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Selenium is an essential micronutrient element. For the extremely biotoxic of selenite, Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) is gaining increasing interest. In this work, a selenium-enriched strain with highly selenite-resistant (up to 173 mmol/L) was isolated from the local specialty food of longevity area and identified as Paenibacillus motobuensis (P. motobuensis) LY5201. Most of the SeNPs were accumulated extracellular. SeNPs were around spherical with a diameter of approximately 100 nm. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that the purified SeNPs consisted of selenium and proteins. Our results suggested that P. motobuensis LY5201could be a suitable and robust biocatalyst for SeNPs synthesis. In addition, the cytotoxicity effect and the anti-invasive activity of SeNPs on the HepG2 showed an inhibitory effect on HepG2, indicating that SeNPs could be used as a potential anticancer drug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) ferroelectric polymer with high dielectric constant has been emerged as promising candidate for advanced electrostatic capacitors. However, the intrinsic high ferroelectric loss of PVDF can cause suppressed discharge efficiency, which greatly hinders its applicability. In this work, a polymer-blending approach using linear dielectric component poly(acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) (ABS) is proposed to alleviate the low discharge efficiency issue in PVDF. The ABS-containing high-polarity acrylonitrile monomer demonstrates to show excellent compatibility with PVDF and reduce PVDF ferroelectric domains. With weakened ferroelectric domains coupling, the blends perform significantly enhanced discharge efficiency. For instance, with a moderate discharge energy density of 5.7 J/cm3, a rather high discharge efficiency of 82% can be obtained in blends with a composition content of 50/50 under 400 MV/m while that of PVDF is only 55%. Additionally, the blends exhibit superior operation reliability against pure PVDF, suggesting its feasibility as viable capacitor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to examine whether long-term exposure to low-dose volatile organic compounds (VOCs) will have an effect on the health of non-occupational population. A total of 499 non-occupational participants aged more than 18 that live around Jilin Petrochemical Industrial Zone were chosen by stratified cluster random sampling. Their blood VOCs' levels, hematological parameters and urine indicators together with detailed questionnaire data were used to find possible relationships using binary logistic regression analysis. The detection rate of benzene in the blood was high in the non-occupational population around the industrial area, and it even reached 82.3% in males but no significant difference was recorded between male and female population. In addition, trichloroethane (male: 33.2% V female: 21.7%; p = 0.002), carbon tetrachloride (males: 20.3% V females: 7.5%; p < 0.001) and trichlorethylene (male: 34.9% V female: 24.7%; p = 0.004) all showed significant differences in gender, and without exception, the prevalence of males was higher in these three VOCs than of females. The changes in red blood cell (RBC), hematocrit (HCT) and basophils are correlated with carbon tetrachloride, trichloroethylene and chloroform, respectively. And RBC, HCT and basophils are statistically significant in male compared with female of the study population. The increase in trichlorethylene was associated with an increase of 1.723% (95% CI 1.058–2.806) in HCT. The increase in carbon tetrachloride showed a more significant correlation with an increase of 2.638% in RBC count (95% CI 1.169–5.953). And trichloromethane led to a 1.922% (95% CI 1.051–3.513) increase in basophils. The changes in urinary WBC, urine ketone (KET) and urinary bilirubin (BIL) showed significant correlation with benzene, carbon tetrachloride and dibromochloromethane, respectively. The correlation in females is more significant than in males. The increase of benzene in the female population increased urinary leukocyte count by 2.902% (95% CI 1.275–6.601). The effect of carbon tetrachloride on KET was particularly pronounced, resulting in an increase of 7.000% (95% CI 1.608–30.465). Simultaneously, an increase in dibromochloromethane caused an increase of 4.256% (95% CI 1.373–13.192) in BIL. The changes in RBC, HCT and basophils can only serve as an auxiliary indicator for disease diagnosis, so they have no significant clinical significance. However, the alteration of urinary WBC, KET and BIL has great clinical significances, and it is suggested that the monitoring of the above indicators from low-dose long-term exposure be strengthen in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design and fabrication of a compact and low-cost 4×25-Gb/s transmitter optical sub-assembly (TOSA) and receiver optical sub-assembly (ROSA) using a hybrid integrated technique are reported. TOSA and ROSA are developed without thermoelectric cooler for coarse wavelength division multiplexing applications. Physical dimension of the packaged optical subassembly is limited to 11.5 mm×5.4 mm×5.4 mm. The design of TOSA and ROSA is employed using a silica-based arrayed waveguide grating chip to select the specific channel wavelength at O-band. In TOSA, the wavelength of four 1.3-µm discrete directly modulated laser chips is well controlled based on the reconstruction equivalent chirp technique. In the back-to-back transmission test, bit error rates for all lanes of cascade of the TOSA and ROSA are small. A clear opening eye diagram is obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brucella spp. are facultative intracellular bacteria that cause zoonotic disease of brucellosis worldwide. Traditional methods for detection of Brucella spp. take 48-72 h that does not meet the need of rapid detection. Herein, a new rapid detection method of Brucella was developed based on polyclonal antibody-conjugating quantum dots and antibody-modified magnetic beads. First, polyclonal antibodies IgG and IgY were prepared and then the antibody conjugated with quantum dots (QDs) and immunomagnetic beads (IMB), respectively, which were activated by N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)- N'-ethylcar-bodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) to form probes. We used the IMB probe to separate the Brucella and labeled by the QD probe, and then detected the fluorescence intensity with a fluorescence spectrometer. The detection method takes 105 min with a limit of detection of 10 CFU/mL and ranges from 10 to 10 CFU/mL ( R = 0.9983), and it can be well used in real samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper delineates the images of Jiangxi Province as tourist destination perceived by about 2000 sample visitors at Lushan Mountain and other 3 famous resorts (Jinggangshan Mountains, Longhushan Mountain, and Sanqingshan Mountain), with a result that the most common image is the famous scenic mountain image with partial attribute of image of religious culture destination. In order to reveal the similarities and dissimilarities of images among the four destinations, a correspondence analysis on 16 image attributes was employed. The results indicate that the tourists’ images on Longhushan Mountain, Sanqingshan Mountain and Lushan Mountain are very similar: having a lot of good tourist sites, famous mountain scenery, being close to nature and having good guide service, and others, but religious culture and good shopping facilities having not made deep impression on tourist, while Jinggangshan Mountains is famous for its red culture. The correspondence analysis visualizes the strengths and weaknesses of the destinations, which is useful for market positioning among the competitive places. Finally, some marketing suggestions for the four destinations were provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tubulointerstitial fibrosis impacts renal prognosis of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). Based on transcriptomic analysis, we found that the level of LOC105375913 was increased in tubular cells of FSGS patients. C3a induced the expression of LOC105375913, which promoted the expression of fibronectin and collagen I in tubular cells. Silence of snail reversed the level of fibronectin and collagen I in cells overexpressing LOC105375913. MiR-27b was predicted and confirmed to regulate the expression of snail in tubular cells, and LOC105375913 contained the response element of miR-27b. The competitive binding between LOC105375913 and miR-27b increased the level of snail and promoted fibrogenesis in tubular cells. Upstream, p38 and XBP-1s regulated the expression of LOC105375913. Inhibition of p38 or silence of XBP-1s decreased the level of LOC105375913, and suppressed the expression of snail, fibronectin and collagen I in tubular cells treated with C3a. Overexpression of LOC105375913 decreased the level of miR-27b, increased the level of snail and caused tubulointerstitial fibrosis in mice. In conclusion, the activation of C3a/p38/XBP-1s pathway induces the expression of LOC105375913 in tubular cells, and LOC105375913 increases the level of snail and induces tubulointerstitial fibrosis through competitive binding of miR-27b in tubular cells of FSGS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]