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MicroRNA-93 (miR-93) is an oncogene that promotes tumor growth and angiogenesis. However, its role in Parkinson's disease (PD) remains unknown. This study aimed at investigating the role of miR-93 in PD and the molecular mechanisms involved. 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1, 2, 3, 6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced PD mouse model and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-exposed BV2 cells were constructed. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of miR-93, iNOS, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α and TGF-β1. Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assay were used to predict and confirm the interaction between miR-93 and STAT3. Flow cytometry was used to detect cell apoptosis. Western blotting was used to detect the protein expression of STAT3. Immunohistochemistry was used to analyze the Iba1-positive and TH positive cells. It was found that the expression of miR-93 was down-regulated in LPS-exposed BV2 cells. Overexpression of miR-93 inhibited the expression of iNOS, IL-6 and TNF-α, while enhanced the expression of TGF-β1 and IL-10. The expression of transcriptional activator 3 (STAT3) was found to be up-regulated in LPS-exposed BV2 cells. Knockdown of STAT3 inhibited the expression of iNOS, IL-6 and TNF-α, while enhanced the expression of TGF-β1 and IL-10. Moreover, STAT3 was found to be a direct target of miR-93, and miR-93 overexpression inhibited the expression of STAT3. Furthermore, both miR-93 overexpression and STAT3 knockdown reduced LPS-induced BV2 cell apoptosis, whereas STAT3 overexpression eliminated the inhibitory effect of miR-93 on LPS-induced BV2 cell apoptosis. In addition, miR-93 overexpression inhibited MPTP-induced STAT3 expression, microglial activation and inflammatory reaction and reduced the loss of tyrosine hydroxylase in the substantia nigra of mice. In conclusion, we demonstrate that miR-93 may be involved in PD by regulating the expression of STAT3.

Rapid and sensitive pathogenic bacterial identification and isolation from complicated clinical specimens are of great importance for the early diagnosis and prevention of osteomyelitis. Herein, we proposed a novel methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) detection strategy through two specially designed streptavidin magnetic bead-based probes, including a capture probe and a report probe. In detail, the capture probe takes the responsibility to specially bind with the surface protein of MRSA and leads to the liberation of the promoter which could subsequently initiate report probe-based signal amplification. Afterward, the hybridization of the promoter probe with the report probe could then transform the protruding 3' terminus of template DNA in the report probe into a blunt end. With the assistance of Exo III, the template could be digested to liberate the promoter to form a recycle and to liberate the biprobe to induce the following rolling circle amplification (RCA)-based signal amplification. Through the integration of the Exo III-assisted recycle and RCA-based signal amplification, the proposed method exhibited a favorable detection performance.

A TiO2-based ternary oxide was synthesized as a visible-light photocatalyst (TiO2/ZrTiO4/SiO2, SZT) by introducing SiO2–ZrO2 into TiO2 through sol–gel method. The related material compositions and microstructures were characterized, and the optical and photochemical performances were evaluated and compared with pure anatase TiO2. By introducing SiO2–ZrO2, the grain size of TiO2 was reduced from 29.9 nm in the pure anatase phase to 11.5 nm in SZT, accompanied by the formation of ZrTiO4. Moreover, the synthesized SZT demonstrated greatly lowered photoluminescence intensity and electrochemical impedance, and significantly increased photocurrent. The new photocatalyst also exhibited superior adsorption and photocatalytic ability for RhB, and higher catalytic stability. The improved photodegradation performance was attributed to the enhanced charge transfer and charge carrier separation as a result of the refined grains, the formation of TiO2/ZrTiO4 heterojunction, and a higher amount of built-in oxygen vacancies.

Two novel lanthanide metal–organic frameworks (Ln-MOFs), formulated as {[Ln2(L2)2(H2O)5]•3H2O}n (Nd 1 and Eu 2) has been acquired under hydrothermal conditions, in which H3L2 ligand was derived fro...

Herein, SiO2-photonic crystal/TiO2 composite film (STF) with multilayer structure was designed and fabricated via self-assembly method and spin coating method. The micro-morphology and optical properties of the STF were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and UV/Vis/NIR spectrophotometer respectively. The photocatalytic activity of the STF was tested via the degradation rate of rhodamine B. The characterization results indicate that the STF has a regular ordered structure when the amount of ammonia is 3 mL and the concentration of SiO2 suspension is 1%, and SiO2 can be effectively combined with TiO2, so the STF has the best photocatalytic performance. The double-layer SiO2-photonic crystal/TiO2 composite film (DSTF) was further prepared and compared with the single-layer SiO2-photonic crystal/TiO2 composite film (SSTF). The photocatalytic properties of the DSTF are better than that of the SSTF. Finally, the mechanism of STF with enhanced photocatalytic performance is discussed, indicating that photonic crystal can effectively enhance the utilization of light which are near the wavelength of the center band gap, and then improve the photocatalytic performance of the photocatalyst.

The present work deals with the preparation of bio-nanocomposite for enhanced antibacterial activity and its application on surgical care. Chitosan-ZnO nanocomposite was prepared by direct addition of dissolved chitosan with zinc nitrate and sodium hydroxide solution. The formation of chitosan-ZnO nanocomposite was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and UV–Visible spectroscopic analyses. Hexagonal structure of ZnO was determined by X-ray diffraction patterns. With two-fold increase of zinc nitrate concentration, higher zinc ion content in the nanocomposite was obtained and evidenced by atomic absorption spectroscopy studies. The thermal analysis revealed the stability of chitosan increased with formation of chitosan-ZnO nanocomposite. The scanning electron microscope images revealed that ZnO nanoparticles were dispersed within the chitosan matrix. The prepared nanocomposite had a higher antibacterial activity than pure chitosan which showed excellent activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli) with highest zone of inhibition 90 mm. The prepared nanocomposite formulations exhibited excellent in vitro cytocompatibility and in vivo histological activity, which demonstrates the favourable wound healing behaviour of materials.

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. ZrB2–ZrC–SiC nanopowders with uniform phase distribution were prepared from cost-effective ZrOCl2·8H2O by a simple sol-gel method. The synthesis route, ceramization mechanism and morphology evolution of the nanopowders were investigated. ZrB2–ZrC–SiC ceramic precursor can be successfully obtained through hydrolysis and condensation reactions between the raw materials. Pyrolysis of the precursor was completed at 650 °C, and it produced ZrO2, SiO2, B2O3 and amorphous carbon with a yield of 39% at 1300 °C. By heat-treated at 1500 °C for 2 h, highly crystallized ZrB2–ZrC–SiC ceramics with narrow size distribution were obtained. With the holding time of 2 h, both the crystal size and the particle size can be refined. Further prolonging the holding time can lead to serious particles coarsening. Studies on the microstructure evolution of the generated carbon during the ceramic conversion demonstrates the negative effect of the ceramic formation on the structure order improvement of the carbon, due to the large amount of defects generated in it by the boro/carbothermal reduction reactions.

The strength of interactions between DNA and gold surfaces is a subject of great interest to researchers in biotechnology and nanotechnology. By selecting gold nanorods (AuNRs) and DNA (nucleobases and homo-oligonucleotides)-modified AuNRs as the research objects, we provide a novel insight into the adsorption affinity strength of DNA molecules to the Au surface based on a standard model catalytic reaction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). Through kinetics and thermodynamic studies, 4-NP catalytic reaction in the presence of DNA-modified AuNRs requires overcoming the higher energy barrier and absorb more heat. The stronger the adsorption affinity of DNA molecules to AuNRs, the the lower value of k and the higher the values of Ea and ΔG. The catalytic reaction time of different DNA-modified AuNR systems at a low temperature is significantly different, but at higher temperatures, the reaction time is almost the same. The obtained data indicate that thymine has a much lower binding affinity to the AuNR surface than c...

Co3O4 is often used to detect H2O2. However, there are many problems such as low sensitivity and the long detection time when detecting H2O2 in various cobalt oxide composites. Therefore, it is a great challenge to develop different morphologies of the Co3O4 electrode to improve the detection performances of H2O2 effectively. In this paper, we had successfully prepared a novel Co3O4/reduced graphene oxide/carbon cloth (Co3O4/rGO/CC) composite. We used a simple template method. Co3O4 nanosheets with a diameter of about 47.7 nm were obtained by using graphene oxide as a template. Then, CC was used as a three-dimensional conductive support material. CC can inhibit the agglomeration of rGO to increase specific surface area and to enhance the conductivity of Co3O4. In this study, the electrochemical performances of the Co3O4/rGO/CC electrode were tested by the electrochemical workstation. The trigger response of the modified electrode was reduced by 0.067% and the relative standard deviation was 0.013% after 30 consecutive tests. The range of linearity was 0.387–63.523 mM. Besides, this electrode has the limit of detection (0.022 μM) and a higher sensitivity (0.9683 mA mM−1 cm−2). It indicated that the electrode has excellent electrochemical sensing performance and high stability. These excellent performances are mainly due to the synergistic effect of Co3O4 nanosheets, rGO, and CC.

Multilayer porous structured TiO2–ZrTiO4–SiO2 photocatalyst with built-in TiO2/ZrTiO4 heterojunction and oxygen vacancies was synthesized by sol-gel method combined with template method using colloidal polystyrene spheres as templates. Results show that the multilayer porous structure can be fabricated by controlling the calcination system and the amount of template, and the fabrication of which can also contribute to the generation of oxygen vacancies by creating an anoxic environment. During the photodegradation process, high efficiency of visible light utilization can be achieved due to the slow photon effect of the multilayer porous structure, which can also increase the probability of the contact between Rhodamine B (RhB) with the active sites of the catalyst. Also, the synergistic effect of the generated TiO2/ZrTiO4 heterojunction and built-in oxygen vacancy defects jointly promoted the separation of photogenerated carriers. Thus excellent adsorption rate (75.6%, 60 min) and photodegradation rate (95%, 90 min) of the catalyst were obtained. Furthermore, the up-shifted conduction band and valence band maximum positions are beneficial for the mobility of photogenerated holes and inhibit their reaction with H2O to generate ·OH, while the photogenerated electrons can react with O2 to form ·O2−, resulting that the holes and ·O2− participated in the photodegradation of RhB over the as-prepared catalyst.

A kind of blocked aptamer-functionalized molecular beacon (MB) was designed as fluorescence sensors to detect thrombins by binding-induced "turn on" structural transformation. Three MBs named MB(8 + 8), MB(15 + 8), and MB(15 + 6) consisted of two single-stranded oligonucleotides. One long single-stranded oligonucleotide (abbreviated as SS) contained a thrombin aptamer sequence and was modified with a fluorescence group and quenching group on each end side. Another short single-stranded oligonucleotide (written as cDNA) was partially complementary to the long SS. It was interesting to find that the complementary sequence length of cDNA greatly influenced the structure of the MBs. The construction of MB experiments proved that MB(8 + 8) and MB(15 + 8) could form the quenching MBs but MB(15 + 6) could not. MB(8 + 8) was composed of a SS strand paired with a complementary cDNA(8 + 8), which was called one-to-one combination, while MB(15 + 8) was two-to-two combination and MB(15 + 6) was one-to-two combination. When the ratio of SS and cDNA (15 + 8) was 1:1, the quenching efficiency reached maximum. But with the molar ratio of SS and cDNA(8 + 8) increasing, the quenching efficiency increased continuously. Under the optimal conditions that we studied, the detection limit of thrombin by MB(8 + 8) and MB(15 + 8) was 0.19 and 1.2 nM, respectively. In addition, the assay proved to be selective, and the average recovery of thrombin detected by MB(8 + 8) and MB(15 + 8) in diluted serum was 95.4 and 94.5%, respectively.

A precursor (PBSZ) for SiCw-ZrC-ZrB2 hybrid powder was synthesized by chemical reaction of phenol, paraformaldehyde, zirconium oxychloride, boric acid and tetraethylorthosilicate. Results show that zirconium, silicon and boron atoms have been successfully introduced into the branched structure. Decomposition of PBSZ is completed at 800 °C, and it gives amorphous carbon, SiO2, B2O3 and ZrO2 with a yield of 38% at 1200 °C. During the pyrolysis process, ZrB2 and SiC form at about 1500 °C, followed by the appearance of ZrC when the amount of B2O3 is limited. Highly crystallized ZrB2–ZrC–C powder with ZrB2 and ZrC grains evenly distributed in the carbon matrix together with randomly distributed SiC whiskers are obtained after heat-treated at 1800 °C. Further heated at 1900 °C, ZrB2 and ZrC grains grow from 200 to 500 nm, while SiC whiskers show a much smaller diameter size and tend to grow on the ZrB2–ZrC–C block surface. The morphology difference is caused by the larger gas supersaturation and accommodation coefficient of the pore channels on the block surface. In addition, defects of the carbon matrix are cumulated to the highest at 1500 °C and the structure-ordered carbon is obtained after heat treated at 1900 °C.

A novel, simple, and low-cost spray painting technique has been developed for the fabrication of microfluidic paper-based devices. The devices that we developed utilize aerosol spray paint to build hydrophobic barriers and employ a hole puncher to obtain paper-based patterned layers and paper dots without using any specialized instruments (e.g., without a laser cutter). The entire manufacturing process is extremely simple, inexpensive, and rapid, which means that it can be applied broadly. Furthermore, the application of the device to iron detection was demonstrated. A linear relationship between the colour value and the iron concentration was observed from 0 to 0.02 g/L. The developed microfluidic paper-based device for iron detection exhibited a low detection limit (0.00090 g/L), good selectivity, and acceptable recovery.

The leaching efficiency (LE) of ion adsorption rare earth (IARE) by the sulfate and chloride of ammonium, magnesium and aluminum were comparatively determined using column leaching method. It is found that at equal equivalent concentration of cation, the LE of IARE by aluminum sulfate is the highest, and the zeta potential of clay mineral particles in the tailing is near to zero, which means a lower risk of landslide and pollutant emission. Furthermore, the optimum concentration of aluminum sulfate is determined to be 0.02 mol/L, which is much lower than that of ammonium sulfate and magnesium sulfate. To reduce the production cost and environmental impact, we proposed a multi-stage leaching process, which was firstly leaching with ammonium sulfate and then with aluminum sulfate, following by water washing and lime neutralizing. With the ratio of ammonium sulfate to aluminum sulfate varying from 1:0 to 0.5:0.5, the residual ammonium in tailing decreases from 11.2% to 0.6%, however, the LE of RE shows an optimum value at 0.8:0.2. By neutralizing the pH of tailing with lime water to over 6, the ion concentration in water rinsing solution can meet the requirement for water discharge. At the same time, the zeta potential of clay particles is found to be around −5 mV, means a relatively lower risk of landslide. These facts indicate that the LE of IARE can be increased and the danger caused by tailings landslides and pollutant emissions can be reduced by replacing ammonium sulfate with aluminum sulfate as leaching reagent.

A novel fluorescent method has been developed for simple and high sensitive detection of glutathione (GSH) based on the DNA-templated gold nanoclusters (AuNCs@C30), and AuNCs@C30 can be used as a fluorescence “turn-off” sensor for GSH without further modification. The detection system showed an obvious fluorescence quenching with the addition of GSH and a good linear range from 0 to 0.1 μmol/L, and the limit of detection (LOD) of glutathione was 0.018 μmol/L. The preliminary mechanism investigation of GSH determination was proposed, which was mainly caused by the collisional (dynamic) quenching. It was expected that DNA-templated gold nanoclusters may offer a new approach for developing simple, rapid and sensitive sensors in biological detection.

Superhydrophobicity of alloy surfaces is generally determined by the low-energy chemical composition and geometric structure of the surface. The appropriate geometry on alloy surfaces can be easily constructed via chemical etching methods. However, the subsequent low-energy modifications for pre-etched alloys are time-consuming or expensive, thus preventing their further application. Here, we prepared superhydrophobic alloy surfaces based on combining wet chemical etching and room temperature vulcanized (RTV) silicone treatment. Compared to traditional immersion methods, RTV silicone treatment for superhydrophobic 6061 Al alloy surfaces needs only 30 s, which is several thousand times faster than stearic acid or polymethyl triethoxy silane solution treatment. Mechanisms of RTV silicone treatment were investigated. The results show that dip-coating modification is different from these traditional methods. We found that the optimized proportion for RTV silicone rubber is HPDMS, PMTSi, and DBTDL with hexane solvent (HPDMS:PMTSi:DBTDL:hexane = 4:3:1:46, weight ratio), and the water contact angles of treated surfaces of pre-etched 6061 Al alloy, pure Al, and steels are 159° ± 2.7°, 168° ± 1.2°, and 169° ± 1.5°, respectively. Herein, our results demonstrate a facile, low-cost strategy to fabricate superhydrophobic alloy surface that is notable and easy to scale up for industrial applications.

The micellar solution of a surface active ionic liquid, 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (C16mimBF4), with the presence of organic salt sodium salicylate (NaSal) was investigated by rheological measurements and 1HNMR. According to steady-shear viscosity curves, with the increase of NaSal concentration, the zero-shear viscosity η0 firstly showed an increase which meant the gradual formation of wormlike micelles in solutions (the most optimal concentration of NaSal was 4.5 mM), then η0 decreased to the previous value which indicated the wormlike micelles were destroyed. And the results of 1HNMR were further verified the structure transformation. The C16mimBF4/NaSal solution showed special viscoelastic property with the increase of NaSal concentration. When the linear wormlike micelles formed, the mixture solutions had viscosity (G′G″). In the frequency sweep rheological measurements, the curves of G′ and G″ showed two intersections, which indicates the structure of long wormlike micelles is weak and may be cut into short ones at higher shear frequency.

Nickel cobaltite (NiCo2O4) is a promising sensing material for H2O2. However, the poor electronic conductivity and agglomeration of NiCo2O4 in aqueous medium easily lead to poor sensitivity and selectivity, which are still two formidable challenges. Herein, the poly (3, 4-ethylene dioxythiophene)-coated NiCo2O4 rod-like micro-nano structures/reduced graphene oxide (NiCo2O4 RMNs@PEDOT2/RGO) hybrid is synthesized. The one-dimension hierarchical NiCo2O4 RMNs serve as a catalyst, while the RGO acting as support and charge collector. Particularly, the PEDOT is employed as a conductive wrapped layer and caking agent reduced interface resistance and quicken transport electrons from NiCo2O4 to the surface of RGO. Benefitting from the above synergistic effect of three components, the hybrid demonstrates high sensitivity (0.679 mA mM-1 cm-2), the low detection limit (it is estimated to be 0.031 µM), and a wide linear detection ranges of 0.388 µM–140.068 mM for H2O2 detection, which observably outperforms detection performances of previously reported other composites. The influence of morphology and interface structure of the hybrid towards performances is detailed. Besides, the practicality detection of H2O2 in merchant hydrogen peroxide disinfectant has been realized. The work provided a new strategy for improving the bio-sensing performance and accelerating the practical application of Co3O4. Keywords: Nickel cobaltite, H2O2 biosensor, Micro-nano composite, Reduced graphene oxide

The Sr doped Ta2O5 nanorods films were formed on pure tantalum by a facile two step hydrothermal method. The tantalum substrates were hydrothermally treated firstly in the mixed solution of HF and H2O2 and then in strontium acetate (SA) solution. The morphologies, phase components, surface chemical species and apatite-inducing ability of the Ta2O5 nanorods films before and after Sr doped were investigated. The obtained results demonstrate that Ta2O5 nanorods can be only formed on tantalum at the temperature higher than 220 °C when hydrothermally treated in 0.4 M HF and 2 M H2O2. By prolonging the HT time to 6, 9 and 24 h, the nanorods become longer and the diameter become coarser, and after 24 h of HT, the diameter of the nanorod is 24.9 ± 0.9 nm. The atom percent of Sr element is 0.00, 1.61, 4.08, 7.71 and 11.23% respectively when Ta2O5 nanorods films were hydrothermally treated in SA solution of 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 M, and Ta2O5 nanorods films changes in morphology when hydrothermally treated in 0.2 and 0.3 M SA solution though with high amount of Sr doped. The Ta2O5 nanorods are grown along the [001] direction and Sr element is incorporated into the lattice as the chemical state of Sr2+. The Sr doped Ta2O5 nanorods film can induce apatite for less than 9 days while that without Sr doped can not induce apatite even after immersion in SBF for 17 days. The Sr doped Ta2O5 nanorods film can efficiently improve the apatite-inducing ability in SBF which is maybe attributed to the release of Sr ion.

Advanced macro-porous sorbent materials with three-dimensional wettability surfaces have been considered as traditional candidates for wastewater treatment. However, limitations including poor mechanical durability and robust stability in harsh conditions have often impeded their water-decontamination performance. Here, we present a simple and inexpensive dip-coating-curing strategy for the fabrication of a robust, eco-friendly superhydrophobic and superoleophilic MoS2 coated melamine-formaldehyde sponges by modification with room temperature vulcanized (RTV) silicone rubber. These sponges would absorb a broad variety of oils and organic solvents with high selectivity, excellent mechanical durability, robust recyclability, good abrasion resistant and inertness to corrosive environments, thus showing great potential as efficient absorbents for water remediation and oil recovery.

In our study, systems pharmacology was used to predict the molecular targets of Astragalus and Leech, and explore the therapeutic mechanism of type 2 diabetic nephropathy (T2DN) treated with Astragalus and Leech. Simultaneously, to reveal the systemic metabolic changes and biomarkers associated with T2DN, we performed 1H NMR-based metabonomics and multivariate analysis to analyze fecal samples obtained from model T2DN rats. In addition, ELISA kits and histopathological studies were used to examine biochemical parameters and kidney tissue, respectively. Striking differences in the Pearson's correlation of 22 biomarkers and 9 biochemical parameters were also observed among control, T2DN and treated rats. Results of systems pharmacology analysis revealed that 9 active compounds (3,9-di-O-methylnissolin; (6aR,11aR)-9,10-dimethoxy-6a,11a-dihydro-6H-benzofurano[3,2-c]chromen-3-ol; hirudin; L-isoleucine; phenylalanine; valine; hirudinoidine A–C) and 9 target proteins (L-serine dehydratase; 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase; tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase; tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase; branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase; acetyl-CoA C-acetyltransferase; isovaleryl-CoA dehydrogenase; pyruvate dehydrogenase E1 component alpha subunit; hydroxyacylglutathione hydrolase) of Astragalus and Leech were closely associated with the treatment of T2DN. Using fecal metabonomics analysis, 22 biomarkers were eventually found to be closely associated with the occurrence of T2DN. Combined with systems pharmacology and fecal metabonomics, these biomarkers were found to be mainly associated with 6 pathways, involving amino acid metabolism (leucine, valine, isoleucine, alanine, lysine, glutamate, taurine, phenylalanine, tryptophan); energy metabolism (lactate, succinate, creatinine, α-glucose, glycerol); ketone body and fatty acid metabolism (3-hydroxybutyrate, acetate, n-butyrate, propionate); methylamine metabolism (dimethylamine, trimethylamine); and secondary bile acid metabolism and urea cycle (deoxycholate, citrulline). The underlying mechanisms of action included protection of the liver and kidney, enhancement of insulin sensitivity and antioxidant activity, and improvement of mitochondrial function. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that systems pharmacology combined with fecal metabonomics has been used to study T2DN. 6 metabolites (n-butyrate, deoxycholate, propionate, tryptophan, taurine and glycerol) associated with T2DN were newly discovered in fecal samples. These 6 metabolites were mainly derived from the intestinal flora, and related to amino acid metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, and secondary bile acid metabolism. We hope the results of this study could be inspirational and helpful for further exploration of T2DN treatment. Meanwhile, our results highlighted that exploring the biomarkers of T2DN and therapeutic mechanisms of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formulas on T2DN by combining systems pharmacology and fecal metabonomics methods was a promising strategy.

In this study, systems pharmacology was used to predict the molecular targets of You-gui pill (YGP) and explore the therapeutic mechanism of Kidney-Yang Deficiency Syndrome (KYDS) treated with YGP. On the basis of this, serum samples from control group, KYDS model group and YGP group rats were studied using 1H NMR to verify the results of systems pharmacology from the level of metabonomics. Simultaneously, 1H NMR spectra of serum samples were obtained and statistically assessed using pattern recognition analysis. Biochemical analyses of serums were performed via radioimmunoassays. Furthermore, histopathological studies were conducted on the pituitary, adrenal, and thyroid glands, and testicles of the control, KYDS and YGP rats. Using systems pharmacology to analyze the active components of YGP, 61 active compounds were finally found. These compounds were likely to have an effect on 3177 target proteins and involve 234 pathways. Using metabonomics to analyze serum from KYDS rats treated with YGP, 22 endogenous biomarkers were found. These biomarkers were mainly involved in 10 metabolic pathways. Combining systems pharmacology and metabonomics, we found that the regulation of KYDS was primarily associated with 19 active compounds of 5 Chinese herbal medicines in YGP. These active compounds mainly had an effect on 8 target proteins, including phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, betaine-homocysteine s-methyltransferase 1, alcohol dehydrogenase 1C, etc. These target proteins were primarily involved in 6 overlapping pathways, namely aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, glycine, serine and threonine metabolism, valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis, arginine and proline metabolism, and pyruvate metabolism. In addition, there were 4 non-overlapping pathways, respectively alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, D-glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism, ubiquinone and other terpenoid-quinone biosynthesis, and galactose metabolism. In summary, the therapeutic effects of YGP on KYDS were mainly associated with neuroendocrine regulation, energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, inflammatory responses, apoptosis, oxidative stress and intestinal flora metabolism. What's more, we also found that YGP possessed the potential to protect liver and kidney function. Our study demonstrated that systems pharmacology and metabonomics methods were novel strategies for the exploration of the mechanisms of KYDS and TCM formulas.

Perfluorocarbons (PFC) are important greenhouse gas. In the aluminum electrolysis industry, PFC emission had been valued. The electrolytic reduction of rare earth metals in fluoride/oxide system with carbon anode and tungsten cathode also has PFC emission. But the PFC emission in rare earth metals industry received less attention. The PFC emissions during the electrolysis were studied by tracking the change of CF 4 concentration in the flue gas of neodymium electrolysis and dysprosium-iron alloy electrolysis. The results showed that there were continuous CF 4 overflows in the electrolysis process. The CF 4 was outburst when anode effect occurred. The anode effect was always accompanied with the low electrolysis temperature. In addition, because of the electrolytic dysprosium-iron alloy requires higher cell voltage, the PFC emissions are higher than rare earth electrolysis. In general, PFC emissions from rare earth metal electrolysis are quite same as the aluminum electrolysis industry.

Two Ln-Ni heterometallic complexes connected with nitronyl nitroxides [Ln(hfac)3Ni(hfac)2NIT-4py(H2O)2] (Ln = Gd (1), Tb (2); hfac = hexafluoroacetylacetonate; NIT-4py = 2-(4-pyridyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide) have been synthesized as well as characterized. For two complexes, the NIT-4py radical is ligated to the Ln(III) ion and Ni(II) ion via its NO moiety and pyridine-N atom, respectively, resulting in rare radical bridged Ln-Ni heterobinuclear structure. Magnetic studies reveal that the magnetic exchanges arising from the uncoordinated NO groups dominate the system. Interestingly, the Tb compound displays a slow relaxation of magnetization.

Construction of facile fluorescent probe which own excellent sensing ability for targets is quite challenging. Herein, analytical performance of AuNCs@C20 probe integrated with Fenton and enzyme-Fenton reaction has been developed for ferrous ions (Fe2+) and glucose sensing. Fluorescence of AuNCs@C20 is significantly quenched by ferric ions (Fe3+) and hydroxyl radicals (·OH) which are generated from Fenton reaction between Fe2+ and H2O2, and the above approach for turn-off fluorescence probing determination of Fe2+ and H2O2 is obtained. Glucose can be oxidized by Glucose oxidase (GOx) to generate H2O2, and then H2O2 is immediately used as substrates for enzyme-Fenton reaction. AuNCs@C20 is further exploited for glucose sensing with satisfactory results. Attributing to the excellent fluorescence quenching efficiency of Fe3+ and ·OH and the specific catalysis of GOx, this approach exhibits an extremely high sensitivity and selectivity. The limit of detection for Fe2+ ion and glucose are 67.5 nmol/L and 2.3 μmol/L, respectively. Moreover, preliminary mechanistic investigation demonstrates that the fluorescence quench of AuNCs@C20 is highly related to the efficiency of Fe3+ and ·OH production in Fenton reaction. Oligonucleotides served as a template in AuNCs@C20 is irreversibly cleaved by ·OH, and nanoclusters aggregate to form the non-fluorescent, larger-sized nanoparticles. This detection strategy provides the valuable insights in exploring nanoclusters based on Fenton or Fenton-like reactions for detecting diverse targets.

Novel Bi12SiO20–Bi2SiO5 heterostructure photocatalysts were prepared by controlling the molar ratio of Bi/Si in the reactants via Pechini method. With the increasement of the molar ratio of Bi/Si, the samples tend to be well-crystallized Bi12SiO20 and the content of Bi2SiO5 decreases in composites. Experiments reveal that the heterojunction shows higher visible light photocatalytic activity than pure Bi12SiO20 and Bi2SiO5 due to an increase in light harvesting efficiency and an efficient electron–hole separation. And the heterostructure photocatalyst is stable in the photocatalytic reaction process. The influence of some trapping agents on the photodegradation of Rhodamine B was investigated, and h+ and ·O2 − were verified to play more important roles than ·OH−.

Removal of pollutants from water is an important global challenge for energy conservation and environmental protection. Advanced macro-porous sorbent materials with three-dimensional wettability surfaces have been considered traditional candidates for wastewater treatment. Although the real water environment always co-exists with two pollution sources, the major functions of existing macro-porous materials are limited to either water-insoluble organics separation or water-soluble dyes removal. Bifunctional macro-porous materials for simultaneous oil–water separation and soluble elements removal are currently lacking. Here we report the novel MoS2-coated melamine-formaldehyde (MF@MoS2) sponges with different wettabilities, for example, superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity, exhibiting both high selectivity and excellent absorption capacities for a wide range of oils/organic solvents with different densities and water-soluble dyes. The functional MF@MoS2 sponges perform high absorption capacity for different organic solvents up to 66 and 157 times of its own weight respectively, while showing high discoloration efficiency of 98% methyl orange within 10 min. For the first time, we report these functional macro-porous materials used for simultaneous cleaning of oil and soluble pollutants in water, which extended the potential of MoS2 for environmental application. Furthermore, a continuous and simultaneous removal of insoluble oils and soluble dyes in situ from water was achieved by simply applying external pumping on the functional macro-porous MF@MoS2 sponges.

Light qualities are thought to affect many plant physiological processes during growth and development. To investigate how light qualities influence tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) seedlings, the present study evaluated the effects of different light qualities generated by light emitting diodes (LEDs) with the same photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD), including monochromic light red (657 nm, R), blue (457 nm, B), purple (417 nm, P) or white (W), combination of R and B lights (R:B = 1:1, 1R1B and R:B = 3:1, 3R1B) on the net photosynthetic rate (Pn), growth rate, carbohydrate content and sucrose-metabolizing enzyme activities. The results showed that relative to W, the seedling plant height and stem diameter were significantly promoted by combination of R and B lights and monochromic R light. However, the level of root growth was lower under R and P light, and the seedling growth and Pn were significantly suppressed under the latter. Additionally, R light significantly increased the contents of fructose and glucose, and combination of R and B lights significantly enhanced total carbohydrate, starch and sucrose accumulation, especially for 3R1B treatment. Activity of sucrose synthase (SS) was promoted under the different treatments and reached its highest value under 3R1B, which appeared to be a major contributor to the significantly higher content of starch under this treatment. Furthermore, R, B and P light reduced activity of sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS). Activities of acid invertase (AI) and neutral invertase (NI) were significantly increased by R light, but were markedly reduced under P. The results presented here indicated that monochromic R and combination lights 3R1B, could regulate the plant morphology and photosynthesis by the effects on the metabolism of carbohydrate into fructose, glucose, sucrose and starch, mainly through the enhanced activities of AI and NI under the former treatment, while SS and SPS in the latter treatment, respectively. They also improved the end-product output in tomato leaves, and may ultimately improve the yield and quality of tomato fruit.

Nitrogen compounds play an important role in the growth and hydrogen production of microalgae. Here, we report how different nitrogen compounds regulate biomass production and hydrogen accumulation in a Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Mesorhizobium sangaii co-cultivation system. Our results show that the addition of three different nitrogen compounds can all increase the biomass and hydrogen production of the co-cultured microalgae. Among them, 3 g/L NaNO2 shows the best efficacy with the maximum H2 production reaching 226.98 μmol/mg chl, which is 5.2 times higher than that of the pure algae group. The hydrogenase activity, respiration rate, chlorophyll content, and starch accumulation of the algae were also increased in the presence of different nitrogen compounds, which would be corresponding to the enhanced hydrogen production. And sustainable hydrogen production can be achieved by intermittent supplement of nitrogen compounds into the microalgae-bacteria co-culture system. Our study provides a promising way to enhance and prolong the biomass and hydrogen production of microalgae-bacteria co-culture systems by the regulation of nitrogen compounds.

The development of visible light photocatalysts with the ability to efficiently degrade pollutants is an important measure to solve environmental problems. In this paper, Cu2+ doped TiO2-SiO2 (CTS) with photonic crystal structure composite was successfully synthesized via sol-gel strategy and template method. The prepared materials have abundant pore structure and uniform pore diameter, and the pores were arranged in a periodically hexagonal structure. It showed enhancing synergistic effect of adsorption-photodegradation ability for removing Rhodamine B (RhB). The brilliant adsorption capability of the catalyst is not only due to the addition of silica which can increase surface area that results the increase in adsorption ability, but also related to the rich and ordered porous structure provided by the photonic crystal. The catalyst has a narrow bandgap ∼2.92 eV which exhibits the excellent photocatalytic activity for RhB degradation (＞95% at 30 min) under visible light irradiation, and possesses higher photocatalytic reaction apparent rate constants (k) which is 7 folds higher than that of pure TiO2. The excellent photocatalytic performance is attributed to the Cu2+ doping that narrows the bandgap, increases light absorption, and promotes charge separation. Besides, the constructed photonic crystal structure not only further enhances charge transport but also provides more surface activity sites for photocatalytic reactions. More importantly, the ordered pore structure-photonic crystal can prolong the interaction time between light and catalyst through the slow photon effect and the porous scattering effect. Eventually, the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of the catalyst was significantly improved by the synergistic effect of the above mechanisms.

A series of novel 3d-4f heterometallic complexes involving pyrimidine substituted nitronyl nitroxide radicals with formula {[Ln(hfac)3]2[Cu(hfac)2]3(NIT-Pyrim)2(H2O)2} (LnIII = Gd 1, Ho 2, Er 3, NIT-Pyrim = 2-(5-pyrimidinyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide) have been isolated and characterized in terms of structure and magnetism. These 2p-3d-4f compounds consist of CuII3LnIII2 pentanuclear clusters in which two NIT-Pyrim radicals act as m3-bridges. All compounds display ferromagnetic interactions between the radicals and metal ions. Slow magnetic relaxation was observed in complex Ho, which represents the first example of radical-Ho cluster exhibiting magnetic relaxation behavior.

Ionic liquids (ILs) as environmental-friendly extractive solvents can remove aromatic heterocyclic sulfur compounds (S-compounds) from fuel oils, which due to their capacity for S-compounds (easy separation and higher selectivity). In this work, a series of polystyrene (PS)-supported polymeric ILs (PS-PILs or PS-6-PILs) with different alkyl side chain length were synthesized. Characterization with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) demonstrated that IL monomers had been successfully loaded and polymerized on the surface of PS to form a thin polymer coating. The adsorptive desulfurization behavior of polystyrene-supported polymeric ILs was investigated by removing aromatic S-containing compound from model fuel (cyclohexane/thiophene, 2-methylthiophene, benzothiophene, and dibenzothiophene). Under the experimental conditions, the adsorption ability followed the order of PS

SBA-15 functionalized with both zinc ions and ionic liquids was simply synthesized by sol–gel method. The characterization results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometer, atomic absorption spectroscopy, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller indicated that Zn2+ and imidazolium ionic liquid had been successfully immobilized on SBA-15, imidazolium as cation and [ZnCl3]- /[Zn2Cl5]- as complex anion. The immobilized Zn2+ and ionic liquid did not destroy the typical two-dimensional hexagonal mesoscopic structure of SBA-15 in this experimental research scope. But with the mass of Zn2+ and IL increasing, the mesoscopic order reduced, the pore diameter, pore volume and specific surface area decreased, whereas the wall thickness increased. The adsorption desulfurization experiments showed that the loaded Zn2+ and imidazolium ionic liquid improved the S-removal efficiency of SBA-15 especially for high aromatic sulfur compound.

A comparative investigation of microstructure, mechanical properties, complex permittivity and microwave absorbing properties of two types of SiCf/epoxy composites were investigated. The microstructure of SiCf was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectra techniques. The different microstructure led to different complex permittivity of the composites. The complex permittivity of KD-ISiCf/epoxy composite was larger than their counterparts of SLF-SiCf/epoxy composite while the flexural strength was almost same. The strong interfacial polarization and high electrical conductivity are attributed to the higher complex permittivity of KD-ISiCf/epoxy composite. Though the complex permittivity of KD-ISiCf and SLF-SiCf composites have big difference, the absorbing properties in the X band (8.2–12.4 GHz) were not good due to the impedance degree and attenuation characteristics cannot meet the requirement at the same time.

Four novel nitronyl nitroxide bridged heterometallic one-dimensional chains, [Ln(hfac)3Co(hfac)2(NIT-4py)2] (LnIII = Y 1, Gd 2, Dy 3) and [Dy(hfac)3Co(hfac)2(NIT-3py)2] 4 (hfac = hexafluoroacetylacetonate; NIT-4py = 2-(4-pyridyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide; NIT-3py = 2-(3-pyridyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide), have been prepared and characterized. Complexes 1–4 exhibit a 1D chain structure in which Ln(hfac)3 and Co(hfac)2 units are linked by pyridine substituted nitronyl nitroxides through the NO groups of the radicals and the nitrogen atoms of pyridine rings. Complexes 1–4 represent the first examples of 2p–3d–4f compounds containing Co(II) ions. The magnetic properties of these compounds were investigated. The magnetic behavior of the Y(III)–Co(II) complex has been analyzed by using an appropriate magnetic model, which indicates an antiferromagnetic interaction between the Co(II) ion and the radical. The ac magnetic susceptibility measurements of compound 4 display slow relaxation of its magnetization.

The central aim of this study was to investigate metabolite changes in metabolic pathways via metabonomic approaches in rats suffering from Kidney-Yang Deficiency Syndrome (KYDS) induced by hydrocortisone. Metabonomic analysis using 1H NMR is a well-established approach for the study of metabolic changes in biofluids. In our study, serum samples were obtained at three specific time points during the progression of KYDS, and individual 1H NMR spectra were acquired and statistically assessed using two multivariate analyses (MVA): principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). The profiles on the 15th, 23rd, and 30th day for each sample could be classified, further revealing progression axes from a normal status to KYDS status. Consequently, significant changes in seventeen metabolites, i.e. lactate, valine, alanine, methionine, succinate, glutamine, 3-hydroxybutyrate, creatine, choline, HDL, LDL, VLDL, TMAO, betaine, tyrosine, citrate, and glycerol, were identified. These biochemical changes were found to be directly related to disturbances in energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, choline metabolism, and gut metabolism. We further determined that lactate and the other 16 metabolic markers may be used as specific markers of KYDS over time. Overall, this study demonstrates that this metabonomic method is a valuable tool for studying the pathologic changes of the Chinese medicine syndrome and the underlying mechanisms of KYDS.

The SnS2 hollow nanospheres are successfully fabricated using SnCl4·5H2O, thiourea and urea as raw materials via a mild one-step hydrothermal process. The size of SnS2 hollow nanosphere is about 400 nm, and the shell thickness of it is about 50 nm, consisting of nanoparticles with the size of 3 nm. The formation of such hollow structure could be mainly ascribed to the soft template effect of carbon-dioxide and ammonia bubbles decomposed from urea. The obtained hollow nanospheres possess a higher specific surface area of 142 m2 g−1 compared with that of the SnS2 granular aggregate sample (34 m2 g−1), presenting better cycling stability and rate capability.

Graphitization degree of carbon matrix in ZrC-modified carbon composites is crucial to mechanical and ablation properties of the materials. In order to investigate the effect of ZrC formation on graphitization of the carbon matrix, microstructure of the carbon phase was investigated by X-ray (XRD), Raman, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of the ceramic products obtained from zirconium containing polymer precursors at different pyrolysis temperatures. Compared with pure carbon phase, significant increase of average crystal thickness and microcrystalline planar size was observed in the carbon phase of the ZrC&ndash, C ceramics, together with the decrease of interlayer spacing and integrated intensity ratio of D peak to the G peak, indicating a significantly increased graphitization degree during the formation of ZrC. With the increasing ZrC content, amorphous (A) carbon was reduced remarkably, while turbostratic (T) component and graphitic (G) carbon components were increased, showing a slight higher graphitization degree. Moreover, the formation of ZrC was the key &ldquo, ice breaking&rdquo, step to decrease the defects and improve structure order of the carbon matrix. And the graphitization was dramatically enhanced during carbothermal reduction to create ZrC by breaking the carbon structure. Furthermore, coarsening and aggregation of ZrC particles as a result of high-temperature heat-treatment at 2500 &deg, C and a high content of ZrC exhibit some negative influences on the structure of the carbon phase in ZrC&ndash, C ceramics.

Kidney-yang deficiency syndrome (KYDS) is a metabolic disease caused by a neuro-endocrine disorder. The You-gui pill (YGP) is a classic traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula for the treatment of KYDS and has been widely used to warm and recuperate KYDS clinically for hundreds of years in China. However, it is unknown whetherthe corresponding targets and metabolic pathways can also be found via using metabonomics based on one platform (e.g., 1H NMR) to study different biological samples of KYDS. At the same time, relevant reports on further molecular verification (e.g., RT-qPCR analysis) of these targets associated with biomarkers and metabolic pathways have not yet, to our knowledge, been seen in KYDS&rsquo, s research. In the present study, a comprehensive strategy integrating systems pharmacology and 1H NMR-based urinary metabonomics analysis was proposed to identify the target proteins and metabolic pathways that YGP acts on KYDS. Thereafter, further validation of target proteins in kidney tissue was performed through quantitative real-time PCR analysis (RT-qPCR). Furthermore, biochemical parameters and histopathological analysis were studied. As a result, seven target proteins (L-serine dehydratase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, spermidine synthase, tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase, glutamine synthetase, 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, glycine amidinotransferase) in YGP were discovered to play a therapeutic role in KYDS via affecting eight metabolic pathways (glycine, serine and threonine metabolism, butanoate metabolism, TCA cycle, etc.). Importantly, three target proteins (i.e., 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, glutamine synthetase, and glycine amidinotransferase) and two metabolic pathways (butanoate metabolism and dicarboxylate metabolism) related to KYDS, to our knowledge, had been newly discovered in our study. The mechanism of action mainly involved energy metabolism, oxidative stress, ammonia metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and fatty acid metabolism. In short, our study demonstrated that targets and metabolic pathways for the treatment of KYDS by YGP can be effectively found via combining with systems pharmacology and urinary metabonomics. In addition to this, common and specific targets and metabolic pathways of KYDS treated by YGP can be found effectively by integration with the analysis of different biological samples (e.g., serum, urine, feces, and tissue). It is, therefore, important that this laid the foundation for deeper mechanism research and drug-targeted therapy of KYDS in future.

Ethnopharmacological relevance A myriad of evidence have shown that kidney-yang deficiency syndrome (KYDS) is associated with metabolic disorders of the intestinal microbiota, while TCMs can treat KYDS by regulating gut microbiota metabolism. However, the specific interplay between KYDS and intestinal microbiota, and the intrinsic regulation mechanism of You-gui pill (YGP) on KYDS’ gut microbiota remains largely unknown so far. Materials and methods In the present study, fecal metabonomics combined with 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis were used to explore the mutual effect between KYDS and intestinal flora, and the intrinsic regulation mechanism of YGP on KYDS's gut microbiota. Rats' feces from control (CON) group, KYDS group and YGP group were collected, and metabolomic analysis was performed using 1H NMR technique combined with multivariate statistical analysis to obtain differential metabolites. Simultaneously, 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis based on the Illumina HiSeq sequencing platform and ANOVA analysis were used to analyze the composition of the intestinal microbiota in the stool samples and to screen for the significant altered microbiota at the genus level. After that, MetaboAnalyst database and PICRUSt software were apply to conduct metabolic pathway analysis and functional prediction analysis of the screened differential metabolites and intestinal microbiota, respectively. What's more, Pearson correlation analysis was performed on these differential metabolites and gut microbiota. Results Using fecal metabonomics, KYDS was found to be associated with 21 differential metabolites and seven potential metabolic pathways. These metabolites and metabolic pathways were mainly involved in amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism, methylamine metabolism, bile acid metabolism and urea cycle, and short-chain fatty acid metabolism. Through 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis, we found that KYDS was related to eleven different intestinal microbiotas. These gut microbiota were mostly involved in amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism, nervous, endocrine, immune and digestive system, lipid metabolism, and carbohydrate metabolism. Combined fecal metabonomics and 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis, we further discovered that KYDS was primarily linked to three gut microbiotas (i.e. Bacteroides, Desulfovibrio and [Eubacterium]_coprostanoligenes_group) and eleven related metabolites (i.e. deoxycholate, n-butyrate, valine, isoleucine, acetate, taurine, glycine, α-gluconse, β-glucose, glycerol and tryptophan) mediated various metabolic disorders (amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism, especially methylamine metabolism, bile acid metabolism and urea cycle, short-chain fatty acid metabolism. nervous, endocrine, immune and digestive system, lipid metabolism, and carbohydrate metabolism). YGP, however, had the ability to mediate four kinds of microbes (i.e. Ruminiclostridium_9, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-007, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-010, and uncultured_bacterium_f_Bacteroidales_S24-7_group) and ten related metabolites (i.e. deoxycholate, valine, isoleucine, alanine, citrulline, acetate, DMA, TMA, phenylalanine and tryptophan) mediated amino acid metabolism, especially methylamine metabolism, bile acid metabolism and urea cycle, short-chain fatty acid metabolism, endocrine, immune and digestive system, and lipid metabolism, thereby exerting a therapeutic effect on KYDS rats. Conclusion Overall, our findings have preliminary confirmed that KYDS is closely related to metabolic and microbial dysbiosis, whereas YGP can improve the metabolic disorder of KYDS by acting on intestinal microbiota. Meanwhile, this will lay the foundation for the further KYDS's metagenomic research and the use of intestinal microbiotas as drug targets to treat KYDS.

Supramolecular gelation provides an efficient way of fabricating functional soft materials with various nanostructures. Amphiphiles containing naphthyl group and dialkyl l-glutamide with a methylene spacer, 1NALG and 2NALG, have been designed and their self-assembly in various organic solvents were investigated. Both of these compounds formed organogels in organic solvents. In the case of the alcohol solvents, the initially formed organogel underwent gel-precipitate transformation, which process was monitored by the UV-vis, CD spectra, and SEM observation. It was revealed that both the compounds formed the nanofiber structures in gel phases. Interestingly, in alcohol solvents, during the phase transition from the gel to precipitates, the nanofibers gradually transformed into a series of long coaxial solid nanotoruloid, a unique nanostructure that has never been observed in other self-assembly systems. In addition, during the gel formation, the nanofibers with supramolecular chirality or M-chirality were obtained. However, the coaxial nanotoruloid showed an inversed P-chirality. Comprehensive analysis based on various data and the gelator structure, substituent position, type of organic solvents, it was suggested that the synergistic interactions between the amide H-bond and π-π stacking of the naphthyl groups played important roles in the formation of the gels as well as the nanofiber, while the H-bonding ability of alcohol to the amide group can subtly regulate the gelator-gelator interactions and lead to the dynamic and hierarchical evolution of the unique nanostructures.

A general strategy to tune the achiral main chain polymers into helical nanoassemblies was proposed based on the co-gelation approach. As an example, two achiral main chain polymers, PCz8 and PSi8, were selected, and their co-assembly with an amphiphilic l- or d-glutamide gelator was investigated. Although the polymers could not form gels individually, they could form co-gels with the gelator and the resultant gels exhibited macroscopic supramolecular chirality, which could be confirmed by CD spectra and SEM observations. Moreover, the supramolecular chirality can be memorized even after the gelator molecules were removed. Remarkably, either the gelator-containing or gelator-free chiral polymer assemblies showed circularly polarized luminescence (CPL), which is usually inherent to intrinsic chiral polymers. It was suggested that during the co-gelation, the chirality of the gelator was transferred to and memorized by the achiral polymers. The approach seems to be general and we provided the first example to tune the achiral polymers into helical assemblies through the co-gelation.

Plant phospholipase D (PLD), which can hydrolyze membrane phospholipids to produce phosphatidic acid (PA), a secondary signaling molecule, has been proposed to function in diverse plant stress responses. In this research, a qRT-PCR analysis indicated that the expression of a cucumber phospholipase D alpha gene (CsPLDα) was induced by salt and drought stresses in the roots and leaves. To further study the roles of CsPLDα in regulating plant tolerance to salt, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and abscisic acid (ABA) stresses, transgenic tobacco plants constitutively overexpressing CsPLDα were produced. A qRT-PCR analysis showed that the CsPLDα transcript levels were high in transgenic tobacco lines, whereas no expression was found in wild type (WT) tobacco, indicating that CsPLDα was successfully transferred into the tobacco genome and overexpressed. Under normal conditions for 30 d, seeds of transgenic lines germinated neatly, and the seedlings were robust and bigger than WT plants. When treated with different concentrations of NaCl, PEG and ABA, germination rates and seedling sizes of the transgenic lines were significantly greater than WT. In addition, the germination times for transgenic lines were also remarkably shorter. Further studies indicated that transgenic lines had longer primary roots and more biomass accumulation than WT plants. The water loss in transgenic lines was also much lower than in WT. These findings suggest that the CsPLDα overexpression positively regulates plant tolerance to hyperosmotic stresses, and that CsPLDα is involved in the ABA regulation of stomatal closure and the alleviation of ABA inhibition on seed germination and seedling growth.

In this work, we used graphene oxide (GO) as a template that was removed by calcination to finally successfully prepare Co3O4 with 2D porous nanostructure. The results show that 2D porous structure Co3O4 nanosheets were only prepared at pH = 2. After electrochemical tests, the as-prepared Co3O4 nanosheets showed electrochemical properties that are highly suitable for H2O2 detection, such as high current response, short response time (less than 3 s), wide linear range (0.388–44.156 mM), low limit of detection (2.33 μM) and high sensitivity (0.0891 mA mM−1 cm−2). These excellent properties are mainly due to GO, as a 2D template, which connects Co3O4 nanoparticles to each other on a 2D plane, preventing the agglomeration of Co3O4 nanoparticles. The abundant pores between Co3O4 nanoparticles can greatly increase the reaction between the nanoparticles and H2O2 molecules.

We comprehensively integrated various remote sensing, modeling and meteorological datasets to assess and quantify the effects of Indonesia's forest fires in 2015 on the ambient atmosphere. When the forest fires occurred, the fire spots in Sumatra and Borneo increased sharply to 78,055 and fire radiative power (FRP) rose to 4.05 × 106 MW in September–October 2015. The Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and the retrieved concentration of PM2.5 around these two islands also peaked during this period. With the remote sensing data from 2016 and 2017 as the background, we found that the carbon monoxide (CO) anomalies along the equatorial Indian and Pacific Oceans (25°S to 25°N and 40°E to 160°E) reached 10.32 ± 0.58 Mt. and 25.05 ± 1.35 Mt. in September and October 2015, respectively. Meanwhile, the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) changes were not so obvious; the NO2 anomalies within Sumatra and Borneo were only 0.46 ± 0.14 Kt and 0.49 ± 0.17 Kt, respectively. All the four indicators (AOD, PM2.5 concentration, CO and NO2 anomalies) revealed that the ambient air quality in October 2015 was even worse than that in September. The precipitation anomaly (PA) of these two islands decreased to −1.89 mm/day in September 2015, which is assumed to be the main meteorological factor to induce the forest fires. During the 1997/1998 El Nino event, the PA decreased to −3.04 mm/day on October 1997 and temperature anomaly (TA) increased to 1.52 °C on March 1998, the variation of which is more significant than other two El Nino events in 1982/1983 and 2015/2016.

To investigate the effect of SiC content on microstructure evolution of ZrB2-ZrC-SiC ceramic in sol-gel process. ZrB2-ZrC-SiC powders with different amounts of SiC were in-situ synthesized at 1500 °C through sol-gel method. Ceramization process and effect of SiC content on the microstructure evolution of the ceramic powders were investigated. During the ceramization process, carbon content plays an important role in tailoring the compositions of ZrB2-ZrC-SiC ceramics by enhancing the growth of ZrC and SiC. ZrB2-ZrC-SiC ceramic phases, fine ceramic particles and narrow particle size distribution can be obtained with the increasing of carbon content as a result of its space steric effect. Moreover, grain size of all the phases decreased gradually with the increase of SiC content. Additionally, the introduction of SiC restrained the growth of ZrB2 but prompted the growth of ZrC. Particle size distribution was significantly narrowed and the average particle size of the powders was reduced from 610 to 200 nm when SiC content increased from about 7 wt% to 50 wt%. With the increasing of SiC content, the enhanced synergistic space steric and grain-boundary pinning effect of SiC and carbon contribute to the generation of uniform and fine ZrB2, ZrC and SiC ceramic particles with an average size of 200 nm.

Bismuth silicate (Bi2SiO5 and Bi12SiO20, BSO) films were aimed to grow uniformly on SiO2 photonic crystal (SPC) via spin-coating. The as-prepared BSO-SPC exhibited better photocatalytic decomposition of Rhodamine B (RhB) than that of the ordinary BSO film under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. The improvement of photocatalytic activity of BSO can be attributed to the enhancement of light harvesting efficiency by SPC. The results show that the photon localization of SPC plays an important role in enhancing the light absorption of BSO. The influences of the particle diameter of SiO2, the thickness of both SPC and BSO layer on the photon localization of SPC were investigated. This work provides a simple method to improve the light harvesting efficiency of photocatalyst and extends the application of photonic crystal. In addition, the recovery and reuse of immobilized BSO-SPC photocatalyst make it more suitable for practical application.

Background Plant phospholipase D (PLD), which can hydrolyze membrane phospholipids to produce phosphatidic acid (PA), a secondary signaling molecule, has been proposed to function in diverse plant stress responses. Both PLD and PA play key roles in plant growth, development, and cellular processes. PLD was suggested to mediate the regulation of stomatal movements by abscisic acid (ABA) as a response to water deficit. In this research, we characterized the roles of the cucumber phospholipase D alpha gene (CsPLDα, GenBank accession number EF363796) in the growth and tolerance of transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) to drought stress. Results The CsPLDα overexpression in tobacco lines correlated with the ABA synthesis and metabolism, regulated the rapid stomatal closure in drought stress, and reduced the water loss. The NtNCED1 expression levels in the transgenic lines and wild type (WT) were sharply up-regulated after 16 days of drought stress compared with those before treatment, and the expression level in the transgenic lines was significantly higher than that in the WT. The NtAOG expression level evidently improved after 8 and 16 days compared with that at 0 day of treatment and was significantly lower in the transgenic lines than in the WT. The ABA content in the transgenic lines was significantly higher than that in the WT. The CsPLDα overexpression could increase the osmolyte content and reduce the ion leakage. The proline, soluble sugar, and soluble protein contents significantly increased. By contrast, the electrolytic leakage and malondialdehyde accumulation in leaves significantly decreased. The shoot and root fresh and dry weights of the overexpression lines significantly increased. These results indicated that a significant correlation between CsPLDα overexpression and improved resistance to water deficit. Conclusions The plants with overexpressed CsPLDα exhibited lower water loss, higher leaf relative water content, and heavier fresh and dry matter accumulation than the WT. We proposed that CsPLDα was involved in the ABA-dependent pathway in mediating the stomatal closure and preventing the elevation of intracellular solute potential. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12870-018-1592-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.