Search

Gas emission is a major security risk in coal mining. Seal coating is an effective method for preventing gas from escaping, but the stability of inorganic particles in the coating has great influence on the sealing performance. This research was designed to study the effect of SHMP on the stability of a gas-sealing coating filler based on UFA. The effect of SHMP on powder dispersion behaviors was systematically investigated using a zeta potential tester, particle size analyzer, FT-IR, and SEM- EDS. To explore the dispersion mechanism of SHMP on typical powder materials (such as fly ash, carbon black, and graphite), the interaction energy among particles was calculated according to the classical and extended DLVO theory. The results indicate that the surface hydrophobic effects of graphite and carbon black were the main contributing factors to agglomeration. Further, the dispersant SHMP increases the interparticle electrostatic repulsions and steric hindrance, preventing particle agglomeration and ensuring the stability of fly ash-based filler in gas-sealing coatings. The results of pilot spraying test in a coal mine show that the added dispersant improved the gas-sealing efficiency of the coating and helped in its application in a coal mine. Image 1 • SHMP increases the inter particle electrostatic repulsions and steric hindrance. • Fly ash can be used as a kind of good filler in coating products. • The repulsive energy among particles agreed with extended DLVO theory. • The pilot test verified the gas sealing efficiency of the coating with SHMP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) has been recommended in various neurological disorders as a useful tool for alleviating dystonia. In Wilson disease (WD) patients with dystonia, BoNT-A injection can be used as a treatment modality when conventional treatment is ineffective for alleviating symptoms. The purpose of this study was to thoroughly evaluate the efficacy of BoNT-A injection in treating WD complicated by lower extremity dystonia. The efficacy of these injections was assessed by clinical scales, surface electromyography (EMG), and gait analysis. A comparative analysis of all gait parameters, EMG parameters, and clinical scales revealed a significant increase in velocity, decrease in integrated EMG (iEMG), and improvement in modified Ashworth scale (MAS), Burke Fahn Marsden (BFM), and activities of daily living (ADL) scores (all P < 0.05). Overall, our findings indicated that BoNT-A injection led to marked relief of symptoms in patients with WD with lower extremity dystonia. [Display omitted] • Single-blind, pre-and post-intervention study were initially performed in Wilson disease patients with lower limb dystonia. • Botulinum toxin type A injection improves the muscle tone, as evident by the decrease in integrated electromyogram. • Botulinum toxin type A injection improves walking function, as evident by the increase in velocity. • Botulinum toxin type A injection alleviates the symptoms of lower limb dystonia in Wilson disease patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Similar to auxin, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), mainly produced by l-cysteine desulfhydrase (DES; EC 4.4.1.1) in plants, could induce lateral root formation. The objective of this study was to test whether H2S is also involved in auxin-induced lateral root development in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) seedlings. We observed that auxin depletion-induced down-regulation of transcripts of SlDES1, decreased DES activity and endogenous H2S contents, and the inhibition of lateral root formation were rescued by sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS, an H2S donor). However, No additive effects were observed when naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) was co-treated with NaHS (lower than 10 mM) in the induction of lateral root formation. Subsequent work revealed that a treatment with NAA or NaHS could simultaneously induce transcripts of SlDES1, DES activity and endogenous H2S contents, and thereafter the stimulation of lateral root formation. It was further confirmed that H2S or HS−, not the other sulfur-containing components derived from NaHS, was attributed to the stimulative action. The inhibition of lateral root formation and decreased of H2S metabolism caused by an H2S scavenger hypotaurine (HT) were reversed by NaHS, but not NAA. Molecular evidence revealed that both NaHS- or NAA-induced modulation of some cell cycle regulatory genes, including the up-regulation of SlCDKA;1, SlCYCA2;1, together with simultaneous down-regulation of SlKRP2, were differentially reversed by HT pretreatment. To summarize, above results clearly suggested that H2S might, at least partially, act as a downstream component of auxin signaling to trigger lateral root formation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Electric vehicles (EVs) are widely recognized as low-carbon transportation that adopts green and clean technology with contributing to mitigating global climate change. However, it appears that the practice in using EVs has not gained widespread popularity despite the promotion of various incentives with the presence of various restricting factors and challenges. In conducting this study in the context of China, we hypothesize that restricting factors have varying impacts on promoting EVs in China, where the adoption of EVs is of great potential. This paper identifies these restricting factors by applying AHP-FCE integrated approach, and these factors are classified into five dimensions, namely, technical, infrastructural, economic, governance and social. The results indicate that the top five restricting factors are security issues, limited driving range, long charging time, improper distribution of charging stations and lack of sharing between charging piles respectively. Our research contributes to a better understanding of EV restricting factors and their significance, which offers the assistance in the formulation of policies and decisions in order to promote effectively EVs in China. • The promotion of EVs is of great potential in China for mitigating global climate change. • Explore the RFPEVs in China using AHP-FCE integrated approach. • The RFPEVs in China can be classified into five dimensions, namely, technical, infrastructural, economic, governance and social. • The technical and infrastructural related are the most important constraints. • The main three important restricting factors are security issues, limited driving range, long charging time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurodegenerative diseases, referring to as the progressive loss of structure and function of neurons, constitute one of the major challenges of modern medicine. Traditional Chinese herbs have been used as a major preventive and therapeutic strategy against disease for thousands years. The numerous species of medicinal herbs and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) compound formulas in nervous system disease therapy make it a large chemical resource library for drug discovery. In this work, we collected 7362 kinds of herbs and 58,147 Traditional Chinese medicinal compounds (Tcmcs). The predicted active compounds in herbs have good oral bioavailability and central nervous system (CNS) permeability. The molecular docking and network analysis were employed to analyze the effects of herbs on neurodegenerative diseases. In order to evaluate the predicted efficacy of herbs, automated text mining was utilized to exhaustively search in PubMed by some related keywords. After that, receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves was used to estimate the accuracy of predictions. Our study suggested that most herbs were distributed in family of Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae and Apocynaceae. The predictive model yielded good sensitivity and specificity with the AUC values above 0.800. At last, 504 kinds of herbs were obtained by using the optimal cutoff values in ROC curves. These 504 herbs would be the most potential herb resources for neurodegenerative diseases treatment. This study would give us an opportunity to use these herbs as a chemical resource library for drug discovery of anti-neurodegenerative disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prompted by the prominent role of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) in hypertension, heart failures, myocardial infarction and diabetic nephropathy, we have attempted to discover novel ACE inhibitors through ligand-based virtual screening. Molecular docking method and rigorously validated model was utilized to search a natural compounds database. Finally, 36 compounds were randomly selected and subjected to in vitro ACE kinase inhibitory assay using fluorescence assays method. The results showed that three compounds (Licochalcone A, Echinatin and EGCG) have strong potential to be developed as a new class of ACE inhibitors. Further chemical modification via fragment modifications guided by structure and ligand-based computational methodologies can lead to discover better agents as potential clinical candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light intensity and nitrogen concentration of nutrient solution are considered crucial for the contents of vitamin C and nitrate in cultivated leaf vegetables. We here investigated the effects of various combinations of light intensity (60, 140 and 220 μmol m −2 s −1 ) and nitrogen concentration (7, 15 and 23 mmol L −1 ) of the solution on the growth, photosynthetic characteristics, vitamin C and nitrate content of lettuce. Our results demonstrate that the lettuce had the largest dry biomass at the high illumination of 220 μmol m −2 s −1 and low nitrogen of 7 mmol L −1 . The higher light and low nitrogen also contributed to the accumulation of vitamin C and decrease of nitrate in lettuce leaves. The effect of nitrogen supply on chlorophyll concentrations was more efficient under low light than high illumination. Our results reveal that there was an obvious interaction between light intensity and nitrogen available for the photosynthesis, yield and quality of lettuce. This study provides valuable insights into the combinational regulation of light intensity and nitrogen supply for improving growth and nutritional quality of vegetables grown in greenhouse and plant factory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Although carbon monoxide (CO) has always been regarded as a toxic gas, recent reports suggested that it is one of the products of heme oxygenase (HO; EC 1.14.99.3) catalysis in animals, and could confer beneficial cytoprotection against oxidative damage. Here, we investigated the effects of exogenous putative CO donor hematin and CO aqueous solution on rice seed germination under 100mM NaCl salt stress. Both hematin and CO aqueous solution dose-dependently attenuated the inhibition of seed germination and seedling growth caused by salinity. Moreover, 1.0μM hematin and 5% CO-saturated aqueous solution activated amylase activity, thus accelerating the formation of reducing sugar and total soluble sugar. Furthermore, hematin and CO aqueous solution induced catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, thus resulting in the alleviation of oxidative damage, as indicated by the decrease of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) content. Such above CO-induced effects were also confirmed by using semi-quantitative RT-PCR, including the up-regulation of expression patterns of α-amylase, CAT and Cu/Zn-SOD genes. Also, the similar function of hematin might contribute to endogenous HO-derived CO, since addition of the CO-specific synthetic inhibitor zinc protoporphyrin IX (ZnPPIX) and CO scavenger hemoglobin (Hb) reversed above effects. Meanwhile, further results also proved that treatment with hematin for 36h could result in the potent induction of HO-1 transcript, HO activity and CO content in the germinating seeds. Collectively, these results indicated that CO performed an advantageous effect on attenuation of inhibition of seed germination and seedling growth induced by salt stress, and alleviated oxidative damage via activating anti-oxidant enzymes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Seven undescribed labdane diterpenoids, japonicones A-G, were isolated from the aerial parts of Leonurus japonicus Houtt. Japonicones C-G contained two keto carbonyl groups in their structures attached to C-3 and C-7, which are rare for labdane diterpenoids. The structures and absolute configurations of japonicones A-G were established by means of spectroscopic analyses (HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR, and ECD). Their anti-inflammatory activities were evaluated by measuring their inhibitory effects on PGE 2 production in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. Japonicones A-D and G showed inhibition of PGE 2 production with IC 50 values in the range of 8.62–30.71 μ M (the positive control paracetamol showed an IC 50 = 5.79 μ M). Image 1 • Seven undescribed labdane diterpenoids were isolated from the aerial parts of Leonurus japonicus Houtt. • Their structures and absolute configurations were established by means of spectroscopic analyses. • Compounds 1 − 4 , and 7 showed inhibition of PGE 2 production with IC 50 values in the range of 8.62−30.71 μ M. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]