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Recent studies have indicated the existence of an endogenous sulfur dioxide (SO2)-generating system in the cardiovascular system. The present study aimed to discuss the function and regulatory mechanism of gaseous signal molecule SO2 in inhibiting apoptosis and endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) via the Hippo-MST signaling pathway to improve myocardial fibrosis of diabetic rats. A total of 40 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups (10 rats per group): Normal control group (control group), diabetic rats group [streptozotocin (STZ) group], SO2 intervention group (STZ+SO2 group) and diabetes mellitus rats treated with L-Aspartic acid β-hydroxamate (HDX) group (HDX group). Diabetic rats models were established by intra-peritoneal injection of STZ (40 mg/kg) Following model establishment, intra-peritoneal injection of Na2SO3/NaHSO3 solution (0.54 mmol/kg) was administered in the STZ+SO2 group, and HDX solution (25 mg/kg/week) was administered in the HDX group. A total of 4 weeks later, echocardiography was performed to evaluate rats' cardiac function; Masson staining, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling staining and transmission electron microscopy examinations were performed to observe myocardial morphological changes. ELISA was employed to determine the SO2 content. Western blot analysis was performed to detect the expression of proteins associated with apoptosis, ERS and the Hippo-MST signalling pathway. Compared with the control group, the STZ group and HDX group had a disordered arrangement of myocardial cells with apparent myocardial fibrosis, and echocardiography indicated that the cardiac function was lowered, there was an obvious increase of apoptosis in myocardial tissue, the expression levels of apoptosis-associated protein B-cell lymphoma associated protein X, caspase-3 and caspase-9 were upregulated, and Bcl-2 expression was downregulated. The expression of ERS and Hippo-MST pathway-associated proteins, including CHOP, GRP94, MST1 and MST2, were significantly upregulated. By contrast, these above-mentioned changes were reversed by SO2 treatment. Compared with STZ group, the HDX group had a further increase of myocardial fibrosis and apoptosis, while there were no statistically significant differences in the expression of Bax/Bcl-2, caspase-3, caspase-9 and ERS and Hippo-MST pathway-associated proteins. The results of the present study demonstrated that the gaseous signal molecule SO2 can effectively improve the myocardial fibrosis of diabetic rats, and its mechanism may be associated with reduced apoptosis and ERS by downregulated Hippo-MST pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the performance and expand applications of poplar plantation wood, modified poplar veneers based on 1-butyl-3-methylchloride ([Bmim]Cl) were studied. Two groups of poplar veneers were impregnated in ionic liquid [Bmim]Cl (group C) and pure water (group B), separately. Techniques such as hot pressing-coagulation and bath-annealing were applied to these two groups to prepare modified samples. The physical and mechanical properties of each group were tested and characterized, using untreated group (A) as the control. The ductility and thickness variation rate of samples in group C were higher than those in group B. The width variation rate of samples in group C was 64% greater than those in group A and 50.4% greater than those in group B. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) results also showed the plasticity and the improvement in the transverse connection of samples in group C; these results were more obvious than that for samples in group B. The tensile strength and elastic modulus of samples in group C were higher than those of group B. Compared with the control group, the crystallinity index (CrI) of samples in groups B and C was increased and that of group C was the maximum, but the crystal form remained unchanged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the large-time behavior of strong solutions to the nonhomogeneous incompressible magnetohydrodynamic equations on a bounded domain in R2. Based on uniform estimates, we prove that the velocity, the magnetic field, and their derivatives converge to zero in L2 norm as time goes to infinity without any additional assumption on the initial data and external force by a pure energy method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, large-scale screening for enzyme discovery, engineering, and drug discovery processes require simple, fast, and sensitive enzyme activity assay platforms with high integration and potential for high-throughput detection. Herein, a novel automatic and integrated micro-enzyme assay (AIμEA) platform was proposed based on a unique microreaction system fabricated by a engineered green fluorescence protein (GFP)-functionalized monolithic capillary column, with thrombin as an example. The recombinant GFP probe was rationally engineered to possess a His-tag and a substrate sequence of thrombin, which enable it to be immobilized on the monolith via metal affinity binding, and to be released after thrombin digestion. Combined with capillary electrophoresislaser- induced fluorescence (CE-LIF), all the procedures, including thrombin injection, online enzymatic digestion in the microreaction system, and label-free detection of the released GFP, were integrated in a single electrophoretic process. By taking advantage of the ultrahigh loading capacity of the AIμEA platform and the CE automatic programming setup, one microreaction column was sufficient for many times digestion without replacement. The novel microreaction system showed significantly enhanced catalytic efficiency, about 30 fold higher than that of the equivalent bulk reaction. Accordingly, the AIμEA platform was highly sensitive with a limit of detection down to 1 pM of thrombin. Moreover, the AIμEA platform was robust and reliable to detect thrombin in human serum samples and its inhibition by hirudin. Hence, this AIμEA platform exhibits great potential for high-throughput analysis in future biological application, disease diagnostics, and drug screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of a highly adapted high-E zone is critical to isotachophoresis separation and focusing. Recently, we discovered that the high-E zone is present only in a small portion of electrophoresis channel in the presence of EOF (Liu, S. Q. et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 4644-4647). Accordingly, a much narrower high-E zone is presumably present in t-ITP. If so, it is hard to achieve efficient t-ITP focusing. Indeed, by online coupling t-ITP with CE-LIF immunoassay, the immunocomplexes of carcinogenic BPDE-dG adducts are not efficiently focused using a freshly prepared background electrolyte. Intriguingly, we observed that 20-day stored background electrolyte displays a 10-fold better focusing efficiency. We hypothesize that the unexpected phenomenon is associated with the dissolution of aerial carbon dioxide, which is mainly converted to ionic HCO3- in the weak alkaline background electrolyte. Consequently, HCO3- of high electrophoretic mobility will be continuously injected into the capillary along with the background electrolyte and act as an alternative leading ion to improve the focusing. By addition of dry ice (without causing significant pH decrease, ΔpH < 0.4) to freshly prepared background electrolytes, we immediately observed the enhanced focusing of immunocomplexes of the DNA adducts. NH4HCO3 and Na2CO3, included in the background electrolyte, also improve the focusing efficiency and reproducibility. All these consistently support our hypothesis. To understand the underlying mechanism, an advanced CE-SMFI was exploited to monitor in real time the motion of single DNA molecules and the E change throughout t-ITP. We uncovered that t-ITP can induce a local high-E zone, but the presence of HCO3- in the background electrolyte could greatly increase the E value in the high-E zone, which allows more DNA molecules to rapidly move backward and to be efficiently stacked at LE/TE boundary. This study provides new insight into nonuniform electric field-induced electrophoresis focusing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, two novel zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) materials, ZIF-7 and ZIF-11, were firstly introduced as solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbents for PAHs efficient extraction and highly sensitive analysis in environmental water samples with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with fluorescence detection. ZIF-7 and ZIF-11 were successfully synthesized and characterized with SEM, FTIR, XRD and water contact angels, exhibiting unique and excellent stability, spatial structure and chemical composition, promising for environmental PAHs efficient enrichment through hydrophobic, π-π and π-complexation interactions. The topology effect on PAHs extraction was compared between ZIF-7 and ZIF-11, considering they have the same composition in metal ion (Zn2+) and organic linker, but differing spatial structures: ZIF-7 has a cubic structure, while ZIF-11 is a rhombic dodecahedron. At last, ZIF-11 with markedly better extraction efficiencies was selected for subsequent analysis. Under optimum extraction conditions such as sample volume, extraction time, desorption conditions, volume of organic modifier and salt concentration, a robust and highly efficient method based on ZIF-11 as a novel SPE sorbent has been successfully developed for environmental PAHs analysis. Satisfactory precision and accuracy ranging from 1-2.4 x 103 ng L-1 as well as ultrasensitive detection limits of 0.08-1.6 ng L-1 have been successfully achieved. Moreover, ZIF-11 extraction also exhibited high recoveries of 82.4- 112.7% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) being less than 9% for PAHs in the environmental water samples. Therefore, our novel, convenient and efficient extraction method based on ZIF-11 as a sorbent is promising for applications in future trace-level environmental PAHs analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nonuniform motion of charged species in a varying electric field may provide unique separation and focusing power for chemical, biochemical, and nanoscale studies. We imaged in real time the nonuniform motion of single DNA molecules under varying-field isotachophoresis (ITP) conditions. From the trajectories of single molecules, we obtained the time- and position-dependent electric field strength (E) and revealed the behavior of adaption barriers within electro-osmotic flow (EOF)-driven and EOF-independent ITP. We found that the initial terminating electrolyte zone of constant E is split into two zones: a highly adapted high-E zone and a low-E zone of gradually adapting electric field. The formation of the two unique zones is associated with the rate-limiting mass transfer barrier in EOF-driven ITP. As a result of the unique E distribution, DNA molecules first slow to a stop and then rapidly move backward to the leading electrolyte/terminating electrolyte boundary. This provides a novel mechanism for selective focusing of target molecules in dilute solutions of large volume. We show that the ITP focusing can improve the detection of single DNA molecules (limit of detection = 4 × 10-17 mol/L), which are stochastically distributed at extremely low concentrations. The ITP strategy focuses individual molecules into a small volume that is matched with the focal point of single-molecule imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acrolein (Acr), a ubiquitous environmental pollutant, can react directly with genomic DNA to form mutagenic adducts without undergoing metabolic activation. To sensitively and accurately quantify Acr-DNA adducts (including structural isomers and stereoisomers) in human leukocytes, we developed an enhanced stable isotope dilution ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC)-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) method using ammonium bicarbonate (NH4HCO3), which is thermally unstable and degrades readily to carbon dioxide and ammonia in heated gas phase. Interestingly, ammonium bicarbonate (as an additive to the mobile phase) not only improves the protonation of AcrdG adducts but also suppresses the formation of MS signal-deteriorating metal-AcrdG complexes during electrospray ionization, leading to the enhancement of their MS detection by 2.3-8.7 times. In contrast, routinely used ammonium salts (ammonium acetate and ammonium formate) and formic acid do not show similar enhancement. The developed method is potentially useful for enhancing ESI-MS detection of other modified 2′-deoxyribonucleosides that have difficulty in protonation and may form excess metal complexes during electrospray ionization. The limits of detection (LODs, S/N = 3) are estimated to be about 40-80 amol. By the use of the developed method, we found that the Acr adducts of three nucleotides (dG, dA, and dC) can be detected in human leukocytes. In addition to the known γ-AcrdG, α-AcrdA is also identified as an Acr-adduct of high abundance (2.5-20 adducts per108 nts). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulfur dioxide (SO2), a novel endogenous gas signaling molecule, is involved in the regulation of cardiac function. Exerting a key role in progression of hyperthyroidism-induced cardiomyopathy (HTC), myocardial fibrosis is mainly caused by myocardial apoptosis, leading to poor treatment outcomes and prognoses. This study aimed to investigate the effect of SO2 on the hyperthyroidism-induced myocardial fibrosis and the underlying regulatory mechanisms. Elisa, Masson staining, Western-Blot, transmission electron microscope, and immunofluorescence were employed to evaluate the myocardial interstitial collagen deposition, endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS), apoptosis, changes in endogenous SO2, and Hippo pathways from in vitro and in vivo experiments. The study results indicated that the hyperthyroidism-induced myocardial fibrosis was accompanied by decreased cardiac function, and down-regulated ERS, apoptosis, and endogenous SO2-producing enzyme aspartate aminotransferase (AAT)1/2 in cardiac myocytes. In contrast, exogenous SO2 donors improved cardiac function, reduced myocardial interstitial collagen deposition, up-regulated AAT1/2, antagonized ERS and apoptosis, and inhibited excessive activation of Hippo pathway in hyperthyroid rats. In conclusion, the results herein suggested that SO2 inhibited the overactivation of the Hippo pathway, antagonized ERS and apoptosis, and alleviated myocardial fibrosis in hyperthyroid rats. Therefore, this study was expected to identify intervention targets and new strategies for prevention and treatment of HTC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enhance the synergistic effect of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) on flame retardant property, four different phytic acid-based NP flame retardants (FR-PAN) were manufactured using phytic acid and urea with various molar ratios, ranging from 1:3 to 1:12. The FR-PAN water solution was used to impregnate poplar wood under vacuum condition, and the thermal degradation performance of the FR-PAN treated wood were investigated. Compared to untreated wood, the PAN-6 (molar ratio is 1:6) group showed a reduction of 57.1% in total heat release and 80.0% in total smoke release. In the combustion, due to the introduction of P and N, FRPAN generates O=P/C-O/C-P/C-N bonds, forming highly graphitized char residues, which effectively isolate the entry of oxygen and heat and play a good protective role in the condensed phase. Morphological and chemical analysis of the residual char layer revealed that the introduction of P and N elements formed a more stable hybrid structure, significantly improving the thermal stability of the char layer. Among them, the PAN-6 group exhibited the highest char layer stability, indicating optimal synergistic effects of nitrogen and phosphorus under these conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypothyroidism alone can lead to myocardial fibrosis and result in heart failure, but traditional hormone replacement therapy does not improve the fibrotic situation. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a new gas signaling molecule, possesses antiinflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-fibrotic capabilities. Whether H2S could improve hypothyroidism-induced myocardial fibrosis are not yet studied. In our study, H2S could decrease collagen deposition in the myocardial tissue of rats caused by hypothyroidism. Furthermore, in hypothyroidism-induced rats, we found that H2S could enhance cystathionine-gamma-lyase (CSE), not cystathionine β-synthase (CBS), protein expressions. Finally, we noticed that H2S could elevate autophagy levels and inhibit the transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) signal transduction pathway. In conclusion, our experiments not only suggest that H2S could alleviate hypothyroidism-induced myocardial fibrosis by activating autophagy and suppressing TGF-β1/ SMAD family member 2 (Smad 2) signal transduction pathway, but also show that it can be used as a complementary treatment to conventional hormone therapy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myocardial fibrosis is a key link in the occurrence and development of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Its etiology is complex, and the effect of drugs is not good. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis is an important cause of myocardial fibrosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of gaseous signal molecule sulfur dioxide (SO2) on diabetic myocardial fibrosis and its internal regulatory mechanism. Masson and TUNEL staining, Western-blot, transmission electron microscopy, RT-qPCR, immunofluorescence staining, and flow cytometry were used in the study, and the interstitial collagen deposition, autophagy, apoptosis, and changes in phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathways were evaluated from in vivo and in vitro experiments. The results showed that diabetic myocardial fibrosis was accompanied by cardiomyocyte apoptosis and down-regulation of endogenous SO2-producing enzyme aspartate aminotransferase (AAT)1/2. However, exogenous SO2 donors could up-regulate AAT1/2, reduce apoptosis of cardiomyocytes induced by diabetic rats or high glucose, inhibit phosphorylation of PI3K/AKT protein, up-regulate autophagy, and reduce interstitial collagen deposition. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that the gaseous signal molecule SO2 can inhibit the PI3K/AKT pathway to promote cytoprotective autophagy and inhibit cardiomyocyte apoptosis to improve myocardial fibrosis in diabetic rats. The results of this study are expected to provide new targets and intervention strategies for the prevention and treatment of diabetic cardiomyopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The methyl-CpG binding domain (MBD) family proteins can specifically bind methylated DNA sequences and thereby mediate gene transcription. In this study, we used neutral capillary electrophoresis coupled with laser-induced fluorescence to investigate the interactions of DNA and MBD2b, a model MBD family protein with the highest affinity. For this purpose, we synthesized 13 double-stranded oligonucleotides of varying length (20 bp to 80 bp) and of varying methylation density. The sequences of these oligonucleotides were adapted from a frequently methylated promoter region of human p16 INK4a gene. We demonstrate that multiple MBD2b proteins can bind to one DNA molecule with a DNA length- dependent binding stoichiometry. Each MBD2b protein can occupy 20 nucleotides in a bound DNA molecule regardless of the methylation status of DNA. By binding multiple MBD2b proteins (up to four protein molecules) to one dsDNA molecule (80 bp), methylated and unmethylated DNA were bound at similar percentages. Although the total amount of the DNA–MBD2b complexes increases with increasing DNA length for both unmethylated and methylated DNA, the DNA–MBD2b complexes of 1:1 display more than 10-fold higher affinity for methylated DNA (e.g., 40 bp DNA) accompanying a 20-fold lower dissociation rate constant. Hence, our study clarifies for the first time that the specificity of MBD2b to methylated DNA decreases as more MBD2b monomers binding to the same region of DNA. Additionally, this study opens a new venue to improve MBD protein-based assays for detecting DNA methylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modifications of genomic DNA may change gene expression and cause adverse health effects. Here we for the first lime demonstrate a particle counting imlnunoassay for rapid and sensitive detection of DNA modifications using benzolalpyrenediol epoxide (BPDE)-DNA adducts as an example. The BPDE-adducted DNA is specifically captured by immunomagnetic particles and then isolated from unmodified DNA by applying an external magnetic field. By taking advantage of the fluorescence signal amplification through multiple labeling of captured DNA by OliGreen dye, the captured BPDE-DNA adducts can be quantified by particle counting from fluorescence imaging. This clearly demonstrates that the number of fluorescently countable particles is proportional to the modification content in genomic DNA. It is interesting to note that the background fluorescence signal caused by nonspecific adsorption of OliGreen dye can be more effectively quenched than that induced by the binding of OliGreen dye to ssDNA, allordng for significant reduction in the background fluorescence and further enhancing the detection sensitivity. The developed method can detect trace BPDE-DNA adducts as low as 180 IM in the presence of 1 billion times more normal nucleotides in genomic DNA and has a dynamic range over 4 orders of magnitude. By using anti-5-methylcytosine antibody, the method is extended to the detection of global DNA methylation. With high sensitivity and specificity, this rapid and easy-to-perform analytical method for DNA modifications shows a broad spectrum of potential applications in genotoxical and epigenetic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radial variation and the genetic variation of wood properties between the parents and offspring of Populus deltoides were studied in this work. The chemical composition, density, and anatomical characteristics of Populus deltoides cl. 'Danhong' and its offspring exhibited the phenomenon of transgressive segregation. The chemical compositions of the parents and offspring were decreased in several attributes (benzene alcohol extract, hemicelluloses, lignin) with the increase of the cambial age. Moreover, the fibre length, fibre width, ratio of fibre length to width, and wall thickness to lumen ratio of parents and offspring were increased with cambial age. In addition, the densities of parents and offspring were increased with the increase of cambial age. There were significant differences in wood properties among Populus deltoides and its hybrids. These results indicated that Populus deltoides cl. 'Danhong' could be considered as pulp material and Populus deltoides cl. 'Nanyang' as building material. According to the radial variation rule of each material character, the rotation cutting period can be selected as years 7 or 8. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bamboo-oriented strand board (BOSB) with superior physical properties can be used in the furniture industry to alleviate wood shortages. Two types of plug-in connectors were designed in this paper: a splint-type connector and V-type connector. By cantilever bending, corner tension, and compression tests of L-type corner joints of BOSB and wood-oriented strand board (WOSB), the connection performance of the new connectors and six typical connectors was compared. The new connectors function like clamps, do not require that a screw or bolt pass into or through the board, and can be assembled repeatedly. The V-type connectors were more suitable for BOSB, and the joints exhibited the highest ultimate bending moment values (133.9 N·m, 86.8 N·m, 117.7 N·m). The splint connectors were more suitable for WOSB and their ultimate bending moment values (57.1 N·m, 45.3 N·m, 61.3 N·m) were greater than the joints fixed by V-type connectors (50.4 N·m, 35.4 N·m, 46.1 N·m). The results revealed that the connector performance affects the joint strength and that different plates were suitable for different connectors. A joint failure analysis revealed two simple failure modes for the two new connectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the discovery of novel non-peptide compounds which had a high affinity for the peptide hormone somatostatin (SST) receptor. How the compounds were tested; What competition binding studies and Scatchard studies showed; Details on the features of SST; Methodology use in the study; What the results of the study indicates.

The potential for using the enzyme pectinase as a pre-treatment to improve the properties of eucalyptus particle-based panels was investigated at different pre-treatment times, temperatures, and particleto- enzyme ratios. As the pre-treatment time was increased from 10 min to 30 min, the free formaldehyde emission content was reduced (P < 0.0001). The pectinase enzyme pre-treatment reduced the pectin content and increased the permeability of treated wood, allowing more free formaldehyde to be released from the panels. The free formaldehyde emission content of all panels was lower than 3.0 mg per 100 g, due to the kind of urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin used. When the pre-treatment time was 30 min and the temperature was 45 °C, the mechanical properties, including modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR), and internal bonding strength (IB), of the resulting panels were the best among all the selected treatment times and temperatures. As the ratio of particles to solution was reduced from 1:100 to 1:80 or 1:60, the mechanical properties of the particle board panels were improved (P < 0.0001). This was attributed to the pectinase enzyme pretreatment changing the surface of the particles, resulting in a better interface between UF resin and particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BaFe12-xCrxO19 (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4) ferrite ceramics were prepared by a sol-gel method using spruce sapwoods as the templates. The prepared materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and a magnetic property measurement system (MPMS). The prepared materials maintained a multilayer wall structure of spruce sapwoods. All samples presented the single-phase of the magnetoplumbite barium hexaferrite. The saturation magnetization initially increased until it reached a maximum value at x = 0.2 and then decreased in three directions (parallel cross section, parallel radial section, and parallel tangential section). The coercivity decreased monotonously when measured in three directions. However, the coercivity was obviously lower in the parallel cross section direction than in the other directions because of the structural anisotropy caused by the multilayered wall structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomorphic charcoal/TiO2 composites (C/TiO2) were produced from poplar templates. The poplar templates were impregnated with butyl titanate sol with a vacuum/positive pressure technology. From the anatomic structure of poplar and fluid thermodynamics, the alternative vacuum/positive pressure technology was an efficient method of infiltrating bio-templates with sol and overcoming the embolization effect of the sol in capillaries. After sol infiltration, the maximum density of the poplar was approximately 0.958 ± 0.005 g/cm³. Using X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric data (TG-DTG), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), it was found that the pore sizes in the cell walls of C/TiO2 were, respectively, 30 to 150, 3 to 15, and 1.5 µm, and a surprising mesoporous-like honeycomb structure formed at approximately 800 °C in a N2 atmosphere. The phase structure of C/TiO2 shifted from anatase to rutile between 700 and 900 °C in N2. Furthermore, the temperature of the maximum combustion rates of C/TiO2 sintered at 800 °C in N2 was approximately 610 °C. The average shrinkage values from the native poplar to C/TiO2 along the radial, tangential, and axial directions were 28.53%, 21.80%, and 17.03%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To illustrate the effects of nano-bamboo charcoal (NBC) on the properties of bamboo plastic composites (BPC), nano-bamboo charcoalbamboo plastic composites (NBC-BPC) were prepared at 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, 10%, and 12.5% (w/v) NBC and characterized. The effects of NBC on the water absorption, fractured surfaces, mechanical properties, and thermal properties of the composites were investigated. NBC had strong interfacial interaction in the BPC, which greatly improved the interfacial adhesion of bamboo flour (BF) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The water resistance, flexural strengths, and tensile strengths of the composites were enhanced compared with traditional BPC when the volume of NBC reached a specific loading. These results demonstrated that the incorporation of NBC slightly improved the thermal properties of the synthesized composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the glueless preparation of biomass board using rape straw on a laboratory scale. The board-making process was broken down into four steps: soaking, refining, shape recovery, and hotpressing. To observe the effect of pressure during the hot-press stage on the strength of the bio-board, five panels were manufactured at various pressures. Moreover, density functional theory (DFT) was used to explore how varying the pressure influenced the strength properties of the board. As pressure increased, the density of these five panels changed from 0.95 to 1.12 g/cm³. The mechanical tests showed that the bending rupture strength of these panels changed from 43 to 53 MPa, while the tensile rupture strength changed from 27 to 33 MPa. The bending strength of these biomass boards performed well enough to qualify them as Type-35 board, and their density classified them as hardboard, according to the Japanese industrial standards (JIS). This study showed that board-making was feasible using rape straw. The experimental results and the density functional theory results were consistent, in that the mechanical properties of the panels improved with increasing pressure. The DFT method was shown to be useful in exploring the factors that influenced the strength properties of the biomass board on the microscopic scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, biomorphic ceramics were produced from various rattan templates, and sol infiltration was used with vacuum/positive pressure technology. Finally, the samples were sintered to form TiO2 ceramics with a rattan microstructure. Through X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric (TG) data, dimensional variation analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of biomorphic ceramics, the results of this experiment showed that the times of sol-gel infiltration were decreased due to use of the vacuum/positive pressure technology. In order to further supply the TiO2 content and fill the pyrolysis gaps in the charcoal/TiO2 composites sintered at 800 °C, it was necessary to repeat the sol-gel process. In the transverse section, ceramics for the rattan templates without the rattan edge, more perfect biomorphic features were achieved. Conversely, deformations occurred along the transverse section of the ceramics for the templates made with the rattan edge. Meanwhile, the fracture phenomenon took place along the ceramic axial section. The main reason for deformation and fracture was that the anisotropic structure of the template was stressed during the sintering process. Furthermore, the micrometer-sized pores were found in the ceramics along the axial section because of the removal of the charcoal templates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a novel auxiliary damping control strategy to depress subsynchronous resonance (SSR) oscillations in nearby turbine generators. In the proposed control strategy, SSR damping is achieved by adding turbine generator speed as a supplementary signal at the active power loop of the rotor-side converter (RSC) of doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind farms. To design the SSR auxiliary damping controller, a transfer function between turbine generator speed and the output active power of the wind farms was introduced to derive the analytical expression of the damping coefficient. Then the damping effect of the active power of the DFIG-based wind farms was analyzed, and the phase range to obtain positive damping was determined. Next, the PID phase compensation parameters of the auxiliary damping controller were optimized by genetic algorithm to obtain the optimum damping in the entire subsynchronous frequency band. The last, the validity and effectiveness of the proposed auxiliary damping control were demonstrated on a modified version of the IEEE first benchmark model by time domain simulation analysis with the use of DigSILENT/PowerFactory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to obtain a material that exhibits a better tensile strength, UV absorption, and transparency, lignocellulose of eucalyptus was dissolved and subsequently regenerated in ionic liquid (IL) following treatment with different pretreatment conditions. The effect of 1,4-dioxane extraction concentration was evaluated by comparing the chemical, thermal, mechanical, and optical performance of the obtained films. The results indicated that lignocellulose could be dissolved using the IL, with the regenerated film demonstrating obvious signs of phase separation. Increasing the 1,4-dioxane extraction concentration brought about an increase in the degree of crystallization, tensile stress, and ultravioletvisible light transmittance of films. However, the lignin content and peak temperature of main decomposition for the films decreased. Compared to cellulose film, lignocellulose film showed excellent UV absorption properties due to the presence of lignin. F-90 possessed of a better tensile strength, UV absorption, and transparency. This work demonstrated the possibility that a biodegradable green functional film can be prepared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the auxiliary damping control with the reactive power loop on the rotor-side converter of doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind farms to depress the sub-synchronous resonance oscillations in nearby turbogenerators. These generators are connected to a series capacitive compensation transmission system. First, the damping effect of the reactive power control of the DFIG-based wind farms was theoretically analyzed, and a transfer function between turbogenerator speed and the output reactive power of the wind farms was introduced to derive the analytical expression of the damping coefficient. The phase range to obtain positive damping was determined. Second, the PID phase compensation parameters of the auxiliary damping controller were optimized by a genetic algorithm to obtain the optimum damping in the entire subsynchronous frequency band. Finally, the validity and effectiveness of the proposed auxiliary damping control were demonstrated on a modified version of the IEEE first benchmark model by time domain simulation analysis with the use of DigSILENT/PowerFactory. Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that this derived damping factor expression and the condition of the positive damping can effectively analyze their impact on the system sub-synchronous oscillations, the proposed wind farms reactive power additional damping control strategy can provide the optimal damping effect over the whole sub-synchronous frequency band, and the control effect is better than the active power additional damping control strategy based on the power system stabilizator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA hydroxymethylation and its mediated DNA demethylation are critical for multiple cellular processes, for example, nuclear reprogramming, embryonic development, and many diseases. Here, we demonstrate that a vital nutrient ascorbic acid (AA), or vitamin C (Vc), can directly enhance the catalytic activity of Tet dioxygenases for the oxidation of 5-methylcytosine (5mC). As evidenced by changes in intrinsic fluorescence and catalytic activity of Tet2 protein caused by AA and its oxidation-resistant derivatives, we further show that AA can uniquely interact with the C-terminal catalytic domain of Tet enzymes, which probably promotes their folding and/or recycling of the cofactor Fe2+. Other strong reducing chemicals do not have a similar effect. These results suggest that AA also acts as a cofactor of Tet enzymes. In mouse embryonic stem cells, AA significantly increases the levels of all 5mC oxidation products, particularly 5-formylcytosine and 5-carboxylcytosine (by more than an order of magnitude), leading to a global loss of 5mC (~40%). In cells deleted of the Tet1 and Tet2 genes, AA alters neither 5mC oxidation nor the overall level of 5mC. The AA effects are however restored when Tet2 is re-expressed in the Tet-deficient cells. The enhancing effects of AA on 5mC oxidation and DNA demethylation are also observed in a mouse model deficient in AA synthesis. Our data establish a direct link among AA, Tet, and DNA methylation, thus revealing a role of AA in the regulation of DNA modifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]