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Over one million people are living with cystic echinococcosis (CE) and alveolar echinococcosis (AE). For CE, long-term albendazole treatment is often needed, which requires regular follow-up. Follow-up is mainly through imaging which is insensitive to subtle changes and subjective to experience. We investigated the changes of Echinococcus granulosus (Eg) cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in plasma of CE patients before and after albendazole treatment to evaluate its potential as an objective marker for treatment follow-up. Plasma samples of nine CE patients were collected before and after treatment. We identified Eg cfDNA from every sample through high-throughput sequencing. Eg cfDNA concentration and fragment length increased significantly after the treatment period. Ultrasound examination before and after the treatment initiation reflected the drug effects to a certain extent, as the cyst size of four patients reduced. Our findings indicated that Eg cfDNA from plasma could be a potential marker in the monitoring of CE treatment.

Summary Background The expression status and potential mechanistic involvement of microRNA (miR)-126-5p in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are still elusive currently. Here we set out to address this issue both in cell lines and in patients’ tissues. Methods The relative expression levels of endogenous miR-126-5p and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) were quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Cell viability and proliferation were measured by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide and clonogenic assays, respectively. Cell invasive and migrative capacities were determined by transwell and wound healing assays, respectively. The regulatory action of miR-126-5p on EGFR was interrogated by luciferase reporter assay. Translational level of EGFR was analyzed by Western blotting. Results MiR-126-5p was significantly down-regulated in both HCC patients’ tissues and cell lines. Forced expression of miR-126-5p greatly compromised cell viability, proliferation, invasion and migration, while miR-126-5p-specific inhibitor promoted these oncogenic phenotypes. MiR-126-5p mimics inhibited endogenous expression of EGFR and suppressed EGFR 3′-untranslated region-fused luciferase activity. Co-expression of EGFR in miR-126-5p-proficient cells completely restored cell migrative and invasive capacities, while co-transfection with EGFR siRNA significantly inhibited miR-126-5p inhibitor-induced cell invasion and migration. Conclusion MiR-126-5p was aberrantly decreased in HCC and subsequently relieved the suppression on EGFR expression, which consequently contributed to the tumor biology of HCC.

Large amounts of microplastics (MPs) accumulate in the sludge anaerobic digestion system after being treated by the wastewater treatment plants, inevitably leading to aging and chemicals leaching. However, no information is available about the effects of aged MPs and leachates on the anaerobic digestion of sludge. In this study, the effects of different aged MPs ((polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polylactic acid (PLA)) and leachates on anaerobic methanogenesis of sludge were investigated. PLA-related treatments caused no adverse effects on anaerobic digestion. While PE-, PET-, and PVC-related treatments significantly inhibited methane production with an order of leachates (26.4-42.4 %)MPs (16.1-22.9 %)aged MPs (2.4-11.8 %). For different leachates, PET leachate caused the strongest inhibitory effects. The same order was found for the methane potential and hydrolysis coefficient. These results suggest that the inhibition of MPs on methanogenesis is mainly caused by the leachates. Based on biochemical and microbial community analysis, the primary mechanism is that the leachates induce oxidative stress, damaging microbial cells and reducing microbial activity, consequently inhibiting methanogenesis. Furthermore, via effect-directed analysis, methyl benzoate (MB), dimethyl phthalate (DMP), and 2,4-Di-tert-butylphenol (DTBP) were identified as key components in the PET-leachate inhibiting anaerobic methanogenesis.

The mechanism of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been widely investigated, and studies on the use of arsenic trioxide (ATO) in the treatment of RA have been reported in recent years. However, the exact mechanism of action of ATO in RA remains unclear. This study explores alterations in the gut microbiota and metabolism during ATO treatment in a mouse model of RA and provides an integrative analysis of the biomechanism. The purpose of this study was to verify whether ATO can alleviate RA by altering the gut microbiota. In this study, the mice were randomly divided into four different groups: the normal control (NC) group, the collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) group, the ATO 1.0 mg/kg/day group, and the ATO 2.0 mg/kg/day group. Fecal samples were collected. Through 16S rDNA gene sequencing and metabolomic analysis, the effect of ATO on the composition and metabolites of gut microbiota in CIA mice was investigated. The results showed that compared with NC mice, CIA mice showed differences at both the phylum level (Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes) and the genus level (Muribaculaceae_unclassified and Alistipes). Meanwhile, many metabolites were significantly changed between the two groups, including benzoic acid and (s)-2-acetolactate. However, these alterations were partially reversed in ATO-treated CIA mice. These results indicated that ATO treatment modulated gut microbiota disorder and improved fecal metabolite abnormalities. In conclusion, this study provided important evidence for alterations of the gut microbiota and metabolites and the role of these alterations in a potential novel mechanism of ATO treatment in RA.

The intestine is not only the main accumulation organ of microplastics (MPs), but also the intestinal environment is very conductive to the release of additives in MPs. However, the kinetics of release process, influence factors, and the related effects on gut microbiota remain largely unknown. In this study, a mucosal-simulator of the human intestinal microbial ecosystem (M-SHIME) was used to investigate the influence of gut microbiota on the release of phthalates (PAEs) from MPs and the effects of MPs on the intestinal luminal microbiota and mucosal microbiota. We found that di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), and dimethyl phthalate (DMP) were the dominant PAEs released in the gut. Gut microbiota accelerated the release of PAEs, with the time to reach the maximum release was shortened from 7 days to 2 days. Moreover, MPs induced differential effects on luminal microbiota and mucosal microbiota. Compared with mucosal microbiota, the luminal microbiota was more susceptible to the leaching of PAEs from MPs, as evidenced by more microbiota alterations. MPs also inhibited the metabolic activity of intestinal flora based on the reduced production of short chain fatty acids (SCFA). These effects were mainly contributed by the release of PAEs. Acidaminococcus and Morganella were simultaneously correlated to the release of PAEs and the inhibition of metabolic activity of intestinal microbiota and can be used as indicators for the intestinal exposure of MPs and additives.

Hollow urchin-like SnO2 nanospheres with tetragonal rutile structure were synthesized by a template-free hydrothermal route. The as-prepared products demonstrated a novel hollow urchin-like SnO2 nanosphere with the diameter of around 500 nm. It exhibited a high response and selectivity toward ethylene glycol at a lower heating voltage. The excellent ethylene glycol response was attributed to the hollow structure, the nanorods building blocks and the unique architecture structure.

Sulfur cycling in freshwater ecosystems has been previously considered minor, and the direct evidence of its impacts on iron and phosphorus cycles in freshwater sediments remains unclear. In this study, mesocosms with amended acetate and various sulfate concentrations (1.5–3.0 mmol L−1) were set up to investigate sulfur cycling and its influences on iron-rich freshwater sediments. Acetate addition induced hypoxia and provided substrates, which stimulated the sulfur cycling with evidence of SO42− decline, ΣS2−, S0 increase and corresponding variations of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. Meanwhile, the growth of iron-reducing bacteria (IRB) was suppressed, and lower Fe(II) release was correspondingly related to larger SRB abundance at higher sulfate level, indicating that microbial iron reduction might be blocked by SRB activities. However, continuous dissolution of Fe(III) oxides and generation of iron sulfides were observed, suggesting that sulfide-mediated chemical iron reduction (SCIR) became the dominant iron-reducing pathway, and Fe(II) was buried as iron sulfides instead of released to water column, which resulted in a transition of iron cycling into unidirectional SCIR. Consequently, continuous dissolution of Fe(III) oxides led to significant increase of PO43− concentration in the water column and sediment pore-water, revealing the phosphorus mobility in sediments derived from the SCIR process. To note, sustained accumulation of iron sulfides was observed even without ΣS2− presence, suggesting that ΣS2− precipitation occurred prior to diffusion. Thus, ΣS2−-missing sulfur cycling seemed “cryptic” in this study. To highlight, the transition of the iron-reducing pathway and resulting PO43− release can be induced even under current sulfate level of Lake Taihu, and elevated sulfate levels could significantly intensify SCIR and phosphorus mineralization. Thus, the stimulated iron deposition and the resulting phosphorus release derived from the sulfur cycling should be paid more attention to in the treatment of eutrophic freshwater ecosystems.

Hierarchical nanoarrays SnO2 hollow microcubes were successfully synthesized by a simple one-pot template-free hydrothermal route without any substrates. The as-prepared products demonstrated novel hollow SnO2 microcubes with side length of 2–3 μm. Noticeably, the SnO2 cubic surfaces exhibited a hierarchical architecture of well-aligned nanorod arrays. The gas-sensing properties indicated that the nanoarrays SnO2 hollow microcubes possessed superior sensitivity towards ether at the heating voltage of 4.5 V. The formation and sensing mechanism of the nanoarrays SnO2 hollow microcubes were proposed in this paper.

Plasma must be heated by external heating for ignition in the future fusion reactor, ICRF heating is a favourable high-density plasma heating method since the fast wave launched from ICRF antenna can be transmitted to plasma core even in high-density plasma. While heating power increasing, the exposed antenna surface endures higher heat load. Faraday Shield (FS), as one of the key components, faces plasma and undertakes high heat load during plasma discharge. High stress and deformation on the FS is produced without removing the heating, which drastically reduces the antenna performance, even damages FS structure to threat RF antenna safety. To explore high-efficiency heat transfer enhancement technology to remove heat on the FS, one finite element analysis was used to analyse heat and temperature distribution on FS by different heat transfer ways, optimizing the FS structure. Based on the analysis results, several novel heat transfer enhancement way are proposed. Some workpieces with proposed heat transfer enhancement structure were designed and manufactured for test. Afterwards, two mock-ups with one quarter dimension of EAST ICRF antenna were manufactured without and with optimum heat transfer enhancement technology based on former test results, they were tested under same high heat load, significant results are obtained and presented in the paper, results are shown that heat transfer enhancement technology are drastically improved heat transfer performance of FS, which lay the foundation to high-power, steady-state operation ICRF antenna design in the future.

Understanding the arsenic (As) enrichment mechanisms in the subsurface environment relies on a systematic investigation of As valence species and their partitioning with the Fe (oxyhydr)oxide phases in the subsoil profile. The present study explored the distribution, speciation, partitioning, and (im)mobilization of As associated with Fe in four subsoil cores (∼30 m depth) from Hong Kong using sequential chemical extraction and X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy. The subsoil profiles exhibited relatively high concentrations of As at 26.1-982 mg/kg (median of 112 mg/kg), and the As was dominated by As(V) (85-96%) and primarily associated with the residual fraction (50.7-94.7%). A small amount of As (0.002-13.2 mg/kg) was easily mobilized from the four subsoil profiles, and a concentration of water-soluble As higher than 100 μg/L was observed for only some subsoil layers. The molar ratios of As:Fe in the oxalate-extractable Fe fraction ranged from 1.2 to 76.5 mmol/mol (median of 11.1 mmol/mol), revealing the participation of poorly crystalline Fe (oxyhydr)oxides in immobilizing most of the high geogenic As. The primary phases of ferric (oxyhydr)oxides were characterized as ferrihydrite (16-53%), lepidocrocite (0-32%), and goethite (0-62%), and these phases contributed to the sufficient ability of the subsoil to sequester 45.3-100% (median of 98.8%) of the exogenous As(V) (1.0 mg/L) in adsorption experiments. In contrast to As(V), exogenous As(III) showed a lower removal percentage (3.9-79.1%, median of 45.1%). The study revealed that the chemical speciation of As and Fe in the subsoil profiles is useful for predicting the immobilization of high geogenic As in the region, which is also helpful for the safe utilization of As-containing soil during land development worldwide.

RF cavity which establishes an electric field to accelerate the charged particles is one of the most critical and complicated components in cyclotron. When the cavity is in a high-power operation, there will be a high temperature in RF cavity due to its own thermal loss. And it will cause mechanical deformation and frequency deviation to cavity. Those series of factors may influence the performances of cavity negatively. In this paper, thermal situation of RF cavity has been analyzed during high-power operation, and some optimizations are made to improve thermal performance. Frequency deviation of cavity is simulated through multi-physics analysis. Moreover, a low-power ( ∼ 20 kW) test has verified the thermal consideration, and the performances of prototype cavity in high-power operation which are estimated comply with the design goal.

Well-oriented Sm-doped SnO2 nanoarrays were synthesized by a one-pot substrate-free hydrothermal route. The surface defect of the SnO2 nanorods caused by the Sm ions doped into the SnO2 lattice was investigated. The gas-sensing properties indicated that the Sm-doped SnO2 nanoarrays with optimized doping level of 1.50 at% exhibited an excellent sensing response toward isopropanol at a lower temperature. The enhancement response of the Sm-doped SnO2 nanoarrays was discussed.

Ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) heating is a traditional auxiliary heating method applied to EAST. However, the antenna load will oscillate violently with the change of plasma parameters in the ICRF heating. But fast ferrite branch technology (FFT) can be used to achieve real-time impedance matching by controlling the bias magnetic field of FFT to adjust its equivalent electric length. So an excitation coil power supply is developed to satisfy the requirement of fast and stable change of FFT bias magnetic field. In the power supply design, the method of Pulse Width Modulation is used to achieve rapid real-time conversion of current, and to meet the needs of rapid power conversion. The paper introduces general design of PWM power supply, front DC power supply, energy storage filter circuit and constant current circuit of H bridge sequentially. And an experiment is set on the FFT excitation coil current changing with the control signal, indicating that the rapid real-time current conversion can be achieved.

Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a promising therapeutic modality, but still faces some potential limitations, such as unfavorable thermal damage to normal tissues, limited light penetration depth, unpredictable tumor recurrence and metastasis. Additionally, mitochondria play a key role in maintaining multiple cellular functions, whereas displaying fragile thermal sensitivity. Herein, we report on the fabrication of an immunomodulator (R848)-loaded polymeric nanoparticles, R848@cRGD-PDCS, which can spontaneously target mitochondria of tumor cells that benefits from native mitochondria-targeting near-infrared (NIR) light-absorbing moieties. Upon NIR laser irradiation, photothermal-induced mild hyperthermia can efficiently damage the mitochondria in primary tumor cells, promoting efficient release of tumor-associated antigens. Combined with the immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), tumor-mediated immunosuppression can be alleviated, thus the activated antitumor immune response can effectively suppress distant tumors and overcome tumor recurrence and metastasis, achieving long-term antitumor immune memory to inhibit tumor metastasis. Current native mitochondrial targeting phototherapeutic nanoparticles potentiated with immunotherapy are promising for precision translational medicine.

The aromatic arsenical roxarsone (ROX) has been used as feed additive for decades worldwide. The past or present application of animal manure containing ROX in paddy fields results in arsenic (As) accumulation in rice grain. However, the degradation and transformation mechanisms of ROX in paddy soil which determine As bioavailability and uptake by rice are still unclear. The current study investigated the variation of As speciation and soil enzyme activities in ROX-treated soils under flooded and non-flooded conditions for six months. Our results showed that 70.2% of ROX persisted in non-flooded paddy soils after 180 d while ROX degraded completely within 7 d in flooded soils. The rapid degradation of ROX under flooded conditions owed to the enhanced biotic transformation that was caused by the low Eh and the predominant presence of Clostridium spp. and Bacillus spp. ROX was not only transformed to As(III) and As(V) in non-flooded soils but also to 3-amino-4-hydroxyphenylarsonic acid and methyl arsenicals in flooded soils. The degradation products significantly inhibited soil enzyme activities for 7–30 d, but the inhibition effects disappeared after 90 d due to the sorption of transformed As products to amorphous Fe oxides. This study provides new insights into the flooding effect on ROX fate in paddy fields, which is important for the management of animal waste and risk control on polluted sites.

Three-dimension (3D) hierarchical SnO2@rGO nanocomposites (SRGNC) of layered SnO2 nanorods arrays anchored on reduced graphene oxide were fabricated by a hydrothermal approach. The layered SnO2 nanorods arrays were employed in-situ growth mechanism via a straightforward nanocrystal-seeds-directing on reduced graphene oxide. The 3D hierarchical structure of the SRGNC demonstrated a unique brush-like SnO2 arrayed nanorods with a diameter of approximately 7 nm and a length of several hundred nanometers. Applied as a gas sensing material, the SnO2@2.5 %rGO nanocomposite demonstrated ultra-high performance for formaldehyde gas that the gas response toward 50 ppm formaldehyde is up to 5437 at the lower optimal operating temperature of 50 °C. Not only that, the sensor based on SnO2@2.5 %rGO nanocomposite exhibited good selectivity, reproducibility, long term stability, and ultralow-limit gas detection (as low as 500 ppb). The perfect sensing performances could be attributed to the electronic coupling effect, the enlarged specific surface with abundant active sites and the special array structure of SnO2 nanorods.

This paper examines the strong Porter Hypothesis by exploring the impact of firm's desulfurization investment on productivity in the long and short runs. Our dataset is novelty as we merged and constructed a firm-level panel dataset on coal-fired power firms from 1998 to 2009 in China. Using the panel cointegration econometric approach, we find strong micro-evidence that the decision of desulfurization investment largely stimulates the productivity in the long term, despite it has slightly negative impact in the short run, which reflects the strong Porter Hypothesis holds in the long time dimension and the realizing process is dynamic. Our results are robust after addressing the possible endogeneity and employing various measures as substitutes. Further tests on environmental regulation patterns indicate that desulfurization investment driven by the voluntary regulation is more effective than that from the involuntary regulation in both long and short terms, and the market-based incentive regulation is more qualified than the command-and-control type at least in the long run. In addition, other heterogeneous analyses show that the long- and short-term causalities vary substantially with the patterns of retrofit schemes and regional environmental governance aims. Our results provide valuable policy implications for governments and strategic guides for coal-fired firms.

A new set of measurement system on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), based on voltage and current probes, is installed on transmission line between matching system and ion cyclotron range of frequencies antenna to measure the antenna input impedance. The data can be used for impedance-matching points optimizing, as well as coupling coefficient assessment by deducing the antenna coupling resistance from antenna input impedance. The measurement error of amplitude and phase difference show distinct impact on the coupling resistance. Generally, the amplitude measurement error has a small impact on coupling resistance, while the phase measurement error significantly affects the coupling resistance. Instead of using phase detectors, phases can be extract from the power measurements. Thus, the antenna input impedance and coupling resistance can be deduced from the amplitude of voltage probe, amplitude of current probe, as well as the antenna feeding power. on previous experiments, the impedance measurement technique based on voltage probes array is utilized to evaluate coupling resistances. In EAST 2016 campaign, the load coupling resistance calculated by using such two techniques were detected and the results showed agreement.

A novel structure of flower-like hierarchical SnO 2 architecture consisted of nanorods array was successfully synthesized by facile one-step hydrothermal route only using sodium stannate tetrahydrate solution of ethanol–water mixed solvent. The morphology and microstructure of the hierarchical SnO 2 architecture showed that flower-like hierarchical SnO 2 architecture with six similar petals were organized by large scale uniformity and ordered dense nanorods arrays with a diameter of 10–15 nm and length of about 200 nm. Infrared absorption spectra (IR), Raman spectra and Ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) absorption spectra were carried out to investigate the optical properties of the flower-like hierarchical SnO 2 nanoarrays. The UV–vis spectrum of as-prepared layered SnO 2 nanorod array assemblies showed the band gap blue-shifted compared with the band gap of bulk SnO 2 . A series of peculiar emission band positions of the room temperature photoluminescence properties of the hierarchical SnO 2 nanoarrays were observed.

After large-scale outbreaks of algal blooms in eutrophic water, considerable amounts of algae residue accumulate in near-shore zones before fermenting rapidly and becoming malodorous. Taste and odor pollution caused by secondary metabolites from cyanobacterial blooms has become a serious and widespread environmental problem. Two typical odorous compounds, β-cyclocitral and β-ionone, have gained increasing attention in recent years. In this paper, the spatial distributions of β-cyclocitral and β-ionone in the sediments and overlying water off the west shore of Taihu Lake were investigated. The results showed that β-cyclocitral, β-ionone and nutrients are released during the degradation of fresh cyanobacteria, especially in the early stages. The odorous compounds and nutrients greatly decreased as the depth of sediment increased, indicating that reed roots can absorb β-cyclocitral, β-ionone and nutrients. Furthermore, removing cyanobacteria and dredging sludge might reduce the release of β-cyclocitral and β-ionone.

The combination of electrokinetic-permeable reactive barrier (EK-PRB) is considered as a promising technology for the remediation of heavy metal contaminated soils. In this study, considering the convenient operation and recycling, a new sheet PRB material of sodium alginate/polyvinyl alcohol/attapulgite was prepared and characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and fourier transform infrared spectra. Subsequently, the effect of a pretreatment of citric acid (CA) and Shewanella oneidensis (MR-1) on zinc (Zn (Ⅱ)) and cadmium (Cd (Ⅱ)) removal from soils by EK-PRB was investigated. Results showed that Zn (Ⅱ) and Cd (Ⅱ) gradually migrated from anode to cathode in electric field within 8 days’ EK-PRB remediation. The simultaneous addition of CA and MR-1 resulted into the highest electric current, the lowest pH and the more negative soil zeta potential. Correspondingly, the highest removal efficiency of Zn (Ⅱ) and Cd (Ⅱ) also occurred in CA + MR-1 group. The new sheet PRB material effectively captured Zn (Ⅱ) and Cd (Ⅱ) from soils, and the most adsorption occurred in CA + MR-1 group: 1108.36 mg/kg Zn (Ⅱ) and 53.84 mg/kg Cd (Ⅱ) nearby the cathode after 8 days’ remediation. Specifically, for both Zn (Ⅱ) and Cd (Ⅱ), the CA + MR-1 group showed the greatest reduction in exchangeable and carbonate fractions and the highest increase in Fe-Mn oxidation and residual fractions. Overall, with a pretreatment of CA and MR-1, the residual Zn (Ⅱ) and Cd (Ⅱ) in soils were greatly reduced after EK-PRB remediation, due to the migration in the electric filed and the adsorption of the new sheet PRB material.

Speech signal is corrupted unavoidably by noisy environment in subway, factory, and restaurant or speech from other speakers in speech communication. Speech enhancement methods have been widely studied to minimize noise influence in different linear transform domain, such as discrete Fourier transform domain, Karhunen-Loeve transform domain or discrete cosine transform domain. Kernel method as a nonlinear transform has received a lot of interest recently and is commonly used in many applications including audio signal processing. However this kind of method typically suffers from the computational complexity. In this paper, we propose a speech enhancement algorithm using low-rank approximation in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space to reduce storage space and running time with very little performance loss in the enhanced speech. We also analyze the root mean squared error bound between the enhanced vectors obtained by the approximation kernel matrix and the full kernel matrix. Simulations show that the proposed method can improve the computation speed of the algorithm with the approximate performance compared with that of the full kernel matrix.

Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequency (ICRF) heating has been adopted in EAST tokamak as one of main auxiliary heating methods. The ICRF antenna usually consists of multiple launching elements because of limited port and space of tokamak device. Mutual coupling between straps has been observed in previous EAST ICRF current drive experiments. Due to adverse effects of such mutual coupling, many issues induced by cross power cannot be ignored, such as power imbalance in feed lines, high voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR), and etc. To restrain such mutual coupling, A device named decoupler was developed and tested in EAST ICRF system. According to the admittance matrix of load, three assembly positions (oscillation position, optimum position, and smooth position) along transmission line for the decoupler were taken into account and tested. The test results showed that ohmic dissipation in decoupler could not be neglected, which partly influenced the decoupling performance. The oscillation position and optimum position could restrain such adverse effects of ohmic dissipation and showed good decoupling performance. However, they cannot ensure the steady operation during H-mod due to the load variation. Finally, the smooth position has been adopted for EAST I port antenna because of steady decoupling performance comprised with engineering error and load resilience, which sincerely enhance the capability of system operation.

In this study, the toxic effects of clorpyrifos (CPF) on the gut microbiome and related urine metabolome in mouse (Mus musculus) were investigated. Mice were exposed to a daily dose of 1 mg kg(-1) bodyweight of CPF for 30 d. As a result, CPF significantly altered the gut microbiota composition in terms of the relative abundance of key microbes. Meanwhile, CPF exposure induced the alterations of urine metabolites related to the metabolism of amino acids, energy, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), phenyl derivatives and bile acids. High correlations were observed between perturbed gut microbiome and altered metabolic profiles. These perturbations finally resulted in intestinal inflammation and abnormal intestinal permeability, which were also confirm by the histologic changes in colon and remarkable increase of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and diamine oxidase (DAO) in the serum of CPF-treated mice. Our findings will provide a new perspective to reveal the mechanism of CPF toxicity.

Creep behaviours of Cr25Ni35Nb and Cr35Ni45Nb alloys were investigated under 22–50 MPa at 1173 K, 1198 K and 1223 K. The stress dependence of minimum creep rate and rupture life obeyed power law, and the stress exponent values were similar for both alloys indicating similar deformation and fracture mechanism. These alloys also obeyed Monkman–Grant and Modified Monkman–Grant Relations, and Cr25Ni35Nb exhibited higher MG and MMG constants. It can be concluded that Cr35Ni45Nb has higher creep strength than Cr25Ni35Nb, whereas the creep ductility is not as good as Cr25Ni35Nb alloy. A modified theta equation was proposed to estimate the creep behaviours, where the random errors of experimental data from the fitted creep curves were smaller than traditional theta equation. The obtained theta parameters revealed good linear relations as a function of stress, and the predicted creep behaviours were in good agreement with experimental ones.

Improving the understanding of the heat-tolerance mechanisms in blueberries (Vaccinium spp.) and screening high heat-tolerant germplasms are critical for the development of this fruit. In the present study, the heat tolerances of the ‘Jersey’ and ‘Diana’ cultivars were compared, which represent the northern and southern highbush blueberry cultivars, respectively. The results showed that exposure to high temperature significantly increased the level of oxidative damage in both highbush blueberries. However, oxidative stress induced by high temperature is significantly lower in ‘Jersey’ than that observed in ‘Diana’. The lower level of oxidative stress in ‘Jersey’ was related to the significantly higher transcript levels of the antioxidative genes and oxidative protein-repairing genes, which may have resulted in the relatively higher semi-lethal high temperature of ‘Jersey’ (48.30 °C) than that of the heat-sensitive ‘Diana’(47.32 °C). The heat susceptibility of ‘Diana’ was also confirmed by the 3-year field trial, the total death rates of ‘Jersey’ and ‘Diana’ were 7.78 and 12.22%, respectively. Therefore, it can be suggested that some northern highbush blueberry cultivars such as ‘Jersey’ are more heat tolerant than some southern highbush cultivars, and thus suitable for cultivation in lower latitude areas with hot summers.

The interactions of microplastics (MPs) with other chemicals and the range of outcomes are of great importance to enhance understanding of their environmental impacts and health risks. Cadmium (Cd) and cadmium compounds are widely used as pigments and stabilizers in plastics, but they readily leach out. Here we addressed the impacts of MPs, Cd, and their joint exposure in a tractable Drosophila melanogaster model. We show that exposure to MPs lead to extensive particle size depended gut damage early in life and an enhancement of Cd-induced inhibition of locomotor-behavioral function in adult flies. In addition, we show that Cd exposure induces epigenetic gene silencing via position-effect variegation (PEV) in somatic tissues that was dramatically enhanced by co-exposure with MPs. The results indicate that MPs can aggravate the toxicity of other environmental contaminants and induce adverse effects across a range of diverse outcomes in a tractable and widely used model organism. These observations raise the prospects of using Drosophila as a tool for the rapid assessment of MP-mediated toxicity.

Cd and Zn pollution was observed to often occur simultaneously in soils. However, previous studies focused on single heavy metal instead of Cd and Zn combined pollution. Castor (Ricinus communis) is considered to have great potential for contaminated soil remediation. The resistance of castor seedlings to heavy metals and the mechanism behind it remain unknown. In this study, the tolerance and accumulation ability of castor seedlings to Cd and Zn were investigated, and the accumulation mechanism involving the subcellular distribution in different tissues was further explored. The results on biomass and chlorophyll revealed that castor seedlings have good tolerance to the pollution with 0–5 mg/kg Cd and 380 mg/kg Zn, while not to the heavy pollution with 25 mg/kg Cd and 380 mg/kg Zn. The maximum accumulation concentrations of Cd and Zn, 175.3 mg Cd/kg and 386.8 mg/kg Zn, appeared in castor seedling root instead of stem and leaf, indicating that root played a significant part in accumulating Zn and Cd. The relative low dosage of Cd (0–5 mg/kg) promoted the accumulation of Zn in the subcellular component, while high dosage (25 mg/kg) inhibited the accumulation of Zn. In subcellular accumulation and distribution of castor seedlings, Cd (27.1%–69.4%) and Zn (39.6%–66.6%) in the cell wall was the highest. With the increase of Cd addition, the accumulation of Cd increased in cell wall while decreased in organelle and soluble fraction. Hydroxyl, amino, amides and carboxyl functional groups on cell wall might provided the main binding sites for Cd and Zn.

In this study, a charge distribution multisite surface complexation model (CD–MUSIC) for adsorption of chromate onto goethite was carefully developed. The adsorption of Cr(VI) on goethite was firstly investigated as a function of pH, ionic strength and Cr(VI) concentration. Results showed that an inner-sphere complexation mechanism was involved because the retention of Cr(VI) was little influenced by ionic strength. Then two surface species: a bidentate complex ( Fe 2 O 2 CrOOH) and a monodentate complex ( FeOCrO 3 −3/2 ), which is constrained by prior spectroscopic evidence were proposed to fit the macroscopic adsorption data. Modeling results showed that the bidentate complex was found to be the dominant species at low pH, whereas, with increasing pH, monodentate species became more pronounced. The model was then verified by prediction of competitive adsorption of chromate and phosphate at various ratios and ionic strengths. The model successfully predicted the inhibition of chromate with the presence of phosphate, suggesting phosphate has higher affinity to goethite surface than Cr(VI). Results showed that the model developed in this study for Cr(VI) onto goethite was applicable for various conditions. It is a useful supplement for the surface complexation model database for oxyanions onto goethite surfaces.

We assess when gold bubbles are most likely to occur. This question is particularly important since the price of gold fluctuates rapidly during the financial crisis of 2007–2012. We use Phillips et al., 2012 , Phillips et al., 2013 tests to identify bubbles in the gold market since the breakdown of the Bretton Woods System. Five periods of bubbles are identified. We argue that the occurrence of gold bubbles is influenced by investors’ “flight to safety” during financial crises. If global central banks implement expansionary monetary policy to stimulate the economy, a gold bubble may arise.

To reveal the performance of stem powder of Solidago canadensis as a putatively advantageous biosorbent for removal of Cd(II) from simulated waste water, the kinetic and thermodynamic characteristics of biosorption, the effects of ionic strength, humic acid and the physio-chemical factors on biosorption, as well as the desorption and regeneration processes were investigated comprehensively. The stem of S. canadensis was oven-dried and processed into fine powder then mixed with 5 mg/L, 10 mg/L or 20 mg/L Cd(II) solution. The residual concentration was measured using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The reacting conditions were optimized to pH = 6.0 with a dosage of 0.5 g/L for contact of 240 min. The results showed that: the biosorption reaction is best described by Langmuir monolayer isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models; thermodynamic analysis indicates an exothermic and entropy-decreasing biosorption process; at the optimal temperature 298 K, the saturated biosorption capacity was 19.34 mg/g, greater than that of rise husk and wheat straw reported literally; the increase of ionic strength was beneficial to the capacity of biosorption, for example 0.01 mmol/L and, 0.1 mmol/L Na + increased the biosorption capacity from 17.58 mg/g to 19.03 mg/g and 19.50 mg/g; the presence of 20 mg/L Ca (II) Mg(II) or humic acid reduced the biosorption capacity by 62.2%, 44.0% and 51.9%, respectively; growing additional amounts of alkaline earth metal ions or humic acid increasingly reduce the biosorption capacity; using 0.01 mmol/L HCl as an agent to regenerate the Cd(II)-loaded biosorbent, the biosorption efficiency decreased to 69.11% of the first round biosorption after 4 cycles. Our results demonstrate that the stem powder of S. canadensis is a promising biomass-based biosorbent for the removal of Cd(II) from waste water for its fine capacity of biosorption and regeneration.

Submicron-sized NiV3O8 powder was prepared by solid-state reaction method. A mixture of NiO, V2O5 and home-made VO2 (B) was used as starting material. The phase purity, structures, morphologies of the prepared powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photo-electron spectrometry (XPS), respectively. The results show that the as-prepared NiV3O8 material is highly crystalline and a single phase. The charge-discharge experiments were performed to investigate the electrochemical properties of NiV3O8 powder. NiV3O8 cathode delivers an initial discharge capacity of 286.6 mAh g−1 and still remains at 241 mAh g−1 after 30 cycles in the voltage of 1.5–4.2 V. The rate performance and EIS results indicate that the as-prepared electrode material has very good structural stability upon cycling after electrode conditioning by an initial charge and discharge.

2LiBH 4 /MgH 2 system is a representative and promising reactive hydride composite for hydrogen storage. However, the high desorption temperature and sluggish desorption kinetics hamper its practical application. In our present report, we successfully introduce CoNiB nanoparticles as catalysts to improve the dehydrogenation performances of the 2LiBH 4 /MgH 2 composite. The sample with CoNiB additives shows a significant desorption property. Temperature programmed desorption (TPD) measurement demonstrates that the peak decomposition temperatures of MgH 2 and LiBH 4 are lowered to be 315 °C and 417 °C for the CoNiB-doped 2LiBH 4 /MgH 2 . Isothermal dehydrogenation analysis demonstrates that approximately 10.2 wt% hydrogen can be released within 360 min at 400 °C. In addition, this study gives a preliminary evidence for understanding the CoNiB catalytic mechanism of 2LiBH 4 /MgH 2

Display Omitted The approximation K-singular value decomposition algorithm with nonnegative constraint is used to train PSD dictionary.The least angle regression algorithm with a new termination rule is applied to obtain the sparse representation.The termination rule is related to the noise level and nonzero cross terms of the speech and noise spectra.The enhanced speech signal is obtained by using the estimated PSD and subspace approach. Using sparse representation of power spectral density (PSD) approximated by magnitude-squared spectrum, a new speech enhancement method is presented. The approximation K-singular value decomposition (K-SVD) algorithm with nonnegative constraint is used to train an overcomplete dictionary of the clean speech PSD. The least angle regression algorithm (LARS) with a termination rule based on the ? 2 norm of the sum of the noise PSD and cross term between the clean speech and noise spectra is applied to estimate the clean speech PSD. Combining the estimated PSD with the signal subspace approach based on the short-time spectral amplitude (SSB-STSA), the enhanced speech signal is obtained. The simulation results show that the new method can yield better performance in most of noise conditions.

Mixed chemical wastewaters (MCWW) from industrial park contain complex mixtures of trace contaminants, which cannot be effectively removed by wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and have become an unignored threat to ambient environment. However, limited information is available to evaluate the complicated toxic effects of MCWW and its effluent from wastewater treatment plant (WTPE) from the perspective of bio-omics. In this study, mice were exposed to the MCWW and WTPE for 90 days and distinct differences in the hepatic transcriptome and serum metabolome were analyzed by digital gene expression (DGE) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectra, respectively. Our results indicated that disruption of lipid metabolism in liver and hepatotoxicity were induced by both MCWW and WTPE exposure. WTPE is still a health risk to the environment, which is in need of more attention. Furthermore, we demonstrated the potential ability of bio-omics approaches for evaluating toxic effects of MCWW and WTPE.

A synergistic effect of nanoconfinement and catalyzing is a new strategy to enhance the dehydrogenation properties of complex hydrides. Herein, LiBH4 has been infiltrated into a CoNiB-loaded carbon aerogels system (donated as LiBH4@CA@CoNiB). It is found that the desorption performances of LiBH4 are significantly strengthened. The onset desorption temperature of LiBH4@CA@CoNiB is decreased to 192 °C, and majority of the liberation occurs at about 320 °C, much lower than that of pure LiBH4. Also, about 15.9 wt% H2 could be released below 600 °C. Furthermore, LiBH4 doped with CA@CoNiB exhibits an excellent desorption kinetics, with a capacity of 9.33 wt% H2 released in 30 min at 350 °C, while only 2.13 wt% H2 is gained for bulk LiBH4. In addition, the apparent activation energy (Ea) is reduced sharply from 59.00 kJ/mol (pure LiBH4) to 46.39 kJ/mol.

Background This study aims to investigate the effects of miR-3613-3p and its underlying mechanisms on chronic hepatitis B. Methods Expressions of miR-3613-3p were determined in clinical samples from chronic hepatitis B patients and healthy volunteers. HBV-transfected hepatoma cell lines were constructed for in vitro study. HBV-infected animal model was established in vivo study. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to determine mRNA expressions. Western blotting and ELISA were used to determine protein expressions. Luciferase reporter and biotin pull-down assays were used to analyze RNA-RNA interactions. siRNA silencing was used to knockdown miR-3613-3p and CMPK1. Results MiR-3613-3p was upregulated in the chronic hepatitis B patients, as compared with healthy volunteers. Inhibition of miR-3613-3p decreased relative expressions of IFN-α and IFN-β, HBV DNA copies, and increased the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) levels, whereas miR-3613-3p overexpression reversed these changes in vitro and in vivo. MiR-3613-3p directly targeted CMPK1 and interactions between CMPK1 and miR-3613-3p regulated the anti-HBV efficiency of IFN. Conclusion MiR-3613-3p impaired IFN-induced immune response by targeting CMPK1 in chronic hepatitis B.

Tetracycline (TC), a common antibiotic, can behave as an efficient ligand with cations, but the effect of its interaction with heavy metal cations on the mobility of both species in soils has not been well evaluated. In this study, the complexation affinities of TC with Cd (II), Cu (II) and Pb (II) were examined using potentiometric titration and spectroscopic methods. The cosorption behavior of TC and metal ions onto three selected Chinese soils was evaluated using batch adsorption experiments. The presence of metal cations promoted TC adsorption through an ion bridging effect in the order Cu (II) > Pb (II) > Cd (II), which is in accordance with their complexation ability with TC. The addition of TC affects metal adsorption differently depending on the solution pH and metal type. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the complexation ability of TC and divalent metal cations when evaluating their mobility in soils.

The pristine Li 2 FeP 2 O 7 and Li 2 FeP 2 O 7 /C nanocomposites with different content of carbon have been successfully synthesized via a simple solid-state reaction, using cheap glucose as carbon source. XRD and EDS patterns demonstrate the high purity of the products. SEM images exhibit that the size of the particles is about 50–500 nm. Electrochemical measurements reveal that carbon coating and reducing particle size significantly enhance the electrochemical performances of Li 2 FeP 2 O 7 . Particularly, the Li 2 FeP 2 O 7 /C sample with a carbon content of 4.88 wt.% displays the best performance with a specific discharge capacity of 103.1 mAh g −1 at 0.1 C, which is 93.7% of its one-electron theoretical capacity, meaning 110 mAh g −1 . Meanwhile, it shows favorable cycling stability and excellent rate performance, indicating its potential applicability in Li-ion batteries in the long term.

Groundwater recharge and evolution in the Quaternary aquifer beneath the Dunhuang Basin was investigated using chemical indicators, stable isotopes, and radiocarbon data to provide guidance for regional water management. The quality of groundwater and surface water is generally good with low salinity and it is unpolluted. The dissolution of halite and sylvite from fine-grained sediments controls concentrations of Na+ and K+ in the groundwater, but Na+/Cl- molar ratios >1 in all samples are also indicative of weathering of feldspar contributing to excess Na+. The dissolution of carbonate minerals yields Ca2+ to the groundwater, thereby exerting a strong influence on groundwater salinity. The delta O-18 and delta H-2 values in unconfined groundwater are enriched along the groundwater flow path from SW to NE. In contrast, confined groundwater was depleted in heavy isotopes, with mean values of -10.4 parts per thousand delta O-18 and -74.4 parts per thousand delta H-2. Compared with the precipitation values, all of the groundwater samples were strongly depleted in heavy isotopes, indicating that modern direct recharge to the groundwater aquifers in the plains area is quite limited. The unconfined water is generally young with radiocarbon values of 64.9-79.6 pmc. In the northern basin, radiocarbon content in the confined groundwater is less than 15 pmc and an uncorrected age of similar to 15 ka, indicates that this groundwater was recharged during a humid climatic phases of the late Pleistocence or early Holocene. The results have important implications for inter-basin water allocation programmes and groundwater management in the Dunhuang Basin. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Purpose To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography (CT) of the parotid gland for Sjogren's syndrome in comparison with conventional X-ray sialography. Methods CT scans and X-ray sialography were performed in 34 patients with confirmed Sjogren's syndrome and 22 symptomatic controls without the disease. CT data from 57 asymptomatic controls were included for quantitative analysis. The CT findings of heterogeneity, abnormal diffuse fat tissue deposition, diffuse punctate calcification, swelling or atrophy, nodularity or cystic changes of the parotid gland were analyzed by two independent blinded readers. The correlation between CT and X-ray sialography findings was evaluated. Diagnostic performance and receiver operating characteristics curves were calculated. Results On CT, heterogeneity of the parotid gland was seen in 30/31 (reader 1/reader 2) Sjogren's syndrome patients by the two readers (sensitivity 88.2%/91.2%; specificity 100%/90.9%). Abnormal diffuse fat tissue deposition was seen in 28/28 SS patients by the readers (sensitivity 82.3%/82.3%; specificity 100%/90.9%). Diffuse punctate calcification was seen in 10/12 Sjogren's syndrome patients (sensitivity 29.4%/35.2%; specificity 100%/100%). Stagings of CT findings correlate positively with sialography. The areas under the receiver operating characteristics curves were 0.887 (P = 0.000) and 0.908 (P = 0.000) for the maximum and standard deviation (SD) of the CT value. Conclusions Parotid CT is accurate and reliable in the diagnosis of Sjogren's syndrome. Heterogeneity, abnormal diffuse fat tissue deposition, and diffuse punctate calcification are specific for Sjogren's syndrome. CT attenuation analysis is helpful in diagnosis.

Based on chloride mass balance approach, we used two tracers (Cl − and NO 3 − ) to study the interstitial water in four profiles of an unsaturated dune sand. The aim was to reconstruct the recharge history and use this to infer the long-term related climate changes and vegetation transitions in a cold-arid desert region of northwestern China. The estimated recharge rate of 0.21 to 0.59 mm year − 1 represented approximately 0.2 to 0.7% of the annual precipitation in the western Badain Jaran desert. The orientation of a megadune's slopes appeared to greatly affect recharge variability. Below the near-surface peaks, the total cumulative NO 3 –N inventories ranged from 61 to 121 kg ha − 1 . The near-surface peaks in NO 3 –N, with larger NO 3 –N/Cl − molar ratios, reflected active modern N-fixation by cyanobacteria, and the nitrate enrichment deeper in the unsaturated moisture zone indicated drier periods with less vegetation, limited nitrate fixation, or a combination of the two.

The adsorption of tetracycline (TC) on a Na-montmorillonite was studied as a function of five background electrolyte cations (Li + , Na + , K + , Mg 2 + and Ca 2 + ), one transitional metal cation (Cu 2 + ) and humic acid (HA) over a pH range from 3 to 9 using batch experiments combined with XRD and FTIR measurement. Results showed that pH had great effect on the TC adsorption and acidic condition is more favored. Monovalent (Li + , Na + and K + ) and divalent (Mg 2 + , Ca 2 + and Cu 2 + ) cations showed very different effects on the TC adsorption onto montmorillonite. In the presence of monovalent cations, the adsorption edge curves were little affected by the types of cations. They presented a great decrease at pH 2 + ≫ Ca 2 + > Mg 2 + , which might be due to the capability of “bridge” effect of divalent cations. The difference of enhancing TC adsorption in the presence of Ca 2 + and Mg 2 + might be a result of different ionic radii and different interacting groups in TC molecular. XRD results showed that TC was intercalated into interlayers of montmorillonite since the interlayer expansion was observed. The band changes of amide carbonyl and amino groups in tricarbonyl methane group and the carbonyl group in phenolic deketone group in the FTIR spectra of TC equilibrated with montmorillonite confirmed that TC was adsorbed to the clay via cation exchange and surface complexation. It was also found that the effect of HA on the TC adsorption was pH-dependent and the presence of HA significantly reduced the mobility of TC in solution especially under acidic condition due to the complexation between cationic or zwitterionic TC species and the deprotonated sites on HA (mainly carboxylic groups) via electrostatic attraction. These results suggested that coexistence of divalent cations and HA would reduce TC's mobility in soil environment, especially at acidic condition.

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are produced by non-enzymatic glycation or glycoxidation of proteins, lipids and nucleic acids. The bond of AGEs and the receptor of AGE (AGER) in a pro-oxidant environment could induce immune and inflammation reaction involved in progress of microvascular disease. Accumulated evidence warrant further study on AGE-AGER pathway and genetic susceptibility to hypertension (HT).We designed a two-stage association study to evaluate the association of AGER polymorphism and HT. In stage 1, seven tagSNPs were tested in 524 cases and 531 controls and the significant SNPs (P0.05) would enter into stage 2 including 807 cases and 869 controls. Furthermore, joint analysis was performed for all 2731 subjects including 1331 cases and 1400 controls, and meta-analysis was applied to evaluate combined estimations from the subgroups of stage 1 and stage 2.In stage 1, rs204994 had significant association with HT (P0.05) and enter stage 2. Neither joint analysis nor meta-analysis found statistical association of rs204994 with HT after adjusted for the covariates in the whole population. However, further stratification analysis found that rs204994 was significantly associated with HT in50years and ≥50years groups, ORs (95%CI) of dominant model were 1.623 (1.054-2.500) and 0.721 (0.546-0.952) respectively. No significant correlation was found between blood pressure and the polymorphisms of rs204994.Our data suggests that age might modulate the genetic effects of variation of rs204994 in AGER on HT and further replications in other populations and functional studies should be warranted.

Objective The aim of this study was to primarily investigate the usefulness of computerized tomographic (CT) fistulography in the diagnosis and management of branchial cleft fistulae and sinuses. Study Design Fifteen patients with confirmed branchial fistulae or sinuses who had undergone CT fistulography were included. The diagnoses were confirmed by clinical, radiologic, or histopathologic examinations. The internal openings, distribution, and neighboring relationship of the lesions presented by CT fistulography were analyzed to evaluate the usefulness in comparison with x-ray fistulography. Results Nine patients were diagnosed with first branchial fistulae or sinuses, 2 with second branchial fistulae, and 4 with third or fourth branchial fistulae. The presence and location of the lesions could be seen on x-ray fistulography. The distribution of the lesions, internal openings, and neighboring relationship with parotid gland, carotid sheath, and submandibular gland could be clearly demonstrated on CT cross-sectional or volume-rendering images. Conclusions CT fistulography could provide valuable information and benefit surgical planning by demonstrating the courses of branchial anomalies in detail.

Adsorption of tetracycline, one of the most widely used antibiotics, onto goethite was studied as a function of pH, metal cations, and humic acid (HA) over a pH range 3-10. Five background electrolyte cations (Li(+), Na(+), K(+), Ca(2+), and Mg(2+)) with a concentration of 0.01 M showed little effect on the tetracycline adsorption at the studied pH range. While the divalent heavy metal cation, Cu(2+), could significantly enhance the adsorption and higher concentration of Cu(2+), stronger adsorption was found. The results indicated that different adsorption mechanisms might be involved for the two types of cations. Background electrolyte cations hardly interfere with the interaction between tetracycline and goethite surfaces because they only form weak outer-sphere surface complexes. On the contrary, Cu(2+) could enhance the adsorption via acting as a bridge ion to form goethite-Cu(2+)-tetracycline surface complex because Cu(2+) could form strong and specific inner-sphere surface complexes. HA showed different effect on the tetracycline sorption under different pH condition. The presence of HA increased tetracycline sorption dramatically under acidic condition. Results indicated that heavy metal cations and soil organic matters have great effects on the tetracycline mobility in the soil environment and eventually affect its exposure concentration and toxicity to organisms.