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Background Tumor microenvironment plays an essential role during the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Tumor infiltrating immune cells (TILs) was an important component of tumor microenvironment. However, whether TIL features are correlated with the prognosis of HCC patients remains unclear. Methods Cancer tissue and paired paracancerous tissues from 220 stage II∼III HBV-related HCC patients were collected. TILs were analyzed using a tyramide signal amplification system combined with immunohistochemistry. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was conducted to investigate the associations between the prognosis and the infiltrating pattern of TILs. Results The patients were classified into three distinct subgroups (Clusters (C)1–3) with different overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) according to the distribution pattern of TILs. The CD68/CD8 ratio in the cancer SA was correlated with the prognosis. Patients with a higher CD68/CD8 ratio exhibited poorer OS and DFS than those with a lower ratio. The CD68/CD8 ratio in the cancer SA was an independent factor for OS prediction but not DFS. Conclusion CD68+ macrophages and CD8+ T-cells are essential immunological determinants for HBV-related HCC prognosis, and the CD68/CD8 ratio in cancer SA is a novel, prognostic factor for OS prediction in HBV-related HCC patients.

Recent studies have shown that programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4) modulates distinct signal transduction pathways in different pathological conditions. Despite acute and chronic immune responses elicited by ischemia contributing to the functional deterioration of the kidney, the contributions and mechanisms of PDCD4 in acute kidney injury (AKI) have remained unclear. Using two murine AKI models including renal ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) and cisplatin-induced AKI, we found that PDCD4 deficiency markedly ameliorated renal dysfunction and inflammatory responses in AKI mice. Consistently, upregulation of PDCD4 was also confirmed in the kidneys from patients with biopsy confirmed acute tubular necrosis from a retrospective cohort study. Moreover, we found that overexpression of Fgr, a member of the tyrosine kinase family, dramatically aggravated renal injury and counteracted the protective effects of PDCD4 deficiency in AKI mice. We discovered that FGR upregulated NOTCH1 expression through activating STAT3. Most importantly, we further found that systemic administration of ponatinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, significantly ameliorated AKI in mice. In summary, we identified that PDCD4 served as an important regulator, at least in part, of FGR/NOTCH1-mediated tubular apoptosis and inflammation in AKI mice. Furthermore, our findings suggest that ponatinib-mediated pharmacologic targeting of this pathway had therapeutic potential for mitigating AKI., Graphical abstract Programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4) contributes to inflammation and promotes tubular epithelial cell death in acute kidney injury (AKI), which is associated with the FGR-mediated NOTCH1 signaling pathway. Using ponatinib or other drugs targeting this pathway may represent novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of AKI.Image 1

A 7-diethylaminocoumarin and 1-indanone-fused fluorescent dye (CI) was developed. CI was superior to traditional coumarins in terms of bathochromic shift in absorption and emission maxima (λabs/λem = 518/598 nm in ethanol). To illustrate its value, we rational designed a new hydrazine-selective fluorescent probe by the judicious anchoring of CI to malononitrile to form CI-DCV. Upon mixing with hydrazine, the dicyanovinyl group of CI-DCV was converted to the corresponding hydrazone, which inhibited the intramolecular charge transfer within the probe, thereby affording remarkable blue shifts in the absorption and fluorescence spectra. The proposed probe shows high selectivity toward hydrazine over other structural analogs and reductive species and can be applied in hydrazine detection in a variety of samples.

In this work, a novel kind of sulfur quantum dots (SQDs) is synthesized using heparin as passivator and stabilizer for the first time by simple treatment of sublimed sulfur and NaOH under a pure oxygen atmosphere. The obtained heparin SQDs (Hep-SQDs) show excitation-independent emission and have a high quantum yield (11.4%). Herein, we set up a ratiometric fluorescence probe based on the inner filter effect between Hep-SQDs and 2, 3-diaminophenazine, the oxidative product of o-phenylenediamine to detect uric acid (UA). The proposed probe is demonstrated to be highly selective and sensitive for UA assay with detection limit of 0.56 μM. Moreover, the established fluorescence probe is also successfully applied to the determination of UA in human serum. We hope this work can provide new opportunities for developing good performance fluorescent biosensors based on SQDs.

While agriculture places the greatest demand on water resources, increasing agricultural production is worsening a global water shortage. Reducing the cultivation of water-consuming crops may be the most effective way to reduce agricultural water use. However, when also taking food demand into consideration, sustaining the balance between regional water and food securities is a growing challenge. This paper addresses this task for regions where water is unsustainable for food production (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region for example) by: (i) assessing the different effects of wheat and maize on water use; (ii) analyzing virtual water and virtual land flows associated with food imports and exports between Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and elsewhere in China; (iii) identifying sub-regions where grain is produced using scarce water resources but exported to other regions; and (iv) analyzing the potentiality for mitigating water shortage via Land-Water-Food Nexus. In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, the study reveals that 29.76 bn m3 of virtual water (10.81 bn m3 of blue virtual water) are used by wheat and maize production and 8.77 bn m3 of virtual water used in nearly 2 million ha of cropland to overproduce 12 million ton of maize for external food consumption. As an importing-based sub-region with high population density, Beijing & Tianjin imported mostly grain (wheat and maize) from Shandong Province. Then, Hebei Province, as an exporting-based sub-region with severe water shortage, overproduced too much grain for other regions, which aggravated the water crisis. To achieve an integrated and sustainable development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, Hebei Province should stop undertaking the breadbasket role for Beijing & Tianjin and pay more attention to groundwater depletion. The analysis of the Land-Water-Food Nexus indicates how shifts in cultivated crops can potentially solve the overuse of water resources without adverse effects on food supply. It also provides meaningful information to support policy decisions about regional cropping strategies.

Toltrazuril (Tol) is a broad-spectrum anticoccidiosis drug that is widely used in the prevention and treatment of coccidiosis infection in poultry and mammals. However, the drug has poor aqueous solubility (25 °C, 0.41 μg/mL), and its dose escalation for systemic administration remains challenging. We engineered a Tol mixed nanomicelle (TMNM) delivery system based on sodium deoxycholate-Brij C20 polyethylene ether-triton x100 (NaDC-Brij58-Tx100) as surfactants by film hydration method. The physical properties of TMNM were characterized, and the pharmacokinetic parameters of Tol and TMNM were compared. The average particle size, drug loading, saturated solubility, and critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the TMNM system were 12.28 ± 0.48 nm, 3.38 ± 0.12%, 3921.70 ± 0.01 μg/mL (8170-fold compared with Tol), and 0.0172 mg/mL, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were performed, and the results showed TMNM formation. Furthermore, the TMNM had greater bioavailability (215%) than the Tol solution. The significant increase in the drug solubility and bioavailability of TMNM suggested the TMNM is a potential oral and parenteral delivery system for Tol and has wide application prospects in the clinical context.

A rhodamine-based fluorescent chemdosimeter SHR for Cu 2+ has been developed based on the spirocyclic ring-opening mechanism. SHR is colorless and nonfluorescent due to intramolecular spirocyclization. Upon incubation with Cu 2+ in aqueous media, a highly efficient ring opening of SHR occurs via Cu 2+ -promoted phenylhydrazine oxidation, causing a dual chromogenic and fluorogenic response. The fluorescent intensity at 580 nm increases linearly with Cu 2+ concentration and as low as 10 nM of Cu 2+ can be readily detected. The proposed chemodosimeter shows high selectivity toward Cu 2+ over other metal ions and proves to be able to image Cu 2+ levels in live cells.

Soybean import accounts for 90% of China's total domestic soybean supply. Such import has a substantial impact on how the country's resources are used as well as on its environment. In this study, we performed a national-scale assessment of the impact of soybean import on domestic cropland conversion, crop production, water use and nitrogen (N) fertilizer application. Results show that soybean production in China decreased by 26% (4.46 million tons) and sown areas were reduced by 25% (2.39 million ha) from the peak of 2004 to 2016. Of the areas taken out of the soybean production, 70% were converted to maize, 20% to rice, 3% to vegetables and 7% to fruits during this period. As a result of the cropland conversion, the production of maize, rice, vegetables and fruits increased by 10.42, 3.34, 2.49 and 3.26 million tons respectively. However, irrigation water use in the areas that were converted to the cultivation of the four types of crops increased by 96.42% (3.05 km3), with much of it coming from northern provinces where water is generally scarce. The application of N fertilizer increased by 256.65 thousand tons (almost 5 times) on the converted areas, partly due to the loss of the N-fixing soybean cultivation. Although a large quantity of virtual water and land were imported through soybean trade, the water use and N application were increased in reality. The analysis of the land-water-food-environment nexus in the context of soybean import provides comprehensive and useful information about the benefits and trade-offs associated with China's international soybean trade.

A novel kind of dual-emissive Rhodamine 6G modified silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs-Rho6G) was synthesized through a facial one-pot hydrothermal method. This dual-emissive SiNPs-Rho6G with emission wavelength at 415/550 nm under 320 nm excitation possessed the advantages of strong fluorescence and photostability. SiNPs-Rho6G was developed to set up a ratiometric fluorescence sensor toward β-Galactosidase (β-Gal) activity with p-Nitrophenol (PNP) involved. PNP was the hydrolysis product of p-Nitrophenyl-β- d -Galactopyranoside. It quenched the fluorescence of SiNPs-Rho6G at 415 nm with a red shift in the company of β-Gal due to inner filter effect, and the fluorescence at 550 nm changed slightly under the maximum excitation wavelength of 320 nm. The activity of β-Gal was determined in a range of 1–25 U·L−1 with a limit of detection of 0.72 U·L−1. The proposed method was further utilized to determine the β-Gal activity in enzyme formulations for alleviating lactose intolerance with high sensitivity and selectivity. Moreover, this method was proved to have the potential of being an analysis platform for various target molecules in the field of medicine, food and drug.

Growing concerns about the hydrological impacts of climate variability and climate change suggest an imperativeness to generate plausible climate scenarios suitable for the vulnerability assessment studies. A frequency-domain nonstationary framework for multi-site rainfall generation is proposed for decision-centric hydrological impact assessments. The framework has three main components: (1) a spatiotemporal rainfall field, described as spatial modes and their corresponding temporal evolution, based on empirical orthogonal function analysis (EOFA); (2) the time series of these spatial modes, decomposed into intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) with characteristic frequencies (periods) using the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT); and (3) Stochastic simulation (SS), achieved by assigning random phases to the noise IMFs in combination with adjustments both to the residual series and to the signal IMFs. A synthetic test function is first used to illustrate the power of the EHS (EOFA + HHT + SS) rainfall generator to detect and extract signals (e.g., nonstationary oscillation and trend component) from noisy data. A real application of the EHS model is then presented for the Xiang River basin to demonstrate its ability (reproducibility and adaptivity). The results showed that the EHS rainfall generator has sufficient capacity in reproducing the original spatiotemporal structure, such as the spatial correlation and low-frequency variability. Meanwhile, the EHS model exhibits advantages in terms of perturbing the distribution characteristics of rainfall and altering their behavior according to the intrinsic spatial patterns. These features give the EHS model high feasibility to act as a scenario generator for generating a wide range of possible rainfall scenarios reflecting different aspects of climate variability and climate change, and hence bolster the hydrological impact analysis in the climate change context.

As the creators of the external benefits of prefabricated construction implementation, the government, real estate developers, and homebuyers have the right to allocate the external benefits. However, there is no effective quantitative method for achieving this goal. Therefore, this study aims to develop a quantitative analysis model for the reasonable allocation of the external benefits among the creators. The externality theory and bargaining theory were introduced to this study as the research foundation. Through literature review, the environmental benefit quantification index was defined. A bargaining model including Game 1 and Game 2 was designed for determining the external benefits allocation ratios for each player. In Game 1, the government was considered as the agent of homebuyers to conduct the bargaining game with real estate developers. Game 2 reflected the bargaining game process between the government and homebuyers for sharing the ratio of external benefits achieved from Game 1. The powerful position in bargaining game and discount factors of each player were considered as the critical factors influencing the distribution ratio because the value will change with the development of prefabricated construction. A prefabricated construction building was selected as a case to illustrate the applicability of this proposed model. The distribution result is that the government, the real estate developers, and homebuyers should share the external benefits of prefabrication implementation by 38%, 35%, and 27% respectively. This study contributes to aiding the creators to achieve optimal benefits allocation and thus motivates the enthusiasm of practitioners in prefabricated construction implementation.

This paper studies the singular limits of the non-isentropic compressible magnetohydrodynamic equations for viscous and heat-conductive ideal polytropic flows with magnetic diffusions in a three-dimensional bounded domain as the Mach number goes to zero. Provided that the initial data are well-prepared, we establish the uniform estimates with respect to the Mach number, which gives the convergence from the full compressible magnetohydrodynamic equations to isentropic incompressible magnetohydrodynamic equations.

This paper studies the incompressible limit of global strong solutions to the three-dimensional barotropic Navier–Stokes equations associated with Navier's slip boundary conditions, provided that the initial data are sufficiently small, and “well-prepared” in the sense that the time derivatives, up to first order, of solutions are bounded initially. The main idea is to derive a differential inequality with decay, so that the estimates are bounded uniformly both in the Mach number ϵ ∈ ( 0 , ϵ 0 ] (for some ϵ 0 > 0 ) and the time t ∈ [ 0 , + ∞ ) .

The three-temperature (3T) model is a simple model which estimates plant transpiration from only temperature data. In-situ field experimental results have shown that 3T is a reliable evapotranspiration (ET) estimation model. Despite encouraging results from recent efforts extending the 3T model to remote sensing applications, literature shows limited comparisons of the 3T model with other remote sensing driven ET models. This research used ET obtained from eddy covariance to evaluate the 3T model and in turn compared the model-simulated ET with that of the more traditional SEBAL (Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land) model. A field experiment was conducted in the cotton fields of Taklamakan desert oasis in Xinjiang, Northwest China. Radiation and surface temperature were obtained from hyperspectral and thermal infrared images for clear days in 2013. The images covered the time period of 09001800 h at four different phenological stages of cotton. Meteorological data were automatically recorded in a station located at the center of the cotton field. Results showed that the 3T model accurately captured daily and seasonal variations in ET. As low dry soil surface temperatures induced significant errors in the 3T model, it was unsuitable for estimating ET in the early morning and late afternoon periods. The model-simulated ET was relatively more accurate for squaring, boiling and boll-opening stages than for seedling stage of cotton during when ET was generally low. Wind speed was apparently not a limiting factor of ET in the 3T model. This was attributed to the fact that surface temperature, a vital input of the model, indirectly accounted for the effect of wind speed on ET. Although the 31 model slightly overestimated ET compared with SEBAL and eddy covariance, it was generally reliable for estimating daytime ET during 0900-1600 h. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A novel dual-emission carbon dots (CDs) based fluorescence strategy was developed for the ratiometric detection of Fe3+ and pyrophosphate (PPi) in biological samples. The fluorescence of blue CDs (b-CDs) at 450 nm was remarkably quenched by Fe3+ due to photoinduced electron transfer (PET), whereas the fluorescence peak at 550 nm of yellow CDs was unaffected and could serve as an internal standard. In addition, the intense coordination between PPi and Fe3+ separated Fe3+ from the b-CD surface and blocked the PET process, thus effectively protecting the fluorescence of the b-CDs. The ratiometric signal changes enabled sensitive and robust Fe3+ and PPi sensing. Good linearities for the detection of Fe3+ and PPi were obtained in the ranges of 1.0 − 60.0 μM and 0.1 − 120.0 μM with detection limits of 0.28 μM and 0.032 μM, respectively. Furthermore, the developed strategy was successfully used to determine Fe3+ and PPi in biological samples. The proposed probe may offer a simple, sensitive, environmentally friendly, and promising platform for biological detection applications.

The construction of rural residential buildings has a great impact on the achievement of sustainable countryside. It needs a cleaner construction method. This study argues that prefabrication should be adopted in rural areas, but different strategies should be designed based on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). This issue has not been involved in previous studies. This paper aims to design a model for determining the suitable strategy of prefabrication implementation. Twelve factors affecting the prefabrication implementation were firstly identified for SWOT analysis, including prefabricated construction standards, ecological benefits, transportation capacity, and so on. A strategy selection model expressed by strategic vector (θ, ρ) was then designed, in which strategic azimuth (θ) determines the strategy type and intensity coefficient (ρ) determines the attitudes that should be taken to the selected strategy. Four types of strategies (aggressing, pioneering, reverse, and avoidant) and two development intensities (conservative and proactive) were summarized. The model was substantiated in a village of Jinan as a case. It was identified that aggressing strategy with conservative attitude is the optimal strategy to the current conditions in rural Jinan. The developed model can be adopted by other rural areas for devising their suitable prefabrication development strategies.

The electrosynthesis of polyaniline (PANI) film has been achieved on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) in a novel ionic liquid medium by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV). Then a copper nanoparticles (Cu-NPs) film was in situ electrochemically deposited on the surface of PANI/GCE. Electrochemical behavior and surface characteristics of the Cu-NPs/PANI/GCE were studied using cyclic voltammetry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the results confirmed the presence of PANI and Cu-NPs on the electrode surface. Cu-NPs were highly dispersed and firmly stabilized by surface attachment of the PANI, which was prepared in ionic liquid and strongly attached to the electrode surface. The Cu-NPs/PANI/GCE showed excellent electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidation of ascorbic acid (AA) under weakly basic conditions. Amperometry was carried out to determine the concentration of AA at 0.2 V, and a good linear concentration range from 0.005 to 3.5 mM was found. The Cu-NPs/PANI composite film on GCE surface showed good reproducibility and stability.

It was found that ducks fed with Potamogeton crispus L. could lay natural red-yolk eggs with good quality in vast lake areas. P. crispus L. was found to be a new resource of carotenoids based on this fact. Carotenoids from P. crispus L. were extracted using petroleum ether-acetone and saponified using 40% methanolic potassium hydroxide. Four major yellow carotenoid pigments were obtained by a MgO column and thin-layer chromatography. These carotenoids were identified as neoxanthin, violaxanthin, lutein and β-carotene based on visible spectra in different solvents compared with values reported in the literature, functional group tests and mass spectrum by LC-MS. The content of total carotenoids from P. crispus L. was measured to be 231 μg/g (dry weight) by visible absorption spectroscopy.