Search

There is an urgent need to address sulfur dioxide (SO2) from the burning of fossil fuels, which poses a serious hazard to the surrounding environment due to its emission. In this work, UiO-66-type metal–organic framework materials (MOFs) were prepared by hydrothermal method and applied to flue gas desulfurization. Through characterization analysis, it was found that UiO-66 sample had high crystallinity and good thermal stability. Besides, UiO-66 sample had a large specific surface area (1423 m2/g) and a large pore volume (0.69 cm3/g). In the desulfurization experiments of SO2/CO2/O2/N2 gas mixture (0.3/10.0/5.5/84.2 vol.%), UiO-66 had a breakthrough time of 137.6 min/g for SO2, the high selectivity of SO2/CO2 (36.0), and strong acid resistance. Besides, the adsorption thermodynamic analysis can confirm that the adsorption process of UiO-66 for SO2 was a combination of physical adsorption and chemical adsorption. At 1.0 bar and 298 K, the adsorption capacity of SO2 on UiO-66 reached 8.12 mmol/g. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A novel approach to heat and relative humidity (HRH, 65‐75 °C, 98% RH) treatment was used to enhance γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) of mung bean with a low moisture (12‐20%) within several hours (4‐6 h). Meanwhile, the changes in micronutrients, antioxidant activities and physicochemical properties were also evaluated. Results showed that the GABA content was significantly accumulated, increasing from 1.73 to 109.78 mg 100 g−1 dry weight (DW) under the conditions of 16.72% moisture, 68.97 °C, 98% RH for 5.34 h. Meanwhile, the amino acids, including aromatic (tyrosine and phenylalanine), sulphur‐containing (methionine and cystine) and branched‐chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine and valine), were significantly increased (P < 0.05). Although HRH treatment decreased the total anthocyanin content of mung bean, the total phenolic, vitexin and isovitexin contents, and antioxidant activities were significantly increased (P < 0.05). Furthermore, HRH treatment caused the wrinkled structure of mung bean coat, increased the paste viscosity of mung bean flour and decreased the time of complete gelatinisation of starch in mung bean by one third during cooking. These results suggested that HRH treatment could effectively elevate the above functional components, especially GABA, improve the antioxidant activities, pasting and cooking properties of mung bean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In this study, the accumulation of GABA and its inherent factors across different varieties of mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) in response to heat and relative humidity (HRH) were investigated. Results showed the average GABA content in mung bean varieties was increased 7.52 times following HRH treatment, and the black mung bean variety (A8) exhibited the highest GABA accumulation capability (1.76–84.57 mg per 100 g DW). From the perspective of GABA shunt metabolites, the free glutamic acid content of mung beans significantly decreased (P < 0.05) after HRH treatment and presented a significant correlation (P < 0.05) with GABA content. In polyamine degradation pathway, although the average levels of spermine and spermidine of mung bean varieties significantly decreased (P < 0.05) after HRH treatment, no significant correlation with GABA content was identified. Hence, the GABA accumulation was predominantly attributed to GABA shunt. Besides, free amino acids including glutamic acid, serine, ornithine, arginine and glycine in mung beans showed a significant positive correlation (P < 0.05) with GABA content and increment following HRH treatment, which suggested that mung beans enriched in these free amino acids might accumulate higher amounts of GABA after HRH treatment and be useful for industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in proso millet as a functional food is growing. However, studies on the chemical composition, antioxidant, and antiproliferative activities’ differences of proso millet cultivars in China are limited. Nine Chinese proso millet varieties (five waxy varieties - S, D, N2, N4, N8 and four non-waxy varieties - J1, J3, J7, J9) were investigated. Results showed that the non-waxy varieties were significantly higher than waxy varieties in the content of amylase and resistant starch (22.95%, 0.23%, 2.02%, and 0.78%, respectively; P < .05). Lys was the first limit amino acid (AAS: 16.08%). Linolenic acid (61.74%) and oleic acid (22.16%) were the dominant fatty acids. Overall, the antioxidant content and antioxidant activities of J1 and J3 were higher than other cultivars. And, J7, J3, and J1 possessed better antiproliferative effects than other proso millet varieties. These results are anticipated to provide useful information on the development of proso millet-based functional food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of negative charges on cellulose nanowhiskers (CNWs) in the aqueous dispersion behaviors of graphene has been investigated. The sulfate groups were partially removed from the CNWs with sodium hydroxide solution. Both CNWs and desulfated cellulose nanowhiskers (D-CNWs) were applied in the aqueous dispersion process of graphene. The dispersing result was evaluated by ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectra. It revealed the dispersing ability of D-CNWs became worse due to the removal of sulfate groups. It demonstrated the negative charged sulfate groups on CNWs played an important role in the graphene dispersing process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The release of hydrogen from chemical hydrides is of significant importance for practical applications. In this study, Ru nanoparticles supported on TiO 2 (B) nanotubes, designated as Ru/TiO 2 (B), were synthesized and applied as catalysts for hydrogen evolution from the catalytic hydrolysis of ammonia borane (AB) at 25 °C. Results indicate that Ru/TiO 2 (B) shows high catalytic activity in hydrogen evolution from the hydrolysis of AB with an activation energy of 45.6 kJ mol −1 and a turnover frequency number of 303 mol H 2 ·(mol Ru·min) −1 . The Ru/TiO 2 (B) exhibits a total turnover number of 15,377 in catalytic lifetime measurement in hydrogen generation from the hydrolysis of AB before deactivation. The kinetic studies show that the hydrolysis of AB catalyzed by Ru/TiO 2 (B) is a first-order reaction with respect to Ru concentration, whereas it is a zero-order reaction regarding the AB concentration. The high catalytic activity of Ru/TiO 2 (B) demonstrates that TiO 2 (B) nanotubes are suitable media for nanoparticle immobilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon-reduction effect of the urban residential building sector is crucial to the carbon neutrality target. This study aims to explore the interaction mechanism among influencing factors and simulate the future evolutionary trajectories of urban residential building carbon emissions (URBCE). An integrated dynamic emission assessment (IDEA) model is innovatively established by coupling the system dynamics (SD) model and a bottom-up end-use decomposition model. Combining with the scenario analysis approach, this IDEA model is applied in China's urban residential building sector from 2000 to 2060. Results show that under the baseline scenario, the URBCE will fail to peak before 2030 but will peak at 1.19 Bt CO 2 in 2037. In comparison, it will peak at 0.79 Bt CO 2 in 2025 and decline to 0.17 Bt CO 2 in 2060 under carbon-neutral scenario, which can be neutralized by negative carbon technologies. Different end-uses and climate zones show marked discrepancies in emission-reduction potential, with the contribution of heating and appliances being over 50%. Sensitivity analyses shows that the low-carbon awareness, electrification rate, proportion of clean energy generation and technological progress contribute positively to the early peak of URBCE. This study provides a deeper understanding of China's potential peaking paths and can assist policy-makers in better evaluating emission paths for other nations and regions. [Display omitted] • Develops an IDEA model by combining system dynamics model and LEAP model. • Explores the interaction and feedback mechanism among different levels of factors. • Simulates the URBCE by combining the IDEA model and scenario analysis approach. • Urban residential buildings will peak at 1.19 Bt CO 2 in 2037 under the BAU scenario. • Different end-uses and climate zones show marked discrepancies in emission-reduction potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep hashing has been widely studied in recent years. However, most existing methods learn hash codes from the whole image ignoring the region details which are important for representing the precise semantic contents. To tackle this issue, we proposed a deep regional detail-aware hashing (DDAH) to fully utilize this detail information. Specifically, to well reflect the influence of details on the hash codes, we handle these details in a "near-Hamming" space instead of directly fusing them in the original image feature space. Furthermore, based on the framework of DDAH, we can capture the details in the network without the need to partition the original image to different regions manually. To be more specific, considering multiple regions as overlapping subimages, we first design a deep network to learn multiple regional details from these subimages, and then fuse them in the near-Hamming space, which is highly related to Hamming space (i.e., hash code space). Finally, these regional details in the near-Hamming space are directly used to generate hash code of the corresponding image. In addition, a self-similarity loss term is proposed to force these regional details together in the near-Hamming space. In brief, compared to existing hashing methods, the proposed DDAH not only utilizes detail information for hash learning, but also incorporates them into the final hash codes. Extensive experiments on three datasets have indicated that DDAH outperforms most existing models, verifying its effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Polyethylene–octene copolymer (POE), maleic anhydride-grafted POE (POE-g-MA) and ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) were incorporated as second polymer components with polypropylene/carbon nanotube (PP/CNT) components by melt compounding and their influences on electrical conductivity and toughness of the nanocomposites were studied. POE-containing nanocomposites exhibit not only high electrical conductivity but also super-toughness, which are not considerably dependent on compounding sequences. Though UHMWPE does not largely affect the electrical conductivity of PP/CNT nanocomposites due to its impermeable feature, its toughening efficiency on PP/CNT nanocomposites is rather low. Irrespective of the compounding sequences, the incorporation of POE-g-MA adversely affects the formation of conducting network of CNTs due to its attraction with CNTs, leading to an insulating PP/CNT nanocomposite even with 30wt% of POE-g-MA. Among the three second polymer components, POE is much preferred in actual applications as it makes PP/CNT nanocomposites super-tough while the conducting feature of the nanocomposites is retained. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) content and distribution of mung bean (MB), heat and relative humidity treated MB (HRH-MB) under different cooking and storage conditions were investigated. The quality characteristics of noodles prepared by MB and HRH-MB were evaluated. Results showed that black MB varieties presented a higher average GABA content under HRH treatment than that of green MB varieties. Soaking significantly increased the GABA content of MB (P < 0.05), but, 58.78% of GABA in HRH-MB were distributed in the soaking solution. After cooking, although the GABA of HRH-MB had a slightly degradation, its content was higher than MB. With the increase of storage time, the GABA content in MB increased initially, followed by a decrease, whereas a slower reduction was observed on HRH-MB. Besides, compared with the mixed MB-wheat flour and noodles, the pasting properties of mixed HRH-MB-wheat flour, the color and texture properties of mixed HRH-MB-wheat noodles were improved and closer to wheat flour and noodles, respectively. Furthermore, the mixed HRH-MB-wheat noodles exhibited the highest GABA content (16.56 mg/100 g DW) after cooking. Therefore, HRH-MB may be an ideal material for enhancing GABA and improving the quality characteristic of MB-based foods. • Heat and relative humidity (HRH) enhanced γ-aminobutyric acid content of mung bean. • For mung bean, soaking largely increased its γ-aminobutyric acid content. • For HRH-mung bean, most of γ-aminobutyric acid was dissolved in the soaking solution. • γ-aminobutyric acid in HRH-mung bean was slightly degraded after cooking and storage. • HRH-mung bean noodles had the highest γ-aminobutyric acid content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The candied kidney bean contains a vital bioactive compound called γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA), which could be easily lost in the traditional producing processes like soaking, cooking and candying. The traditional procedure distinctly decreased the GABA content to the GABA retention rate of 34.01% in the candied kidney bean. In this study, the optimum technological methods of soaking, cooking and candying were determined by single factor experiment according to the GABA content. The optimised producing condition was that the kidney bean was soaked at 55°C for 5 h, followed by atmospheric steaming for 35 min and then subjected to microwaving candying at 150 W for 25 min. By the optimal procedure, the GABA content retention reached 75.33%. Meanwhile, the texture, nutrient contents and antioxidant capacity were obviously improved in the candied kidney beans produced by the optimal methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron (Fe) minerals, organic matter (OM), and pH can effectively regulate phosphorus (P) transport in the soil. However, their respective contributions in this regard are still unclear. In this study, P transport in soil columns was investigated by monitoring breakthrough curves and transport model fitting, and the contributions of Fe and total organic carbon (TOC) concentrations, as well as pH to P retention, were determined using multiple linear regression (MLR). The results showed that the rate of P transport in Fe-rich laterite soil was significantly lower (retardation factor R = 458.5) than that in the other soil types (R = 108.4–247.6). Additionally, it was observed that OM formed rate-limited adsorption sites, causing the rapid release of labile P, and owing to P release and readsorption. Even though more significant P releases were observed, chernozem soil had an obvious inhibiting effect on P transport owing to its relatively high Fe content, and the high P-Fe increment (48.9–90.4%) indicated the essential role of Fe minerals in P immobilization. Further, P was readily transported in natural or artificially modified fluvo-aquic soils with high calcium concentrations, and it was also observed that the convection–dispersion equation (CDE) and Thomas models were suitable for describing P retardation and adsorption, respectively. Furthermore, the contribution weights of Fe and TOC concentrations as well as pH to P retardation, based on MLR calculations, were approximately 1.0, −0.3, and −0.2, respectively. Our findings can support the control of eutrophication pollution caused by P leaching. [Display omitted] • Phosphorus transport in Fe-rich laterite soil was significantly low. • Mutually verifiable results were derived from the CDE and Thomas models. • Using MLR, the contributions of Fe and TOC concentrations as well as pH to P retardation were determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of the mechanism of rural economic restructuring is the basis for promoting the optimal restructuring of the rural economy and society as well as for reviving the countryside. We conducted a case study of Gongyi, a typical region experiencing rapid industrialization in inland China and systematically reviewed its economic restructuring process over the past 40 years after China's reform and opening‐up. On the basis of identifying spatial interfaces in Gongyi, we analyzed the influence of these spatial interfaces on the rural economic restructuring in Gongyi using geodetectors. The study showed that the influence of different types of interfaces has had a temporal evolutionary effect, the influence of a single human interface was higher than that of a natural interface. With the different stages of economic development, the influence of the interface is also differentiated. The influence of multiple interfaces increased after superposition, and the superposition of different types of interfaces constituted different patterns of rural economic restructuring in Gongyi. Overall, the influence of physical spatial interfaces on rural economic restructuring has decreased. Therefore, greater attention should be paid to the influence of abstract spatial interfaces in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on introducing a Dual Graph Ensemble Learning method for Knowledge Tracing (DGEKT) to improve knowledge tracing by incorporating heterogeneous exercise-concept associations and interaction transitions. Topics include hypergraph modeling, directed graph modeling, and online knowledge distillation to enhance prediction accuracy and ensemble modeling for better judgment quality in knowledge tracing tasks.

• The impacts of the expansion and spatial patterns of ISA on LST were investigated. • The mean LST and the density of the ISA are the highest in the center of the GBA. • The mean LST in the high density area is about 2.85 °C higher than low density area. • The correlation between nighttime LST and landscape metrics is weaker than daytime. The rapid development of urban megaregions has changed the regional thermal environment by raising the land surface temperature (LST) in a continuous area. The thermal environment problem in urban megaregions has become a research focus. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the LST and the external expansion and internal spatial patterns of impervious surfaces area (ISA) in Guangdong – Hong Kong – Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). The Landsat and MODIS data, as well as various geospatial approaches, including buffer-based zoning, impervious surface density gradients and landscape-based metrics statistics, were used to facilitate the analysis. We found that the areas of ISA increased from 1697.293 km2 in 2000 to 9754.936 km2 in 2015 in the GBA, expanding to the east, southeast and south. The mean LST increased by 7.41 °C and 10.23 °C in the daytime and nighttime, respectively. The internal density of ISA had increased significantly in the past 15 years. The highest ISA density and the highest LST appeared in the 15 km buffer zone closest to study area's center. And the LST was decreased by 0.15 °C for each 15 km increased in the distance to the study area's center. There was a significant strong positively correlation between the LST and the density of the ISA. The LST of the very-high-density area of the ISA was about 2.85 °C higher than that of the very-low-density area. The internal landscape pattern of ISA was strongly correlated with the LST. The study highlight that the center of urban megaregion had the larger ISA patches, which were simpler in shape, more aggregated and connected, and less fragmented seemed to exacerbate elevate in the LST in successive regions. In particular, the study found that the nighttime LST were affected by the environmental characteristics of urban megaregion. The correlation between the LST and the ISA was higher at daytime than at nighttime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Establishes a comprehensive framework to explore the multiple-effects exerted by urbanization on future building carbon emissions. • Constructs a carbon emission dynamic scenario simulation model by combining the extended Kaya identity and Monte Carlo simulation. • The building sector will reach its peak at 3.09 (±0.36) Bt CO 2 in 2037 (±4). • Rural residential building sector will be the first to reach its energy and emission peak. • Economic urbanization and space urbanization exert major promoting effects on the peaking time and emission peaks of building carbon emissions. The accelerating urbanization has posed great challenges to China's carbon-mitigation efforts and global climate change response. However, how does the urbanization process impact the peak of future carbon emissions from buildings is still unclear. This study first establishes a comprehensive urbanization framework from three dimensions. Then, a dynamic scenario simulation model is innovatively constructed by combining the extended Kaya identity and Monte Carlo simulation approach to explore future dynamic evolution trajectory, possible peaks and peaking time of China's building carbon emissions from 2000 to 2050, considering the uncertainties of factors. Finally, dynamic sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the contributions of different dimensions of the urbanization. Results show that under the business-as-usual scenario, the rural residential building sector will be the first to reach its energy peak in 2027. Dynamic scenario simulation shows that the building sector will peak at 3.09 (±0.36) Bt CO 2 in 2037 (±4). Specifically, the urban residential building sector will peak at 1.27 (±0.18) Bt CO 2 in 2040 (±4), while the rural residential building sector will peak at 0.51 (±0.03) Bt CO 2 in 2021 (±4) and the commercial building sector will peak in 2038 (±4) at 1.41 (±0.30) Bt CO 2. Dynamic sensitivity analysis indicates that rural–urban migration will exert promoting effect on the peaking time and emission peaks of building carbon emissions through the concomitant effects of the urbanization process, i.e., the economic urbanization and space urbanization. Overall, this study can provide a better insight into the impact of urbanization on carbon emission peak and can support governments and decision-makers to formulate effective carbon-mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The catalyst of HPW@UiO-66 with defects was prepared by hydrothermal synthesis. • The catalyst has high crystallinity, stable structure and dispersed HPW clusters. • The catalyst was applied to the oxidative desulfurization of oil-derived fuels. • The removal efficiency of DBT only was reduced to 94.70% after 12 cycles of use. • The incorporation of HPW and defects leads to the high catalytic activity. Phosphotungstic acid (H 3 PW 12 O 40 , HPW) exhibits a good desulfurization performance towards the oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of oil-derived fuels. However, it presents two drawbacks: a small specific surface area and poor recovery. In this work, HPW was loaded on the support UiO-66 with a stable structure and large specific surface area, and a family of HPW@UiO-66 catalysts was prepared. Based on the structure and property analyses of powder FT-IR, ICP-OES, XRD, SEM, TG and BET, 0.5-HPW@UiO-66 with defects possessed a high crystallinity, regular morphology, stable structure and dispersed HPW clusters. The removal efficiency of DBT reached 100% and was maintained at 94.70% after 12 times of repeated use under the optimal reaction conditions. The results showed that the catalytic performance of HPW@UiO-66 catalyst for model oil desulfurization was improved when the defects existed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Combining dynamic changing SOD, MDA, soluble sugar and proline contents and the degree of leaf damage under stress, samples of 8 h and 24 h after heat, drought and combined stress treatments were selected for RNA-seq. • The RNA sequencing analysis demonstrated that many genes involved in the defense response, photosynthesis, metabolic process, etc. are differentially expressed in response to drought and heat. However, 1468 and 1220 upregulated and 1146 and 686 downregulated genes were confirmed as overlapping differentially expressed genes at 8 h and 24 h after treatment, and these genes are mainly involved in transport, binding and defense responses. • Comparison of single and combined stress suggests the combined stress did not result in a simple additive response, and that there may be a synergistic response to the combination of drought and heat in soybean. • TFs in the single and combination stress were identified from DEGs, which classified into 9 clusters according to expression levels of six treatment and one control groups, revealed dynamic changing TF expression profiles and molecular mechanisms in response to single and combination stress. Abstract Heat and drought are the two major abiotic stress limiting soybean growth and output worldwide. Knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying the responses to heat, drought, and combined stress is essential for soybean molecular breeding. In this study, RNA-sequencing was used to determine the transcriptional responses of soybean to heat, drought and combined stress. RNA-sequencing analysis demonstrated that many genes involved in the defense response, photosynthesis, metabolic process, etc. are differentially expressed in response to drought and heat. However, 1468 and 1220 up-regulated and 1146 and 686 down-regulated genes were confirmed as overlapping differentially expressed genes at 8 h and 24 h after treatment, and these genes are mainly involved in transport, binding and defense response. Furthermore, we compared the heat, drought and the combined stress-responsive genes and identified potential new targets for enhancing stress tolerance of soybean. Comparison of single and combined stress suggests the combined stress did not result in a simple additive response, and that there may be a synergistic response to the combination of drought and heat in soybean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring facile and easily-scalable methods for synthesizing earth-abundant, cost-effective and efficient hydrogen evolution reaction ( HER) electrocatalysts is essential for the mass production of hydrogen as a clean and sustainable energy carrier. We report here a simple strategy to produce Mo2C nanocrystals embedded in carbon network ( Mo2C@C) by the direct pyrolysis of ammonium molybdate and polyvinylpyrrolidone ( PVP). It is found that PVP can be effectively used as a single source to form carbides and carbon network. The long polymer chain and coordinating capability with transition metal of PVP make it possible to form connected porous carbon network and well-dispersed Mo2C nanocrystals in several nanometers. The carbonization of PVP not only effectively in-situ prevents the aggregation of Mo2C nanocrystals during their formation, but also provides conductive porous matrix. As a result, the Mo2C@C composite exhibits the superior electrocatalytic performance for HER, which can be ascribed to the large number of active sites from plenty of small Mo2C nanocrystals and the efficient mass and electron transport network from carbon matrix. This strategy may inspire the exploration of cost-effective functional polymer as single source for both carbon precursor and nanostructure-directed reagent to mass-produce well-defined metal carbides nanostructures embedded in porous carbon network for energy applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring the applications of two dimensional layered Ti3C2X2 (X = OH, F) is of great importance because of its excellent physical and chemical properties. Herein, we report the synthesis of the bimetallic catalyst PtyCo1−y/Ti3C2X2via a facile one-pot approach using Ti3C2X2 as the support. The in situ synthesized PtyCo1−y/Ti3C2X2 is subsequently applied as a catalyst for hydrogen evolution from the hydrolysis of ammonia borane at 25 °C. Experimental results show that Pt0.08Co0.92/Ti3C2X2 exhibits excellent catalytic activity for the hydrolysis of ammonia borane with a high hydrogen generation rate of 100.7 L H2 (min gPt)−1 and turnover frequency of 727 mol H2 (min molPt)−1 because of the synergistic effect between Pt and Co. Moreover, Pt0.08Co0.92/Ti3C2X2 could be recovered from the reaction mixture by a magnet and recycled at least seven times, thus showing its high recycling efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sensitively competitive electrochemical immunosensor for the detection of cortisol was successfully developed based on gold nanoparticles and magnetic functionalized reduced graphene oxide (AuNPs/MrGO). In order to construct the base of the immunosensor, the MrGO was initially fabricated by chemical cross-linking and used to modify the nafion pretreated glassy carbon electrode. Subsequently, the surface of electrode was modified by AuNPs via electrochemical deposition. A variety of cortisol (Cor) can be firmly loaded in the AuNPs/MrGO with large specific surface area and good bioactivity to construct the basic electrode (Cor/AuNPs/MrGO/Nafion@GCE), which was characterized by the cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), respectively. Due to the cortisol on the surface of basic electrode and samples can competitively combine with the cortisol antibody labelled by horseradish peroxidase (HRP-Strept-Biotin-Ab). Finally, the detection signal of electrochemical immunosensor (HRP-Strept-Biotin-Ab-Cor/AuNPs/MrGO/Nafion@GCE) in the test liquid had negative correlations with the concentration of cortisol in samples. The AuNPs/MrGO with excellent electrical conductivity being applied, the electrochemical response of the immunosensor was immensely amplified. The immunosensor displayed excellent analytical performance for the detection of cortisol range from 0.1 to 1000 ng/mL with a detection limit of 0.05 ng/mL at 3σ. Moreover, compared the developed immunoassay with commercially available enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, the proposed method showed good precision, acceptable stability and reproducibility, indicating the immunosensor could be used for the sensitive, efficient and real-time detection of cortisol in real samples. Therefore, the present strategy provides a novel and convenient method for clinical determination of cortisol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although deep learning-based techniques for salient object detection have considerably improved over recent years, estimated saliency maps still exhibit imprecise predictions owing to the internal complexity and indefinite boundaries of salient objects of varying sizes. Existing methods emphasize the design of an exemplary structure to integrate multi-level features by employing multi-scale features and attention modules to filter salient regions from cluttered scenarios. We propose a saliency detection network based on three novel contributions. First, we use a dense feature extraction unit (DFEU) by introducing large kernels of asymmetric and grouped-wise convolutions with channel reshuffling. The DFEU extracts semantically enriched features with large receptive fields and reduces the gridding problem and parameter sizes for subsequent operations. Second, we suggest a cross-feature integration unit (CFIU) that extracts semantically enriched features from their high resolutions using dense short connections and sub-samples the integrated information into different attentional branches based on the inputs received for each stage of the backbone. The embedded independent attentional branches can observe the importance of the sub-regions for a salient object. With the constraint-wise growth of the sub-attentional branches at various stages, the CFIU can efficiently avoid global and local feature dilution effects by extracting semantically enriched features via dense short-connections from high and low levels. Finally, a contour-aware saliency refinement unit (CSRU) was devised by blending the contour and contextual features in a progressive dense connected fashion to assist the model toward obtaining more accurate saliency maps with precise boundaries in complex and perplexing scenarios. Our proposed model was analyzed with ResNet-50 and VGG-16 and outperforms most contemporary techniques with fewer parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The available evidence suggests that dengue virus-specific T lymphocytes and cytokine storm play a pivotal role in the immunopathogenesis of plasma leakage. Investigations are underway to identify the immune profiles associated with increased or decreased risk for severe disease. In this study, CD14+ cells from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients who recovered from DENV-1 infection were infected with DENV-1 or DENV-2 and co-cultured with memory T cells. We found that secondary infection with DENV-2 suppresses the cell reproductive capacity but forms more cell clones and more functional cells to produce more proinflammatory factors (IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12 and IL-17) and less regulatory cytokines (IL-10, TGF-β) which results in higher viral replication compared to secondary infection with DENV-1. Memory dengue virus-specific T cells which are induced in a primary dengue virus infection are reactivated by the heterologous serotype of dengue virus and antigen-presenting cells (APCs) during a secondary infection. Dramatically, less apoptosis and more continuous activation of T cells in secondary infection with hetero-serotype DENV were observed. This discovery which has not been reported previously may be the reasonable and vital interpretation for the cytokine storm and severe symptoms observed in secondary infection with DENV. In summary, secondary infection with hetero-serotype DENV elicits the relatively pathological immune response while secondary infection with homologous-serotype DENV induces the relatively protective immune response by activation-induced cell death (AICD) of T cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored composite membranes (CMs) with dense and water-permeable surface layers for the deep-concentration of high-strength wastewater using membrane distillation (MD). Compared to conventional microporous MD membranes, coating a dense PVA surface layer avoided the detrimental effects of landfill leachate (LFL) foulants (e.g., membrane pore blockage and deformation) during MD concentration. The hydrophilicity and water/salt separation capability of surface layers enhanced the dispersion of water diffusion on membrane surfaces and altered the solute distribution on membrane cross-sections, resulting in inorganic crystallization mitigation and transforming the fouling layer structure to a more porous and water-permeable state. This ensured the membrane efficiency was little affected by membrane fouling even as LFL was highly concentrated (water flux decline: PVDF ∼49 % vs. CM ∼14 % as concentration factor increased to 20). The resistance of foulant intrusion and in-pore deposition, which easily occurred on microporous membranes, and the decrease in membrane-foulant interactions by the surface layer endowed the CM with a high foulant-release capability (clean efficiency: ∼97 %). The surface layer also exhibited an ammonia/water sieving effect which enhanced volatile ammonia rejection (∼1.6 times). This work provides insight into the construction of high-sustainable MD membranes for high-strength wastewater treatment, promoting the practical implementation of MD. • A feasible pathway to fabricate high-sustainable MD membranes was proposed. • Dense and water-permeable surface layer avoided adverse effects of LFL foulants. • Mechanism of fouling layer transformation by surface layer was revealed. • PVA surface layer exhibited highly ammonia sieving and foulant-release abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contradiction between rural socioeconomic changes and residents' demands for a better life poses challenges for sustainable development. Industrial revitalization is a core issue in promoting rural economic development. Specialized villages, which focus on specific industries and excel in certain areas, are important pathways for increasing farmers' income, promoting industrial prosperity, and advancing agricultural modernization. However, there has been limited research on the spatial distribution and transformation patterns of rural industrial development models. In particular, in the context of rapid rural restructuring, understanding the spatial evolution of specialized villages is important for future rural development. Taking Henan Province—an important agricultural province in China—as a case, this study finds that the spatial evolution of specialized villages can be divided into six stages and three transformations corresponding to time period. The specialized villages show a spatial pattern of center–periphery, spatial agglomeration, and periphery–center development. In line with China's shift from quantitative expansion to qualitative reform, the types of specialized villages gradually diversified, driven by socioeconomic development and human behavioral factors in different periods. Although China's specialized villages show diversified development patterns, there remains a need to identify development patterns that are consistent with different types of villages to achieve high-quality development, fully implement rural revitalization, and provide typical cases for global sustainable development. By summarizing the development patterns of specialized villages, this study helps to accurately determine the value of specialized villages in rural development and to design more targeted paths for the development of rural industries, which is significant for promoting sustainable rural development and enhancing human well-being. • A typical model of rural industrial development is studied - specialized villages. • Evolutionary process was categorised following historical periodisation of China. • Spatial structure has evolved from discrete and isomorphic to diversified network. • Transformation mechanisms under the combined effect of multiple factors is explained. • Differentiated patterns go beyond linear transformation in contemporary China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hereditary basis and identification of novel genes of heading date have significant implications for japonica rice improvement in northeast China, especially in Heilongjiang province. A re‐sequenced recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from the cross between Lijiangxintuanheigu (LTH) and Shennong 265 (SN265) was used to detect the genetic basis for the RIL in 2017 and 2018. Fourteen heading date quantitative trait loci (QTLs), including nine in 2017 and thirteen in 2018, were detected with a linkage map containing 2,818 bin markers. They were distributed on chromosomes 3, 4, 6 and 9–11 with 9.34%–25.26% phenotypic variations. The QTLs qHD3a, qHD4a, qHD4b, qHD4c, qHD9b, qHD10, qHD11c and qHD11d were identified in both years. The qTRS1, qTRS3a (qHD3a), qTRS3b (qHD3b) and qTRS9 (qHD9a) alleles from LTH and the qTRS4 allele from SN265 were identified by controlling the temperature responsiveness in the RIL population. The explained phenotypic variation in these five QTLs varied from 14.52% to 26.31%. In order to accurately determine the difference in heading date under different temperature conditions, the RILs and two parents were grown in a phytotron. Four QTLs controlling temperature responsiveness were identified on chromosomes 3, 6 and 9, including qTRS3a (qHD3a), qTRS3b (qHD3b), qTRS6 and qTRS9 (qHD9a). In a different environment, qTRS3a (qHD3a), qTRS3b (qHD3b) and qTRS9 (qHD9a) were detected. A comparison of chromosomal locations between the QTLs detected in this study and heading date genes previously cloned indicated that DTH3, Hd16, RFL, HAF1, Ehd2 and RBS1 might be candidate genes for them. The four major heading date genes (Hd1, Ghd7, Ghd7.1 and Ghd8) affecting ecogeographical adaptation were sequenced between SN265 and LTH. SN265 carried a functional Hd1 haplotype, a weak functional Ghd7 haplotype, a weak functional Ghd7.1 haplotype and a weak functional Ghd8 haplotype. LTH also carried functional Hd1 haplotype, a weak functional Ghd7 haplotype, a non‐functional Ghd7.1 haplotype and a non‐functional Ghd8 haplotype. The combinations of the Hd1, Ghd7, Ghd7.1 and Ghd8 alleles in SN265 and LTH largely defined their short heading date under long‐day conditions. The selection of heading date gene combinations with functional Hd1 alleles and non‐functional alleles or weak functional alleles of Ghd7, Ghd7.1 and Ghd8 would be an effective way to improve japonica rice with proper heading days in Northeast China. The novel QTLs detected in this study could also become a valuable source for designing the appropriate heading date in Northeast China japonica rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A national-scale inventory of heavy metal inputs is essential to understand the current situation of contribution and spatial heterogeneity of heavy metal sources in China. Published literatures from 2008 to 2018 about heavy metal inputs from various pollution sources (atmospheric deposition, livestock manures, fertilizers, and sewage irrigation) to agricultural soils were collected. In the past ten years, atmospheric deposition was the main pollution source which was responsible for 50–93% of the total As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni, and Pb inputs, with livestock manures contributed to approximately 76% of total Cu inputs. However, due to industrial structure, geographical condition and the characteristics of economic development, the contribution of different sources to heavy metal pollution varies in different regions. For example, atmospheric deposition was the most important contributor in North China with its highly developed heavy industry and more coal combustion, while the contribution of livestock manures was obviously higher in South China due to its flourishing agricultural production and animal husbandry. Based on the analysis for clarifying the major pollution sources of five typical heavy metals (namely Cd, As, Hg, Cu and Pb), the controlling measures are suggested to make more effective and targeted strategies to protect agricultural soils in the future. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Atmospheric deposition (AD) contributed 50–93% for As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni and Pb inputs in farmlands in China. • Livestock manures (LM) was the most contributor for Cu, up to 76%. • AD exhibited higher contribution proportion in NC than in SC, while opposite tendency presented in LM. • Targeted heavy metal control measures were given based on the spatial heterogeneity in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma (ESCC) develops through multistage epithelial cancer formation, i.e., from normal epithelium, low- and high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia to invasive carcinoma. However, how the precancerous lesions progress to carcinoma remains elusive. Here, we report a comprehensive single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomic study of 79 multistage esophageal lesions from 29 patients with ESCC. We reveal a gradual and significant loss of ANXA1 expression in epithelial cells due to its transcription factor KLF4 suppression along the lesion progression. We demonstrate that ANXA1 is a ligand to formyl peptide receptor type 2 (FPR2) on fibroblasts that maintain fibroblast homeostasis. Loss of ANXA1 leads to uncontrolled transformation of normal fibroblasts into cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), which can be enhanced by secreted TGF-β from malignant epithelial cells. Given the role of CAFs in cancer, our study underscores ANXA1/FPR2 signaling as an important crosstalk mechanism between epithelial cells and fibroblasts in promoting ESCC. [Display omitted] • Single-cell and spatial transcriptomic analyses of multistage ESCC tumorigenesis • The ANXA1 level in epithelial cells is gradually depleted along ESCC progression • ANXA1 depletion promotes ESCC via activating cancer-associated fibroblast formation • Reduced transcription factor KLF4 level causes ANXA1 depletion Chen et al. perform single-cell and spatial transcriptomic analyses of multistage esophageal lesions and reveal gradual loss of ANXA1 expression in epithelial cells during ESCC development. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrate that suppressed ANXA1-FPR2 ligand-receptor interaction between epithelial-fibroblast leads to cancer-associated fibroblast formation, which promotes ESCC progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Extrusion is a widely used food processing technology. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of extruded adzuki bean convenient food (EABCF) on glycemic and inflammation control in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients.Patients and Methods: In a randomized controlled trial, 120 T2DM patients were randomly assigned to a control diet group (the low glycemic index [LGI] group, assigned the traditional diabetic low glycemic index diet) or an intervention group (the EABCF group, assigned daily consumption of EABCF). Diet information and blood samples were collected at baseline and after a 4-week intervention. After excluding exogenous insulin users, a subgroup analysis based on baseline fasting insulin (FINS) levels was conducted, and Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA) was the target indicator.Results: A total of 106 patients completed the trial, and 89 participants were included in the subgroup analysis. After the intervention, glycemic control improved in both groups compared to baseline, but the difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). However, the EABCF group showed decreased inflammation with significantly lower tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) level compared to the control group (adjusted p<0.01). There was also a slight increase in the interleukin-6 (IL-6) level in the EABCF group (adjusted p=0.004). Moreover, the subgroup analysis found that, after 4 weeks, a diet consisting of EABCF increased insulin secretion to normal levels in the group with hypoinsulinism (baseline FINS<5.2 mU/L). However, the difference only showed a trend toward statistical significance (0.05Conclusion: EABCF had a similar hypoglycemic effect as the traditional diabetic LGI diet and showed a greater inhibitory effect on inflammation in T2DM patients. However, further clinical studies are needed to explore the underlying mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The graphene/polyurethane (GN@PU) sponge was prepared via simple dip-coating PU sponges in graphene aqueous suspension containing cellulose nanowhiskers (CNWs), where CNWs played a vital role to facilitate the uniform graphene sheets coated on the skeletons of polyurethane sponge (PU). The super-hydrophobic GN@PU sponge was obtained by optimizing the ratio of GN and CNWs to choose the final coating suspensions of GN/CNWs mixture or pure graphene. The GN@PU sponge showed densely packed graphene sheets, contributing super-hydrophobicity to the sponge with water contact angle of 152° and a large lubricating oil absorption value of 31 g g −1 . The elasticity, mechanical durability, thermal and chemical stability were all found to be improved after coating with the thin GN layers. Moreover, the GN@PU sponges possess outstanding recyclability and stability since no decline in absorption efficiency was observed after more than 100 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pectic polysaccharide (named as CPP1c) extracted from Codonopsis pilosula was evaluated for its structural features and potential of immune-modulating activities in an aging mouse model of senescence accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) in vitro and in vivo . The relative molecular weight and the absolute molecular weight of CPP1c were 1.26 × 10 5 Da and 1.49 × 10 5 Da, respectively. Investigation of structural features by a combination of chemical and instrumental analysis showed CPP1c was composed of →1)-α- l - R ha p -(2,4→, →1)-α- l -Ara f -(5→, →1)-α- d -Gal p -(6→ and →1)-α- d -Gal p A-(4→ in a molar ratio of 3:1:2:33. CPP1c could promote lymphocyte proliferation, modulate the percentage of CD4 + , CD8 + , CD28 + and CD152 + T cells and enhance the production of IL-2, TNF-α and IFN-γ. Moreover, PCR assay revealed CPP1c augmented the expressions of CD28, PI3 K and p38MAPK mRNA, and the increase of protein expressions of the same genes was also confirmed by western blot analyses. In addition, CPP1c had the potential of promoting the homing of lymphocytes. Taking all factors into consideration, we deduced CPP1c might exert its immunostimulating potency via promoting T cell activation by TCR/CD28 signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring MXenes as supports for synthesis of highly efficient catalysts are extremely important for hydrodechlorination of chlorophenols because of the acute toxicity and strong potential bioaccumulation of chlorophenols. We reported a facile strategy to synthesize Rh nanoparticles deposited on 2D alk-Ti 3 C 2 X 2 (X = O, F) (alk-Ti 3 C 2 X 2 for short) MXene, which was prepared through the removal of the Al layers of Ti 3 AlC 2 and post-treatment by alkalization. Modifying the Ti 3 C 2 X 2 support by alkalization triggered the substitution of surface fluorine groups with surface oxygen species. The changes in the surface chemistry of alk-Ti 3 C 2 X 2 effectively prevented particle aggregation to form well-dispersed Rh nanoparticles in small sizes with relative high metal dispersion, thereafter improving the hydrogen uptake capacity of the catalyst. Consequently, the Rh/alk-Ti 3 C 2 X 2 catalyst significantly enhanced the catalytic performance for the HDC reaction, which could be assigned to the large number of active components from small Rh nanoparticles. This strategy provides a basis for investigating the use of MXenes as supports to synthesize well-defined metal nanoparticles in 2D layered structures for potential applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mercaptans as volatile organic sulfur compounds would cause environmental pollution. Researches are focused on the removal of mercaptans by solvent absorption method. In this work, a new efficient absorbent of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolyl alanine ([Bmim]Ala) was prepared and evaluated by the removal of mercaptans from the model gas containing methyl mercaptan (MeSH, 307.6 mg/m3), ethyl mercaptan (EtSH, 201.1 mg/m3) and propyl mercaptan (PrSH, 149.9 mg/m3) in nitrogen. The results showed that the removal rate of MeSH, EtSH and PrSH was 97.77, 98.12 and 100.00%, respectively, at a temperature of 35 °C and a pressure of 1.00 bar for 2 min. After 6 recycling times, [Bmim]Ala remained a good performance for the removal of mercaptans. The desulfurization mechanism was proposed that the absorption sites were mainly on the alanine anion (Ala−) and Ala− could be replaced by the thiol anion (RS−) to form a new ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolyl thiolate ([Bmim]+RS−). Meanwhile, since the electrostatic interaction between -COO− in Ala− and H -g on the imidazolium cation could be destroyed by the -SH group, the -COO− group would interact with mercaptans to form a strong H-bond. The amino in Ala− and the -SH group could form Lewis acid-base compounds. [Display omitted] • [Bmim]Ala was employed for the removal of mercaptans from the model gas. • Over 95.00% of mercaptans in the model gas was absorbed by [Bmim]Ala. • [Bmim]Ala showed a good regeneration and recycling performance after 6 cycles. • A possible desulfurization mechanism for mercaptans by [Bmim]Ala was proposed. • The [Ala]− group played a key role during the removal process of mercaptans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel lobetyolin electrochemical sensor based on a magnetic functionalized reduced graphene oxide/Nafion nanohybrid film has been introduced in this work. The magnetic functionalized reduced graphene oxide was characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, atomic force microscope, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The scanning electron microscopy characterized the morphology and microstructure of the prepared sensors, and the electrochemical effective surface areas of the prepared sensors were also calculated by chronocoulometry method. The electrochemical behavior of lobetyolin on the magnetic functionalized reduced graphene oxide/Nafion nanohybrid modified glassy carbon electrode was investigated by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry in a phosphate buffer solution of pH 6.0. The electron-transfer coefficient (α), electron transfer number (n), and electrode reaction rate constant (Κs) were calculated as 0.78, 0.73, and 4.63 s − 1 , respectively. Under the optimized conditions, the sensor based on magnetic functionalized reduced graphene oxide/Nafion showed a linear voltammetric response to the lobetyolin concentration at 1.0 × 10 − 7 to 1.0 × 10 − 4 mol/L with detection limit (S/N = 3)of 4.3 × 10 − 8 mol/L. The proposed sensor also displayed acceptable reproducibility, long-term stability, and high selectivity, and performs well for analysis of lobetyolin in real samples. The voltammetric sensor was successfully applied to detect lobetyolin in Codonopsis pilosula with recovery values in the range of 96.12% –102.66%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amino acid transporters (AATs) are integral membrane proteins responsible for the transmembrane transport of amino acids and play important roles in various physiological processes of plants. However, there has not yet been a genome-wide overview of the StAAT gene family to date and only StAAP1 has been previously studied in potato. In this paper, a total of 72 StAATs were identified using a series of bioinformatics searches and classified into 12 subfamilies based on their phylogenetic relationship with known Arabidopsis and rice AATs. Chromosomal localization revealed their distribution on all 12 chromosomes. Nearly one-third of StAAT genes (23 of 72) were derived from gene duplication, among which tandem duplication made the greatest contribution to the expansion of the StAAT family. Motif analysis showed that the same subfamily had similar conserved motifs in both numbers and varieties. Moreover, high-throughput sequencing data was used to analyze the expression patterns of StAAT genes and was verified by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. The expression of StAAT genes exhibited both abundant and tissue-specific expression patterns, which might be connected to their functional roles in long- and short-distance transport. This study provided a comprehensive survey of the StAAT gene family, and could serve as a theoretical foundation for the further functional identification and utilization of family members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sensitive electrochemical sensor based on bovine serum albumin (BSA)/poly (diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) functionalized graphene nanosheets (PDDA-G) composite film modified glassy carbon electrode (BSA/PDDA-G/GCE) had been developed to investigate the oxidative protein damage and protections of protein from damage by flavonoids. The performance of this sensor was remarkably improved due to excellent electrical conductivity, strong adsorptive ability, and large effective surface area of PDDA-G. The BSA/PDDA-G/GCE displayed the greatest degree of BSA oxidation damage at 40 min incubation time and in the pH 5.0 Fenton reagent system (12.5 mM FeSO 4 , 50 mM H 2 O 2 ). The antioxidant activities of four flavonoids had been compared by fabricated sensor based on the relative peak current ratio of SWV, because flavonoids prevented BSA damage caused by Fenton reagent and affected the BSA signal in a solution containing Co(bpy) 3 3 + . The sensor was characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). UV–vis spectrophotometry and FTIR were also used to investigate the generation of hydroxyl radical and BSA damage, respectively. On the basis of results from electrochemical methods, the order of the antioxidant activities of flavonoids is as follows: (+)-catechin > kaempferol > apigenin > naringenin. A novel, direct SWV analytical method for detection of BSA damage and assessment of the antioxidant activities of four flavonoids was developed and this electrochemical method provided a simple, inexpensive and rapid detection of BSA damage and evaluation of the antioxidant activities of samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Auxin/indole-3-acetic acid ( Aux/IAA ) genes encode short-lived nuclear proteins that are known to be involved in the primary cellular responses to auxin. To date, systematic analysis of the Aux/IAA genes in potato ( Solanum tuberosum ) has not been conducted. In this study, a total of 26 potato Aux/IAA genes were identified (designated from StIAA1 to StIAA26 ), and the distribution of four conserved domains shared by the StIAAs were analyzed based on multiple sequence alignment and a motif-based sequence analysis. A phylogenetic analysis of the Aux/IAA gene families of potato and Arabidopsis was also conducted. In order to assess the roles of StIAA genes in tuber development, the results of RNA-seq studies were reformatted to analyze the expression patterns of StIAA genes, and then verified by quantitative real-time PCR. A large number of StIAA genes (12 genes) were highly expressed in stolon organs and in during the tuber initiation and expansion developmental stages, and most of these genes were responsive to indoleacetic acid treatment. Our results suggested that StIAA genes were involved in the process of tuber development and provided insights into functional roles of potato Aux/IAA genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) is effective for preventing cancer and treating skin diseases and acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL). These pharmacological effects of ATRA are mainly mediated by retinoid X receptors (RXRs) and retinoic acid receptors (RARs). This article provides a comprehensive overview of the clinical progress on and the molecular mechanisms of ATRA in the treatment of APL. ATRA can promote the transcriptional activation of differentiation-related genes and regulate autophagy by inhibiting mTOR, which results in anti-APL effects. In detail, the structures, pharmacological effects, and clinical studies of 68 types of ATRA analogues are described. These compounds have excellent antitumour therapeutic potential and could be used as lead compounds for further development and research. [Display omitted] • This review discusses the structures, pharmacological activities, and relevant clinical trials of ATRA and its 68 analogues. • Two isomers of ATRA are introduced in detail, and the crystal structure of 9- cis -RA binding to RXRα is fully described. • In APL treatment, ATRA restores transcriptional activity to ensure normal differentiation by inducing PML-RARα fusion gene. • ATRA promotes autophagy by inhibiting the mTOR pathway, which inhibits unlimited leukaemic cells proliferation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioactive peptides are generally obtained from plant protein hydrolysates. These peptides possess physiological activities, such as lowering blood cholesterol. In the current study, proteins from adzuki bean (Vigna angularis) and faba bean (Vicia faba) were thermally processed, and low molecular weight peptides (<3 kDa) were isolated to assess their efficacy for inhibiting cholesterol synthesis and its solubilisation. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) results showed higher peptide concentrations after thermal processing. Inhibition of cholesterol solubilisation into micelles and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme-A reductase (HMG Co-AR) catalytic activity was evaluated. After processing, the faba bean peptides showed significantly (p < 0.05) increased inhibition of cholesterol solubilisation into micelles (45.1 ± 1.6%), whereas peptides from the native faba bean protein exhibited significantly increased (p < 0.05) inhibition of HMG Co-AR catalytic activity (84.1 ± 2.7%) compared with the adzuki bean and thermally processed peptides. After processing, the adzuki bean peptides showed significantly reduced scavenging activity compared with peptides obtained from the native protein. This study is the first report demonstrating that the peptides from adzuki and faba beans inhibit cholesterol homeostasis via distinctive ways and act as antioxidants. • Thermal processing increased degree of hydrolysis and peptides concentration. • Thermally processed peptides showed higher inhibition of cholesterol solubility into micelle. • It has effect on HMGCR enzymatic activity. • Correlation showed highly significant positive correlation of FRAP with 3 KDa peptides concentrations. • It also showed significant positive correlation of solubility with hydrolysis and peptides concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]