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The corrosion resistance of the cooling water channel in the water-cooled mold has an important impact on the application of the mold. In this paper, the influence of experimental temperature on roughness and corrosion resistance of U-shaped cooling channels prepared by casting is analyzed in detail. The results show that the experimental temperature increased from 998K to 1048K, the hole wall roughness of the U-shaped hole decreased from 83.264 to 76.287. However, the hole wall roughness increased with a further increase in temperature. Because the low experimental temperature will promote the formation of micro bulges and river ripples on the hole wall. However, with the temperature gradually increased, it will promote the aluminum matrix to react with the carbon fiber, which will increase the roughness. The corrosion performance analysis results show that a reasonable experimental temperature is beneficial to reduce the roughness of the hole wall and improve the corrosion resistance of the cooling channel. When the roughness is large, the ravines on the rough surface are easy to be the starting point of corrosion. At the same time, it is easy to cause the aggregation of Si elements to the hole wall at high experimental temperature, which will also cause corrosion. As a result, reasonable experimental temperature plays an important role in improving the corrosion resistance of the U-shaped cooling channel.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were successfully synthesized by different extracts of Lavandula stoechas, which have an antibacterial effect on pathogenic strains, such as Candida albicans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. Among them, AgNPs-E4 that synthesized by EtOAc extract (E4) have greater antibacterial activity than that by other extracts. The highest inhibition zone diameter (18.6 mm) appeared in C. albicans, at a dosage of 1,000 ppm AgNPs-E4. It was identified as optimal antibacterial AgNPs, which are spherical in shape with an average size at 35.5 nm and maximum absorbance peak at 525 nm. The combined use of penicillin G and AgNPs-E4 exhibited a significant synergistic inhibition effect on the growth of C. albicans, which could produce a maximum inhibition zone of about 21.0 mm. Synergism between antibiotics and AgNPs-E4 was greater than the sum of their individual effects on pathogenic strains. Also, vancomycin, tetracycline, and AgNPs-E4 have slight or no inhibition effect on Escherichia coli. But combined use of the above antibiotics and AgNPs-E4 could exhibit antibacterial activity against E. coli, and the inhibition zone achieved 14.5 and 12.6 mm, respectively, suggesting combined use was able to realize antibacterial effect from nonexistence to pass into existence. HPLC analysis revealed polyphenols were the main compositions of EtOAc extract (E4), such as oleanolic fruit-12-en-3-ol, 19-hydroxyl wusu ester, and lanolin-8-en-3-alcohol. These polyphenols might be particularly useful for the synthesis of antibacterial AgNPs. Therefore, AgNPs synthesized by EtOAc extract of L. stoechas have potential value as antimicrobial agents and also enhance the antibacterial activity of antibiotics by combined use.

In this paper, a hydrothermal synthesis method synthesized a foamed nickel (NF)-supported Ag-doped Ag2S@MoS2 hydrogen evolution catalyst. Silver doping can improve the conductivity of MoS2, thereby improving the hydrogen evolution activity of MoS2. Compared with a single MoS2, the Ag2S@MoS2 electrode has a larger specific surface area and has many highly catalytic S edges. In 1 M KOH, the overpotential of Ag2S@Ag0.33MoS2/NF electrode at 10 mA cm−2 is approximately 188 mV. Comparing with the overpotential of NF (391 mV) and MoS2/NF (290 mV), it is much lower. Further changing the amount of silver added, the overpotential of Ag2S@Ag0.5MoS 2/NF is further reduced to 165 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2. When the voltage is 0.35 V, the current densities of Ag2S@Ag0.33MoS2/NF (42.45 mA cm−2) and Ag2S@Ag0.5MoS2/NF (55.5 mA cm−2) are higher than those of NF (4.91 mA cm−2) and MoS2/NF (20.51 mA cm−2).

Chemical investigation of Paxillus involutus (Batsch) Fr. led to the isolation of a pair of new enantiomers (E)-5-(4-methoxy-2-oxo-2H-pyran-6-yl)pent-4-en-1-yl 2-hydroxypropanoate (1a/1b) along wit...

Wild edible mushrooms are important as a source of nutraceuticals and for the discovery of bioactive metabolites as pharmaceuticals. In this work, 10 rare 2,5-diarylcyclopentenone derivatives were isolated from the wild edible mushroom Paxillus involutus (Batsch) Fr., including eight novel compounds termed involutenone A-H (1-8) and two previously identified compounds (9-10). Their structures were established using high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy and 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance data. The absolute configurations of compounds 1-3 and 6-8 were assigned based on the comparison of the experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism data. The antioxidant activities of 1-8 were tested through DPPH free radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging, and superoxide anion radical scavenging assays. Compounds 3, 5, 6, and 7 demonstrated significant antioxidant activity compared to the positive control (tert-butylhydroquinone). These compounds could be effective natural antioxidants with considerable pharmaceutical value.

Controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer (CRNF) can effectively enhance crop yields and raise the efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer in agroecosystems. In the present study, the volatilization of NH3 was determined by airflow enclosure chamber technique after the application of different CRNF rates in double-cropping rice fields in southern China for continuous 3 years. The early and late season rice (ESR and LSR) were cultivated each year. The results showed that the total NH3 volatilization losses ranged from 25 to 56 kg N ha−1 in ESR and from 32 to 61 kg N ha−1 in LSR. The loss of N to the total applied N ranged from 12 to 29% in ESR and from 12 to 27% in LSR. The application of CRNF significantly reduced the cumulative NH3 volatilization losses by 20–43% for ESR and by 20–32% for LSR compared with conventional urea application. CRNF in LSR was less effective to reduce NH3 volatilization than that in ESR. Furthermore, the application of 80% of N rate in the form of CRNF gave higher grain yield and apparent nitrogen recovery efficiency (ANRE) than that of application of 100% of N rate from conventional urea. CRNF can effectively reduce NH3 volatilization, and increase rice yield and ANRE. Considering higher price of CRNF, the application of CRNF at lower (20% applied N) rate than conventional urea in LSR may be a reasonable fertilization strategy for improving N use efficiency, environment effectiveness, and sustaining the development of rice production systems in double-cropping rice.

In this study, we investigated the use of nematode-infected Pinus massoniana chips (NPC) as the main ingredient in Pleurotus abieticola substrate. The effects of different substrate formulas on nutritional parameters, including total sugars, polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, amino acids, and fatty acids were assessed. The results indicated that NPC was suitable for P. abieticola cultivation. However, the addition of certain amounts of corncobs (CC) and cottonseed hulks (CH) improved the yield. Substrate T5 (45% NPC, 6% CC, and 27% CH) had the greatest yield (121.38 g per bag), 34.56% greater than the yield of the control (78% poplar chips), which was 79.43 g per bag. Across the 11 substrate formulas tested, the total sugar, polysaccharide, crude protein, and crude lipid contents were 16.60–28.90%, 2.71–3.73%, 36.49–45.42%, and 1.03–4.34%, respectively. On all substrates, the fruiting bodies contained 17 amino acids, primarily glutamine (2.42–4.11%), followed by proline (2.56–3.73%), leucine (2.09–3.19%), phenylalanine (1.56–2.61%), and glycine (1.76–2.55%). The fruiting bodies contained 12 fatty acids, of which linoleic acid was the most abundant (82.36%–84.03%), followed by palmitic acid (6.42%–6.89%) and oleic acid (5.50%–7.34%). The fatty acid content was closely associated with the NPC content, which might indicate that NPC promoted fatty acid accumulation. Thus, NPC represents a new substrate suitable for P. abieticola cultivation.

In this study, the color of the dry fruiting bodies, fresh weight (FW): dry weight (DW) ratio, amino acids, and total phenolics, which are of nutritional or commercial interest, were compared among different drying temperature treatments. The effect of rehydration methods and color protection reagents on the fruiting body color, polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity, and browning inhibition rate were evaluated. The results showed that drying with hot air at 65℃ was quickest and resulted in a better color without compromising the FW:DW ratio and rehydration ratio of the fruiting bodies. Furthermore, some reactions that occurred under high temperatures increased the content of protein, amino acids, and total phenolics. Soaking after boiling was the most suitable rehydration method, leading to the lowest PPO activity (39.87 ± 1.35 U/g). All of the four analyzed color protection reagents could significantly inhibit the browning of Yu Muer fruiting bodies under room temperature water rehydration conditions, with a citric acid content of 6 g/L showing the best performance. These results provide technical support for the development of the Yu Muer industry and for promoting the commercial processing of Yu Muer fruiting bodies slices.

Exogenous elicitors can influence accumulation of triterpenoids by regulating FPS (farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase) in Inonotus obliquus, such as birch bark (BB), birch rhizosphere soil (BS), Frankia alni (FA), and Rhizobium indigoferae (RI). Among them, the highest yield of biomass (15.6 mg/mL) could be detected by treatment with RI at 2 µg/mL for 10 d, about 2.1-fold of the control. Results showed the significant effect of elicitors on accumulation of triterpenoids by regulating FPS expression level. RI stimulated mycelium to achieve the highest accumulation of triterpenoids about 48.2 mg/g, which was about over 4-fold of the control (9.5 mg/g). Its effect on FPS expression level was greater than that of others, which was about over 10-fold of the control. However, accumulation of triterpenoids and FPS expression level were clearly down-regulated under treatment with BS. In addition, two endogenous factors (H2O2 and NO) in I. obliquus could affect accumulation of triterpenoids by regulating FPS expression level. Effect of RI on H2O2 and NO contents were higher than that of others, about 3.5-fold of the control. The minimum value of H2O2 content was detected by treatment with BS for 10 d, which was about 0.5-fold of the control. RI that assist with CAT (catalase) and SNP (sodium nitroprusside dehydrate) could stimulate triterpenoid contents to achieve highest accumulation, which was about 5.5-fold of the control. Fluctuation of H2O2 and NO content seems to play a pivotal role in accumulation of triterpenoids by regulating FPS expression level.

A Gram-stain positive, motile, aerobic and rod-shaped strain (MIC A30T) was isolated from river sediment in Yuantouzhu park, Wuxi City, China. Growth occurred at 20–40 °C, at pH 6.0–9.0 and at 0–5.0% NaCl. Strain MIC A30T was moderately related to Arthrobacter liuii CGMCC 1.12778T (97.9%), Arthrobacter pokkaliiT (97.9%) and Arthrobacter globiformis NBRC 12137T (96.7%) by 16S rRNA analysis. The DNA–DNA relatedness values between strain MIC A30T and these reference strains were below 30%. The DNA G+C content was 63.1 mol%. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) and genome-to-genome distance (GGD) values between strain MIC A30T and A. liuii CGMCC 1.12778T were 60.34% and 29.39%, respectively. Quinone was identified as MK-9(H2). Major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylglycerol. Major fatty acids were iso-C15:0, anteiso-C15:0 and anteiso-C17:0. Whole-cell sugars were galactose, mannose and rhamnose. The cell wall peptidoglycan contained A4α peptidoglycan type with lysine as the diagnostic diamino acid. Based on several taxonomic results, strain MIC A30T is identified as a novel species in genus Arthrobacter, whose name is proposed as Arthrobacter sedimenti sp. nov. The type strain is MIC A30T (= KACC 19599T = CGMCC 1.13474T).

In this study, biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) by using Eurotium cristatum, isolated from Fuzhuan brick-tea and its antibacterial activity has been demonstrated. AgNPs were characterized at 425 nm as maximum absorbance peak by ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry. The images of transmission electron microscopy revealed that AgNPs are spherical shape with at 15–20 nm in size. The X-ray diffraction pattern corresponding to planes (111), (200), (220), (311), and (222) demonstrated the crystalline nature of AgNPs. Fourier transform infrared spectrum showed that functional groups involved in reduction of silver ions to metal nanoparticles. For antibacterial application, AgNPs showed antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, and Bacillus subtilis. It also acted synergistically with various antibiotics to inhibit growth of pathogenic strains, which produced an effect greater than the sum of their individual effects. For neomycin with no resistance to C. albicans, it combined with AgNPs, which had significant synergistic effect against C. albicans, with maximum inhibitory zone at 20.9 mm, which was 2.5-fold greater than that of AgNPs alone (8.2 mm). Other antibiotics combined with AgNPs also existed similar synergistic effect. Therefore, AgNPs-synthesized by E. cristatum could enhance antibacterial activity in combination with antibiotics against pathogenic strains through synergistic effects. It might provide a new strategy for treatment of resistant bacteria.

The rational nitrogen (N) application rate for crops depends not only on yield but also on the environmental cost of N loss to the surrounding ecological environment. To explore the environmental and economic optimal N rate (EEONR) for dryland maize in the hilly areas of southern China, a field experiment was conducted with spring maize from 2015 to 2017. Common urea (CU, control, 240 kg N ha−1) and four polymer-coated urea (PCU) fertilization levels (100PCU, 90PCU, 80PCU, 70PCU, which respectively denotes 0, 10%, 20% and 30% reduction of PCU–N application based on the control) were employed in this trial. Maize yield, N loss and economic return were investigated over 3 years. The results were as follows: (1) relative to CU, a 0–20% reduction in the PCU-N application rate did not significantly affect the maize yield during the three consecutive years, however, a 30% reduction in the PCU-N application rate led to significant yield loss in the third year despite the consistent yields achieved in the first 2 years. (2) PCU application significantly abated N loss to the environment, and as N application rate decreased, N loss significantly reduced. Our results showed that a 0–30% reduction in the PCU-N application rate mitigated N loss by 12.8–46.1% via N2O, NH3, runoff and leaching, and the two main N-loss pathways were leaching (55.2–62.2%) and NH3 volatilization (29.8–36.0%). (3) A 0–30% reduction in the PCU-N application rate resulted in a deficit, ranging from 784 to 2438 CNY ha−1 for increased earnings over CU because of the high purchase price of PCU. The net economic benefit was calculated from the N input cost, yield economic income and environment cost of N lost in the treatments with 0, 10%, 20% and 30% reduction of PCU-N and were − 1820 to 14,479, 402 to 14,612, 2306 to 14,613, and 3941 to 14,205 CNY ha−1, respectively, and the net economic benefit of the CU plot was − 4003 to 14,671 CNY ha−1. In summary, our findings suggest that reducing the PCU-N application rate by 20% is a reasonable EEONR for spring maize cultivation in hilly areas of southern China.

In this study, ten clinical susceptible strains and ten clinical ESBL-EC (extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli) were screened and obtained by microbial identification using ITEK® 2 Compact. TMT (Tandem Mass Tag) proteomics analysis discovered 1553 DEPs (differentially expressed proteins) between ESBL-EC and non-ESBL-EC. In addition, an untargeted metabolomics assay by using UHPLC-MS (ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry) was applied to compare the differential profiles of metabolites between β-lactam antibiotic-sensitive E. coli and multidrug-resistant ESBL-producing E. coli strains. The PCA (principal component analysis) score plots and OPLS-DA (orthogonal projections to latent structures discriminant analysis) plots clearly discriminated ESBL-EC and non-ESBL-EC, and volcano analysis presented 606 and 459 altered metabolites between ESBL-EC vs. non-ESBL-EC in positive and negative ion modes, respectively. Interestingly, the bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that the purine metabolism pathway was enriched in ESBL-EC. These results suggest that the existence of extended-spectrum β-lactamase affects the metabolite and protein profiles of E. coli. The correlation analysis of metabolomics and proteomics data established a correlation between DEPs and differential metabolites in the purine metabolism pathway. Moreover, three metabolite candidates in the purine metabolism pathway were validated by the UPLC-MRM-MS (ultra-performance liquid chromatography multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry) method. Our data suggest that these DEPs and differential metabolites may play important roles in the antibiotic resistance of ESBL-EC. Our study can provide scientific data for the mechanism study of antibiotic resistance of ESBL-EC at the metabolite and protein levels and targeting modulators to these pathways may be effective for treatment of ESBL-EC strains.

Using agro-residues in bioreactors to produce mushrooms is an important component of eco-agriculture. Here, we tested the cultivation of Lentinula edodes with corn cob (CC) and corn straw (CS), and then evaluated the resulting enzyme activities, agronomic traits, textures and nutrient compositions of mushrooms. Laccase (T1 formula, 3.26 g U−1) and carboxymethyl cellulase (T3 formula, 1.01 g U−1) activities were the highest at the time for a complete substrate colonization stage (TCSC), while acidic xylanase activity was the highest (CK formula, 4.05 g U−1) in the mushroom block to color-turned (TMBCT) stage. The biological efficiency of growth on the T6 formula was 8.82% higher than growth on the CK formula, wherein the low C/N ratio of the substrate had an obvious negative effect on yield while the mass ratio of pileus (MRP) of fruiting bodies did not change with mixed substrates. No significant differences were observed in mineral composition for CK formulas, but corn crop waste (CCW) formulas exhibited more optimal nutritional contents. A formula containing more corn cob and sawdust (SD) (sum of at least 70%) as the substrate can produce fruiting bodies with good hardness. These results indicate that the use of corn cobs as the main ingredient, mixed with sawdust and corn straw to grow L. edodes provides a more efficient use of agro-residues for growth. Thus, mixed agro-residue formulas have exceptional advantages in texture, nutrition of fruiting bodies, and yields.

Iron (Fe3+) is one of the most essential elements in the human body; deficiency or overdose of Fe3+ may have adverse effects on human health and immunity. Hence, it is essential to establish a sensitive and selective method for ion detection. In this study, novel green fluorescent N-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) were prepared with caffeic acid as the carbon source via a simple hydrothermal method. The solution of the as-prepared N-CDs exhibits 21.5% quantum yield, good salt stability, excellent water solubility, low cytotoxicity and good photobleaching resistance. The N-CDs can be used as a fluorescent probe for the detection of Fe3+ ions in aqueous solutions and bioimaging in living cells.

Volvariella volvacea, with high commercial, nutritional and medicinal value, is widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions. The effects of supplementation on mushroom yield has been studied. We showed that the optimal application of sodium acetate (NaAc) was spray application of a 0.08% concentration during the substrate mixing stage which could increase yields by up to 89.16% and enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose from the substrate. For most enzymes tested maximum activity occurred during the fruiting body growth and development stage, which led to degradation of the substrate, increasing the available nutrients for mycelial propagation and fruiting body growth and development. Meanwhile, NaAc also significantly increased the indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) content in the early fruiting body development stage of V. volvacea, It was observed that IAA promotes not only plant primordium differentiation; but also the primordium differentiation of edible fungi. Furthermore, treatments with three acetate salts had an increase of yield by 30.22% on average. The mechanisms by which NaAc application may improve the yield of V. volvacea are discussed.

The medicinal fungus Sanghuangporus vaninii can be cultivated in large scale and has outstanding antitumour activity. In this study, water-soluble S. vaninii polysaccharides (SVPs) were extracted from fruiting bodies. Four polysaccharide sub-fractions (SVP-W, SVP-1, SVP-2 and SVP-3) were isolated, with molecular weights from 90.50 kDa to 261.70 kDa, and all inhibited the proliferation of non-small cell lung cancer cell lines A549, 95-D and NCI-H460, especially the acidic SVP-1. SVP-1 affected cell morphology and colony formation in NCI-H460 cells. It also promoted cell apoptosis following nuclear fluorescence staining and flow cytometry. Methylation and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses revealed that SVP-1 is a heteroglycan with the main chain →4)-β-D-Glcp-(1 → 6)-β-D-Glcp-(1 → 6)-α-D-Galp-(1 → 6)-β-D-Glcp-(1→, and the branched chain α-D-Manp-(1 → 2)-α-D-Manp-(1 → 3)-β-D-Glcp-(1 → 3,6)-β-D-Glcp-(1→. The findings indicate that this natural acidic polysaccharide has potential for non-small cell lung cancer therapy.

A series of novel trimethoxyphenyl-derived chalcone-benzimidazolium salts were synthesized. The biological properties of the compounds were screened in vitro against five different human tumor cell lines. The results suggest that the 5,6-dimethyl-benzimidazole or 2-methyl-benzimidazole ring as well as the 2-naphthylmethyl, 4-methylbenzyl, or 2-naphthylacyl substituent at position-3 of the benzimidazole ring was important to the cytotoxic activity. Notably, (E)-5,6-dimethyl-3-(naphthalen-2-ylmethyl)-1-(3-(4-(3-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)acryloyl)phenoxy)propyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-3-ium bromide (7f) was more selective to HL-60, MCF-7, and SW-480 cell lines with IC50 values 8.0-, 11.1-, and 5.8-fold lower than DDP. Studies of the antitumor mechanism of action showed that compound 7f could induce cell-cycle G1 phase arrest and apoptosis in SMMC-7721 cells.

The emerging titanium coagulants are increasingly utilized for water purification due to their strong coagulation capability. Coagulated sludge recovery is one of the most serious environmental cha...

Urea is commonly over-applied as a nitrogen (N) fertilizer to crops in southern China and has a low utilization efficiency as a result of the high precipitation and high temperatures in this region. This has led to a need to optimize the management of N fertilizer use in maize crops on the subtropical hilly uplands of southern China. RESULTS We investigated the effects of applying different amounts of N in the form of polymer-coated urea (PCU) on the yield of maize and gaseous losses of N from soils in the form of NH3 and ABO. The field plots used in this trial had zero-added N (0?kg?N?ha?1), the addition of urea (240?kg?N?ha?1) and four levels of fertilization with PCU (1 PCU, 0.9 PCU, 0.8 PCU and 0.7 PCU), which represented a 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% reduction, respectively, in the application of PCU-N relative to the urea plot. Compared to the urea plot, there was little variation in the yield of maize for all the PCU-N treatments, with a significant improvement in the utilization efficiency of N (up to 46.0?51.2%) with a 0?30% reduction in the application of PCU-N. Significant effects in the mitigation of the ABO emission flux and the accumulation of ABO-N were observed in the 0.8 PCU and 0.7 PCU plots. The application of PCU-N significantly reduced the flux and total amount of NH3-N lost to the environment: as the application rate for N decreased by 0?30%, the NH3 loss was significantly reduced by 12.7?36.1%. CONCLUSION The findings of the present study suggest that the use of PCU could allow a reduction in the application of N of 20?30% compared to traditional agricultural practices in this area with the same yield of maize, although with significantly decreased NH3 and ABO losses and the increased utilization of N. ? 2018 Society of Chemical Industry

Stimuli-responsive organic luminescence-switching materials have attracted much attention for a decade. Most of the reported examples display a reversible two-color luminescence switching, and multicolor-switching materials remain extremely rare. Herein, we report a simple organic molecule, 4,4'-(9,9-dimethyl-9H-fluorene-2,7-diyl)dipyridine (MFDP), which exhibits three different crystal polymorphs (V-MFDP, B-MFDP and G-MFDP) with different luminescent colors. Furthermore, the three crystal polymorphs show a reversible tricolor fluorescent switching from violet to blue and to green upon physical stimuli. The single-crystal structures of the three polymorphs were obtained, and the results indicate that the stimuli-responsive properties of the three polymorphs come from the different stacking modes induced by intermolecular interactions. The competition between weak π-π stacking and weak hydrogen bonding is the main reason for the the phase transformations among the three crystal polymorphs.

Environmental pollution is one of the largest sources responsible for human diseases and premature death worldwide. However, the methodological development of a spatiotemporally controllable and high-throughput investigation of the environmental pollution-induced biological injury events is still being explored. In this study, we describe a chemical gradient generator-aided microfluidic cell system for the dynamic study of representative environmental pollutant-induced bronchial epithelium injury in a throughput manner. We demonstrated the stability and reliability of operation-optimized microfluidic system for precise and long-term chemical gradient production. We also performed a microenvironment-controlled microfluidic bronchial epithelium construction with high viability and structure integration. Moreover, on-chip investigation of bronchial epithelium injury by benzopyrene stimulation with various concentrations can be carried out in the single device. The varying bronchial inflammatory and cytotoxic responses were temporally monitored and measured based on the well-established system. The benzopyrene directionally led the bronchial epithelium to present observable cell shrinkage, cytoskeleton disintegration, Caspase-3 activation, overproduction of reactive oxygen species, and various inflammatory cytokine (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-8) secretion, suggesting its significant inflammatory and cytotoxic effects on respiratory system. We believe the microfluidic advancement has potential applications in the fields of environmental monitoring, tissue engineering, and pharmaceutical development.

Wild mushrooms are an important source of secondary metabolites possessing a broad range of biological activities. In this study, eight new compounds, named furanopaxin A–F (1–6), deoxybisinvolutone (7), and coumarinvol (8) along with two known compounds were isolated from fruiting bodies of the wild mushroom Paxillus involutus (Batsch) Fr. Their structures were established based on HR-ESI-MS and 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic data. The results of hypoglycemic assays indicated that compounds 5–8 possessed significant α-glucosidase inhibitory activities, with IC50 values ranging from 14.65 ± 1.68 to 47.55 ± 1.47 μM, and each compound could enhance glucose consumption in insulin-resistance HepG2 cells. Further analysis by molecular docking implied that compounds 5–8 could interact with the amino acid residues of α-glucosidase, supporting the hypoglycemic activity of the compounds.

For controlling heavy metal pollution, the utilization of carboxylic acids (CAs) combined with sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) for continuous and stable remediation of Cr (VI)-contaminated soil was comprehensively investigated. At pH 3, citrate and lactate had photocatalysis characteristics that enabled them to reduce high Cr (VI) concentrations. The reduction efficiencies of citrate and lactate were 99.16–100% and 80.78–87.00%, respectively. In the 40 mg L−1 Cr (VI) treatment, the total Cr adsorption rate of soil was 61.39–68.31%; as the pH increased, the Cr species adsorption capacity of the soil decreased. Following the addition of exogenous 100 mg L−1 Cr (VI), the Cr (VI) content of re-contaminated soil was reduced to 16.2734 ± 0.9505 mg L−1 or 15.8618 mg kg−1 by adding citrate or lactate. Then, using SRB via culture by mulching, addition of citrate or lactate markedly reduced the toxicity of Cr (VI). The respective citrate or lactate treatments had sulfur concentrations of sulfide from deep soil (high-sulfide layer) of 70.54 ± 17.59 and 98.85 ± 13.84 mg kg−1, respectively, and released Cr (VI) concentrations of 0.22 ± 0.25 and 3.64 ± 3.32 mg kg−1, respectively, due to oxidation upon air exposure. We used a two-stage remediation strategy for these treatments: First, CAs were used for photocatalytic reduction to reduce Cr (VI); next, CAs were utilized as carbon sources by SRB, which further reduced Cr (VI) and stabilized Cr species. In addition, citrate was more conducive than lactate to maintaining the stability of the soil microbial community. The results show that this method has potential in the remediation of Cr (VI)-contaminated soil.

Titanium-based coagulation has proved to be effective for algae-laden micro-polluted water purification processes. However, the influence of algae inclusion in surface water treatment by titanium coagulation is barely reported. This study reports the influence of both Microcystis aeruginosa and Microcystis wesenbergii in surface water during polytitanium coagulation. Jar tests were performed to evaluate coagulation performance using both algae-free (controlled) and algae-laden water samples, and floc properties were studied using a laser diffraction particle size analyzer for online monitoring. Results show that polytitanium coagulation can be highly effective in algae separation, removing up to 98% from surface water. Additionally, the presence of algae enhanced organic matter removal by up to 30% compared to controlled water containing only organic matter. Polytitanium coagulation achieved significant removal of fluorescent organic materials and organic matter with a wide range of molecular weight distribution (693–4945 Da) even in the presence of algae species in surface water. The presence of algae cells and/or algal organic matter is likely to function as an additional coagulant or flocculation aid, assisting polytitanium coagulation through adsorption and bridging effects. Although the dominant coagulation mechanisms with polytitanium coagulant were influenced by the coagulant dosage and initial solution pH, algae species in surface water could enhance the charge neutralization capability of the polytitanium coagulant. Algae-rich flocs were also more prone to breakage with strength factors approximately 10% lower than those of algae-free flocs. Loose structure of the flocs will require careful handling of the flocs during coagulation-sedimentation-filtration processes. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

In this study, we aimed to clarify the role of PIM-1 in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) in vitro and investigate the relationship between PIM-1 and redox proteins (NOX4, SOD2, and GPX2) at the tissue and cellular levels. As a PIM-1 inhibitor, SGI-1776 inhibited cell proliferation, colony formation, migration and induced an increase in apoptosis and reactive oxygen species in two PTC cell lines (BCPAP and TPC-1). The expressions of PIM-1, SOD2 and GPX2 were downregulated after siNOX4 exposure. Immunohistochemistry in 120 PTC patients showed that all four proteins exhibited higher expression levels in PTC tissues than in adjacent normal tissues. PIM-1 expression was related to NOX4, SOD2, and GPX2 expressions. The Cancer Genome Atlas database analysis showed the significant correlation between the expression of NOX4 and PIM-1. Our results demonstrated that PIM-1 played an important oncogenic role in PTC carcinogenesis that may be related to oxidative stress.

Blue light is an important environmental factor that induces mushroom primordium differentiation and fruiting body development. Although blue-light treatment has been applied for the production of oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus), the blue-light response mechanisms of P. ostreatus still remain unclear. In the present study, we exposed the primordium of P. ostreatus to blue-light, red-light, and dark conditions for 7 days. Subsequently, comparative transcriptomics analysis of the stipe, pileus, and gill under the three light conditions was performed to reveal the gene expression response mechanism of P. ostreatus to blue light and red light. The results showed that blue light enhanced the growth and development of all the three organs of P. ostreatus, especially the pileus. In contrast, red light slightly (non-significantly) inhibited pileus growth. When compared with red-light and dark treatments, blue-light treatment significantly upregulated gene expression involved in glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, the pentose phosphate pathway and the peroxisome in the pileus, but not in the gill or stipe. Most of the glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathway genes were upregulated in the pileus by blue light. When compared with dark treatment, red-light treatment downregulated the expression of many respiration metabolism genes in the pileus. These results revealed that blue light enhanced the activation of glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway, whereas red light weakened glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathway activation. The conclusion can be drawn that blue light improved P. ostreatus fruiting body (particularly, the pileus) growth rate via enhancement of glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway.

Thermal energy storage technology based on phase change materials (PCMs) is promising for temperature regulation and thermal energy storage. However, the applications of organic PCMs are hindered from their leakage issue. Encapsulating PCMs in microcapsules with polymer shell could effectively prevent the leakage of PCMs and enhance heat conduction. Herein, PCM microcapsules with melamine–formaldehyde resin (MF) as shell were prepared via cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) stabilized Pickering emulsion in-situ polymerization. CNCs were chosen as emulsifiers of Pickering emulsion and reinforcing nanofillers of MF shell due to their outstanding emulsifying ability, mechanical strength, and sustainability. Paraffin wax (PW) and n-octadecane (C18) were employed as PCMs, respectively. The prepared PCM microcapsules are in diameter of 4 μm with a tunable thickness of MF shell. The phase change enthalpy of PW and C18 microcapsules are as high as 164.8 and 185.1 J/g, corresponding to PCM core material content of 87.0 and 84.3%, respectively. PCM microcapsules are stable below 200 ℃ and display a retention rate of the phase change enthalpy reach up to 99.7% after 200 cycles of heating–cooling. Moreover, the PCM microcapsules are self-extinguishing due to the flame-retardant properties of MF shell. The promising applications of PCM microcapsules in the field of temperature regulation were also demonstrated.

Hypochlorous acid plays a very important role in living cells, because it can resist microorganism attack and has a lethal effect on pathogens. The unnormal generation of ClO- can cause tissue damage and corresponding diseases. Detection of ClO- is very necessary in biological systems. In this article, we respectively hybridized the two different water-soluble coumarin (7-hydroxycoumarin and 7-diethylaminocoumarin) fluorophores with a longer-wavelength emissive rhodamine fluorophore to construct an intergrant, and then isothiocyanate was modified with the intergrant to recognized ClO-. The two ratiometric fluorescent probes RHClO-1 and RHClO-2 were developed for ClO- detecting with high selectivity and sensitivity. Especially, the probe RHClO-2 has lower detection limit (42 nM) for ClO- in 5 s. What's more, the probe RHClO-2 was successfully used in monitoring endogenous ClO- in living cells.

In order to investigate the continuous reverse-flow oxidation of ultralow heating value coalbed methane, a two-dimensional mathematical mode for the continuous reverse-flow oxidation of ultralow heating value coalbed methane was set up. The software FLUENT was used to simulate the thermal structure of the oxidation bed and the effect of operating conditional parameters. The result indicates that: the temperature field of oxidation bed presents trapezium. There exists obvious difference in temperature at the both ends of oxidation bed, and it is helpful to preheat the fresh gas and recover the flue gas heat. Comparing with the conventional porous media combustion, the continuous reverse-flow oxidation has lower peak temperature and outlet temperature, and the methane conversion rate remains high. With the increase of methane concentration, the high-temperature zone widens, the both of temperature and outlet temperature rise, and the reaction area moves to inlet continuously. As the inlet velocity increases, the peak of temperature and outlet temperature both rises significantly, and the reaction area shifts toward to outlet continuously. With the increase of wall heat loss, the peak of temperature and the whole temperature of oxidation bed both reduce, the high-temperature zone becomes narrow obviously, and the reaction area is far away from the inlet.

A Gram-stain positive, aerobic, non-motile, endospore-forming and rod-shaped strain (THG-NT9T) was isolated from a green tea sample. Growth occurred at 20–45 °C (optimum 28–35 °C), at pH 6.0–8.0 (optimum 7.0) and at 0–2.0% NaCl (optimum 0%). Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the near phylogenetic neighbours of strain THG-NT9T were identified as Scopulibacillus daqui DSM 28236T (98.6%), Scopulibacillus darangshiensis DSM 19377T (97.4%), Pullulanibacillus pueri CGMCC 1.12777T (96.7%) and Pullulanibacillus camelliae CGMCC 1.15371T (96.3%). The DNA G + C content of strain THG-NT9T was determined to be 47.5 mol %. DNA–DNA hybridization values between strain THG-NT9T and S. daqui DSM 28236T, S. darangshiensis DSM 19377T, P. pueri CGMCC 1.12777T, P. camelliae CGMCC 1.15371T and Pullulanibacillus naganoensis DSM 10191T were 41.3 ± 0.1 (39.4 ± 0.4% reciprocal analysis), 39.1 ± 0.1 (37.3 ± 0.1%), 21.4 ± 0.7 (20.1 ± 0.3%), 20.7 ± 0.1 (20.1 ± 0.4%) and 12.1 ± 0.2% (8.3 ± 0.2%). The polar lipids were identified as diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and three unidentified lipids. The quinone was identified as MK-7. The major fatty acids were C18:3 ω7c, iso-C15:0, iso-C16:0, iso-C17:0 and anteiso-C17:0. The cell wall type was determined to be A1γ peptidoglycan with meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid plus alanine and glutamic acid and glucose as the cell wall sugar. On the basis of the phylogenetic analysis, chemotaxonomic data, physiological characteristics, and DNA–DNA hybridization data, strain THG-NT9T represents a novel species of the genus Scopulibacillus, for which the name Scopulibacillus cellulosilyticus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is THG-NT9T (= KCTC 33918T = CGMCC 1.16305T).

To identify wastewater treatment performance and evaluate membrane’s filtration behavior, the artificial azo dye methyl orange wastewater was treated via anaerobic baffled membrane bioreactor (ABMBR). After 4 cells of anaerobic treatment, the methyl orange was discolored completely with hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 17.20 h or 15.24 h, although the removal of total organic carbon (TOC) was not obvious. There was about 70% of TOC could be removed after MBR treatment even with shorter HRT. There were 7 kinds of identified intermediates from anaerobic and aerobic treatment processes, which indicated that there were two degradation pathways including demethylation and desulfonation. The operation time of this system lasted for 110 days under stable condition with only 2 times of membrane cleaning, because only 0.19–0.32 gMLSS/m2 of filter cake was accumulated on membrane surface. The zeta potential of solid surface analysis was used to identify membrane inorganic fouling successfully in this study because the zeta potential was changed regularly with organic and inorganic foulants removal processes.

A Gram-stain-positive, aerobic, non-motile and short-rod-shaped actinobacterium, designated THG-T121T, was isolated from forest soil. Growth occurred at 10–40 °C (optimum 28–30 °C), at pH 6–8 (optimum 7) and at 0–4 % NaCl (optimum 1 %). Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the nearest phylogenetic neighbours of strain THG-T121T were identified as Actinotalea ferrariae KCTC 29134T (97.9 %), Actinotalea fermentans KCTC 3251T (97.3 %), Cellulomonas carbonis KCTC 19824T (97.2 %). 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities among strain THG-T121T and other recognized species were lower than 97.0 %. The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, two phosphatidylinositol mannosides, one unidentified phospholipid, three unidentified glycolipids and one unidentified lipid. The isoprenoid quinone was menaquinone (MK-10(H4)). The major fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 1 A, C16 : 0, iso-C16 : 0, anteiso-C17 : 0 and iso-C17 : 0. The whole-cell sugars of strain THG-T121T were rhamnose, ribose, mannose and glucose. The peptidoglycan type of strain THG-T121T is A4β, containing l-Orn–D-Ser–L-Asp. The DNA G+C content of strain THG-T121T was 72.4 mol%. DNA–DNA hybridization values between strain THG-T121T and A. ferrariae KCTC 29134T, A. fermentans KCTC 3251T and C. carbonis KCTC 19824T were 30.2 % (27.3 %, reciprocal analysis), 28.4 %, (17.3 %) and 16.9 %, (9.3 %), respectively. On the basis of the phylogenetic analysis, chemotaxonomic data, physiological characteristics and DNA–DNA hybridization data, strain THG-T121T represents a novel species of the genus Actinotalea , for which the name Actinotalea solisilvae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is THG-T121T (=KACC 19191T=CGMCC 4.7389T).

Sialic acid (SA) located at the terminal end of glycans on cell membranes has been shown to play an important yet distinctive role in various biological and pathological processes. Effective methods for the facile, sensitive and in situ analysis of SA on living cell surfaces are of great significance in terms of clinical diagnostics and therapeutics. Here, a new polydiacetylene (PDA) liposome-based sensor system bearing phenylboronic acid (PBA) and 1,8-naphthalimide derived fluorophore moieties was developed as a fluorescence turn-on sensor for the detection of free SA in aqueous solution and the in situ imaging of SA-terminated glycans on living cell surfaces. In the sensor system, three diacetylene monomers, PCDA-pBA, PCDA-Nap and PCDA-EA, were designed and synthesized to construct the composite PDA liposome sensor. The monomer PCDA-pBA modified with PBA molecules was employed as a receptor for SA recognition, while the monomer PCDA-Nap containing a 1,8-naphthalimide derivative fluorophore was used for fluorescence signaling. When the composite PDA liposomes were formed, the energy transfer between the fluorophore and the conjugated backbone could directly quench the fluorescence of the fluorophore. In the presence of additional SA or SA abundant cells, the strong binding of SA with PBA moieties disturbed the pendent side chain conformation, resulting in the fluorescence restoration of the fluorophore. The proposed methods realized the fluorescence turn-on detection of free SA in aqueous solution and the in situ imaging of SA on living MCF-7 cell surfaces. This work provides a new potential tool for simple and selective analysis of SA on living cell membranes.

Open wounds have the risk of infections with bacteria, but the direct use of antibiotics and other antibacterial drugs may cause bacteria to develop resistance and invade the human immune system. Liposomes, micelles and hydrogels are common drug vectors, and currently the most widely used dressing for open wounds is hydrogel. As a highly cross-linked three-dimensional network material, hydrogel is considered to be a material that has the ability to efficiently load and release drugs. Wound dressings usually require materials with high biological activity, but some synthetic materials will inevitably face the problem of unsatisfactory biocompatibility. Hydrogel vectors prepared with peptide and peptide-like substances avoid this problem. At present, hydrogel vectors based on peptide and peptide-like substances have been widely used in medical fields such as drug delivery, sterilization, tissue engineering, and promotion of wound healing. In this review, we first roughly classified antibacterial hydrogels based on peptide and peptide-like substances as hydrogel vectors, introduced the applications of various types of hydrogels, and then briefly summarized the research progress of these hydrogels in medical fields such as treating wound infections and promoting wound healing. Finally, we predicted the application prospects of hydrogel vectors based on peptide and peptide-like substances in clinical medicine, and made a simple outlook.

Alternative method should be found to solve the ammonia accumulation in anaerobic digestion. Herein, electrode-dependent ammonium oxidation was successfully achieved in anaerobic single-chambered microbial electrolysis cells (MECs)under different low C/N ratios (0, 1, and 1.5), with an applied voltage of 0.6 V as well as an initial NH4+-N and NO3–-N concentration of 500 and 300 mg/L. The nitrogen removal performance of MECs and the controls indicated that applying a voltage stimulated nitrogen removal under low C/N ratios of 0, 1, and 1.5. However, the remaining organic carbon in MEC with a relatively higher C/N ratio of 3 inhibited the ammonium oxidation. Current changes and cyclic voltammetry demonstrated that the bioanode with several bioelectrochemical activities could promote ammonium oxidation. The dominant genera Truepera, Aquamicrobium, Nitrosomonas, Arenimonas, Comamonas, and Cryobacterium enriched on both electrodes could be the key functional taxa in MECs with C/N ratios of 0, 1, and 1.5. The remaining sodium acetate in MEC with C/N ratio of 3 inhibits microbial community structure and relative abundance, which may adversely affected nitrogen removal. Further caculation showed that nitrogen balance was essentially achieved, while electron balance was disrupted since electrons may be consumed through NO3−-N recycle and cell synthesis, and finally caused low coulombic efficiency.

Auricularia cornea cv. Yu Muer is a new edible mushroom with high nutritional value and economic value. In this study, we determined the effect of maize straw (MS) and wheat bran (WB) on the agronomic traits and nutritional content of A. cornea cv. Yu Muer, Thirteen substrate formulations of WB and MS, supplemented with oak sawdust, were compared. The addition of 15% WB to sawdust and a C/N ratio of 55-70 was found optimal for the cultivation of A. cornea cv. Yu Muer. The first flush yield was significantly higher for substrate C1 containing only MS (83%). The mushroom cultivated on substrate C4 (25% MS + 29.05% CS + 29.05% FS) had the highest yield (521.26 g) and biological efficiency (130%) compared to control. The protein content ranged from 10-12.5 g/100 g and total polysaccharide content from 24-32 g/100 g. Substrate formulas with different MS proportions had a significant increase in crude protein, crude fiber, total polysaccharides, crude fat, and ash content. The amount of MS added was positively correlated with protein and ash content of mushrooms. Based on agronomic traits and nutrient contents, MS could be used as a substitute for sawdust in cultivating A. cornea cv. Yu Muer.

This study examined the performances of Acorus calamus, Pontederia cordata, and Alisma plantagoaquatica in removing nitrogen (N) from farmland wastewater. P. cordata showed the fastest rate of N removal, followed by A. plantagoaquatica, whereas that of A. calamus was slowest. P. cordata and A. plantagoaquatica achieving a greater rate of TN reduction in soil than that by A. calamus. A. plantagoaquatica demonstrated the highest N adsorption capacity, 32.6% and 392.1% higher than that of P. cordata and A. calamus, respectively. The higher potential nitrification and denitrification rate, and abundance of functional genes in the P. cordata microcosm resulted in a stronger process of nitrification–denitrification, which accounted for 65.99% of TN loss. Plant uptake and nitrification–denitrification were responsible for 50.06% and 49.94% of TN removed within the A. plantagoaquatica. Nitrification-denitrification accounted for 86.35% of TN loss in A. calamus. These findings helped to insight into N removal mechanisms in different plants.

A Gram-stain positive, aerobic, non-motile, rod-shaped bacterium (THG-T1.18T) was isolated from desert soil. Growth occurred at 20–35 °C (optimum 28–30 °C), at pH 5–7 (optimum 7) and at 0–4 % NaCl (optimum 0–1 %). Based on 16S rRNA sequence analysis, the nearest phylogenetic neighbours of strain THG-T1.18T were identified as Chryseomicrobium amylolyticum DSM 23442T (96.6 %), Chryseomicrobium imtechense JCM 16573T (96.3 %) and Chryseomicrobium aureum KACC 17219T (96.1 %). The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, two unidentified aminolipids and one unidentified glycolipid. The quinone system was composed of MK-7, MK-8 and MK-6. The major fatty acids were iso C15 : 0 and anteiso C15 : 0. The type of peptidoglycan was A4β, containing of l-Orn–D-Glu. The DNA G+C content of strain THG-T1.18T was 50.4 mol%. DNA–DNA hybridization values between strain THG-T1.18T and C. amylolyticum DSM 23442T, C. imtechense JCM 16573T, C. aureum KACC 17219T were 24.7 % (20.1 % reciprocal analysis), 19.5 % (16.1 %) and 10.4 % (6.7 %) respectively. On the basis of the phylogenetic analysis, chemotaxonomic data, physiological characteristics and DNA–DNA hybridization data, strain THG-T1.18T represents a novel species of the genus Chryseomicrobium , for which the name Chryseomicrobium deserti sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is THG-T1.18T (=KACC 18929T=CCTCC AB 2016179T).

A Gram-stain-positive, aerobic, non-motile, short-rod shaped actinobacterium, designated THG-T2.14T, was isolated from soil sampled from the rhizosphere of mugunghwa. Growth occurred at 10–40 °C (optimum 30 °C), at pH 5.0–10.0 (optimum 7.0) and at 0–7.0 % NaCl (optimum 3.0 %). Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the nearest phylogenetic neighbours of strain THG-T2.14T were identified as Microbacterium yannicii DSM 23203T (98.8 %), Microbacterium trichothecenolyticum DSM 8608T (98.8 %), Microbacterium arthrosphaerae DSM 22421T (98.7 %) and Microbacterium jejuense KACC 17124T (98.4 %). The major fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C17 : 0 and iso-C16 : 0. The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, one unidentified lipid, two unidentified phospholipids and two unidentified phosphoglycolipids. The menaquinones were MK-12, and MK-13. The major polyamine was spermidine. The peptidoglycan contained ornithine, alanine, glycine, homoserine and glutamic acid. The diagnostic diamino acid was ornithine. The acyl type of the muramic acid was glycolyl. The whole-cell sugars were rhamnose, ribose, galactose, arabinose, xylose and glucose. The DNA G+C content of strain THG-T2.14T was 71.2 mol%. The DNA–DNA relatedness between strain THG-T2.14T and its closest reference strains were significantly lower than the threshold value of 70 %. On the basis of the phylogenetic analysis, chemotaxonomic data, physiological characteristics and DNA–DNA hybridization data, strain THG-T2.14T represents a novel species of the genus Microbacterium , for which the name Microbacterium hibisci sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is THG-T2.14T (=KACC 18931T=CCTCC AB 2016180T).

A Gram-stain-positive, pink-pigmented, coccus-shaped, strictly aerobic, non-motile bacterium, strain THG-AG1.5T, was isolated from rhizosphere of Hibiscus syriacus L. (Mugunghwa flower) located in Kyung Hee University, Yongin, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea. The isolated strain grew optimally at 25–30 °C, at pH 6.0–7.5 and in the presence of additional 0–1.5 % (w/v) NaCl. Strain THG-AG1.5T exhibited tolerance to UV radiation (>1500 J m−2) and to gamma radiation (>12 kGy). Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons, strain THG-AG1.5T was closely related to Deinococcus daejeonensis MJ27T (98.03 %), Deinococcus radiotolerans C1T (97.61 %) and Deinococcus grandis DSM 3963T (97.32 %). The genomic DNA G+C content of strain THG-AG1.5T was 74.8 mol%. The DNA–DNA hybridization values between strain THG-AG1.5T and its closest phylogenetically neighbours were below 63.0 %. The peptidoglycan amino acids were alanine, valine, glutamic acid, glycine, ornithine, lysine and aspartic acid. Strain THG-AG1.5T contained ribose, mannose and glucose as whole-cell-wall sugars and menaquinone-8 (MK-8) as the only isoprenoid quinone. The major component in the polyamine pattern was spermidine. The major polar lipids of strain THG-AG1.5T were a phosphoglycolipid, six unidentified glycolipids and an unidentified aminophospholipid. The major fatty acids were identified as iso-C15 : 0, C15 : 1ω6c, C16 : 0, iso-C17 : 0, C17 : 0, C18 : 0 and summed feature 3. On the basis of our polyphasic taxonomy study, strain THG-AG1.5T represents a novel species within the genus Deinococcus , for which the name Deinococcus hibisci sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is THG-AG1.5T (=KACC 18850T=CCTCC AB 2016078T).

A Gram-positive, aerobic, non-motile, rod-shapeds, catalase-positive, and oxidase-negative strain, designated Y49T, was isolated from sewage collected from Jilin Agricultural University, China. It grew at 20-40°C (optimum at 30°C), at pH 6.0-8.0 (optimum at 7.0) and at 0-1.0% sodium chloride (optimum at 0%). The major isoprenoid quinone was menaquinone-8 (MK-8) and the polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylmethylethanolamine, four unidentified lipids, and two unidentified aminolipids. The peptidoglycan was meso-diaminopimelic acid. The cell-wall sugars were galactose, arabinose, and glucose. The fatty acids were C9:0, C16:0, C16:1 ω9c, C17:1 ω9c, C18:3 ω6c (6,9,12), C18:1 ω9c, and C18:0. The DNA G+C content was 51.4 mol%. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the nearest phylogenetic neighbors of strain Y49T were Corynebacterium efficiens DSM 44549T (97.5%), Corynebacterium callunae DSM 20147T (97.2%), Corynebacterium deserti GIMN 1.010T (96.8%), Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032T (96.4%), and other species belonging to this genus (92.3-95.4%). The DNA-DNA relatedness value between strain Y49T and C. efficiens DSM 44549T, C. callunae DSM 20147T, C. deserti GIMN1.010T, and C. glutamicum ATCC 13032T was 25.5±2.0%, 21.1±1.0%, 16.5±0.5%, and 13.5±0.9%, respectively. Based on the phylogenetic analysis, chemotaxonomic data, physiological characteristics and DNA-DNA hybridization data, strain Y49T represents a novel species of the genus Corynebacterium, for which the name Corynebacterium defluvii sp nov. is proposed. The type strain is Y49T (= KCTC 39731T =CGMCC 1.15506T).

The immunization effect of Eurotium cristatum isolated from Fuzhuan brick-tea was evaluated. Ethyl acetate extraction (E2) had an increasing effect on T cell subset proportions. And then four compounds (physcion, echinulin, catenarin and emodin) were isolated from E. cristatum. The immunization effect of echinulin was observed through determining T cell subsets’ percentage, DNA synthesis and cytokine levels. It suggested that the immunization effect of compounds might work in relation to its structure. In addition, echinulin accelerated protein of p65, IκBα upregulation and nuclear translocation of p65 by the NF-κB signaling pathway. The result showed that the immunization effect of echinulin is closely related to the activation of NF-κB activity. Meanwhile echinulin increased transcript levels of p65 and IκBα in T cells at 200 μM (middle dosages group). It demonstrated that the immunization effection of echinulin on T cells is enhanced by activating NF-κB signaling pathway.

Hypothesis The unusual observation that addition of sodium dodecylsulfate surfactant to an aqueous nanoparticle dispersion slows down the decrease of air:water interfacial tension is attributed to the combined interactions of the nanoparticle with surfactant and surfactant at the air:water interface. Such dynamics are controlled by electrostatic interactions. Experiments The study of dynamics is achieved using the maximum bubble pressure measurement of surface tension from 0.1 s to 30 s. The NPs are assembled by Flash NanoPrecipitation with 5 kDa polyethylene glycol coronas, and cores of polystyrene, polydimethylsiloxane, or polycaprolactone. Anionic (sodium dodecylsulfate), cationic (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide), and non-ionic (decaethylene glycol monododecyl ether) surfactants are employed over concentration 10−4 to 10−2 mM. The zeta potentials of the NPs are measured with surfactants. Electrostatic repulsion between charged NPs and interface is calculated, as well as the adsorption energy. Findings This is the first report to quantitatively explain the effect of surfactants on the dynamics of NP assembly at an interface. An electrostatic energy barrier slows the adsorption kinetics for NPs when the NPs have the same charge as the interface. Increasing ionic strength of the solution reduces the electrostatic barrier. Decreasing interactions between the NP core material and the surfactant reduces the barrier. Our findings offer new insights into understanding of NP interfacial self-assembly dynamics in a complex environment.

A Gram-negative, motile, aerobic, and rod-shaped strain (MIC 1.5T) was isolated from soil in Changguangxi national wetland park. Growth occurred at 20–45 °C, at pH 6.0–8.0, and at 0–4.0% NaCl. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain MIC 1.5T was related to were identified as Luteimonas dalianensis CGMCC 1.12191T (95.3%), Luteimonas padinae DSM 101536T (94.5%), Luteimonas huabeiensis DSM 26429T (94.1%), and Luteimonas mephitis DSM 12574T (92.5%). The DNA-DNA relatedness values between strain MIC 1.5T , and these strains were well below 31%. The polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, and diphosphatidylglycerol. The DNA G+C content of strain MIC 1.5T was 66.3 mol%. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) and genome-to-genome distance (GGD) values between strain MIC 1.5T and L. dalianensis CGMCC 1.12191T were 65.39% and 29.52%, respectively. The quinone was identified as Q-8. The major fatty acids were iso-C15:0, iso-C15:0 3OH, and iso-C17:0 3OH and summed feature 3 (C16:1ω7c and/or iso-C15:0 2-OH). Based on the phylogenetic, physiological, and chemotaxonomic results, strain MIC 1.5T represents a novel species of the genus Luteimonas, for which the name Luteimonas cellulosilyticus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MIC 1.5T (= KACC 19469T = CCTCC AB 2017256T).

Disposable syringes were used in a novel point-of-care visual test for detecting pathogenic bacteria (Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella typhimurium). Hybrid nanoflowers composed of platinum nanoparticles and concanavalin A (Pt-nanoflowers) were prepared through a one-pot reaction and were found to be viable catalase mimics. They catalyze the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to generate O2. When used as labels in immunoassays, they integrate both the functions of biological recognition and signal amplification. The disposable syringe pressure readout was combined with Pt-nanoflower signal conversion and successfully applied to a visual bacteria detection scheme. Both Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella typhimurium can be quantified with detection limits of as low as 15 and 7 CFU·mL−1, respectively.