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Oil-gas-water three-phase flow is distinguished by its intricate flow pattern. The analysis of experimental observations to reveal the oil-gas-water three phase flow's dynamic behavior remains a challenging task. In this paper, firstly, a simulation investigation to compare the multivariate pseudo-winger distribution (MPWD) and multivariate synchrosqueezing transform (MSST) is presented. The cross term may be suppressed while maintaining high time-frequency concentration, according to our research on multivariate synchrosqueezing transform. The time-frequency analysis of various vertical oil–gas–water three phase flow patterns is then conducted utilizing MSST. The results from this study reveal that in various frequency bands, slug flow, bubble flow, and churn flow exhibit considerable temporal frequency variances. The MSST can effectively uncover the intrinsic connection between signal fluctuations and flow structure, and promote the understanding of various patterns of flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Busulfan is an antineoplastic, which is always accompanied with the abnormal of spermatogonia self‐renewal and differentiation. It has been demonstrated that the omega‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) benefits mature spermatozoa. However, whether omega‐3 can protect endogenous spermatogonia and the detailed mechanisms are still unclear. Evaluate of spermatogenesis function (in vivo) were examined by histopathological analysis, immunofluorescence staining, and western blotting. The levels of lipid metabolites in testicular tissue were determined via liquid chromatography. We investigated the effect of lipid metabolites on Sertoli cells provided paracrine factors to regulate spermatogonia proliferation and differentiation using co‐culture system. In our study, we showed that omega‐3 PUFAs significantly improved the process of sperm production and elevated the quantity of both undifferentiated Lin28+ spermatogonia and differentiated c‐kit+ spermatogonia in a mouse model where spermatogenic function was disrupted by busulfan. Mass spectrometry revealed an increase in the levels of several omega‐3 metabolites in the testes of mice fed with omega‐3 PUFAs. The eicosapentaenoic acid metabolite 12‐hydroxyeicosapentaenoic acid (12‐HEPE) up‐regulated bone morphogenic protein 4 (BMP4) expression through GPR120‐ERK1/2 pathway activation in Sertoli cells and restored spermatogonia proliferation and differentiation. Our study provides evidence that omega‐3 PUFAs metabolite 12‐HEPE effectively protects spermatogonia and reveals that GPR120 might be a tractable pharmacological target for fertility in men received chemotherapy or severe spermatogenesis dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method was developed for the coagulation of arsenic with serpentine and Fe(II). Excellent removal efficiency (>99%) and satisfactory stability of the sediments were accomplished for As(V) and As(III). A mechanism study showed that hydroxyls generated by the surface hydrolysis of serpentine mediated active iron hydroxides for arsenic adsorption, while the Fe–As and Mg–As chemical interaction contributed to the arsenic stabilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a retraction notice for an article titled "SIRT6 Overexpression Induces Apoptosis of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma by Inhibiting NF-κB Signaling." The retraction is due to concerns about the duplication of images from other unrelated articles. The authors were unable to provide an explanation for the duplicated images or data for the study. The article will remain online but will be marked as "Retracted." [Extracted from the article]

The complicated spatio-temporal structure of horizontal oil-water flows renders the identification of flow patterns exceedingly challenging, owing to the presence of interfacial waves and droplet entrainment. In this study, a multi-domain fusion feature (MFF) as flow pattern descriptors (FPD) and a lightweight multi-stream networks (LMN) as flow pattern classifier (FPC) are proposed to identify the flow patterns of horizontal oil-water two-phase flow. MFF can map time series into different domains and compactly encode them into higher dimensional expressions, thus displaying implicit flow pattern signals incorporating nonlinear, time-frequency, and probabilistic transition domain features. Finally, the comparison of LMN, variational and other networks is evaluated on the horizontal oil-water flows pattern identification task. Extensive comparison experiments show that the time-frequency feature exhibits optimal characterization for the D O/W flow pattern, the URP feature is most accurately characterized for the D W/O and D O/W flow patterns, and the MTF feature exhibits superior characterization for the remaining three flow patterns. The 98.40 % recognition accuracy demonstrates that MFF has a good representation of flow patterns and the proposed LMN outperforms existing classifiers in flow pattern recognition. • An intelligent horizontal oil-water flow pattern identification method is proposed. • A multi-domain fusion feature is designed as flow pattern descriptors. • A lightweight multi-stream networks is designed as flow pattern classifier. • The effectiveness of the method is verified by horizontal oil-water flow experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein regulator of cytokinesis 1 (PRC1) has been reported in correlation with various malignancies. Functionality of PRC1 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) was investigated, in perspective of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) regulatory circuitry. Aberrant expressed messenger RNA and lncRNA were screened out from the Gene Expression Omnibus microarray database. NPC cell line CNE‐2 was adopted for in vitro study and transfected with mimic or short hairpin RNA of miR‐194‐3p and PTPRG‐AS1. The radioactive sensitivity, cell viability, migration, invasion, and apoptosis were detected. PTPRG‐AS1 and PRC1 were upregulated in NPC, whereas miR‐194‐3p was downregulated. PTPRG‐AS1 was found to specifically bind to miR‐194‐3p as a competing endogenous RNA and miR‐194‐3p targets and negatively regulates PRC1. Overexpressed miR‐194‐3p or silenced PTPRG‐AS1 resulted in enhanced sensitivity to radiotherapy and cell apoptosis along with suppressed cell migration, invasion and proliferation in NPC. Furthermore, impaired tumor formation was also caused by miR‐194‐3p overexpression or PTPRG‐AS1 suppression through xenograft tumor in nude mice. In our study, PTPRG‐AS1/miR‐194‐3p/PRC1 regulatory circuitry was revealed in NPC, the mechanism of which can be of clinical significance for treatment of NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fast inspection of the pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables requires the development of facile, sensitive and accurate methods. Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a promising way to provide a fast inspection method, which requires significant improvements in the reproducibility and feasibility. In the present work, an SERS method was developed for the fast inspection of pesticides on fruit peels in conjunction with surface extraction and coordination transferring. In this new method, the residual pesticides were directly extracted from fruit peels with an appropriate extraction solution and then quantitatively transferred onto an organic solvent-compatible Au array SERS chip through the strong chemical interactions between the heteroatoms in the pesticides and the gold surface. The functional SERS chip was fabricated by the interfacial assembly of an Au array on a membrane, which produced dense and uniformly distributed SERS hot spots and enabled compatibility with random curvature surfaces and handheld Raman spectrometers. As a proof of concept, sulfur atoms containing thiram on apples were detected at a concentration as low as 5 ng cm−2 with good reproducibility (relative standard deviation lower than 10%). The strong interactions between the sulfur atoms and gold surface during the coordination transferring process were confirmed by the enhanced vibrations of the specified bands occurring in both the Raman and IR spectra. This surface extraction-coordination transferring-based method holds wide applicability for heteroatom-containing pesticides, as demonstrated by the detection of various S- and P-containing pesticides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While SARS-CoV-2 is generally under control, the question of variants and infections still persists. Fundamental information on how the virus interacts with inanimate surfaces commonly found in our daily life and when in contact with the skin will be helpful in developing strategies to inhibit the spread of the virus. Here in, a critically important review of current understanding of the interaction between virus and surface is summarized from chemistry point-of-view. The Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek and extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theories to model virus attachments on surfaces are introduced, along with the interaction type and strength, and quantification of each component. The virus survival and transfer are affected by a combination of biological, physical, and chemical parameters, as well as environmental parameters. The surface properties for virus and virus survival on typical surfaces such as metals, plastics, and glass are summarized. Attention is also paid to the transfer of virus to/from surfaces and skin. Typical virus disinfection strategies utilizing heat, light, chemicals, and ozone are discussed together with their disinfection mechanism. In the last section, design principles for virus repelling surface chemistry such as surperhydrophobic or surperhydrophilic surfaces are also introduced, to demonstrate how the integration of surface property control and advanced material fabrication can lead to the development of functional surfaces for mitigating the effect of viral infection upon contact. [Display omitted] • The interaction between virus and surface is summarized from chemistry point-of-view. • The surface properties for virus and virus survival on typical surfaces are summarized. • Typical disinfection strategies utilizing heat, light, chemicals, and ozone are discussed. • Attention is paid to the transfer of virus to/from surfaces and skin. • Virus repelling surface chemistry such as surperhydrophobic or surperhydrophilic surfaces are reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Due to expected changes in fire frequency and the potential of using pyrolyzed biomass (biochar) amendments to increase soil C storage, there is a need for better ability to predict pyrogenic C (pyC) longevity in soil and its effects on native soil C stability. However, C mineralization from biochar/soil mixtures has been shown to vary greatly and both 'positive' and 'negative' priming (increased and decreased mineralization of native C, respectively) following biochar amendments have been observed. To better understand the interactions that influence mineralization of pyC and native soil C, bagasse (sugar cane residues) and bagasse biochar pyrolyzed at 300 and 650 °C were incubated in sand over 144 d with soil microbes and dissolved organic matter (DOM) substrates of high and low reactivity (sucrose and humic acid: HA, respectively). Mineralization of particulate and dissolved C was quantified based upon the distinct C isotopic signature of CO 2 evolved from each source. Negative priming of bagasse-C mineralization by sucrose (−9.3% cumulative C mineralized) and pyC mineralization by HA (−29 and −68% for low and high temperature biochar, respectively) pointed to the mechanism of ' substrate switching ', i.e. cases in which added DOM was of greater or similar lability to the particulate OM present. In contrast, positive priming of bagasse mineralization by HA (+77%) and pyC mineralization by sucrose (+271 and 614% for low and high temperature biochar, respectively), was attributed to the mechanisms of soil conditioning (creation of an environment more favourable to microbial growth) and co-metabolism , respectively. Inversely, presence of all the particulates enhanced the mineralization of sucrose (by 8, 58 and 91% for bagasse and low and high temperature biochar, respectively), suggesting a soil conditioning mechanism. In contrast, the biochars had little effect on HA mineralization, likely because of their similar inherent stability and chemistry. These results show that DOM and pyC mineralization in soil is interactive and varies with OM type. Furthermore, the priming observed could be attributed to different mechanisms in different cases, the long term effect of which would likely be greater soil C sequestration than predicted by simple degradation models. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Positive priming of pyC (biochar) mineralization by sucrose was attributed to 'co-metabolism'. • Negative priming of biomass-C by sucrose and pyC by humic acid was caused by 'substrate switching'. • Biochar had little effect on humic acid-C mineralization. • Priming via pyC addition may cause short term soil C losses, but addition gains in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malachite Green (MG) is a banned pesticide for aquaculture products. As a required inspection item, its fast and accurate determination before the products' accessing market is very important. Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a promising tool for MG sensing, but it requires the overcoming of several problems such as fairly poor sensitivity and reproducibility, especially laser induced chemical conversion and photo-bleaching during SERS observation. By using a graphene wrapped Ag array based flexible membrane sensor, a modified SERS strategy was proposed for the sensitive and accurate detection of MG. The graphene layer functioned as an inert protector for impeding chemical transferring of the bioproduct Leucomalachite Green (LMG) to MG during the SERS detection, and as a heat transmitter for preventing laser induced photo-bleaching, which enables the separate detection of MG and LMG in fish extracts. The combination of the Ag array and the graphene cover also produced plentiful densely and uniformly distributed hot spots, leading to analytical enhancement factor up to 3.9 × 10 8 and excellent reproducibility (relative standard deviation low to 5.8% for 70 runs). The proposed method was easily used for MG detection with limit of detection (LOD) as low as 2.7 × 10 −11  mol L −1 . The flexibility of the sensor enable it have a merit for in-field fast detection of MG residues on the scale of a living fish through a surface extraction and paste transferring manner. The developed strategy was successfully applied in the analysis of real samples, showing good prospects for both the fast inspection and quantitative detection of MG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous reports show that SIRT6 serves as a critical modulator of the development of multiple malignancies as well as other disorders. However, its role in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is unknown. Thus, we elucidated the effects of SIRT6 on the survival of NPC cells, and modulation of cell death.Methods: We found that expression of SIRT6 is downregulated in ten human NPC specimens as well as in the human NPC cell lines, 5-8 F and CNE1, as compared with that in healthy tissues and normal nasopharyngeal NP69 cells. The MTT assay and colony formation assay revealed that upregulation of SIRT6 impaired the proliferation, as well as the survival of 5-8 F and CNE1 cells. The TUNEL assay, annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide, and flow cytometry were performed to detect apoptosis. The results revealed that the expression of SIRT6 resulted in increased apoptosis.Results: Western blotting results showed that SIRT6 overexpression decreased anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 levels, whereas it promoted an increase in pro-apoptotic Bax and cleaved caspase-3 levels. Moreover, NF-κB levels were markedly reduced in cells expressing SIRT6, whereas they were increased in cells transfected with shRNA-SIRT6. Recovery of NF-κB expression was found to counter the suppressive influence of SIRT6 on NPC cell survival, whereas, NF-κB knockdown increased apoptosis of NPC cells.Conclusion: Thus, the findings of our study offer insight into the biological and molecular mechanisms underlying the development of NPC and may lead to the development of new and innovative strategies for the treatment of NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methylation is an important epigenetic DNA modification that governs gene expression. The genomic level of methylated DNA and its derivatives may serve as important indicators for the initiation and progression of cancers among other diseases. In this effort we propose a new laser wrapped graphene-Ag array as a highly sensitive Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensor for the detection of methylated DNA (5-methylcytosine, 5 mC) and its oxidation derivatives namely 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) and 5-carboxylcytosine (5-caC). Excellent sensitivity and reproducibility were achieved with the laser wrapped graphene-Ag array as a substrate, with the graphene layer acting as an enhancer of the SERS signal due to the effective coupling of the electromagnetic field. In summary, fast (less than 60 min) and sensitive (at a limit of detection 0.2 pg μL −1 , ie. 1.8 pmol L −1 ) detection of methylated DNA and its derivatives was realized with the ability to distinguish methylation levels from a mixture at 0.1%. The sensitive and accurate detection in DNA extracted from cells was also accomplished. Furthermore our graphene wrapped approach circumvents the direct interaction between Ag array and the analytes, thus improving the reusability of the SERS substrate even after five cycles of use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Well-dispersed Au/Bi nanoparticles with average size below 10 nm were prepared by using NaBH to reduce HAuCl with glucose as dispersant. The obtained Au/Bi NPs were well characterized by UV-Vis spectra, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemical measurements. The electrochemical study found that Bi adlayers on the surface of Au nanoparticles owns two kinds of surface structures, including a low coverage (2 × 2)-Bi adlayer and a close-packed (p × √3)-2 Bi adlayer due to the strong interaction between the two Bi layers and the below Au atoms, which is same with that bulk on Au surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A one-step mechanochemical strategy was used for ASS stabilization. • The leaching concentration of arsenic was decreased from 18484.9 mg /L to 56.3 mg/L. • The surface of reduced iron powder was activated and corroded during griding. • An integration of both reduction and oxidation reaction occurred for the arsenic species. Arsenic sulfide slag (ASS) with high content of arsenic is a common industrial waste in nonferrous metal smelting. Because of the high potential of arsenic leaching under environmental conditions, it brings serious ecological threat during storage. Stabilization of the unstable arsenic in ASS is urgently needed for its safe disposal. Current stabilization methods such as hydrothermal treatment, stabilization/solidification, and thermal copolymerization still face challenges including high energy consumption, poor stabilize efficiency and large volume increase after treatment. Here we developed a mechanochemical strategy to stabilize the bleachable arsenic using reduced iron powder as stabilizer. The arsenic leaching concentration was decreased from 18484.9 mg /L to only 56.3 mg/L after treatment, achieving a stabilization efficiency of 99.7 %. The mechanism study proved that MC treatment triggered the corrosion of Fe powder and dissolution of As 2 O 3 with the help of acidic water in the ASS. An integration of the rapid reduction and oxidation then happened for the soluble arsenic. The produced As(II) and As(V) reacted with sulfide and iron oxides, greatly reducing the arsenic leaching concentration. The BCR sequential extraction results further conformed most of the arsenics (83.7 %) in ASS were stabilization into the environmental stable residual fraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research results on the effects of environmental factors on tree water use, growth, and water use efficiency vary latitudinally and geographically and the conclusions remain controversial. In this study, we investigated the tree transpiration (E t), basal area increment (BAI), and water use efficiency (WUE) of a typical plantation tree species, Schima superba , in South China, aiming to identify the dominant environmental factors in regulating and affecting the tree water use and growth. Datasets including the continuously measured sap flow and meteorological parameters, as well as the periodically measured diameter at breast height and height of observed sample trees, were collected during the period from 2008 to 2021. The redundancy analysis results indicated the significant effects of air temperature (T) and humidity (RH) on tree E t , BAI, and WUE. According to Pearson correlations among the environmental factors, we divided them into "Heat group" and "Water group", and conducted the variation partitioning analysis. Results highlighted that it was the heat factors including air temperature and solar radiation rather than the water factors that explained the larger variations of E t , BAI, and WUE. The abundant total precipitation in South China and the ability to take advantage of deep soil moisture of S. Superba weakened the role of water but emphasized the effect of heat. Considering the current growth and the water use of S. superba , and the obvious climate changes in recent decades in South China, it is concluded that this species can maintain its growth under the current climate conditions. Overall, our study demonstrates a more important role of heat factors compared to water factors in regulating tree water use, growth and WUE in subtropical S. superba plantations, which could offer a promising implication for the management of subtropical plantations under future climate trajectories. • Both BAI and WUE of S. superba presented an increase trend during the past 14 years. • Heat factors played a critical role in regulating tree transpiration, BAI and WUE. • Water factors showed weak explanations for tree transpiration, BAI and WUE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A powerful deep learning algorithm is developed for flow pattern recognition. • The accuracy of proposed model for flow pattern recognition is 99.3%. • The proposed model has remarkable generalization ability and robustness. • This study opens up a new venue for investigating industrial multiphase flow. Uncovering flow dynamic behavior of different flow patterns is an important foundation of multiphase flow research. But the traditional classifier is still adopted in the flow pattern identification based on statistical features of experimental measurements, and the utility of data is not sufficient in previous works. Therefore, a novel deep neural network framework is proposed to leverage abundant details of signals. The data was input into the new model after two innovative slicing operations, which combines BiLSTM and CNN to extract the deep characteristic information of different flow patterns. In addition, attention mechanism and residual connection are introduced to improve the network performance. Meanwhile, the dynamic experiment of vertical gas-water two-phase flow is carried out, four-channel conductance signals under five typical flow patterns, namely bubble flow (BF), slug flow (SF), bubble-slug transitional flow (BSF), churn flow (CF) and slug-churn transitional flow (SCF), are collected to feed the network. Finally, in order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model, some comparative experiments are designed and implemented. The results demonstrate that our proposed model outputs more precise flow pattern identification, which opens up a new way for investigating industrial multiphase flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The electrocatalysis toward small molecules, especially small organic compounds, is of importance in a variety of areas. Nickel based materials such as nickel, its oxides, hydroxides as well as oxyhydroxides exhibit excellent electrocatalysis performances toward many small molecules, which are widely used for fuel cells, energy storage, organic synthesis, wastewater treatment, and electrochemical sensors for pharmaceutical, medical, food or environmental analysis. Their electrocatalytic mechanisms are proposed from three aspects such as Ni(OH)2/NiOOH mediated electrolysis, direct electrocatalysis of Ni(OH)2 or NiOOH. Under exposure to air or aqueous solution, two distinct layers form on the Ni surface with a Ni hydroxide layer at the air–oxide interface and an oxide layer between the metal substrate and the outer hydroxide layer. The transformation from nickel or its oxides to hydroxides or oxyhydroxides could be further speeded up in the strong alkaline solution under the cyclic scanning at relatively high positive potential. The redox transition between Ni(OH)2 and NiOOH is also contributed to the electrocatalytic oxidation of Ni and its oxides toward small molecules in alkaline media. In addition, nickel based materials or nanomaterials, their preparations and applications are also overviewed here. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] A SERS substrate was synthesized by fixing Ag onto Fe3O4 magnetic particles. [•] The analysis of Raman insensitive GSH was achieved with Raman sensitive crystal violet as a probe. [•] The new method can determine GSH in the range of 50–700nmolL−1 with a detection limit of 40nmolL−1. [•] The proposed method has good selectivity and reproducibility for trace GSH detection in real samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A label-free SERS detection strategy was developed for sensitive free-bilirubin detection. • The present POCT detection method was realized by using glucose-Au array substrate with a handhold Raman spectrometer. • The detection limit for free bilirubin in serum was received to as low as 0.1 nM. • The clinical applicability was demonstrated with analyzing the spiked and real blood samples. • The binding constant between bilirubin and human serum albumin was also determined with the present method. The concentration of bilirubin in serum is a key indicator for liver function, because excess bilirubin accumulation may lead to serious health problems like Jaundice. It is known that in comparison with total bilirubin, the concentration of hydrophobic free bilirubin is more closely associated with Jaundice because of its capability to cross the capillary walls and even blood-brain barrier. However, it is not easy to detect the low concentration of free bilirubin (∼ nM) in the presence of large amount of protein-bound bilirubin (> 150 μM), and no point-of-care detection tool is available. In the present work, direct detection of free bilirubin was realized by using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). By mimicking the in vivo chemical interaction between glucuronic acid and bilirubin, glucose functionalized Au nanoparticles were synthesized for selective capture and detection of free bilirubin. By developing a convenient detection procedure of using robust Au array chip and internal standard calibration method, the sensitive detection of free bilirubin with detection limit down to 0.1 nM was achieved on a handhold Raman spectrometer by monitoring its fingerprint spectra. The clinical applicability was demonstrated with analyzing the spiked and real blood samples. As a proof of concept, the binding constant between bilirubin and human serum albumin (HSA) was determined with the present method. The influence of the binding capacity of the HSA for bilirubin in the presence of competing molecule salicylate sodium was also quantitatively measured, which demonstrated the importance of detection of free bilirubin instead of total bilirubin for warning the risk of bilirubin encephalopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A SERS method was developed for rapid and sensitive detection of hydrophobic contaminants in foods. • The SERS substrate was nano-Ag aggregates induced by adding a cationic surfactant. • Hydrophobicity of nano-Ag aggregates was tuned by changing the carbon chain length of surfactants. • Increased hydrophobicity of the SERS substrate favored the SERS detection of hydrophobic contaminants. • Good accuracy and reproducibility of this method were confirmed by analyzing condiments products. There is an increasing demand for rapid and sensitive detection of hydrophobic contaminants in foods. A rapid and sensitive surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection method was developed for this purpose, based on the surface modification of nano-Ag aggregates, which had rich hot spots and controllable hydrophobicity. Cationic surfactants with different carbon chain lengths were employed to modify the aggregation of Ag nanoparticles. The adsorption of cationic surfactants on nano-Ag aggregates increased the hydrophobicity of the surface of the nano-Ag aggregates as the SERS substrate. By changing the carbon chain length of the surfactant, the hydrophobicity of the SERS substrate was able to be tuned to match with the hydrophobicity of the contaminants to be detected. Different hydrophobic contaminants such as Auramine O, Sudan I and Sudan III could be quantitatively detected, with a detection limit as low as 6.1 × 10−8, 7.5 × 10−9, 2.1 × 10−9 mol L−1, respectively. Compared with the traditional inorganic salt aggregation method which was unable to meet the requirements of direct quantitative detection in the sample matrices, the developed method was confirmed to have the advantages of low detection limit, good reproducibility (relative standard deviation (RSD) is less 7.6%), short operation time (about 1 min), and no need of any complicate pretreatment for sample preparation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantifying the water use effects of tree plantations on regional hydrological processes is vitally important for evaluating the reforestation strategies related to a sustainable use of water resources. We conducted a comprehensive study to investigate the precipitation partitioning and hydrological effect of three different plantations (Schima wallichii , Acacia mangium , and Cunninghamia lanceolata) by monitoring sap flow and using a water balance equation during a two-year period (from January 2017 to December 2018) in hilly lands of South China. Owing to the abundant precipitation and radiation, both monthly stand-scale transpiration and evapotranspiration of the tree plantations were higher in the wet season than in the dry season. Strong stand-scale transpiration (T stand) and evapotranspiration (ET) were observed in the broadleaved S. wallichii and A. mangium with a large proportion (more than 90%) of ET in precipitation (P). Whereas the coniferous C. lanceolata plantation possessed lower T stand and ET but higher surface runoff, indicating a water surplus for the water yield. Following the uneven distribution pattern of precipitation, clear seasonal variation was observed for the ratio of ET/ P that exceeded 1 during majority of the dry season. The observed vigorous transpiration and the higher ET/ P values of the broadleaved S. wallichii and A. mangium plantations than those of the coniferous C. lanceolata suggests that broadleaved plantations are more likely to pose a potential threat to the catchment water yield and water balance in this region. However, the C. lanceolata, which limited the water exchange between the atmosphere and plants, is also considered to prevent its growth. Our findings quantified the hydrological effects of different plantations and will help to address the increasing water resource concerns related to the rapid expansion of plantations in hilly lands of South China. • Broadleaved plantations presented a higher stand scale transpiration (E T) than the coniferous plantation. • More than 90% of precipitation was used for evaportranspiration (ET) in broadleaved plantations. • The coniferous plantation possessed lower E T and ET values but higher surface runoff. • High E T and ET/ P values of broadleaved plantations possibly suggested a decrease in catchment water yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate whether partial laryngectomy is a risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and the effect of different partial laryngectomy methods on OSA. Method: A prospective study was carried out involving 40 patients who underwent supracricoid partial laryngectomy (SCPL) (24) or vertical partial laryngectomy (VPL) (16) for carcinoma of the larynx. Apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and oxygen saturation determined by polysomnography (PSG), Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) score, and body mass index (BMI) were evaluated in patients before surgery, on the day of tracheal tube removal and three months later. In patients who developed apnea, laryngoscopy, Muller's test, computer tomography (CT) and dynamic sleep magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed to assess the location of airway stenosis and collapse. Results: The AHI (P<0.001) increased and the lowest oxygen saturation (P<0.001), ESS score (P<0.001) and BMI (P=0.017) decreased after extubation compared with before surgery. Three months after extubation, the same changes were found in AHI (P<0.001) and the lowest oxygen saturation (P<0.001), but the ESS score (P<0.001) increased compared with that preoperatively. The AHI in the SCPL group was significantly higher than that in the VPL group post-operatively (P=0.010), while the miniSpO2 in the SCPL group was lower than that of the VPL group (P=0.022). Laryngoscopy showed that the patients with partial excision of the larynx had a narrowed retropalatal and retrolingual space post-operatively. Muller's test showed the collapse of the retropalatal and retrolingual space, and the CT scan showed that the tongue root was positioned lower in the SCPL group. Compared with the retropalatal and retrolingual space in the expiratory phase according to dynamic sleep MRI, the space in the inspiratory phase was clearly decreased. Conclusion: Laryngeal function preservation surgery for laryngeal cancer results in the occurrence of OSA by altering the anatomical structure of the larynx and pharynx. OSA was more severe in patients undergoing SCPL than in patients undergoing VPL. The effect of partial laryngectomy on OSA may be related to the surgical method used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic highlights the importance of developing effective virus targeting strategies to treat and prevent viral infections. Since virus particles are nanoscale entities, nanomaterial design strategies are ideally suited to create advanced materials that can interact with and mimic virus particles. In this progress report, the latest advances in biomimetic nanomaterials are critically discussed for combating viral infections, including in the areas of nanomaterial‐enhanced viral replication inhibitors, biomimetic virus particle capture schemes, and nanoparticle vaccines. Particular focus is placed on nanomaterial design concepts and material innovations that can be readily developed to thwart future viral threats. Pertinent nanomaterial examples from the COVID‐19 situation are also covered along with discussion of human clinical trial efforts underway that might lead to next‐generation antiviral therapies and vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Magnetic phosphazene porous organic polymer (MTAP) was prepared with low-cost monomers under mild conditions. • MTAP can rapidly capture REEs and achieve adsorption equilibrium within 2 min. • Efficient and selective recovery of REEs from practical acidic wastewater was achieved by MTAP. Efficient recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) from secondary resources is highly recommended to meet industrial production demand and maximize resource utilization. Herein, a magnetic porous organic polymer, termed MTAP, was developed by choosing natural polyphenol tannic acid as a monomer and hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene as a crosslinker. The integration of magnetic nanoparticles further enhanced its advantages since it can be rapidly isolated using an external magnetic field, simplifying the overall operation. Batch adsorption experimental results showed that MTAP can quickly capture REEs including Ce, Nd, Eu, and Gd, achieving the adsorption equilibrium just in 2 min. Furthermore, the adsorption isotherms exhibited an excellent fit with the Langmuir model with the maximum adsorption capacities ranging from 145.5 to 164.2 mg/g at 25 °C. What's more, MTAP was successfully applied to recycle REEs in industrial wastewater with high recovery efficiencies. These characteristics including low cost, easy preparation, rapid adsorption kinetics, and high adsorption capacities highlight the outstanding application prospects of MTAP for the recovery of REEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the widespread adoption of virtual reality and 360-degree video, there is a pressing need for objective metrics to assess quality in this immersive panoramic format reliably. However, existing image quality assessment models developed for traditional fixed-viewpoint content do not fully consider the specific perceptual issues involved in 360-degree viewing. This paper proposes a 360-degree image full-reference quality assessment (FR-IQA) methodology based on a multi-channel architecture. The proposed 360-degree FR-IQA method further optimizes and identifies the distorted image quality using two easily obtained useful saliency and depth-aware image features. The convolutional neural network (CNN) is designed for training. Furthermore, the proposed method accounts for predicting user viewing behaviors within 360-degree images, which will further benefit the multi-channel CNN architecture and enable the weighted average pooling of the predicted FR-IQA scores. The performance is evaluated on publicly available databases to demonstrate the advantages brought by the proposed multi-channel model in performance evaluation and cross-database evaluation experiments, where it outperforms other state-of-the-art ones. Moreover, an ablation study exhibits good generalization ability and robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiphase flow measurement is intimately linked with the production process optimization, production safety, and economic benefits. One of the challenging problems in flow parameter measurement is the gas volume fraction (GVF) measurements associated with the spatiotemporal structure of the flow patterns. This work aims to present an intelligent strategy to measure the GVF in the oil–gas–water three-phase flow with higher performance. The task is achieved by two contributions: first, a pulse transmission ultrasonic measurement system is designed that used a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) to control system; and second, a deep network architecture with attention mechanism combining convolutional neural network (CNN) and long short-term memory (LSTM) is proposed fed by data from the measurement system for real-time GVF prediction. The attention mechanism can help the network focus on the most informative regions of signal. The benefits of the proposed network are illustrated by comparison with the state-of-the-art theoretical model and other networks. The introduced strategy offers a new perspective on the flow parameter measurement of multiphase flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Our previous study has revealed that T-lymphoma invasion and metastasis-inducing factor 1 (Tiam1) overexpression are significantly associated with aggressive behavior and poor prognosis in patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). However, the influence of Tiam1 in the radioresistance of LSCC and its mechanism have never been elucidated. Materials and Methods: Western blotting was used to confirm the relationship between Tiam1 and the JNK/ATF-2 signaling pathway. To explore the specific functions of Tiam1 and JNK/ATF-2 signaling pathway on the proliferation and apoptosis of LSCC after radiation, cloning formation assay and flow cytometry were conducted in vitro, and the experiments on a xenograft mouse model and TUNEL assay were performed in vivo. Results: Western blotting indicated that Tiam1 can regulate the JNK/ATF-2 signaling pathway through the influence of the activity of JNK and ATF-2. Up-regulation of Tiam1 could promote proliferation and inhibit apoptosis of LSCC after radiation both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, the down-regulation of the JNK/ATF-2 signaling pathway reduced the radioresistance of LSCC caused by Tiam1 up-regulation. Conclusion: These results suggest that the up-regulation of Tiam1 expression can promote the radioresistance of LSCC through activation of the JNK/ATF-2 signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common reproductive endocrine disorder that frequently exhibits low-grade inflammation, pro-oxidant activity, and gut dysbiosis. PCOS has become one of the leading causes of female infertility worldwide. Recently, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been proven to benefit metabolic disorders in PCOS patients. However, its roles in the regulation of metabolic and endocrinal balances in PCOS pathophysiology are not clear. In the present study, we aimed to explore how omega-3 PUFAs alleviate ovarian dysfunction and insulin resistance in mice with dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)-induced PCOS by modulating the gut microbiota. Methods: We induced PCOS in female mice by injecting them with DHEA and then treated them with omega-3 PUFAs. 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) amplicon sequencing, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) and antibiotic treatment were used to evaluate the role of microbiota in the regulation of ovarian functions and insulin resistance (IR) by omega-3 PUFAs. To further investigate the mechanism of gut microbiota on omega-3-mediated ovarian and metabolic protective effects, inflammatory and oxidative stress markers in ovaries and thermogenic markers in subcutaneous and brown adipose tissues were investigated. Results: We found that oral supplementation with omega-3 PUFAs ameliorates the PCOS phenotype. 16S rDNA analysis revealed that omega-3 PUFA treatment increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria in the gut, thereby alleviating DHEA-induced gut dysbiosis. Antibiotic treatment and FMT experiments further demonstrated that the mechanisms underlying omega-3 benefits likely involve direct effects on the ovary to inhibit inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-18. In addition, the gut microbiota played a key role in the improvement of adipose tissue morphology and function by decreasing multilocular cells and thermogenic markers such as Ucp1, Pgc1a, Cited and Cox8b within the subcutaneous adipose tissues. Conclusion: These findings indicate that omega-3 PUFAs ameliorate androgen-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis. The gut microbiota plays a key role in the regulation of omega-3-mediated IR protective effects in polycystic ovary syndrome mice. Moreover, omega-3 PUFA-regulated improvements in the ovarian dysfunction associated with PCOS likely involve direct effects on the ovary to inhibit inflammation. Our findings suggest that omega-3 supplementation may be a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of PCOS by modulating gut microbiota and alleviating ovarian dysfunction and insulin resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The homeoprotein Bapx1 is an important regulator of gastroduodenal tract morphogenesis. Here, we investigated how Bapx1 influences gastric cancer (GC) prognosis and elucidated the underlying mechanisms. Bapx1 expression was greater in GC tissues compared to adjacent non-tumor tissues and expression was positively correlated with mortality, lymph node and distance metastasis. Silencing Bapx1 diminished cell invasion/migration and decreased mesenchymal phenotypes. Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) induced Bapx1 expression and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in GC cells. However, down-regulated Bapx1 reversed TGF-β induced invasion, migration, morphological changes, and EMT. In summary, Bapx1 indicates poor prognosis for GC by promoting tumor migration and invasion via TGF-β-induced EMT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obtaining high-quality sperm is key to improving the success rate of assisted reproductive technology (ART). Although cytokines secreted by cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) bind to sperm surface receptors to improve sperm quality, the effects of adding mouse COCs to human tubal fluid (HTF) medium on sperm capacitation have not yet been explored. Eight-week-old ICR mouse COCs were added to HTF medium and crushed to obtain the post-modified HTF medium. Compared with using HTF medium, the fertilisation rate and number of sperm combined with the zona pellucida significantly increased after in vitro capacitation using the post-modified HTF medium (P < 0.01). Proteomic and Western blotting analyses showed that the level of SERPINA5 in sperm increased significantly following in vitro capacitation with the post-modified HTF medium (P < 0.05). Immunohistochemical staining analysis demonstrated that SERPINA5 protein was expressed in mouse cumulus cells. A SERPINA5 antibody was added in the post-modified HTF medium to block the effects of SERPINA5 after in vitro capacitation, which significantly decreased the fertilisation rate and the number of sperm combined with the zona pellucida (P < 0.05). Recombinant mouse SERPINA5 protein (1 ~ 2 μg/ml) was added to HTF medium and the fertilisation rate and the number of sperm combined with the zona pellucida significantly increased (P < 0.01). Moreover, recombinant human SERPINA5 protein (5 μg/ml) was added before human semen freezing. Compared with adding no SERPINA5 protein, the percentage of normal sperm morphology and the intact acrosome significantly increased (P < 0.05). Our study provides a reference method for optimising sperm quality in the process of in vitro capacitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sertoli cells are essential for spermatogenesis in the testicular seminiferous tubules by forming blood–testis barrier (BTB) and creating a unique microenvironment for spermatogenesis. Many lncRNAs have been reported to participate in spermatogenesis. However, the role of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in Sertoli cells has rarely been examined. Herein, we found that a high-fat diet (HFD) decreased sperm quality, impaired BTB integrity and resulted in accumulation of saturated fatty acids (SFAs), especially palmitic acid (PA), in mouse testes. PA decreased the expression of tight junction (TJ)-related proteins, increased permeability and decreased transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) in primary Sertoli cells and TM4 cells. Moreover, lncRNA Tug1 was found to be involved in PA-induced BTB disruption by RNA-seq. Tug1 depletion distinctly impaired the TJs of Sertoli cells and overexpression of Tug1 alleviated the disruption of BTB integrity induced by PA. Moreover, Ccl2 was found to be a downstream target of Tug1, and decreased TJ-related protein levels and TER and increased FITC–dextran permeability in vitro. Furthermore, the addition of Ccl2 damaged BTB integrity after overexpression of Tug1 in the presence of PA. Mechanistically, we found that Tug1 could directly bind to EZH2 and regulate H3K27me3 occupancy in the Ccl2 promoter region by RNA immunoprecipitation and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. Our study revealed an important role of Tug1 in the BTB integrity of Sertoli cells and provided a new view of the role of lncRNAs in male infertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quercus gilva , an evergreen tree species in Quercus section Cyclobalanopsis , is an ecologically and economically valuable species in subtropical regions of East Asia. Predicting the impact of climate change on potential distribution of Q. gilva can provide a scientific basis for the conservation and utilization of its genetic resources, as well as for afforestation. In this study, 74 distribution records of Q. gilva and nine climate variables were obtained after data collection and processing. Current climate data downloaded from WorldClim and future climate data predicted by four future climate scenarios (2040s SSP1-2.6, 2040s SSP5-8.5, 2060s SSP1-2.6, and 2060s SSP5-8.5) mainly based on greenhouse gases emissions of distribution sites were used in MaxEnt model with optimized parameters to predict distribution dynamics of Q. gilva and its response to climate change. The results showed that the predicted current distribution was consistent with natural distribution of Q. gilva , which was mainly located in Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guizhou, and Taiwan provinces of China, as well as Japan and Jeju Island of South Korea. Under current climate conditions, precipitation factors played a more significant role than temperature factors on distribution of Q. gilva , and precipitation of driest quarter (BIO17) is the most important restriction factor for its current distribution (contribution rate of 57.35%). Under future climate conditions, mean temperature of driest quarter (BIO9) was the essential climate factor affecting future change in potential distribution of Q. gilva. As the degree of climatic anomaly increased in the future, the total area of predicted distribution of Q. gilva showed a shrinking trend (decreased by 12.24%–45.21%) and Q. gilva would migrate to high altitudes and latitudes. The research results illustrated potential distribution range and suitable climate conditions of Q. gilva , which can provide essential theoretical references for the conservation, development, and utilization of Q. gilva and other related species. • Future climate data predicted based on GHGs emission were used in SDM of Q. gilva. • BIO17 was the most important restriction factor for Q. gilva 's current distribution. • BIO9 would be the essential factor affecting Q. gilva 's future potential distribution change. • As the degree of climatic anomaly increases, Q. gilva 's distribution tends to shrink. • Northward migration of Q. gilva was accompanied by a shift to the south in 2040s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aromatic organoarsenic feed additives have been extensively used in poultry and livestock farming; however, a risk of releasing toxic inorganic arsenic exists when they are exposed to the environment. An in-depth understanding of the adsorption -migration behavior of aromatic organoarsenicals on environmental media is limited. In this study, p -arsanilic acid (p -ASA) and roxarsone (ROX) were considered as examples to systematically study their adsorption behaviors on the surface of hematite, a representative iron oxide in soil. By comparing the adsorption abilities and adsorption kinetics of hematite exposed with different facets (hexagonal nanoplates, HNPs, mainly exposed with {001} facets and hexagonal nanocubes, HNCs, exposed with {012} facets), combined with in situ shell-isolated nanoparticle enhanced Raman spectroscopy characterization and density functional theory simulation, the facet-dependent adsorption performance was observed and the mechanism revealed. The results showed that p -ASA formed a bidentate binuclear complex on HNCs and HNPs, whereas ROX formed monodentate mononuclear and bidentate binuclear configurations on the {001} and {012} facets, respectively. These differences not only lead to facet-dependent adsorption capacities but also affect their stability, as verified by sequential extraction experiments, affecting the environmental behavior and fate of aromatic organoarsenicals. This study not only provides insights into the environmental behavior of aromatic organoarsenicals but also offers theoretical support for the development of functional adsorbents and remediation strategies. [Display omitted] • Facet dependent adsorption of aromatic organoarsenicals on hematite were studied. • Inner-sphere complexes were the dominate complexes with different configurations. • In situ SHINERS responses of p -ASA and ROX on HNCs and HNPs were received. • Facet dependent adsorption configurations were revealed by multiple methods. • The correlation of adsorption configurations to environmental stability were explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Developing high-performance materials for the efficient removal of pharmaceutical contaminants from polluted water has gained tremendous attention but is still a huge challenge. Herein, various N -doped porous carbons (NPCs) were fabricated via a facile and solvent-free pyrolysis strategy by using a mixture of melamine, hexamethylenetetramine, Pluronic F 127, and ZnCl 2 as precursor. The resulting NPCs featuring large specific surface areas (803–1002 m2/g) and high nitrogen content (3.79–5.24%) were used as efficient adsorbent for the capture of ibuprofen (IBP) from water. Due to the combination of abundant mesoporous and microporous structure as well as high nitrogen content, the adsorption equilibrium was achieved within 60 min and the adsorption capacity was calculated to be 113 mg/g. Furthermore, it was found that the adsorption capacity exhibited a good correlation with the nitrogen content. In addition, the adsorption capacity of the resulting NPC was well-maintained even after 4 cycles due to its superior stability. The study is expected to encourage the rational design and synthesis of versatile heteroatom-doped porous carbons for practical application in the field of environmental remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical nanosensors are promising for hydrogen sensing because they are small, free from spark generation, and feasible for remote optical readout. Conventional optical nanosensors require broadband excitation and spectrometers, rendering the devices bulky and complex. An alternative is spatial intensity‐based optical sensing, which only requires an imaging system and a smartly designed platform to report the spatial distribution of analytical optical signals. Here, a spatial intensity‐based hydrogen sensing platform is presented based on Fano‐like spatial distribution of the transmission in a Pd‐Al2O3‐Au metal‐insulator‐metal plasmonic Doppler grating (MIM‐PDG). The MIM‐PDG manifests the Fano resonance as an asymmetric spatial transmission intensity profile. The absorption of hydrogen changes the spatial Fano‐like transmission profiles, which can be analyzed with a "spatial" Fano resonance model and the extracted Fano resonance parameters can be used to establish analytical calibration lines. While gratings sensitive to hydrogen absorption are suitable for hydrogen sensing, hydrogen insensitive gratings are also found, which provide an unperturbed reference signal and may find applications in nanophotonic devices that require a stable optical response under fluctuating hydrogen atmosphere. The MIM‐PDG platform is a spectrometer‐free and intensity‐based optical sensor that requires only an imaging system, making it promising for cellphone‐based optical sensing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MOF-derived zink and nitrogen co-doped porous carbon (ZNPC) was synthesized through the pyrolysis of MOF-5-NH2 and used as a solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coating material. Coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS), headspace SPME (HS-SPME) based on ZNPC was adopted for the determination of phenols in food samples. The co-existence of N and Zn in ZNPC endows the derived carbon superior hydrophilicity, which is highly beneficial for phenols capture. After optimizing the conditions of extraction and desorption, a sensitive analytical method was established with low limits of detections (LODs, 0.73–2.3 ng g−1) and wide linear ranges (5–5000 ng g−1). Both the intra-fiber repeatability (RSDs from 2.8–7.3%) and inter-fiber reproducibility (RSDs from 9.7–11.7%) were satisfactory. The established method was applied to phenol determination in beef jerky and duck neck with satisfactory recoveries of 81.2–120.4% and RSDs of 2.8–9.9%, which met well with the requirement of practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaf stoichiometry and its biogeography play vital roles in nutrient cycling of plant communities. To understand the potential drivers of leaf stoichiometry in karst ecosystems, we measured leaf morphological traits (dry mass content (DM), specific leaf area (SLA)), and biochemical traits (C, N, P, K and Ca stoichiometry) of 53 species of different functional groups, as well as soil properties, across seven karst sites in Southwest China, and explored the relationships between these leaf traits and environmental factors. The results showed that: (1) in karst areas of Southwest China, there were higher leaf C and Ca concentrations as well as higher N/P and K/P ratios compared to other ecosystems, plants were more limited by P rather than by N; (2) mean annual temperature positively influenced leaf N, P, and Ca, while mean annual precipitation exerted more influence on leaf K; (3) a strong phylogeny signal was detected in leaf N (p < 0.05), and significant influence of species composition on the variance of leaf N, K, and Ca was observed (p < 0.05); (4) the influence of soil properties on leaf P and Ca, and the influence of leaf features (SLA and DM) on leaf K were also observed based on a variance partitioning analysis. Abiotic factors such as soil, site, and climate were more important than biotic factors (leaf features and phylogeny) in determining leaf N, P, and Ca. In general, the driving factors exhibited a synergistic effect on leaf stoichiometry across different sites, offering a key mechanism that needs to be integrated into the modeling of biogeochemical nutrients cycling in karst ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A facile fabrication method of SERS sensor was developed by using natural lotus leaves. • A lotus leaf provides hydrophobic concentration effect to construct Ag NP array for the SERS sensor. • The states of the lotus leaves did not influence markedly the detection performance of the sensor. • Various types of metal NPs were suitable for the fabrication of the lotus leaf based SERS sensors. • The sensor was confirmed to be highly sensitive with good reproducibility by detecting a pesticide. A facile and green approach of using natural lotus leaf as a superhydrophobic platform was proposed for sensitive and reproducible surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection. The surface of a lotus leave provides hydrophobic concentrating effect. After the mixture of an Ag nanoparticle (NP) dispersion and the target solution is dropped on the lotus leave chip, Ag NPs assemble into closely packed Ag arrays after solvent evaporation, producing numerous hot spots for SERS enhancement. The hydrophobic concentrating effect of the lotus leave surface greatly enhances the assembling. The final assembled Ag spot can shrink a small disc with a diameter of only about 0.5 mm. This leads to easy fabrication of a sensitive and reproducible SERS sensor based on natural lotus leaves. It was found that the state of the natural lotus leaves (growth stage, size and parts, water loss degree, storing condition) did not influence markedly the detection performance of the lotus leave-based SERS sensor. When the sensor was used to detect paraquat, the SERS signal intensity of paraquat was linearly correlated with its concentration in a very wide range from 5 μg L−1 and 50 mg L−1, with a detection limit of as low as 1.2 μg L−1. The multiple detection experiment demonstrated that this sensor method had high reproducibility with relative standard deviation (RSD) of 11.6%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effects of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition on water use characteristics and leaf traits of trees, we performed canopy (C50) and understory (U50) N additions as NH4NO3 of 50 kg N ha–1 year–1 in a deciduous broadleaf forest of central China. We measured xylem sap flux, crown area : sapwood area ratio (C a : A s), specific leaf area (SLA), mass-based leaf nitrogen content (Nmass) and leaf carbon isotope ratio (δ13C) of Liquidambar formosana Hance, Quercus acutissima Carruth. and Quercus variabilis Blume. Functional traits under different N addition treatments and their responses among tree species were compared and the relationship between xylem sap flux and leaf functional traits under N additions were explored. Results showed that under U50 sap-flux density of xylem significantly decreased for three tree species. But the effect of C50 on sap flux was species-specific. The decrease of sap-flux density with N additions might be caused by the increased C a/ A s. δ13C remained constant among different N addition treatments. The responses of SLA and Nmass to N additions were species- and N addition approaches-specific. The correlation of xylem sap flux with leaf traits was not found. Our findings indicate that the effects of canopy N addition on xylem sap flux and leaf functional traits were species-specific and it is necessary to employ canopy N addition for exploring the real responses of forest ecosystems to climate changes in the future researches. To predict the function of forest ecosystems in the future it is necessary to explore the responses of functional traits to environmental changes. The variations in water use and leaf traits with addition of nitrogen differed among tree species, except water use efficiency, which remained constant. Our findings indicate that the experimental approach for simulating atmospheric nitrogen deposition needed to be modified, and that increased nitrogen availability could affect the species composition of forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploration of the remobilization mechanism of trace metals in estuarine sediments remain challenging because of dynamic hydrochemical conditions. This study integrated a chemical sequential extraction procedure (BCR), the diffusive gradient in thin films (DGT) and high-resolution dialysis techniques, and Visual MINTEQ ver.3.1 to identify the seasonal mobilization characteristics of sediment Zn within a tidal reach, South China. The mobility of sediment Zn based on the BCR procedure contradicted the results of DGT analysis. In summer, reductive dissolution of Fe/Mn oxides was the key driver of sediment Zn remobilization; during winter, cation exchange reactions facilitated the mobilization of Zn in the brackish water zone. The time-dependence ratios of DGT-labile Zn and dissolved Zn concentrations (mean: 0.34–0.81) indicated the sediment solid phase had partially sustained capacity to resupply Zn to the porewater in both seasons. Sediments generally functioned as a source of Zn in the freshwater zone with organically complexed Zn being diffusively released into the water column at rates of 0.3–15.5 μg·m−2·d−1. In the brackish water zone, the dominant Zn species were transformed into free Zn ions and Zn–inorganic complexes and migrated into sediment, with respective influxes of 18.9–70.7 μg·m−2·d−1 and 18.9–68.3 μg·m−2·d−1, which shifted to a sink of Zn. [Display omitted] • Diagenesis decoupled Zn release and reductive dissolution of Fe/Mn oxides in sediment. • Organically complexed Zn was turned into ion and inorganic complexes with raising TDS. • DIFS model revealed high resupply rate of Zn from sediment solid phase to porewater. • Sediment acted as a source of Zn to freshwater and as a sink in brackish water zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Amyloid formation of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) is one of the most common pathological features of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Increasing evidences have shown that the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) play an important role in the development of the T2D. Interestingly, our previous studies indicated that heme could bind to hIAPP, and the complex might induce the nitration of tyrosine residue (Y37) of hIAPP in the presence of hydrogen peroxide and nitrite. However, it remains unclear about effect of the nitration on the implicated function of hIAPP in the development of T2D. In this study, fluorescent assays, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscope (AFM) were used to demonstrate that nitration of hIAPP significantly decreased its fibril formation. But the decreased fibril formation was not through the diminished aggregation of hIAPP monomer as suggested by the results of circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD) and gel electrophoresis assay. Surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy (SERS) indicated that nitration of hIAPP impaired the intermolecular hydrogen bonding. On the basis of these results, we hypothesize that nitration of hIAPP may block the intermolecular hydrogen bonding, leading to the inhibition of its fibril formation. In addition, cytotoxicity study of native and modified hIAPP was also performed on INS-1 cells, which revealed exacerbated toxicity of hIAPP by its nitration. The findings in this study that nitration of hIAPP promotes its oligomer formation and thus exacerbates its cytotoxicity suggests a possible link between the nitrite (or the sum of nitrite and nitrate) levels and T2D, and ameliorated nitration of hIAPP by diminishing nitrative stress might be a promising therapeutic strategy for T2D. Graphical abstract Nitration of hIAPP remarkably decreased its fibril formation by blocking its intermolecular hydrogen bonding and π-π stacking interactions. Image 1 Highlights • The tyrosine (Y37) in hIAPP is prone to nitration in the presence of heme, H 2 O 2 and NO 2 −. • Nitration of hIAPP decreases its aggregation. • Nitration of hIAPP enhances its cytotoxicity toward ISN-1 cells. • Nitration of hIAPP blocks the intermolecular hydrogen bonding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Increasing atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition could profoundly impact structure and functioning of forest ecosystems. Therefore, we conducted a two-year (2014–2015) experiment to assess the responses of tree sap flux density (J s) and intrinsic water use efficiency (WUE i) of dominant tree species (Liquidambar formosana , Quercus acutissima and Quercus variabilis) to increased N deposition at a manipulative experiment with canopy and understory N addition in a deciduous broadleaved forest. Five treatments were administered including N addition of 25 kg ha−1 year−1 and 50 kg ha−1 year−1 onto canopy (C25 and C50) and understory (U25 and U50), and control treatment (CK, without N addition). Our results showed neither canopy nor understory N addition had an impact on leaf N content and C:N ratio (P > 0.05). Due to the distinct influencing ways, canopy and understory N addition generated different impacts on J s and WUE i of the dominant tree species. Canopy N addition increased WUE i of Q. variabilis , whereas understory addition treatment had a minimal impact on WUE i. Both N additions did not exert impacts on WUE i of L. formosana and Q. acutissima. Canopy N addition exerted negative impacts on J s and its sensitivity to micrometeorological factors of Q. acutissima and Q. variabilis in 2014, while understory addition showed no effect. Neither canopy nor understory N addition had an influence on J s of L. formosana in 2014. Probably owing to the increased soil acidification as the experiment proceeded, J s of L. formosana and Q. variabilis was decreased by understory N addition while canopy addition had a minimal effect in 2015. Thus, the traditional understory addition approach could not fully reflect the effects of increased N deposition on the canopy-associated transpiration process indicated by the different responses of J s and WUE i to canopy and understory N addition, and exaggerated its influences induced by the variation of soil chemical properties. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Research was conducted at a novel platform with canopy and understory N addition. • N addition decreased J s and its sensitivity to PAR and VPD during some periods. • Canopy leaf N content was unaffected by external N addition. • Canopy N addition increased WUE i of Quercus variabilis. • Understory N addition could not fully reflect effects of increased N deposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitation changes such as more frequent drought and altered precipitation seasonality may impose substantial impacts on the structure and functioning of forest ecosystems. A better understanding of tree responses to precipitation changes can provide fundamental information for the conservation and management of forests under future climate regimes. We conducted a 2-year seasonal rainfall redistribution experiment to assess the responses of tree transpiration and growth to manipulated precipitation changes in a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest. Three precipitation treatments were administered including a drier dry season and wetter wet season treatment (DD), an extended dry season and wetter wet season treatment (ED), and an ambient control treatment, with the total amount of annual rainfall being kept the same among the three treatments. Our results showed that the DD and ED treatments reduced daily transpiration of Schima superba by 8-16 and 13-25%, respectively. The ED treatment also reduced the DBH increment of larger S. superba individuals. In contrast, neither treatment showed obvious effects on the transpiration and DBH increment of another dominant species Michelia macclurei. However, the transpiration of both species showed clear inter-annual differences between the 2 years with contrasting annual rainfall (2094 vs 1582 mm). S. superba had a lower transpiration-to-precipitation ratio (T/P) compared to M. macclurei and showed decreased sensitivities to total solar radiation and vapor pressure deficit under the DD and ED treatments. These results indicate the deep-rooted S. superba may be suppressed with a lower ability to obtain water and assimilate carbon compared to the shallow-rooted M. macclurei under the precipitation seasonality changes, which could potentially cause shifts in species dominance within the forest community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the water use of a clumped bamboo species, Bambusa chungii , we modified original 20 mm long thermal dissipation probes (TDPs) by shortening each prototypical probe to 5 mm in length. Before applying the modified TDPs in the field, we calibrated the measured sap flow ( J S ) against gravimetric measurements ( J g ) with a cut experiment with B. chungii culm and corrected J S derived transpiration with actual water loss from a pot experiment under outdoor conditions. The validated TDP underestimated J S by 27.5% compared with the actual water loss from the pot. The optimal sample sizes of J S and culm area ( A C ) were evaluated to be 17 and 8 with random sampling, respectively. Meanwhile, the former was shown to be a lower value based on the stratified method ( n = 15), mirroring the age effect on the J S variances. As a result, the annual stand transpiration for three clumps during the field experiment (January 2014–December 2014) was 397.0 mm with an error of 7.77% (considering the individual variance of J S and A C ) when all of the sample culms ( n = 45) were pooled together. This transpiration value was lower than that of a native broadleaf species Schima superba stand (461 mm) and higher than a widely planted Eucalyptus urophylla stand (327.4 mm) that grew nearby when the same microclimatic conditions were assumed. However, the unlimited transpiration with increased VPD indicated the potentially increased pressure on the regional water balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • α-Amylase plays an essential role in determining bread texture and in-vitro digestibility. • The family 20 carbohydrate-binding module in α-amylase was explored. • Normal and waxy wheats were used to differentiate the starch degradation by α-amylase. It is highly desirable to produce bread with both acceptable texture and health benefits. In this study, maltohexaose (G6) producing amylase AmyM and its truncation AmyM-TR2 from Corallococcus sp. strain EGB were used to determine their effects to bread quality and starch physicochemical properties. During bread fermentation, AmyM or AmyM-TR2 continuously degraded the starch, resulting in more obvious decrease in relative crystallinity, the ordered structure, pasting viscosities and gelatinization enthalpy of starch than in control. The dough treated with AmyM or AmyM-TR2 increased bread volume and slowly digestible starch content, decreased bread hardness, and extended bread shelf life and as compared with control, and the dough treated with AmyM-TR2 had better improvement effects than AmyM. The volume and slowly digestible starch content of bread from the treatment of AmyM-TR2 increased by 9.74% and 7.56% in normal wheat, 1.42% and 10.28% in waxy wheat as compared with AmyM, respectively. AmyM-TR2 affected the substrate targeting, proximity and structure disruption effects, which contributed to the degradation of more starch than AmyM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canopy stomatal conductance (G S ) estimation is a critical aspect of evapotranspiration research. Selecting an appropriate model for scaling-up is necessary to study plant water regulation. Two monoculture plantations of broadleaf tree species, Eucalyptus urophylla and Schima superba, were selected to study G S via a widely recognized equation simplified by Köstner (G S1 ) and an inverse Penman–Monteith equation (G S2 ). The decoupling coefficient (Ω) was estimated to quantify the decoupling extent of stomata from the atmosphere. We found that both species were well coupled with environmental conditions (0.1 ± 0.06 and 0.22 ± 0.09 for E. urophylla and S. superba ). Ω increased exponentially with canopy conductance (G C ) and was depressed by the increase of G a , which implied that there was a combined climatic and physiological regulation on Ω. G S1 for both species (63.7 ± 33.9 mmol m −2 s −1 and 48.4 ± 18.1 mmol m −2 s −1 for E. urophylla and S. superba, respectively) was underestimated with the simplified equation compared to G S2 (77.0 ± 52.4 mmol m −2 s −1 and 112.0 ± 52.5 mmol m −2 s −1 for E. urophylla and S. superba , respectively). The ratio of G S1 /G S2 linearly decreased with Ω by a slope of −1.92 and −1.31 for E. urophylla and S. superba , respectively. The increase of the LAI tended to increase the decoupling extent, which further reduced the accuracy of the estimation of G S1 . According to our results, the ratio of G S1 /G S2 had a mean of 0.94 for 85.3% and 0.6 for 37.6% of all of the data for E. urophylla and S. superba , respectively, implying a better estimation of G S1 for the stand that had a lower LAI. Based on the relationship between the LAI and the ratios of G S1 /G S2 (ratio = 1.0759 × 0.02547 (0.053LAI + 0.054) − 0.0078), we can shed some light on the prediction error of stomatal conductance derived from the simplified equation in different forest types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canopy stomatal ozone (O 3 ) flux ( F st,O3 ) in a plantation of Schima superba , an ecologically and economically important evergreen pioneer tree species in subtropical China, was quantified based on sap flow measurements during a 2-year period. Mean F st,O3 and accumulated F st,O3 ( AF st 0) were significantly higher in wet seasons from April to September (4.62 nmol m − 2 s − 1 and 35.37 mmol m − 2 , respectively) than in dry seasons from October to March (3.90 nmol m − 2 s − 1 and 24.15 mmol m − 1 , respectively), yet comparable between the 2 years of the experiment, being 4.23 nmol m − 2 s − 1 and 58.23 mmol m − 2 in April 2013–March 2014 and 4.29 nmol m − 2 s − 1 and 60.80 mmol m − 2 in April 2014–March 2015, respectively. At the diurnal scale, F st,O3 generally peaked in the early to middle afternoon hours (13:00–15:00), while the maximum stomatal conductance ( G st,O3 ) typically occurred in the middle to late morning hours (09:00–11:00). Monthly integrated AF st 0 reached the maximum in July, although accumulated O 3 exposure ( SUM 0) was highest in October. Seasonally or yearly, the accumulated O 3 doses, either exposure-based or flux-based, notably exceeded the currently adopted critical thresholds for the protection of forest trees. These results, on the one hand, demonstrated the decoupling between the stomatal uptake of O 3 and its environmental exposure level; on the other hand, indicated the potential O 3 risk for S. superba in the experimental site. Therefore, the present study endorses the use of sap flow measurements as a feasible tool for estimating F st,O3 , and the transition from the exposure-based toward flux-based metrics for assessing O 3 risk for forest trees. Further studies are urgently needed to relate stomatal O 3 uptake doses with tree growth reductions for an improved understanding of O 3 effects on trees under natural conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large amount of demolition waste was generated due to the rapid urbanization. Prior to designing corresponding management measures, it is imperative to understand the amount, composition, and flows of the generated waste. This study proposes a novel approach to quantifying the demolition waste from generation to final disposal and, consequently, formulates corresponding strategies to managing the demolition waste, by using spatial and temporal dimensions in the Geographic information system. Specifically, a GIS-based model is proposed and consequently applied to a case study. Results show that over 135 million tons of demolition waste will be generated in the Nan Shan District between 2015 and 2060, and the recycling potential is valued at $ 6072 million under the optimistic scenario. By contrast, under the worst-case scenario, over 54 million m3 of land area which equals to approximate $ 218 billion could be needed for landfill. Compared to the worst-case scenario, the optimum scenario would reduce the amount of waste to be disposed in landfills by 80% and increase the value of recycling by 65%. The results revealed that, as a rapidly developing city, Shenzhen would likely experience the peak in the generation of demolition waste. Therefore, it is imperative to improve the recycling rate as it helps to raise the potential economic benefits and to reduce the landfill demand. This research is innovative in terms of the systemization, visual representation and analysis of quantifying the demolition waste flows via a novel method. The findings about the generation trends, economic values and environmental effects provide valuable information for the future waste management exercises of various stakeholders such as government, industry and academy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

7 b SEM for the relationships among climatic factors, plant family composition, and leaf nutrient stoichiometry. Numbers above the arrows indicate the path coefficients (the pathway was significant at 0.05 level and all the path coefficients were standardized), R SP 2 sp values are the proportion of variance explained for each variable. [Extracted from the article]

A variety of bismuth complexes have been extensively explored in biomedical applications. The well-known low toxicity and environmental friendliness of bismuth salts make them valuable for large-scale synthesis of various bismuth-based complexes, which become more significant as active pharmaceutical ingredients of medical products. Bismuth complexes have been widely and preferably used in biomedicine with satisfactory therapeutic effect, which is highlighted in this review. However, their synthesis methods have been scarcely summarized. The classification of the main synthesis methods of bismuth complexes has been done here, followed by updates of the relevant advances concerning applications in biomedicine such as therapeutic effect on gastrointestinal diseases, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities, and the description of the side effect and biotoxicity resulting from long-term use of bismuth as well. Bismuth containing metal–organic frameworks, newly developed bismuth-based materials, are also discussed here, becoming a hot research topic recently. An outlook for future study on the potential use of bismuth complexes in biomedicine is provided in the end. This paper reviews the synthesis and biomedical applications of bismuth complexes with unusually low toxicity and excellent clinical performances, summarizes their main synthesis methods, and biomedical applications as drugs for the therapeutic treatment of gastrointestinal disease,Helicobacter pyloriinfection, and various cancers; especially, describes the development of bismuth-based MOFs in the drug delivery and potential application in cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]