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In situ covering and adsorption is a crucial strategy for rapidly reducing the phosphorus content in lake water and suppressing the release of phosphorus from sediments. However, employing rare earth elements or complex modifications of adsorbent materials lead to elevated energy consumption and high costs. Considering the accessibility, affordability, and high ecological safety of calcium hydroxide, red soil, and Calcium-based bentonite, we prepared calcium-red soil-bentonite (CRB) granular adsorbents with different ingredients and investigated their effectiveness. The results showed CRBs with red soil proportions of 60-90% outperformed those with red soil proportions of 0-40%. Specifically, the phosphorus removal efficiency of CRB2 (C:R:B = 1:8:1) exceeded 95%. Also, the adsorption kinetics of CRB2 conformed to pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Elovich model, indicating that CRB2 had a highly heterogeneous surface and that its phosphorus adsorption was chemisorptive. The adsorption isotherm of CRB2 fitted the Langmuir and D-R models, suggesting that the phosphorus adsorption by CRB2 was monolayer chemisorption, with a theoretical maximum adsorption capacity of 17.21 mg/g. Practical application tests revealed that CRB2 effectively lowing phosphorus in the water and suppressing the release of phosphorus from the sediments. These results demonstrate that CRB2 has a potential for large-scale field applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metal-contaminated sediment may release harmful ions into the water column and seriously affect the growth of aquatic organisms. Biochar is a good adsorbent for water pollutants. In this study, a simulated water ecosystem with copper (Cu)-contaminated sediment was established to study the effects of biochar addition (CK: 0 g/L, T1: 3 g/L, T2: 6 g/L, T3: 12 g/L) on Cu content in water and the growth and accumulation of Cu in a submerged macrophyte, Vallisneria natans. Compared with the CK group, Cu contents in water decreased by 43.65%, 33.86%, and 54.10% in the T1, T2, and T3 groups, respectively. Cu contents in the aboveground part of V. natans decreased by 56.03%, 61.90%, and 52.38% in T1, T2, and T3, respectively, while in the belowground part Cu contents decreased by 17.46%, 11.94%, and 55.90%, respectively. The plant height, fresh weight, and chlorophyll content significantly increased with the increase of biochar addition, showing that biochar promoted the growth of V. natans. This study demonstrated that the addition of biochar in water could significantly reduce the Cu content in water and the accumulation of Cu in V. natans, thus reducing the harm caused by Cu to V. natans. This study provides a method for the remediation and management of Cu-polluted sediment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the design and implementation of a compact 2.4/5.2-GHz rat-race coupler on a glass substrate. Due to the low-loss substrate and thick metal layers, the process provides high-Q capacitors and inductors, and therefore the lumped rat-race coupler is practical. The coupler consists of three bandpass and one bandstop networks to achieve dual-band operations. The measured insertion losses at 2.4 GHz and 5.2 GHz are less than 2.7 dB and 1.9 dB. The measured return losses at the frequencies of interest are better than 20 dB. Moreover, the phase imbalances at the in-phase and anti-phase output ports are less than 3.9° and 4° at 2.4 GHz and 5.2 GHz, respectively. The chip size including all testing pads is merely 2.87 x 2.1 mm² which is comparable to on-chip levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasma conditions for the Ni-like Ag, Cd, In, Sn, Sb X-ray lasers and the Ne-like Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn X-ray lasers are studied, using a one-dimensional hydrodynamic code. The results suggest that the main hydrodynamic characteristics and plasma conditions of these Ni-like X-ray lasers and their corresponding partner Ne-like X-ray lasers are similar. This similarity enables us to predict the performance of some Ni-like X-ray lasers using rather simple simulations of their partner Ne-like X-ray lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of stathmin-l on chkl protein expression in cervical cancer cells and the influ- ences on the cells' invasion and tumorigenicity. Suppressed stathmin-l expression in Hela cells and C33A cells by lentiviral vector were utilized. Real time PCR and Western blot were used to examine the expression of chkl. Cell proliferation and invasion were stud- ied using MTT assays and transwell migration assays.The differences of tumorigenicity in vivo were explored using xenograft experi- ments. In addition, stathmin-l expressions in 24 cervical cancer patients were studied without regional lymph nodes metastasis and 16 metastatic patients by immunohistochemistry assays and real time PCR. This study found downregulating stathmin-l reduced chkl ex- pressions and the proliferation and invasion in cervical cancer cells and reduced the tumorigenicity of tumor cells.

Objective: To observe the influence of lumbar sympathetic ganglion radiofrequency thermocoagulation on the activation of spinal microglia in rats with diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP)., Methods: Thirty-six painful diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats induced by 60 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ) intraperitoneal injection were randomly divided into diabetic neuropathic pain group (group DNP, n=12), Sham operation group (group Sham, n=12) and radiofrequency thermocoagulation group (group R, n=12). Meanwhile another 12 age-matched rats were allocated as normal control group (group N), rats in group N received intraperitoneal injection of equal volume of normal saline. Twenty-eight days after STZ injection, rats in group R received L3 lumbar sympathetic ganglia radiofrequency thermocoagulation on the left side under X-ray guideline after anesthesia with damage time 60 s and damage temperature 60 ℃. Rats in group Sham received puncture positioning, but not thermocoagulation therapy. The mechanical paw withdrawal threshold (PWT) were performed before STZ injection, 7, 14, 21, 28 days after STZ injection and 1, 3, 5, 7, 14 days after radiofrequency thermocoagulation, respectively. Blood glucose were performed before STZ injection, 3, 28 days after STZ injection and 1, 14days after radiofrequency thermocoagulation. After the final behavioral testing, L3-L5 spinal cord tissues were removed to exam the expression of microglia marker OX42 by Western blotting and immunofluorescence technique, and the changes in the expression of inflammation factor IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α were detected by ELISA technique., Results: Compared with group N, after 14, 21, 28 days of STZ injection and 1, 3, 5, 7, 14 days of radiofrequency thermocoagulation, the PWT of group DNP and group Sham decreased significantly (P<0.05); Before radiofrequency thermocoagulation, the PWT of rats in group DNP was (3.84±0.83) g, the PWT of rats in group R was (4.45±0.88) g, there was no statistically significant difference between group DNP and group R (t=1.514, P>0.05), but after radiofrequency thermocoagulation, compared with DNP group, the PWT of rats in group R increased significantly (P<0.05), and lasted to 14 d after radiofrequency thermocoagulation. The ratio of spinal microglia marker OX42 and GAPDH, the expression of inflammation factor IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in group N were 0.074±0.023, (35.93±6.16) pg/ml, (92.11±13.23) pg/ml, and (169.50±22.64) pg/ml, respectively. The ratio of spinal microglia marker OX42 and GAPDH, the expression of inflammation factor IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in group DNP were 1.023±0.185, (73.82±9.25) pg/ml, (155.33±21.82) pg/ml, and (298.30±33.21) pg/ml, respectively. The ratio of spinal microglia marker OX42 and GAPDH, the expression of inflammation factor IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in group Sham were 0.951±0.103, (73.00±7.54) pg/ml, (151.02±24.26) pg/ml, and (294.01±36.37) pg/ml, respectively. The ratio of spinal microglia marker OX42 and GAPDH, the expression of inflammation factor IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in group R were 0.563±0.019, (51.81±7.36) pg/ml, (123.24±16.13) pg/ml, and (229.23±29.16) pg/ml, respectively. Compared with group N, the expression of spinal microglia marker OX42 and inflammation factor IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in group DNP, group Sham and group R increased significantly (F=7.501, 348.698, 568.021, 145.110, all P<0.05). Compared with DNP group, the expression of spinal microglia marker OX42 and inflammation factor IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α of group R reduced significantly (all P<0.05)., Conclusion: The lumbar sympathetic ganglion radiofrequency thermocoagulation can alleviate diabetic neuropathic pain. The mechanism may relate with the inhibition of spinal microglia activation and the lower expression of inflammation factor.

APC is a tumor suppressor gene that is involved in the processes of cell migration and adhesion, transcriptional activation, and apoptosis. The goal of this study was to evaluate the contribution of the APC rs383830 polymorphism to coronary heart disease (CHD) in Han Chinese. A total of 783 patients with CHD and 737 controls were tested in the current association study. Although our study did not identify an association between the APC rs383830 polymorphism and CHD, a breakdown analysis by gender indicated there was a significant contribution of the rs383830 T allele to the risk of CHD in males (P = 0.046, odds ratio = 1.267, 95% confidence interval = 1.004-1.598). In conclusion, our study suggested a male-specific association of the APC rs383830 polymorphism with CHD.

We investigate the angular distribution and the energy spectrum of hot electrons emitted from ethanol droplets irradiated by linearly polarized 150-fs laser pulses at an intensity of 10(16) W/cm(2). Two hot electron jets symmetrically with respect to the laser propagation direction are observed within the polarization plane. This is due to the spherical geometry of droplets in the intense laser field. The maximum energy of the hot electrons is found to be more than 600 keV. Particle-in-cell simulations suggest that the resonance absorption is the main mechanism for hot electron generation.