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Background and aims: Liming is widely known as a cost-efficient agricultural practice to reduce cadmium (Cd) concentration in rice (Oryza sativa L.) grain (CdR) in the short term. However, the effect of long-term continuous liming on CdR-reduction in the context of other environmental controls remains unknown. Methods: We quantified the temporal stability of CdR-reduction in response to biannually continuous liming and its correlations with dynamic soil properties and weather conditions based on a 7-year field experiment in a subtropical double-cropping rice ecosystem in a moderately Cd-contaminated acidic soil. Results: The CdR value declined by 51–90% with liming without compromising the rice yield. The degree of CdR-reduction was similar between early and late rice seasons. However, the between-year CdR-reduction was variable, remaining relatively stable in the first three years and fluctuating in the last four years. Soil pH and Olsen-P concentration at the ripening stage rose significantly, while the concentrations of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA)-extractable Cd, Mn, and Zn in soil remained unaffected. The soil pH did not further increase after the second year of liming. The soil pH and Olsen-P concentration were positively correlated with cumulative liming, but the CdR and CdR-reduction exhibited no correlations with cumulative liming. The CdR was correlated negatively with precipitation but positively with temperature and sunshine duration. Conclusions: The effect of 7-year continuous liming on CdR-reduction was temporally unstable and had no significant cumulative effect on CdR. The between-year CdR-reduction was not controlled by accumulative liming but primarily by dynamic soil properties and weather conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is vital to understand the mechanism of epilepsy onset and development. Dysregulated lncRNAs are closely associated with epilepsy. Our work probed the role of lncRNA PVT1/miR-488-3p/FOXD3/SCN2A axis in epilepsy. The mRNA and protein expressions were assessed using qRT-PCR and western blot. MTT assay and TUNEL staining were conducted to assess cell viability and apoptosis, respectively. TNFα, IL-1β and IL-6 levels were analyzed using ELISA. LDH level was tested by Assay Kit. The binding relationship between PVT1, miR-488-3p and FOXD3 were verified using dual luciferase reporter gene assay. The epilepsy model of rats was established by lithium-pilocarpine injection. Nissl staining was performed to evaluate neuronal damage. PVT1 was markedly upregulated in epilepsy model cells. Knockdown of PVT1 increased the viability, while repressed the apoptosis and inflammatory cytokines secretion as well as LDH level in epilepsy cell model. MiR-488-3p alleviated neuronal injury and neuroinflammation in model cells. MiR-488-3p functioned as the direct target of PVT1, and its inhibition neutralized the effects of PVT1 silencing on neuronal cell injury and neuroinflammation in model cells. Furthermore, miR-488-3p inhibited neuronal cell injury and neuroinflammation in model cells by regulating FOXD3/SCN2A pathway. Finally, animal experiments proved that PVT1 promoted epilepsy-induced neuronal cell injury and neuroinflammation by regulating miR-488-3p-mediated FOXD3/SCN2A pathway. PVT1 promoted neuronal cell injury and inflammatory response in epilepsy via inhibiting miR-488-3p and further regulating FOXD3/SCN2A pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) GAS5 has been shown to affect disease development in stroke. This study aimed to elucidate the regulatory mechanism of the lncRNA GAS5 on STAT5A in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. First, GAS5 and STAT5A levels in the blood of patients with stroke were determined. Then, a middle cerebral artery occlusion and reperfusion rat model was established in which short hairpin RNAs targeting GAS5 or STAT5A were intracranially injected, followed by the assessment of neurological function, cerebral injury and water content, and inflammation. Primary rat astrocytes were induced with oxygen–glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R), and cell proliferation, apoptosis, and inflammation were evaluated. Moreover, the interplay between GAS5, miR-1192, and STAT5A and the binding of STAT5A to the AQP4 promoter were identified. GAS5 and STAT5A were strongly expressed in stroke patients, and inhibition of GAS5 or STAT5A in model rats improved neurological function, reduced infarction and neuronal apoptosis, and diminished cerebral water content and astrocyte activation. Furthermore, GAS5 or STAT5A downregulation restored proliferation and restrained apoptosis and inflammation in OGD/R-induced astrocytes. Mechanistically, GAS5 targeted miR-1192, which negatively regulated STAT5A. Astrocytes showed perturbed proliferation and strengthened apoptosis and inflammation when miR-1192 was inhibited despite the silencing of GAS5, while these unfavorable effects were abolished by STAT5A silencing. STAT5A binds to the AQP4 promoter and regulates its expression. Silencing of GAS5 and overexpresion of AQP4 led to lower cell viability and higher apoptosis and inflammation than GAS5 silencing alone. Overall, GAS5 silencing inhibited AQP4 through the miR-1192/STAT5A axis, thus alleviating cerebral I/R injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PVDF-based gas diffusion electrode is synthesized in two steps: first, PVDF-based gas diffusion layer is produced by phase inversion and subsequently the product is electrochemically polymerized with polypyrrole and reduced graphene oxide. The manufactured GO@Pr@GDE toward O2 reduction reaction is studied as air cathode to generate H2O2, which can be further used to oxidize nonbiodegradable ofloxacin in a simple cell system. Although all the GDE samples have a similar configuration, GO@Pr@GDE shows the highest catalytic activity toward H2O2 production. The exchange current density of GO@Pr@GDE in Na2SO4 solution is 2.4 × 10−8 A cm−2, which is 6 times greater than that of Pr@GDE. Results of XRD, FTIR, and SEM characterization are consistent with GDE's electrochemical behavior, revealing that pyrrole polymerized on the pristine PVDF-based GDE can supply more conductive sites, and reduced GO plays the most important role in H2O2 production and achieving 69% removal efficiency of ofloxacin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel NbO catalyst with the highly single crystallinity and well aligned nanorods was successively synthesized by hydrothermal method and presented promising catalytic behavior for lactic acid synthesis from glucose. Notably, the sample was easily separated and reused without the obvious deactivation. It might shed light on an alternative process for lactic acid production instead of conventional fermentation. Graphical Abstract: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluids in the deep subduction zones play an important role in crust-mantle exchange related to the subduction process. Identification of fluids origin, internal or external, can help us to evaluate the contribution of crust materials to mantle during this process. High-pressure veins, which developed in the western Tianshan HP-metamorphic belt extensively, are the direct products of the fluids in subduction zones. In western Tianshan, high-pressure veins and host rocks have overall Pb- and Sr-isotope compositions. At t = 340 Ma, the high-pressure metamorphic time, the ratios of 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, 208Pb/204Pb and 87Sr/86Sr of high pressure veins are 17.122-18.431, 15.477-15.611, 37.432-38.689 and 0.70529- 0.70705, and are 17.605-17.834, 15.508-15.564, 37.080-38.145 and 0.70522-0.70685 for host rocks. However, high-pressure veins show a much larger variation in Pb-isotope compositions than host rocks. Plots of samples are distributed roughly along a line parallel to and far away from the Northern Hemisphere reference line (NHRL) on the plot of 206Pb/204Pb vs 207Pb/204Pb. On the plot of 206Pb/204Pb vs 208Pb/204Pb, plots of data are distributed nearby mid-ocean-ridge basalts (MORB) area or along a line parallel to and not far away from NHRL, which shows that the data plots are farther away from MORB and ocean island basalts (OIB) areas on the plot of 206Pb/204Pb vs 207Pb/204Pb than on the plot of 206Pb/204Pb vs 208Pb/204Pb. The compositions of Pb- and Sr-isotopes of these high-pressure metamorphic rocks are between that of enriched mantle 1(EMI) and of sediments or upper crust. A notable characteristic can be seen from plots of Pb-isotope ratio vs Pb-isotope ratio and 206Pb/204Pb vs 87Sr/86Sr that array of plots shows an evident tendency of mixture of two end members. Ratios of Rb/Ba, Ce/Pb, Nb/U and Ta/U of high-pressure veins and host rocks are between that of OIB or MORB and that of continental crust, which indicates that continental crust materials probably have been incorporated into the rocks. The fluids in the paleosubduction zones in western Tianshan are mixtures of two sources, one originating from the devolatilzation of the host rocks with protolithes similar to ocean basalts from enriched mantle 1 (EMI), the other from the dehydration of subducted sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]