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Renal interstitial fibrosis is an important mechanism in the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) to end-stage kidney disease. However, we lack specific treatments to slow or halt renal fibrosis. Ribosome profiling identified upregulation of a secreted micropeptide, C4orf48 (Cf48), in mouse diabetic nephropathy. Cf48 RNA and protein levels were upregulated in tubular epithelial cells in human and experimental CKD. Serum Cf48 levels were increased in human CKD and correlated with loss of kidney function, increasing CKD stage, and the degree of active interstitial fibrosis. Cf48 overexpression in mice accelerated renal fibrosis, while Cf48 gene deletion or knockdown by antisense oligonucleotides significantly reduced renal fibrosis in CKD models. In vitro, recombinant Cf48 (rCf48) enhanced TGF-[beta]1- induced fibrotic responses in renal fibroblasts and epithelial cells independently of Smad3 phosphorylation. Cellular uptake of Cf48 and its profibrotic response in fibroblasts operated via the transferrin receptor. RNA immunoprecipitation- sequencing identified Cf48 binding to mRNA of genes involved in the fibrotic response, including Serpine1, Acta2, Ccn2, and Col4a1. rCf48 binds to the 3'UTR of Serpine1 and increases mRNA half-life. We identify the secreted Cf48 micropeptide as a potential enhancer of renal fibrosis that operates as an RNA-binding peptide to promote the production of extracellular matrix., Introduction Approximately 8%-18% of adults suffer from chronic kidney disease (CKD) worldwide in both developed and developing countries (1). Diabetes and hypertension are the 2 leading causes of CKD (2). [...]

Heavy metals pose a serious threat and damage to ecological health when released into the environment. n-HFP is usually used to remediate soils contaminated with heavy metals, but its ability to solidify heavy metals is limited. FA has good ability to trap heavy metals due to its abundant oxygen-containing functional groups. However, the solubility of FA in water limits its application in the field of heavy metal removal. In this paper, n-HFP@FA was prepared by co-precipitation method. Through FT-IR and BET analysis, the oxygen-containing functional groups and specific surface area of n-HFP@FA increased due to the addition of FA. The adsorption behaviour of n-HFP@FA on Pb, Cd, and Cu followed the pseudo-second-order and Langmuir isotherm models. In addition, the maximum adsorption capacities of n-HFP@FA for Pb, Cd, and Cu were 371.1, 190.5, and 129.75 mg/g, respectively. As shown by FT-IR and XPS analysis, the main mechanisms of Pb, Cd and Cu removal by n-HFP@FA are: complexation, electrostatic and precipitation. The n-HFP@FA showed high removal rates of Pb, Cd, and Cu in soil leachates of different pH. In the soil remediation experiments, the BCR method and Pearson correlation analysis showed that the acid-soluble, reducible and oxidizable fractions of Pb, Cd, and Cu in the soil were effectively converted into a more stable residual fraction. This study opens up a prospect for the application of n-HFP@FA composites in the remediation of contaminated soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum dots (QDs) are considered as excellent candidate materials for light-emitting diode (LED)-based lighting and display applications due to their excellent optical properties. However, the intrinsic unstable properties of QDs under external environments or the incompatibility between QDs and polymer composites hindered the QD-related applications. Herein, a universal modification method based on the optimization of QDs was developed for device applications. The highly dispersible and photostable QDs/siloxane composite was constructed by using the dual silica-encapsulated strategy of core/multishell CdSe/CdS/ZnCdS QDs to improve the performance of QDs. First, core/multishell QD's size and components were optimized to enhance stability. Then, QDs@SiO2-OTMS was prepared by a combination of the reverse micro-emulsion method and surface modification. Such a double silica surface modification strategy is found to be very effective in improving the dispersion by matching the surface energy of QDs@SiO2-OTMS with that of siloxane resins. The as-prepared QDs@SiO2-OTMS/siloxane films had long-term (10 days) stability against heat and moisture and corrosive solution (HCl and NaOH). For the first time, the surface photovoltage (SPV) technique was used to study the in situ thermal stability of QDs@SiO2-OTMS, and it was found that surface defects were greatly suppressed at high temperatures. Taking these advantages, a white LED (WLED) with a color coordinate of (0.336, 0.325), color temperature of 5287 K, color gamut 123% National Television Systems Committee (NTSC,1931), and long-time stability at 20 mA had been fabricated by integrating green and red QDs@SiO2-OTMS/siloxane. These results make QDs@SiO2-OTMS/siloxane excellent candidates for QD lighting and display applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrolysis technology is very effective in removing organic pollutants including dye wastewater and takes into account environmental friendliness. This paper deals with the electrochemical degradation of triphenylmethane dye crystal violet (DCV) from the aqueous solution using 304 stainless steel electrodes. The electrolytic cell device with a flotation column structure was set up and the electrolytic degradation process was studied. It could be found that the DCV removal efficiency and reaction rate constants were fitting the first‐order kinetic model. The process performance was analyzed in terms of degradation efficiency and energy consumption. Almost complete degradation (>98%) of 100 mg/L DCV was achieved after the 40 min reaction under the conditions of 300 mg/L NaCl dosage, nature pH (5–7), and 10 V applied voltage. Finally, the behaviours of degradation were studied. In the process of electrochemical degradation, the synergistic effects of electrode electrolysis, including indirect oxidation of electrolyte, hydroxyl radical, flocculation, and air flotation, removed the dye pollutants from the wastewater. The present study has proved the effectiveness and cleanness of electrochemical treatment for the triphenylmethane dye solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]