Search

Backgrounds: Nei endonuclease VIII-like 3 (NEIL3), a novel tumor-related gene, was differentially expressed and involved in pathophysiological processes in multiple tumors. However, the potential biological functions and molecular mechanisms of NEIL3 in human clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) have not been identified.Methods The expression pattern and prognostic value of NEIL3 in ccRCC patients were analyzed in multiple comprehensive databases and validated by qRT-PCR, western blotting analysis, immunohistochemistry, and tissue chips. The regulatory mechanisms were verified by the GSEA analysis, chromatin immunoprecipitation, dual-luciferase reporter gene, and immunofluorescence assay. The oncogenic effect of NEIL3 in ccRCC was confirmed by MTT assay, colony formation assay, tumorsphere assay, cell flow cytometry analysis, and xenograft tumor models.Results Nei endonuclease VIII-like 3 (NEIL3), a novel tumor-related gene, was highly expressed in ccRCC and positively correlated with adverse clinicopathological characteristics and worse prognosis. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that NEIL3 promoted cell proliferation and cell cycle progression in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. Furthermore, we found that NEIL3 overexpression activated the cyclin D1-Rb-E2F1 pathway. The E2F1 elevation then promoted the proliferation, cell cycle transition, and the NEIL3 expression, thus forming a feedback loop of the NEIL3-E2F1 axis to contribute to ccRCC progression. In addition, there was a positive correlation between NEIL3 and E2F1 expression in clinical specimens of ccRCC.Conclusion NEIL3 and cyclin D1-Rb-E2F1 pathway form a positive feedback loop and coordinately contribute to ccRCC progression. NEIL3 presents as a novel candidate for ccRCC diagnosis and treatment.

Abstract: Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) comprise short peptides of fewer than 30 amino acids, which are rich in arginine (Arg) or lysine (Lys). CPPs have attracted interest in the delivery of various cargos, such as drugs, nucleic acids, and other macromolecules over the last 30 years. Among all types of CPPs, arginine-rich CPPs exhibit higher transmembrane efficiency due to bidentate bonding between their guanidinium groups and negatively charged cellular components. Besides, endosome escape can be induced by arginine-rich CPPs to protect cargo from lysosome-dependent degradation. Here we summarize the function, design principles, and penetrating mechanisms of arginine-rich CPPs, and outline their biomedical applications in drug delivery and biosensing in tumors.

Renewable and economical generation of hydrogen via electrochemical methods shows great potential in addressing the energy crisis. In this study, an emerging molten salt method was adopted for the synthesis of a cerium-modified rhenium disulfide nanosheet for electrical hydrogen evolution reactions. The prepared 1% Ce-doped rhenium disulfide (ReS2) sample showed promoted hydrogen evolution performance in both acid and alkaline electrolytes compared to bare ReS2. Generating of abundant defects in ReS2 exposed more reaction active sites. Moreover, adding cerium accelerated the hydrogen evolution dynamics. Hopefully, this work will offer new insight into developing ReS2-based electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reactions.

Performing immediate radical cystectomy in all patients with the highest-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer results in overtreatment. We confirm whether the substratification of highest-risk patients can more effectively select suitable patients for radical cystectomy.Patients with primary T1 high grade bladder cancer from two centers were included and roughly stratified into high-risk or highest-risk. The highest-risk patients were further substratified according to the number of risk factors. Endpoints were tumor recurrence and progression. The predictive accuracy was assessed with internal validation that consists of time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve and calibration curves.A total of 262 patients were included. Although highest-risk patient had a poor prognosis, after further substratification, we found that those with only one factor showed the same prognosis with high-risk patients (recurrence: hazard ratio 1.79, P = 0.105; progression: hazard ratio 1.38, P = 0.532), while those with ≥2 factors had worst prognosis than high-risk patients. The 3-year area under the curve showed that the predictive accuracy of substratification in terms of recurrence and progression were superior to that of non-substratification (0.685 vs 0.622 and 0.666 vs 0.599, respectively). Additionally, calibration curves showed perfect agreement between the predicted and the actual recurrence and progression.Substratification of highest-risk enables us to further optimize the surgical decisions-making. Highest-risk patients with one factor show the similar outcomes as high-risk patients and deserve to try bladder-sparing treatment, whereas those with ≥2 risk factors were strongly recommended to undergo radical cystectomy.

Recently, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been successfully used in the non-invasive detection of bladder tumor (BCa). The internal standard method was considered as an effective ratiometric strategy for calibrating signal fluctuation originated from the interference of measurement conditions and samples. However, it is still difficult to detect the target mRNA quantitatively using the current ratiometric SERS nanosensors. In this study, we developed an internal reference based ratiometric SERS assay. Two kinds of molecular beacons (MB) carrying Raman reporter molecules were anchored on sea-urchin-like Au nanoclusters (AuNCs). Thymidine kinase1 (TK1) MBs with hexachlorofluorescein (HEX) were used to capture tumor biomarker TK1 mRNA, and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) MBs with 5(6)-carboxyfluorescein (FAM) were used to offer internal standard signals. The internal reference GAPDH MB can reflect the consistent content of the GAPDH mRNA in single cells. The ratiometric method (I745/I645) can more accurately reflect the content of target mRNA in single cells. The ratiometric nanoprobes had excellent stability (coefficient of variation: 0.3%), high sensitivity (detection limit: 3.4 pM), high specificity (capable of single-base mismatch recognition) and ribozyme-resistant stability. Notably, the nanoprobes can effectively distinguish BCa cells from normal cells, and it was easy to contour the single BCa cell using the ratiometric method. By combining asymmetric polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ratiometric nanoprobes, it was easy to distinguish the SERS ratio (I745/I645) as low concentration as 10−14 M. Further clinical detection in urine samples from patients with BCa confirmed its potential for early noninvasive diagnosis of BCa with the sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 100%, which is superior to the current urine cytological method.

One of the critical problems in bladder cancer (BC) management is the local recurrence of disease. However, achieving the accurate delineation of tumor margins intraoperatively remains extremely difficult due to the lack of effective tumor margin recognition technology. Herein, survivin molecular beacon (MB) and R11 peptide-linked spherical nucleic acids (SNAs) were synthesized as nanoprobes (AuNP-MB@R11) for sensitive detection of BC margins. Physicochemical properties proved that R11 peptides and survivin MB were successfully loaded onto the surface of SNAs. AuNP-MB@R11 had good stability against nuclease activity and high sensitivity and specificity to detect survivin single strand DNA (ssDNA) in vitro. According to cytology, R11 peptides could increase the BC targeting ability and membrane penetrability of SNAs. Notably, R11 peptides significantly promoted the disintegration of lysosomes and the release of SNAs to enhance fluorescence imaging quality. Further RNA sequencing proved that some genes and pathways related to endocytosis and lysosomes were significantly regulated, such as AGPAT5, GPD1L, and GRB2. In orthotopic BC models and a clinical sample from a patient with BC, AuNP-MB@R11 showed a more legible cancerous fluorescence margin and offered remarkably improved detection compared to those achieved by SNAs. R11 peptide-linked SNAs present promising potential to identify BC margin, which may help to improve the R0 resection rate in surgery and improve patients’ quality of life.

Backgroud: Osthole, a compound extracted from the fruit of Fructus cnidii was traditionally used in treatment for various diseases, such as male impotence, skin related dieases, and foul disease. In addition, it was reported that osthole could also inhibit various cancer. However, few studies had demonstrated that osthole could suppress bladder cancer and its mechanism was unclear. Therefore, we performed a research to explore the potential mechanism for osthole against bladder cancer. Methods: Internet web servers SwissTargetPrediction, PharmMapper, SuperPRED, and TargetNet were used to predict the osthole targets. GeneCards and the OMIM database were used to indicate bladder cancer targets. The intersection of two target gene fragments was used to obtain the key target genes. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) analysis was performed using the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING) database. Furthermore, we used gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses to explore the molecular function of target genes. AutoDock software was then used to perform molecular docking of target genes and osthole. Finally, an in vitro experiment was conducted to validate bladder cancer inhibition by osthole. Results: Our analysis identified 369 intersection genes for osthole, the top ten target genes included MAPK1, AKT1, SRC, HRAS, HASP90AA1, PIK3R1, PTPN11, MAPK14, CREBBP, and RXRA. The GO and KEGG pathway enrichment results revealed that the PI3K-AKT pathway was closely correlated with osthole against bladder cancer. The osthole inhibited the proliferation and migration of bladder cancer cells. Additionally, osthole blocked the bladder cancer epithelial-mesenchymal transition and promoted bladder cancer cell apoptosis by inhibiting the PI3K-AKT and Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT3) pathways. Conclusions: Osthole targets and related pathways have potential in the treatment of bladder cancer. Osthole therapy will likely inhibit proliferation and migration of bladder cancer cells by inhibiting PI3K-AKT and JAK/STAT3 pathways. Subjects: Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Molecular Biology

Background Tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) play an exceedingly important role in tumor microenviroment (TME). However, few studies has reported the specific biomakers and TAM related gene signature in clear cell renal carcinoma (RCC). Herein, our research aims to pick out specific biomakers and construct a TAM related gene prognostic signature in clear cell renal carcinoma. Methods We downloaded clear cell renal carcinoma patients sequence data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Then, we used CIBERSORT and QuanTIseq algorithm to estimate the percentage of immune cell infiltration. Weighted gene co-expression net work analysis (WGCNA) could sort the specific genes related to TAM(M2 macrophage) in clear cell renal carcinoma. In addition, Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO), univariate and multivariate Cox regression were performed to establish a TAM related gene prognostic model in clear cell renal carcinoma patients. At last, single cell sequence from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) was also verify the expression of TAM realated genes. Results We found that TAM (M2 macrophage) infiltration was higher than normal tissue, which suggested that TAM may play an vital role in clear cell renal carcinoma progression. Twenty-seven TAM related genes was picked out by using WGCNA. In addition, the six gene prognostic signature which contained: TNFSF8, CD300FL, C3AR1, LAIR1, LY86, RNASE6 was established. We concluded that the riskscore and tumor stage were independent prognostic factors through univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis. Single cell sequence results show that the six hub genes were all expressed in TAMs. Conclusions In summary, our research discovered that the TAM related genes and constructed a six gene prognostic signature for clear cell renal carcinoma, which may provide a novel insight for targeting therapy in clear cell renal carcinoma.

Pu Zhang1 *, Haibao Zhang2 *, Bin Zheng1 *, Heng Wang,1 Xiaolong Qi,1 Shuai Wang,1 Zhenghong Liu,1 Li Sun,1 Yang Liu,3 Xiaowen Qin,1 Weijiao Fan,1 Minghai Ma,2 Wing-Fu Lai,1 Dahong Zhang1 1Urology & Nephrology Center, Department of Urology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang People’s Republic of China; 2Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, People’s Republic of China; 3Cancer Center, Department of Ultrasound Medicine, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Dahong Zhang; Wing-Fu Lai, No. 138 Shang Tang Road, Hangzhou, 310014, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-13705711671, Email zppurology@163.com; rori0610@graduate.hku.hkIntroduction: Bladder cancer (BCa) is among the most prevalent cancers worldwide. However, the effectiveness of intravesical therapy for BCa is limited due to the short dwell time and the presence of the permeation barrier.Methods: Nanocomplexes were self-assembled between DNA and hendeca-arginine peptide (R11). Stepwise intravesical instillation of R11 and the generated nanocomplexes significantly enhanced the targeting capacity and penetration efficiency in BCa therapy. The involved mechanism of cellular uptake and penetration of the nanocomplexes was determined. The therapeutic effect of the nanocomplexes was verified preclinically in murine orthotopic BCa models.Results: Nanocomplexes exhibited the best BCa targeting efficiency at a nitrogen-to-phosphate (NP) ratio of 5 but showed a lack of stability during cellular uptake. The method of stepwise intravesical instillation not only increased the stability and target specificity of the DNA component but also caused the delivered DNA to more effectively penetrate into the glycosaminoglycan layer and plasma membrane. The method promotes the accumulation of the delivered DNA in the clathrin-independent endocytosis pathway, directs the intracellular trafficking of the delivered DNA to nonlysosome-localized regions, and enables the intercellular transport of the delivered DNA via a direct transfer mechanism. In preclinical trials, our stepwise method was shown to remarkably enhance the targeting and penetration efficiency of DNA in murine orthotopic BCa models.Conclusion: With this method, a stepwise intravesical instillation of self-assembled nanocomplexes, which are generated from hendeca-arginine peptides, was achieved; thus, this method offers an effective strategy to deliver DNA to target and penetrate BCa cells during gene therapy and warrants further development for future intravesical gene therapy in the clinical context.Graphical Abstract: Keywords: bladder cancer, intravesical therapy, DNA delivery, direct transfer

Background SPOCK2 is a member of the SPOCK family, a 424-amino acid protein that binds to glycosaminoglycans to form proteoglycans. The purpose of this study was to explore expression profile of SPOCK2, and evaluate prognostic potential and its correlation with immune infiltration in high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). Methods Expression of SPOCK2 mRNA and protein between normal and tumor tissues were analyzed using the Cancer Genome Atlas database (TCGA), Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC), and the Human Protein Atlas (HPA) databases. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate diagnostic performance of SPOCK2. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analysis were conducted to assess the effect of SPOCK2 on survival. Nomogram was used to predict the impact of SPOCK2 on prognosis. LinkedOmics were used to find correlated genes and perform functional enrichment analyses. The relationships between SPOCK2 and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) were determined by tumor-immune system interaction database (TISIDB) and GSVA package (V1.34.0). Results SPOCK2 was highly expressed in HGSOC tissue compared to normal tissue at both mRNA (P P = 0.03) levels. The area under the curve (AUC) is 0.894 (CI: 0.865–0.923). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that HGSOC patients with high-level SPOCK2 mRNA expression had a worse overall survival (OS) than those with a low expression (HR = 1.45, P = 0.005). Univariate logistic regression analysis found that age, primary therapy outcome, tumor status, tumor residual, and SPOCK2 expression level were significantly associated with OS (P

Purpose: To analyze clinical features of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) patients who received initial treatments at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University.Methods: The patient record system was screened to extract clinical data including demographics, pregnancy history, diagnosis, staging, prognostic score, treatment. Student t test, x2 test, and Fischer’s exact test were used.Results: This study included 387 patients with GTN. Patients were divided into 2009-2014 and 2015-2020 groups, including 177 and 210 cases, respectively. Patients in 2015-2020 group had higher parity than those in 2009-2014 group (1.2±1.2 vs 0.9±1.2, P=0.030). Nullípara (73 [41.2%] vs 65 [31.0%]) and primípara (71 [40.1%] vs 84 [40.0%]) were more frequently seen in 2009-2014 group than those in 2015-2020 group, but multípara (61 [29.0%] vs 33 [18.7%]) was more common in 2015-2020 group (P=0.028). For patients in 2015-2020 group, more patients demonstrated 1 or more metastases (107 [51.0%] vs 63 [35.6%], P=0.014) than those in 2009-2014 group. Patients in 2015-2020 group had more distant invasions affecting more organs, including lungs (76 [36.2%] vs 52 [29.4%]) and lungs combining with other organs (31 [14.8%] vs 11 [6.2%]), than those in 2009-2014 group (P=0.003).Conclusions: Although patients diagnosed with GTN between 2015 to 2020 is associated with higher parity, more children, and more distant metastases, we cannot simply conclude that clinical features of GTN has changed over time.

One of the critical problems in bladder cancer (BC) management is local recurrence of disease. However, achieving accurate delineation of tumor margins intraoperatively remains extremely difficult due to the lack of effective tumor margin recognition technology. Herein, survivin molecular beacon (MB) and R11 peptides-linked spherical mucleic acids (SNAs) were synthesized as a nanoprobe (AuNP-MB@R11) for sensitive detection of BC margins. Physicochemical Properties proved that R11 peptides and survivin MB were successfully loaded onto the surface of SNAs. The AuNP-MB@R11 had good stability against nuclease, high sensitivity and specificity to detect survivin ssDNA in vitro experiment. In cytology, R11 peptides could increase BC targeting ability and membrane penetrability of SNAs. Notably, R11 peptides can significantly promote the disintegration of lysosome and release of SNAs to enhance the fluorescence imaging quality. The further RNA sequencing proved that some genes related with endocytosis and lysosome regulated significantly, such as AGPAT5, GPD1L, TREX1 and APEX1. In orthotopic BC models and a clinical sample from patient with BC, AuNP-MB@R11 showed a more legible cancerous fluorescence margin and offered remarkably improved detection effects compared to those achieved by SNAs. Thus, R11 peptides-linked SNAs presented a promising potential to identify the BC margin, which may help to improve the R0 resection rate in surgery and improve patient’s quality of life.

Background Bladder carcinoma is one of the most common urological cancers. ITPR3, as a ubiquitous endoplasmic reticulum calcium channel protein, was reported to be involved in the development and progression of various types of cancer. However, the potential roles and molecular mechanism of ITPR3 in bladder cancer are still unclear. Herein, we elucidated a novel role of ITPR3 in regulating the proliferation, metastasis, and stemness of bladder cancer cells. Methods The expression of ITPR3 in bladder cancer was analyzed using public databases and bladder cancer tissue microarrays. To demonstrate the role of ITPR3 in regulating the NF-ĸB/CD44 pathway and the progression of bladder cancer, a series of molecular biology and biochemistry methods was performed on clinical tissues, along with in vivo and in vitro experiments. The methods used included western blot assay, quantitative RT-PCR assay, immunofluorescence assay, immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays, wound healing assay, Transwell assay, colony formation assay, tumorsphere formation assay, cell flow cytometry analysis, EdU assay, MTT assay, cell transfection, bisulfite sequencing PCR (BSP), a xenograft tumor model and a tail vein cancer metastasis model. Results Higher ITPR3 expression was found in bladder cancer tissues and bladder cancer cells compared with the corresponding normal peritumor tissues and SV-HUC-1 cells, which was attributed to demethylation in the ITPR3 promoter region. ITPR3 promoted the proliferation of bladder cancer by accelerating cell cycle transformation and promoted local invasion and distant metastasis by inducing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Meanwhile, ITPR3 maintained the cancer stemness phenotype by regulating CD44 expression. NF-κB, which is upstream of CD44, also played a critical role in this process. Conclusions Our study clarifies that ITPR3 serves as an oncogene in bladder cancer cells and represents a novel candidate for bladder cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Identifying nonpoint sources of nitrate has been a long-term challenge in mixed land-use watershed. In the present study, we combine dual nitrate isotope, runoff and stream water monitoring to elucidate the nonpoint nitrate sources across land use, and determine the relative importance of biogeochemical processes for nitrate export in a small suburban watershed, Longhongjian watershed, China. Our study suggested that NH4+ fertilizer, soil NH4+, litter fall and groundwater were the main nitrate sources in Longhongjian Stream. There were large changes in nitrate sources in response to season and land use. Runoff analysis illustrated that the tea plantation and forest areas contributed to a dominated proportion of the TN export. Spatial analysis illustrated that NO3− concentration was high in the tea plantation and forest areas, and δ15N-NO3 and δ18O-NO3 were enriched in the step ponds. Temporal analysis showed high NO3− level in spring, and nitrate isotopes were enriched in summer. Study as well showed that the step ponds played an important role in mitigating nitrate pollution. Nitrification and plant uptake were the significant biogeochemical processes contributing to the nitrogen transformation, and denitrification hardly occurred in the stream.

Epithelial mesenchymal transformation plays a crucial role in the metastasis of bladder cancer, which makes bladder cancer difficult to cure. Bladder cancer is the most common malignancy of the urinary system, and distant metastasis is the leading cause of death. Therefore, finding a bioactive drug that can specifically inhibit epithelial mesenchymal transformation may be a new direction for bladder cancer treatment in the future. Thymoquinone (TQ), the major active compound isolated from black seed oil (Nigella sativa), has been reported to exhibit anti-inflammatory and anticancer abilities. TQ can exhibit its antitumor effect by inhibiting the proliferation and metastasis of cancer cells. However, the underlying mechanism of TQ as a tumor inhibitor in bladder cancer remains poorly understood. First, in this research, we demonstrate that TQ can reverse EMT by upregulating epithelial markers, such as E-cadherin, and downregulating mesenchymal markers, such as N-cadherin and vimentin. Furthermore, we demonstrate that TQ can suppress the activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and inhibit the expression of β-catenin target genes, such as MYC, Axin-2, MMP7, CyclinD1 and MET, which play crucial roles in EMT and cancer progression. Additionally, we demonstrate that TQ can inhibit the growth of xenografts and restrict the formation of tumor metastatic foci in the lung. Taken together, our findings confirm the antimetastatic effect of TQ in bladder cancer cells for the first time and also provide new evidence for the development of TQ as a novel treatment for metastatic bladder cancer.

Altered expression of microRNA (miRNA) is associated with the occurrence and metastasis of various tumors. We previously found that miR-218 inhibits tumor angiogenesis through the RICTOR/VEGFA axis in prostate cancer (PCa). In this study, we determined that miR-218 also had a negative effect on cell growth, migration, and invasion ability in PCa. Our data showed that miR-218 bound to the Grb2-associated binding protein 2 (GAB2) 3'-UTR region and inhibited GAB2 expression. As a novel downstream target of miR-218, GAB2 has been reported to be involved in the occurrence and development of various human tumors, but its role in the progression and metastasis of PCa has not been addressed. We demonstrated for the first time that the expression of GAB2 in the PCa cell lines was increased, while knocking down GAB2 significantly inhibited cell growth, metastatic ability and EMT process in PCa. In addition, the recovery of GAB2 could reverse the changes in the biological function of PCa cells caused by the ectopic expression of miR-218. Mechanistically, miR-218-mediated GAB2 transcriptional suppression significantly inhibited the activity of the PI3K/AKT/GSK-3β pathway, whose abnormal activation was found to be related to the malignant progression of PCa. Taken together, our findings suggest that the miR-218/GAB2 axis may become a novel prognostic indicator and potential therapeutic target in PCa.

It is demonstrated that the metal (hydr)oxides are ubiquitous in subsurface sediments, therefore investigation of adsorption and desorption of Ni(II) on aluminium substituted goethite (Al-FeOOH) plays vital role in the understanding of the fate and transport of heavy metals in sub-sediment at their initial sources. The Al-FeOOH nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical co-precipitation method and were characterized by TEM, XRD and potentiometric titration. The characteristic results revealed phase transformation of Al-FeOOH nanoparticles from acicular-like shape to rod-like shape with increasing Al content. The effect of environmental factors (e.g., reaction time, pH, ionic strength and temperature) on the adsorption of Ni(II) on Al-FeOOH nanoparticles was investigated by batch techniques. The kinetic adsorption showed that the adsorption of Ni(II) on Al-FeOOH can be satisfactorily fitted by pseudo-second order kinetic model. The maximum adsorption capacity of Al-FeOOH nanoparticles calculated from Langmuir model at pH 5.0 and T = 298 K is 94.52 mg/g for Ni(II). Approximately 40% and 6% of Ni(II) are desorbed from α-FeOOH and Al-FeOOH at 1200 h, respectively, indicating the strong chemical affinity for Al-FeOOH due to the nanoscale space confinement effect. This study implies that Al-FeOOH nanoparticles could be a promising adsorbent to remove the Ni(II) from aqueous solutions.

The fly ashes from hospital waste incinerator were blended with natural alunite to decrease the release of heavy metals. The change in surface chemistry of fly ashes in the absence and presence of alunite was characterized by XRD, TEM, FTIR and potentiometric titration. According to potentiometric titration, the concentration of surface reactive sites of fly ashes blended into alunite (FA1) was 3 times higher than fly ashes (FA0). The release of Cu2 +, Pb2 +, Cd2 + and Zn2 + from FA0 and FA1 as a function of extracted time and acid concentration was investigated by batch techniques. The kinetics showed that extracted amount of heavy metals from FA0 and FA1 was in the order of Zn2 + > Cu2 + > Cd2 + > Pb2 +. According to the analysis of FTIR spectra, the heavy metals were adsorbed to the amorphous alumina hydrolyzed from alunite under acidic conditions. The batch extractions dictated that the leached amount of heavy metals from FA1 was significantly lower than FA0, suggesting that natural alunite can potentially be served as an efficient retardant for the immobilization of heavy metals from fly ashes.

It is demonstrated that nanoparticles are ubiquitous in subsurface sediments; therefore, investigation of the adsorption and desorption of U(VI) on nanoparticles plays vital role in the understanding of the fate and transport of U(VI) in sub-sediment at their initial sources. The nano-alumina was synthesized by self-assemble method and was characterized by TEM, XRD and potentiometric titration. The characteristic results revealed the presence of nanoscale space confinement effect of nano-alumina. The batch adsorption of U(VI) on nano-alumina was carried out under various water chemistry such as reaction time, pH, ionic strength, initial U(VI) concentration and temperature. The maximum adsorption capacity of nano-alumina and alpha-alumina calculated from Langmuir model at pH 4.5 and T = 298 K are 92.59 and 59.88 mg/g, respectively. Approximately 35% and 5% of U(VI) are desorbed from alpha-alumina and nano-alumina at 48 h in the presence of 0.01 M NaHCO 3 solution, which indicate that the nano-alumina presents the strong chemical affinity for U(VI) as compared to alpha-alumina. This study implies that nano-alumina could be as a promising adsorbent to remove the U(VI) from aqueous solutions.

The nano goethite and nano alumina were synthesized to investigate the effect of nanoscale size on adsorption–desorption of U(VI) from aqueous solution. It was determined that the site densities of nanoparticles are higher than α-alumina and goethite, whereas slight effect of carbonate on adsorption of U(VI) onto nanoparticles was observed. The maximum adsorption capacities of nano alumina and nano goethite were ~151 and 79 mg/g, respectively. The batch desorption indicated stronger binding affinity of U(VI) for nanoparticles as compared to non-nanoparticles, which were consistent with the results of surface complexation modeling assuming weak and strong sites for nanoparticles while weak sites for α-alumina and goethite.

Whether ecological restoration of polluted urban rivers would provide suitable breeding habitats for some mosquitoes was not clear yet. It was therefore important to determine how altered river conditions influence mosquito ecology. Monthly data on water quality and larval density were obtained to determine the effects of river systems on the distribution and abundance of immature mosquitoes in two coastal cities in Eastern China. In total, 5 species within two genera of mosquitoes were collected and identified in habitat with vegetation from three positive rivers. Culex pipiens pallens was the most abundant and widely distributed species. A new species (Culex fuscanus) was reported in certain districts. Physico-chemical parameters of river water were important, but not the only, set of influences on immature mosquito breeding. Aquatic vegetation could increase the likelihood of mosquito breeding while artificial aeration might prevent the approach of mosquitoes. Slow-moving water might be a new potential marginal habitat type for some Culex and Aedes albopictus. Variation of river system with ecological restoration might influence the abundance and distribution of immature mosquitoes.

Surface complexation modeling based on diffuse double layer model (DDLM) has been employed to simulate the leaching behaviors of radionuclides (i.e., 60Co2+, 63Ni2+, 64Cu2+ and UO2 2+) on fly ashes from hospital wastes. The fly ashes were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), potentiometric acid–base titration, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effect of pH, the ratio of solid-to-liquid (RSL), and particle size on the leaching of radionuclides was also conducted under the batch techniques. According to XRD patterns analysis, the main components of fly ashes was determined to be quartz and clay minerals such as kaolinite, illite and smectite. The site density and pHPNZC (pH at point of net zero charge) of fly ashes calculated from potentiometric titration data was found to be 4.53 × 10−4 mol/g and 7.4, respectively. One can see that the small amount of metal oxides attached on the surface of fly ashes by SEM images, corrosion surface of fly ashes was observed after leaching experiments. Results of the batch leaching experiments indicated that the leaching amount of radionuclides in fly ashes significantly depended on pH, the ratio of solid-to-liquid, and particle size. It is found that the leaching amount of radionuclides decreased in the order of 64Cu2+ ≫ 63Ni2+ > 60Co2+ > UO2 2+ under the different pH, the RSL or particle size conditions. In this paper, DDLM has successfully been applied to describe the leaching behaviors of radionuclides from fly ashes. This research provides critical information for application of surface complexation modeling on the simulation of radionuclides leaching from fly ashes, which would clarify the leaching mechanism of radionuclides from fly ashes.

Sequestration of radioactive nickel (63Ni2+) in fly ash coming from hospital wastes incineration plant by incorporating nano-goethite as a function of pH, particle size and the ratio of solid and liquid was investigated under the batch leaching experiments. The synthetic nanogoethite was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and specific surface area (SSA). The admired needle nanogoethite was obtained in terms of XRD, TEM and SSA analysis. Approximate 5% of 63Ni2+ was desorbed from the nanogoethite/fly ash composite under the circum natural pH conditions. The ratio of solid to liquid has little effect on desorption of 63Ni2+ from nanogoethite/fly ash composite. These results indicate that the radioactive nickel in fly ash can be sequestrated by incorporating nanogoethite. The results may play significantly a role in immobilization in situ of trace radionuclides in the natural environment.

Kinetics of p-nitrophenol (PNP) adsorption onto layered double oxides (LDO) during its hydration into layered double hydroxides (LDH) was studied. Results indicate that the adsorption of PNP onto LDO is a spontaneous endothermic process. The adsorption isotherms correlate well with the Freundlich type model. Results suggest that the adsorption of PNP onto LDO is an entropy-increasing process, and it appears to be in agreement with pseudo-second-order kinetics. Intra-particle diffusion was found to take part in the adsorption processes, and it might be the primary rate-limiting step for the sorbing capacity of LDO to PNP. Results from X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared indicate that PNP molecules are probably taken into the interlayer of the structure during the hydration of LDO into the LDH. Activated carbon was used as a benchmark material in evaluating the sorbing capacity of LDO to PNP. The sorbing capacity of LDO to PNP (32 mg PNP/g LDO) was well below activated carbon (659 mg PNP/g carbon); however, the sorbing process of LDO to PNP is also a unique synthetic process for LDH, which has been used in removing specific anionic species, such as bioagents and pharmaceutical intermediates from waters.