by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. The experimental results indicate that AL15 has good corrosion inhibition performance and the inhibition efficiency increased with the increase of AL15 concentration. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated that the corrosion inhibition is due to the formation of a chemisorbed film on the mild steel. The anti-scale property of AL15 in seawater was studied by static tests and the scale deposits were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SEM, respectively. The results indicated that the scale deposits surface morphology and size were changed significantly in the presence of AL15. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of modern city consists of many underground facilities, and one major concern is how to construct them safely and efficiently. Thus, the excavation-induced pile response needs to be evaluated. Dual-row batter pile wall (DRBPW) exhibits better performance than traditional dual-row vertical pile wall (DRVPW) in foundation pit engineering. However, the study of single pile subjected to excavation-induced soil movement behind DRVPW is rather limited, needless to say that of the DRBPW. An explicit finite difference method (FDM) was utilized to obtain the responses of isolated floating single pile (IFSP) near deep excavations braced by DRBPW. The responses of IFSP in the vicinity of foundation pit reinforced by DRBPW were compared to that of the DRVPW. The pile length, distance of pile from wall, excavation depth, working load, and Young's modulus of pile were considered in the parametric study. The conclusions were as follows: (1) The DRBPW can minimize the influence on the existing pile; thus, the induced lateral displacement and bending moment of pile retained by DRBPW are smaller than that of DRVPW. (2) The excavation depth, pile location, and pile length have significant influence on the responses of IFSP adjacent excavation, while the working load and Young's modulus of pile have diminutive influence. (3) The influence zone induced by excavation can be divided into two areas. The primary influence zone is the severely affected area where the induced deformation and bending moment are remarkable. The secondary influence zone is the moderately affected area where the induced deformation and bending moment are mild. The primary influence zone is within twice of the excavation depth. The secondary influence zone is 2.0–3.0 times that of the excavation depth. (4) The pile toe of IFSP has considerable lateral displacement during excavation, and attentions should be paid to the whole pile shaft during construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water-soluble monomer APEG-PG-(OH)n were produced and the Structure of APEG-PG-(OH)5 were identified by 1H-NMR. APEG-PG-(OH)n were copolymerized with maleic anhydride (MA) to synthesize no phosphate and nitrogen free calcium carbonate inhibitor MA/APEG-PG-(OH)n. The structure and thermal property of MA/APEG-PG-(OH)5 were characterized and measured by 1H-NMR, GPC and TGA. The observation shows that the dosage and n value of MA/APEG-PG-(OH)n plays an important role on CaCO3 inhibition. MA/APEG-PG-(OH)5 displays superior ability to inhibit the precipitation of calcium carbonate, with approximately 97% inhibition at a level of 8 mg/L. The effect on formation of CaCO3 was investigated with combination of SEM and XRD analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allyloxy polyethoxy ether (APEG) and succinic anhydride were used to prepare allyloxy polyethoxy carboxylate (APEL). 8-Hydroxy-1,3,6-pyrene trisulfonic acid trisodium salt (PY) was reacted with allyl chloride to produce fluorescent monomer 8-allyloxy-1,3,6-pyrene trisulfonic acid trisodium salt (PA). APEL and PA were copolymerized with maleic anhydride (MA) to synthesize PA tagged no phosphate and nitrogen free CaSO inhibitor MA-APEL-PA. Structures of PA, APEG, APEL, and MA-APEL-PA were identified by H NMR. The observation shows that the dosage of MA-APEL-PA plays an important role on CaSO inhibition. The effect on formation of CaSO was investigated with scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis. Relationship between MA-APEL-PA's fluorescent intensity and its dosage was studied. Correlation coefficient R of MA-APEL-PA fluorescent intensity and MA-APEL-PA dosage is 0.9991. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allyloxy polyethoxy ether (APEG) and succinic anhydride were used to prepare allyloxy polyethoxy carboxylate (APEL). 8-hydroxy-1,3,6-pyrene trisulfonic acid trisodium salt (PY) was reacted with allyl chloride to produce fluorescent monomer 8-allyloxy-1,3,6-pyrene trisulfonic acid trisodium salt (PA). APEL and PA were copolymerized with acrylic acid (AA) to synthesize PA tagged no phosphate and nitrogen free CaCO3inhibitor AA-APEL-PA. Structures of PA, APEG, APEL, and AA-APEL-PA were carried out by FT-IR and1H-NMR. The observation shows thatthe dosage of AA-APEL-PA plays an important role on CaCO3inhibition. The effect on formation of CaCO3was investigated with combination of scanning electronic microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction analysis. Relationship between AA-APEL-PA's fluorescent intensity and its dosage was studied. Correlation coefficient r of AA-APEL-PA's fluorescent intensity and its dosage is 0.9998. AA-APEL-PA can be used to accurately measure polymer consumption on line besides providing excellent CaCO3inhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] A suicidal DNA vaccine against peste des petits ruminants virus was developed. [•] The suicidal DNA vaccine could express target protein in transfected BHK-21 cells. [•] Immunized mice could induce specific humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. [•] VNA titer suggests the suicidal vaccine is quality control as the Nig 75/1 vaccine. [•] The results provide a new strategy to the development of vaccines against PPRV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an acute and contagious disease of some small ruminants caused by peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV). Fusion (F) protein and hemagglutinin (H) protein are two glycoproteins of PPRV that might induce a protective immune response. In this study, three replication-defective recombinant adenoviruses were constructed and the immunogenicity was evaluated in goats (the natural host). The recombinant adenoviruses (rAds) expressing F, H, and F–H fusion protein were named rAd-F, rAd-H, and rAd-F–H, respectively. In vitro, the proteins expressed in AAV-293 cells infected with different rAds were identified by Western blotting and immunofluorescence. The results showed that the proteins could be expressed in vitro. Three groups of goats (6 goats per group) were inoculated subcutaneously twice at 3-week intervals with the rAds. As negative controls, two additional groups were inoculated with wild-type adenovirus (wtAd) or PBS. In vivo, goats immunized with the rAds developed PPRV-specific virus neutralizing antibody (VNA) by 3 weeks after primary immunization. Moreover, the seroconversions were maintained for approximately 21 weeks after primary immunization. Stronger lymphocyte proliferation responses were induced in goats immunized with the three rAds than in the negative controls (P <0.05). Notably, goats inoculated with rAd-F–H developed significantly higher VNA titers (P <0.05) and stronger cell-mediated immune responses than did goats inoculated with rAd-F or rAd-H alone. The results suggest that the three rAds might be attractive candidate differentiating infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA) vaccines for preventing PPRV infection. Notably, the rAd-F–H expressing F–H fusion protein is likely the most potent candidate of the rAds. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Allyloxy polyethoxy ether (APEG) and succinic anhydride were used to prepare allyloxy polyethoxy carboxylate (APEL). The 8-hydroxy-1,3,6-pyrene trisulfonic acid trisodium salt (PY) was reacted with allyl chloride to produce fluorescent monomer 8-allyloxy-1,3,6-pyrene trisulfonic acid trisodium salt (PA). APEL and PA were copolymerized with acrylic acid (AA) to synthesize PA-tagged no phosphate and nitrogen free calcium phosphate inhibitor AA–APEL–PA. Structures of PA, APEG, APEL, and AA–APEL–PA were carried out by FT-IR and1H NMR. Different AA:APEL mole ratios were employed for the manufacture of AA–APEL–PA to study the effect of mole ratio on performance of AA–APEL–PA. Relationship between AA–APEL–PA’s fluorescent intensity and its dosage was studied. The results indicate that capability of AA–APEL–PA is heavily depended on the mole ratio of AA:APEL. Correlation coefficient r of AA–APEL–PA’s fluorescent intensity and its dosage is 0.9995, and detection limit of AA–APEL–PA is 0.98 mg/L. AA–APEL–PA can be used to accurately measure polymer consumption on line besides providing excellent calcium phosphate inhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Biogas and methane yields of food and green wastes and their mixture were determined using batch anaerobic digesters at mesophilic (35±2°C) and thermophilic (50±2°C) temperatures. The mixture was composed of 50% food waste and 50% green waste, based on the volatile solids (VS) initially added to the reactors. The thermophilic digestion tests were performed with four different feed to inoculum (F/I) ratios (i.e., 1.6, 3.1, 4.0 and 5.0) and the mesophilic digestion was conducted at one F/I (3.1). The results showed that the F/I significantly affected the biogas production rate. At four F/Is tested, after 25days of thermophilic digestion, the biogas yield was determined to be 778, 742, 784 and 396mL/g VS for food waste, respectively; 631, 529, 524 and 407mL/g VS for green waste, respectively; and 716, 613, 671 and 555mL/g VS for the mixture, respectively. About 80% of the biogas production was obtained during the first 10days of digestion. At the F/I of 3.1, the biogas and methane yields from mesophilic digestion of food waste, green waste and their mixture were lower than the yields obtained at thermophilic temperature. The biogas yields were 430, 372 and 358mL/g VS, respectively, and the methane yields were 245, 206, and 185mL/g VS, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Mesoporous Ti-MCM-41 molecular sieve was synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. 5, 10, 20, 30 and 50wt.% phosphotungstic acid (H3PW12O40) (PW) were supported on Ti-MCM-41 and the resulting catalysts were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption–desorption, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The host material suffers severe structural distortions at higher loading, which lead to a considerable loss of long-range orders. Their catalytic performances were evaluated in the epoxidation of styrene with dilute H2O2 (30%) as an oxidizing agent under liquid-phase reaction conditions over PW/Ti-MCM-41 catalysts for selective synthesis of styrene oxide. The influences of various reaction parameters such as temperature, time, solvents, PW loading and catalyst amount, styrene to H2O2 mmol ratios and acetonitrile (MeCN) to N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) volume ratios on the conversion of styrene and yield as well as selectivity of styrene oxide have also been studied in details. The results revealed that 20% PW/Ti-MCM-41 was more active than other catalysts. The PW/Ti-MCM-41, moreover, was found to be reusable and effective for the epoxidation of styrene. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The complete sequence of an isolate (ZJ-V) of Duck hepatitis virus I (DHV-I), originally taken from the field in southeast China was determined. It was 7691 nucleotides long and had 5′- and 3′-terminal non-coding regions of 626 and 315 nucleotides, respectively. The poly(A) tail contained at least 22 residues and the single open reading frame encoded a polypeptide of 2249 amino acids. The VP1 gene was also sequenced from nine southeast China field isolates and three attenuated DHV-I vaccine strains. In phylogenetic analysis of the isolates and other published sequences, attenuated and tissue-adapted isolates (including ZJ-V) clustered as genotypes significantly different from the field isolates that had not been passaged in chicken/duck embryos. There were two consistent amino acid substitutions (E129 →V129 and A142 →S142) between all the field isolates and all the tissue-adapted ones. The carboxyl terminal region was generally the most variable and here the four attenuated Chinese isolates showed six consistent differences from the field isolates (S181 →L181, H183K184 →R183G1841, N193 →D193, E205 →K205, R217 →K217, N235 →D235). It seems likely that at least some of these differences result from mutations leading to isolate attenuation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Based on the infectious full-length cDNA clone of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), the in vitro transcripts are introduced into RK13 cells. 12 h later, CPE could be observed clearly, and virual antigen could also be detected by IFA. The titre of the recovered virus is 104.6/mL. Immune electron microscopic observation of the virus particles revealed that the particles were rotund with a diameter of about 30 nm. Besides, virus titre quantification obtained by qRT-PCR showed a correlation between time from infection and virus titre. All these results showed that we have recovered RHDV from RK13 cells by reverse genetics technology successfully, and this would be very useful in studies of the antigenicity, virulence, pathogenesis, maturation and new type vaccines of RHDV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A full-length cDNA clone of a foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) isolated from swine was assembled in, the plasmid vector pBluescript II SK+ downstream of a T7 promoter. RNA synthesized in vitro using T7 polymerase lead to the production of infectious particles upon transfection of BHK-21 cells, as shown by cytopathic effects. The rescued virus was also found to be highly pathogenic for mice by intradermal injection producing a fatal disease indistinguishable from that of wild-type virus. The availability of this cDNA clone will allow examination of the molecular mechanisms behind FMDV virulence and attenuation, which might in turn allow the production of second-generation, genetically engineered FMDV vaccines. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The China foot-and-mouth virus (FMDV) isolate OH/CHA/99 was isolated from swine, which was unable to infect bovine thyroid cells in vitro or to cause typical disease in bovines following intradermal inoculation in the tongue. To enhance antigenicity, replication, maturation and pathogenicity studies of OH/CHA/99, an infectious full-length cDNA clone, designated pBIFMDV, was prepared. The in vitro and in vivo biological properties of the virus derived from pBIFMDV were studied by analyzing antigenicity, plaque morphology and virulence in pigs. The results showed that the virus derived from pBIFMDV had the same biological properties as the parent strain OH/CHA/99; the full-length infectious cDNA clone, pBIFMDV, will be very useful in studies of the antigenicity, virulence, pathogenesis, maturation and replication of FMDV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Succinic acid production of 30 g/L was shown with 6 gC/L MgCO3 and 24 gC/L glucose. • The inorganic carbon of "carbonate:CO2 = 1:9″ presented the highest CO2 fixation. • The PEPCK/LDH was enhanced at high gaseous CO2, by promoting succinic acid path. • 50%−65% of inorganic carbon utilization was increased via stepwise CO2 addition. • 20%−30% increment in succinic acid selectivity was shown via stepwise CO2 addition. Utilizing CO 2 for bio-succinic acid production is an attractive approach to achieve carbon capture and recycling (CCR) with simultaneous production of a useful platform chemical. Actinobacillus succinogenes and Basfia succiniciproducens were selected and investigated as microbial catalysts. Firstly, the type and concentration of inorganic carbon concentration and glucose concentration were evaluated. 6 g C/L MgCO 3 and 24 g C/L glucose were found to be the optimal basic operational conditions, with succinic acid production and carbon yield of over 30 g/L and over 40%, respectively. Then, for maximum gaseous CO 2 fixation, carbonate was replaced with CO 2 at different ratios. The "less carbonate more CO 2 " condition of the inorganic carbon source was set as carbonate: CO 2 = 1:9 (based on the mass of carbon). This condition presented the highest availability of CO 2 by well-balanced chemical reaction equilibrium and phase equilibrium, showing the best performance with regarding CO 2 fixation (about 15 mg C/(L·hr)), with suppressed lactic acid accumulation. According to key enzymes analysis, the ratio of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase to lactic dehydrogenase was enhanced at high ratios of gaseous CO 2 , which could promote glucose conversion through the succinic acid path. To further increase gaseous CO 2 fixation and succinic acid production and selectivity, stepwise CO 2 addition was evaluated. 50%-65% increase in inorganic carbon utilization was obtained coupled with 20%-30% increase in succinic acid selectivity. This was due to the promotion of the succinic acid branch of the glucose metabolism, while suppressing the pyruvate branch, along with the inhibition on the conversion from glucose to lactic acid. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has garnered considerable attention because of its promising prospects in electrochemical energy conversion applications, but a significant challenge is faced by the insufficient understanding of sluggish OER kinetics. In fact, the intrinsic "acceptance-donation" process of electrons between active sites and reactants is responsible for improving OER activity. Herein, we suggest a multielement hybridization strategy to rematch spin electron occupation and energy splitting in high-entropy perovskites with multiple orbital coordination. In this concept, electronic hopping between t 2g and e g orbitals among particular catalytic sites can be obviously enforced due to introducing more favorable energy levels from neighboring metal sites, which can demonstrate multistage orbital hybridization reaction activity. As a result, our proposed multistage-hybridized high-entropy perovskites display an impressive activity of 199.8 mA cm−2 as an overpotential of ∼0.46 V, which is ∼5.3 times that of pristine perovskite. Different from traditional catalyst designs, this study focuses on multistage orbital hybridization and electron exchange interactions through a multisite coordination mechanism to construct a fast reaction pathway. Our findings provide a new strategy for accelerating OER catalytic kinetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice blast, caused by the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae , is one of the most important diseases of rice. Utilization of blast-resistance genes is the most economical, effective, and environmentally friendly way to control the disease. However, genetic resources with broad-spectrum resistance (BSR) that is effective throughout the rice growth period are rare. In this work, using a genome-wide association study, we identify a new blast-resistance gene, Pijx , which encodes a typical CC-NBS-LRR protein. Pijx is derived from a wild rice species and confers BSR to M. oryzae at both the seedling and panicle stages. The functions of the resistant haplotypes of Pijx are confirmed by gene knockout and overexpression experiments. Mechanistically, the LRR domain in Pijx interacts with and promotes the degradation of the ATP synthase β subunit (ATPb) via the 26S proteasome pathway. ATPb acts as a negative regulator of Pijx- mediated panicle blast resistance, and interacts with OsRbohC to promote its degradation. Consistently, loss of ATPb function causes an increase in NAPDH content and ROS burst. Remarkably, when Pijx is introgressed into two japonica rice varieties, the introgression lines show BSR and increased yields that are approximately 51.59% and 79.31% higher compared with those of their parents in a natural blast disease nursery. In addition, we generate PPL Pijx Pigm and PPL Pijx Piz-t pyramided lines and these lines also have higher BSR to panicle blast compared with Pigm- or Piz-t- containing rice plants. Collectively, this study demonstrates that Pijx not only confers BSR to M. oryzae but also maintains high and stable rice yield, providing new genetic resources and molecular targets for breeding rice varieties with broad-spectrum blast resistance. Mechanism of Pijx-conferred blast resistance Using a genome-wide association study, a new blast resistance gene, Pijx , that encodes a typical CC-NBS-LRR protein, was identified in this work. Mechanistically, Pijx interacts with ATPb and promotes the degradation of ATPb through the 26S proteasome pathway, causing OsRbohC accumulation to produce the ROS burst and ultimately leading to broad-spectrum seedling and panicle blast resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, both goose astrovirus (GoAstV) and goose-origin Newcastle disease virus (NDV) are widely infectious agents for goslings. There is no vaccine for GoAstV. Capsid protein can elicit a neutralizing antibody in human astroviruses (HAstV). Molecular analysis of the genomic region encoding the capsid protein(ORF2) of goose astrovirus has revealed that it contains neutralizing epitopes. Goose-origin NDV is also an infectious agent. A wide range of NDV strains exist that can be commonly used as vaccine vectors. In the present study, the fusion protein cleavage site RRQKR↓F in a backbone of the virulent goose-origin NDV SH-12 was changed into an avirulent motif GRQGR↓L. The modified goose-origin NDV recombinant vaccine virus expressing the Capsid protein (Cap) of GoAstV was generated as a bivalent vaccine using a reverse-genetics approach. The recombinant virus, rNDV/GoAstV-Cap, was attenuated and similar growth dynamics, cytopathic effects, and virus titers in vitro were maintained when compared to the LaSota strain. Expression of the GoAstV-Cap protein in rNDV/GoAstV-Cap infected cells was detected by an immunofluorescence assay and Western blotting. Goslings inoculated with rNDV/GoAstV-Cap showed no apparent signs of disease and induced GoAstV-Cap-specific immune responses and NDV-specific serum antibody responses to a LaSota vaccination control. Complete protection against a pathogenic GoAstV challenge and avelogenic NDV challenge was conferred. The results of the study suggested that rNDV/GoAstV-Cap viruses have the potential to be the safe, stable, and effective bivalent vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is an established method for sustainable energy production. Anaerobic digestion model No.1 (ADM1) was used to simulate methane production (MP) and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations at different ammonium concentrations. In accordance with the incomplete description of several biochemical reactions and the omission of several reaction processes, ADM1 was modified with the consideration of acetic acid inhibition and valeric acid existence. ADM1_ac (ADM1 added acetic acid inhibition) could obtain better simulation accuracy of MP (goodness‐of‐fit value = 0.945), and VFA concentrations (goodness‐of‐fit values > 0.39) were all higher than ADM1_original, but cannot explain the valeric acid production. ADM1_va (ADM1 added valeric acid existence) could achieve better simulation of valeric acid (achieving a breakthrough of zero), nevertheless the accuracy of propionic and butyric acids was poorer than ADM1_ac with differences between experimental and simulation values were 5%–10% lower. With both factors coordinated, MP and VFA concentrations could be simulated accurately by ADM1_ac_va (ADM1 added acetic acid inhibition and valeric acid existence), with the highest goodness‐of‐fit values (>0.85). The results of a verification experiment with ADM1_ac_va simulation further indicated that acetic acid inhibition and valeric acid as new component were both important in ADM1. Practitioner points: ADM1_ac could simulate MP and acetate, propionate and butyrate concentrations better.ADM1_va could explain the valerate production during AD of glucose.ADM1_ac_va could simulate AD process quite accurately, with the highest goodness‐of‐fit values (>0.85).Acetate inhibition and valerate existence were both important and should be considered in ADM1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced and optimized textile wastewater treatment by catalytic ozonation and activated carbon (AC) adsorption was investigated. Scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated that Mn and Ce oxides were successfully loaded on the γ‐Al2O3 support, and MnO2, Mn2O3, CeO2, and Ce2O3 were the main components of the catalyst. Actual textile wastewater from biochemical effluent was used as experiment wastewater. The removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and chromaticity were approximately 30.6% (414–287 mg/L on average) and 99.3% (4,033 times to 27 times on average), respectively during the 30‐day on‐site continuous‐flow test with an ozone dosage, contact time, and gas–liquid ratio of 100 mg/L, 15.7 min, and 2.9, respectively. Following 1 g/L AC adsorption, the effluent COD concentration was reduced to 40 mg/L. By contrast, AC adsorption without catalytic ozonation as pretreatment required 10 g/L AC dosage to achieve similar treatment results. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analyses indicated that volatile phenols, sulfides, and aniline in wastewater were completely removed after treatment. Inductively coupled plasma results further showed that the active components of MnOx–CeOx in the catalyst were stable after continuous use for 60 days. Practitioner points: Mesoporous catalyst synthesized by impregnating MnOx–CeOx on γ‐Al2O3 support.Catalytic ozonation and AC adsorption were combined to degrade organics.Maximum degradation of COD and chromaticity by optimizing process variables.The efficiency of the method was compared to that of single AC adsorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the influence of real tar (RT) and synthetic tar (ST) on anaerobic digestion (AD). Mapping relationship was built effectively between ST set and RT set through equivalent method. Both sets performed the double-edged effect on AD: low dosage of tar performed stimulated effect and high dosage caused inhibited effect. Anaerobic Digestion Model No.1 (ADM1) was modified and extended by introducing kinetic parameters (inhibition constant: K I , Monod maximum uptake rate: k m , Monod half saturation constant: K s) of tar to describe related degradation process. Model calibration with ST set data achieved accurate simulation of methane production with satisfactory R2 (0.80–0.97), and model validation was conducted with RT set data. The linkage between kinetic parameters and microbial community was further bridged. The decrease of k m_H2 (k m of hydrogen) value was less than k m_ac (k m of acetate) value, corresponding to the less sensitivity of hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis to tar toxicity as reflected by 16S rRNA. Modified ADM1 could help in understanding AD system macroscopically and microscopically. [Display omitted] • Synthetic tar can be used as an alternative to real tar through equivalent method. • Methane production could be promoted with low dosage of tar addition. • Both acetogenesis and methanogenesis were inhibited under high tar levels. • Hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis was less sensitive via k m_H2 drop slightly. • The microbial characterization and the kinetic parameters supported each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Duck Tembusu virus (DTMUV), a pathogenic flavivirus, has been causing significant economic losses in the Chinese poultry industry since 2010. This virus can severely decrease egg production and inhibit the growth of laying ducks and ducklings. While many vaccines have been developed to prevent DTMUV infection, fresh outbreaks continue to occur, as few effective vaccines are available. The E glycoprotein of DTMUV is the primary target for inducing protective immunity in the natural host. Therefore, we conducted an investigation and successfully developed a recombinant baculovirus containing the DTMUV E gene. Ducklings were then vaccinated with the purified protein derived from this virus as a potential vaccine candidate. Our findings demonstrated that the E glycoprotein of DTMUV was highly expressed in Sf9 cells. The vaccination of ducklings with the recombinant baculovirus Bac-E resulted in the induction of strong humoral and cellular immune responses. Most significantly, we observed that the vaccine provided 100% protective immunity against lethal challenges with the DTMUV YY5 strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Felid herpesvirus 1 (FHV-1) is a major pathogenic agent of upper respiratory tract infections and eye damage in felines worldwide. Current FHV-1 vaccines offer limited protection of short duration, and therefore, do not reduce the development of clinical signs or the latency of FHV-1. Methods: To address these shortcomings, we constructed FHV ∆gIgE-eGFP, FHV ∆TK mCherry, and FHV ∆gIgE/TK eGFP-mCherry deletion mutants (ΔgI/gE, ΔTK, and ΔgIgE/TK, respectively) using the clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISP-associated protein 9 (Cas9) system (CRISPR/Cas9), which showed safety and immunogenicity in vitro. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of the deletion mutants administered with intranasal (IN) and IN + subcutaneous (SC) vaccination protocols. Cats in the vaccination group were vaccinated twice at a 4-week interval, and all cats were challenged with infection 3 weeks after the last vaccination. The cats were assessed for clinical signs, nasal shedding, and virus-neutralizing antibodies (VN), and with postmortem histological testing. Results: Vaccination with the gI/gE-deleted and gI/gE/TK-deleted mutants was safe and resulted in significantly lower clinical disease scores, fewer pathological changes, and less nasal virus shedding after infection. All three mutants induced virus-neutralizing antibodies after immunization. Conclusions: In conclusion, this study demonstrates the advantages of FHV-1 deletion mutants in preventing FHV-1 infection in cats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice is the primary source of food for more than half of the global population. Accordingly, improving the cold tolerance of rice is vital for ensuring food security. In this study, a new cold tolerance-related QTL in rice (qPSR7-2) was detected on chromosome 7 following a genome-wide association study involving 173 japonica rice germplasm resources. The fine mapping of this locus identified Os07g0541800 as a candidate gene associated with qPSR7-2. This gene encodes a cysteine-rich receptor-like kinase. The functional verification of Os07g0541800 involving transgenic plants indicated that qPSR7-2 positively regulates rice cold tolerance at the seedling stage. The examination of the cold tolerance of 984 germplasm resources from the 3000 Rice Genomes Project at the seedling stage and their respective haplotypes at qPSR7-2 revealed that the proportion of favorable haplotypes in germplasm resources increased as the latitude increased. More than 90% of the rice varieties cultivated in Europe and Japan appear to carry qPSR7-2, implying that qPSR7-2 may mediate the acclimation of rice to low-temperature stress. The findings of this study will further clarify the molecular networks regulating rice cold tolerance, while also providing researchers and breeders with new genetic resources and information relevant for developing cold-tolerant rice varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Field emission characteristics covering the entire combustion process were investigated. • Promoted heating stoves have the risk of increasing PM 2.5 and NO X emissions. • Household coal consumption was more than three times lower than official report. • The adoption is unlikely to be successful on a large scale due to over reliance on subsidies. Straw pellets are widely promoted and expected to be a cleaner alternative fuel to unprocessed crop residues and raw coal in rural China. However, the effectiveness of these dissemination programs is not well evaluated. In this field study, emission characteristics of burning straw pellets, raw coal, and unprocessed corn cobs in heating stoves were investigated in a pilot village in Northeast China. Emission measurements covering the whole combustion cycle (ignition, flaming, and smoldering phases) shows the promotion of improved heating stoves and straw pellets could reduce pollutant emissions (e.g., SO 2 and CO), but increase NO X and PM 2.5 emissions compared to the initial stove-fuel use pattern in the studied area. There is a significant variance in emission characteristics between different combustion phases. The normalized emission concentrations of the different stove-fuel combinations were higher than the limits in the Chinese national standard for heating stoves, indicating that the standard is not met for real-world emissions. Coal consumption was lower than official data. Household surveys were conducted to identify the barriers to fuel and stove access associated with existing promotion strategies, management, and policies. The pilot program was of the typical "subsidy-and-policy-dependence" pattern and was unlikely to be implemented on a large scale. Technological innovation, operational optimization, and proper policies considering the local socioeconomic factors are needed to sustain the promotion of biomass straw pellets and stoves. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross rolling process is a new method to manufacture large-diameter gears, which has great advantages. While during the gear manufacturing process with cross rolling, due to the difference of deformation mechanism between the right and left formed tooth profiles, a tip is pulled at the tooth top of the workpiece, which severely affects the forming quality. To eliminate the occurred defect, the finishing roller is proposed and designed, the motion equation of the finishing roller is established and solved, the principle of the height increase of the formed tooth is obtained. And also a simplified finite element (FE) model with finishing roller and non-finishing roller are established in the DEFORM-3D software. The comparison of the simulation results between two situations is analyzed and can be concluded that with the finishing roller, the protrusions at both sides of the tooth top of the workpiece at each stage are flattened by the finishing roller, and the accumulation of the tooth top protrusions is not going to occur, which means no extrusion and finishing of the tooth top of the workpiece are required. In addition, the experiment with the finishing roller is carried out and the effectiveness of the finishing roller can be verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virulent systemic feline calicivirus (VS-FCV) is a newly emerging FCV variant that is associated with a severe acute multisystem disease in cats that is characterized by jaundice, oedema, and high mortality (approximately 70%). VS-FCV has spread throughout the world, but there are no effective vaccines or therapeutic options to combat infection. VS-FCV may therefore pose a serious threat to the health of felines. The genomic characteristics and functions of VS-FCV are still poorly understood, and the reason for its increased pathogenicity is unknown. Reverse genetics systems are powerful tools for studying the molecular biology of RNA viruses, but a reverse genetics system for VS-FCV has not yet been reported. In this study, we developed a plasmid-based reverse genetics system for VS-FCV in which infectious progeny virus is produced in plasmid-transfected CRFK cells. Using this system, we found that the 3' untranslated region (UTR) and poly(A) tail are important for maintaining the infection and replication capacity of VS-FCV and that shortening of the poly(A) tail to less than 28 bases eliminated the ability to rescue infectious progeny virus. Whether these observations are unique to VS-FCV or represent more-general features of FCV remains to be determined. In conclusion, we successfully established a rapid and efficient VS-FCV reverse genetics system, which provides a good platform for future research on the gene functions and pathogenesis of VS-FCV. The effects of the deletion of 3' UTR and poly(A) tail on VS-FCV infectivity and replication also provided new information about the pathogenesis of VS-FCV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) disease is a cross-species infectious disease that severely affects small ruminants and causes great losses to livestock industries in various countries. Distinguishing vaccine-immunized animals from naturally infected animals is an important prerequisite for the eradication of PPR. At present PPRV are classified into lineages I through IV, and only one vaccination strain, Nigeria/75/1, belongs to lineage II, but all of the epidemic strains in China at present are from lineage IV. Results: To achieve this goal, we developed an SYBR Green I real-time qRT-PCR method for rapid detection and identification of PPRV lineages II and IV by analyzing different melting curve analyses. The negative amplification of other commonly circulating viruses such as orf virus, goat poxvirus, and foot-and-mouth disease virus demonstrated that primers targeting the L gene of PPRV were extremely specific. The sensitivity of the assay was assessed based on plasmid DNA and the detection limit achieved was 100 copies of PPRV lineages II and IV. Conclusion: Since the method has high sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility, it will be effectively differentiated PPRV lineages II from PPRV lineages IV in PPRV infected animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microwave based technology is an alternative heating method and has already been successfully used in biomass pyrolysis for biochar and biofuel production thanks to its fast, volumetric, selective and efficient heating. Previous review mainly focused on production and analysis of bio-oil and gas instead of biochar. The current paper provides a review of microwave-assisted pyrolysis (MWP) of biomass and its biochar characteristics, including product distribution and biochar yield, biochar properties, microwave absorbers (MWAs) and catalysts commonly used in MWP, as well as comparison of biochar derived from MWP and conventional pyrolysis (CP). MWAs not only absorb microwave energy, they also act as catalysts to interact with gas, vapor and solids in the reactor, adjusting the product distribution and quality of products. It was reported for MWP that the highest biochar yield was >60 wt% and the maximum BET surface area was about 450–800 m 2 /g. Technology status and economics of MWP of biomass in China were briefly introduced. The Optimization of yield and quality of biochar strongly depends on feedstock properties, reactor types, operating parameters, MWAs and catalysts added to the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the performance of dual-row batter pile wall (DRBPW) in deep excavations, a three-dimensional numerical model was established. The plastic hardening (PH) constitutive model in FLAC3D was adopted, considering the hardening property of the soil. A series of parametric study was conducted to investigate the effect of different factors. By analyzing the maximum lateral displacement, the pile shaft deflection and bending moment of both the leading and trailing row, the effect of inclination angle, pile diameter, penetration depth, and row spacing on the behavior of DRBPW was determined. The following conclusions could be drawn: (1) The bearing capacity of DRBPW is quite larger than that of the dual-row vertical pile wall (DRVPW). With the increase of inclination angle, a substantial reduction of lateral displacement could be observed. However, the beneficial role of batter pile is almost negligible when the inclination angle is not larger than 5°. The recommended inclination degree of the batter pile is 10° to 15°. (2) The maximum displacement of the leading and trailing rows lies at a distance below the pile cap, while the maximum bending moment is located at a small distance below the dredging line. The maximum bending moment of the leading pile is approximately twice that of the trailing one, thereby indicating that the leading pile bear more lateral earth pressure than the trailing pile. (3) The pile diameter, penetration depth and row spacing should be maintained in a suitable range; otherwise, the DRBPW may fail earlier than expected. The slender ratios is recommend to be set not larger than 30. The penetration ratio should not be less than 0.22. The optimal row spacing for the DRBPW is four times the diameter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Anaerobic digestion performance of common textile wastes was investigated. • The CMPs of textile wastes ranged from 159.9 to 356.0 mL/g VS. • Flax possessed the highest CMP and B D of 356.0 mL/g VS and 78.0 %, respectively. • Morphological and micro-structural changes of textile wastes during AD were recorded. • Clostridium sensu stricto and Methanothrix cooperated closely in AD process. The dramatic increase of textile wastes has become a major global concern, which calls for alternative practices to alleviate severe environmental pollution and waste of resources due to their improper disposal and management. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a cost-effective and eco-friendly technology that allows the bioconversion of organic wastes into clean energy (methane), which might be potentially useful for recycling textile wastes. In this study, AD was applied to 11 commonly available textile wastes in daily life to explore their feasibility, along with the methane production efficiency, biodegradability (B D), degradation mechanism, and microbial community dynamics during AD. The results showed that all textile wastes presented an obvious decomposition from an integrated shape to fragmented pieces within 18 days except blue denim. The highest experimental methane production (EMP) of 356.0 mL/g volatile solids (VS) and B D of 78.0 % were obtained with flax. The degradation mechanism could be concluded that predominant bacteria, especially Clostridium sensu stricto , first attached to the surface of textile waste and converted its main compositions cellulose and hemicellulose into acetate as the core intermediate. Then, acetate was utilized by the major methanogen, Methanothrix , through the acetoclastic methanogenesis pathway to produce methane. This study not only enriches the understanding of textile wastes degradation mechanisms during AD and provides very useful data on methane production from commonly available textile wastes but also proposes a promising method for efficiently recycling and utilizing the diverse range of textile wastes to reduce waste pollution and generate clean energy simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2010, several duck Tembusu viruses (DTMUVs) have been isolated from infected ducks in China, and these virus strains have undergone extensive variation over the years. Although the infection rate is high, the mortality rate is usually relatively low—~5%–30%; however, since fall 2019, an infectious disease similar to DTMUV infection but with a high mortality rate of ~50% in goslings has been prevalent in Anhui Province, China. The present study identified a new Tembusu virus, designated DTMUV/Goose/China/2019/AQ‐19 (AQ‐19), that is believed to be responsible for the noticeably high mortality in goslings. To investigate the genetic variation of this strain, its entire genome was sequenced and analysed for specific variations, and goslings and mice were challenged with the isolated virus to investigate its pathogenicity. The AQ‐19 genome shared only 94.3%–96.9% and 90.9% nucleotide identity with other Chinese and Malaysian DTMUVs, respectively; however, AQ‐19 has high homology with Thailand DTMUVs (97.2%–98.1% nucleotide identity). Phylogenetic analysis of the E gene revealed that AQ‐19 and most of Thailand DTMUVs form a branch separate from any of the previously reported DTMUV strains in China. After the challenge, some goslings and mice showed typical clinical signs of DTMUV, particularly severe neurological dysfunction. AQ‐19 has high virulence in goslings and mice, resulting in 60% and 70% mortality through intramuscular and intracerebral routes, respectively. Pathological examination revealed severe histological lesions in the brain and liver of the infected goslings and mice. Taken together, these results demonstrated the emergence of a novel Tembusu virus with high virulence circulating in goslings in China for the first time, and our findings highlight the high genetic diversity of DTMUVs in China. Further study of the pathogenicity and host range of this novel Tembusu virus is particularly important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pretreatment process for wheat straw using potassium hydroxide (KOH) and recycled black liquor as a treatment reagent was developed and the minimum fresh chemical and water requirement were determined. Black liquor recycling in the pretreatment process resulted in a 75% reduction in fresh water use and 25% in KOH use, when compared to no recycling. It was found that after five batches of treatment, the concentrations of reducing sugar, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and K + in black liquor, reached stable levels. During the pretreatment with black liquor recycling, 32–35% lignin was reduced in wheat straw. The pretreated straw showed reducing sugar yield of 336–366 mg g −1 [total solid (TS)] and methane yield of 290–303 mg g −1 [volatile solid (VS)] when subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis and anaerobic digestion, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The mammalian genome encodes millions of proteins. Although many proteins have been discovered and identified, a large part of proteins encoded by genes are yet to be discovered or fully characterized. In the present study, we successfully identified a host protein C11orf96 that was significantly upregulated after viral infection. Results: First, we successfully cloned the coding sequence (CDS) region of the cat, human, and mouse C11orf96 gene. The CDS region of the C11orf96 gene is 372 bp long, encodes 124 amino acids, and is relatively conserved in different mammals. From bioinformatics analysis, we found that C11orf96 is rich in Ser and has multiple predicted phosphorylation sites. Moreover, protein interaction prediction analysis revealed that the protein is associated with several transmembrane family proteins and zinc finger proteins. Subsequently, we found that C11orf96 is strictly distributed in the cytoplasm. According to the tissue distribution characteristics, C11orf96 is distributed in all tissues and organs, with the highest expression levels in the kidney. These results indicate that C11orf96 may play a specific biological role in the kidney. Conclusions: Summarizing, these data lay the foundation for studying the biological functions of C11orf96 and for exploring its role in viral replication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Material addition is a potential method to alleviate ammonia inhibition in the anaerobic digestion process. In this study, seven materials were selected to examine their impact on methane production (MP). In the batch experiment, the reactors with "Magnetite + foam carrier" exhibited nearly a 56% increase in maximum MP rate. Different strategies of magnetite and foam carrier addition were further explored in semi-continuous experiment. Adding two materials together (simultaneous supplementation) resulted in almost 60% increase in MP, 28–41% higher than when supplemented separately. Simultaneous supplementation of the two materials was considered as the Pareto-optimal solution for MP maximization. The acetogenic and methanogenic activities analyses revealed that foam carrier addition accelerated propionate transformation (from propionate to acetate or valerate) while magnetite addition intensified the methanogenesis step. Direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) was strengthened with over 50% enrichment in DIET-related bacteria. The Anaerobic Digestion Model No.1 was modified with the development of liquid metabolite and biofilm, result in a goodness-of-fit of R2 > 0.96.16sRNA gene sequencing demonstrated that the microbes in the biofilm had kinetic advantages over those in the liquid phase, coupled with higher k m and lower K s values, which contributed to the enhanced MP. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pretreatment of wheat straw with potassium hydroxide (KOH) at ambient temperature (20 °C) was investigated. The pretreatment effects on chemical composition and physical structures, and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis and anaerobic digestion were evaluated. Wheat straw at 10% total solids (TS) was treated with KOH solution for 24 h at a wide range of KOH loadings from 2% to 50% (w/w dry basis). Higher KOH loading resulted in higher lignin reduction from the straw and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the resulting black liquor. Maximum lignin reduction of 54.7% was observed at 50% KOH loading. In comparison to untreated straw, specific hydrolysis yields achieved 14.0–92.3% over the range of 2–50% KOH loading, and methane yields increased 16.7–77.5% for KOH loadings of 10–50%, respectively. Accounting for losses during pretreatment, 20% KOH loading resulted in maximum overall reducing sugar yield and methane yield and therefore is the recommended loading for pretreatment under these conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Duck short beak and dwarfism syndrome (SBDS) is a viral infectious disease caused by novel goose parvovirus (NGPV), which has been responsible for serious economic losses to the Chinese duck industry in recent years. Currently, there is no effective vaccine against this disease. In this study, we developed an inactivated virus vaccine candidate for SBDS based on NGPV strain DS15 isolated from a duck in China. Immune efficacy was evaluated in 112 ducks, which were randomly divided into vaccination, challenge-control, vaccination-challenge, and blank control groups (28 per group). Clinical characteristics, antibodies, virus excretion, viremia, and pathological changes were monitored. No morbidity or death was observed in the immunized ducks, which showed normal weight and a good mental state. High levels of serum antibodies (optical density at 450 nm of ~ 0.63) were detected in ducks immunized with the inactivated vaccine at 7 days post-vaccination (dpv), and the titer of virus-neutralizing antibodies increased from 1:23 to 1:28.5 from 7 to 42 dpv. Measurement of the viral load in anal swab, serum, and tissue samples showed that vaccination significantly inhibited the replication of NGPV in immunized ducks. Moreover, NGPV could not be isolated from the spleens of immunized or vaccinated and challenged ducks. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the newly developed inactivated NGPV vaccine, administered in an oil emulsion adjuvant, possesses good immunogenicity and represents a potentially powerful tool for SBDS prevention and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Methane production potential, BD, and kinetics of various substrates were compared. [•] Both of elemental and organic analysis could be used to calculate the TMY and BD. [•] 15% VS of lignin was a critical point in AD of lignocellulosic and manure wastes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feline coronavirus (FCoV) is an unsegmented, single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the Alphacoronavirus genus. It can cause fatal feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) in cats of any ages. Currently, there are no effective prevention and control measures to against FCoV. In this study, we developed a recombinant adenovirus vaccine, AD5-N, based on the nucleocapsid(N) protein of FCoV. The immunogenicity of AD5-N was evaluated through intramuscular immunization in 6-week-old Balb/c mice and 9–12 months old cats. Compared to the control group, AD5-N specifically induced a significant increase in IgG and SIgA levels in the vaccinated mice. Furthermore, AD5-N not only effectively promoted strong cellular immune responses in cats but also induced high levels of specific SIgA, effectively helping cats resist FCoV infection. Our findings suggest that adenovirus vector vaccines based on the N gene have the potential to become candidate vaccines for the prevention and control of FCoV infection. • A recombinant adenovirus vaccine candidate named AD5-N for cats was developed. • AD5-N specifically induced a significant increase in IgG and SIgA levels in the vaccinated mice and cats. • AD5-N could provide effective protection for cats resisting type I FCoV and type II FCoV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste-to-energy technologies for food waste (FW) and digestate treatment face environmental and economic barriers including pollutant emission and practical application concerns. This study investigated environmental impacts and economic feasibility of four scenarios to dispose 1 ton FW by life cycle assessment: Scenario A: mesophilic anaerobic digestion (AD) with digestate for biofertilizer; Scenario B: thermophilic AD with digestate for biofertilizer; Scenario C: mesophilic AD combining with digestate for 400 °C pyrolysis; and Scenario D: thermophilic AD combining with digestate for 700 °C pyrolysis. Scenario D was recommended for FW treatment especially for climate change, fine particulate matter formation, and Fossil depletion credits. Electrical recovery was identified as the most contributing and sensitive factor based on uncertainty and sensitivity analysis. Optimizing electrical generation efficiency from 39 % to 44 % benefited all 17 environmental categories through scenario analysis. Furthermore, Scenario D showed an economic advantage over the other scenarios, which was attributed to digestate post-treatment by 700 °C pyrolysis. This study provided a comprehensive reference for FW and digestate management. [Display omitted] • Anaerobic digestion coupled with pyrolysis is recommended for food waste treatment. • 700 °C pyrolysis as the post-treatment for AD digestate benefited climate change. • Biogas to electricity is a major contributor to environmental and economic benefits. • Enhancing electrical generation efficiency benefited all environmental categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]