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The response of soil carbon to global climate change remains one of the largest uncertainties for future climate projection. In this study, we re-sampled the soil in a long-term, field-scale, multi-factorial climate experiment, CLIMAITE (Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE), warming and drought in all combinations in a Danish heathland ecosystem) in 2020, seven years after the experiment was terminated. We aimed to study the dynamics of the soil carbon after the cessation of long-term multi-factorial climate manipulation, with special attention to the fate of the additional soil carbon (19% increase) that was sequestered in plots exposed to elevated CO2 concentrations (eCO2). Soil carbon pools in former eCO2 plots, as well as in drought and warming plots, had normalized again by 2020. However, the difference in soil isotopic composition between ambient and former eCO2 plots remained, indicating similar loss fractions from older and newer soil carbon pools in the eCO2 plots as well as stimulation of the decomposition of old soil carbon via priming. Throughout the study period, soil nitrogen dynamics tracked the changes in soil carbon, suggesting that nitrogen from deeper soil layers was transported upwards to meet increasing plant demand during eCO2 but was lost again from the topsoil after termination of the FACE treatment. Our findings show that the soil carbon and nitrogen pools in this ecosystem are highly dynamic and may respond strongly and rapidly to changes in major ecosystem drivers, and that revisiting climate experiments after the cessation of treatments may provide valuable insights into the dynamics, stability and resilience of major element pools in ecosystems.

Glaucoma, characterized with progressive degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), is the second frequently leading cause of sight loss in the word after cataract. Baicalin plays a protective role in age-related macular degeneration, retinopathy of prematurity, branch retinal vein occlusion, and ischemia-induced neurodegeneration in the retina. The present study aimed to investigate the role of baicalin in glaucoma. RGCs were stimulated with N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) to mimic the in vitro model of glaucoma. A mouse model of glaucoma induced by chronic elevated intraocular pressure was also established. The apoptosis, oxidative stress, and autophagy of RGCs were detected by flow cytometry analysis, 2,7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate staining, and Western blotting, respectively. Retinal pathological changes were exhibited by hemotoxylin and eosin staining. Baicalin restrained the NMDA-induced cell apoptosis, autophagy, and oxidative stress of RGCs by activating the PI3K/AKT signaling in vitro. The elevated intraocular pressure-induced pathological changes in retinas of glaucoma mice were attenuated by baicalin. Moreover, the number of RGCs was significantly decreased in glaucoma mice, and then increased by baicalin treatment. Baicalin also inhibited autophagy and activated PI3K/AKT signaling in vivo. In conclusion, baicalin suppresses glaucoma pathogenesis by regulating the PI3K/AKT signaling in vitro and in vivo.

Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is one of the most widely used methods in the field of sustainable bioenergy production from various feedstock. One such feedstock is algae waste which has become an increasingly serious environmental problem. AD of algal biomass is hindered by the presence of resistant cell walls; hence a pretreatment step is usually required to decompose the cell wall structure. This study uses green algae (Enteromorpha) and anaerobic sludge as raw materials to explore the impact of autoclave (AC) pretreatment on biogas production. AC pretreatment was performed at 120 °C and 80 °C. The cumulative biogas production of the 120 °C AC pretreatment, 80 °C AC pretreatment and control group were 600 mL, 450 mL and 400 mL, respectively. The results showed that AC pretreatment improved the biodegradability of biomass as 120 °C AC pretreatment group achieved higher degradation rate of cells (95.99 %). The energy evaluation showed that the net energy ratio of the 120 °C AC pretreatment group was 1.07, indicating high overall energy gain via AD process. The experimental data is further modeled by using Modified Gompertz Model (MGM) and Logistic Function Model (LFM). To check the applicability of better model for this AD process, an Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) test was performed. AIC showed that the MGM is basically consistent with the experimental data and more reliable for prediction modeling of Enteromorpha AD.

Tubular injury plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN). It is well known that many microRNAs (miRNAs) exert crucial effects on tubular injury. This study intends to explore the effect of miR-142-3p on the apoptosis and oxidative stress of high glucose (HG)-treated renal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2) and its underlying mechanism. HK-2 cells were exposed to HG to mimic cell injury. MTT assays and flow cytometry analyses were conducted to measure cell viability and cell apoptosis, respectively. RT-qPCR and western blot analyses were carried out to detect RNA and protein levels, respectively. The levels of oxidative stress markers were evaluated by ELISA. The binding between miR-142-3p and biorientation of chromosomes in cell division 1 (BOD1) was validated by a luciferase reporter assay. MiR-142-3p is low-expressed in HG-stimulated HK-2 cells. Functionally, miR-142-3p overexpression attenuates the apoptosis and oxidative stress of HG-stimulated HK-2 cells. Mechanistically, BOD1 was confirmed to be targeted by miR-142-3p in HK-2 cells. Moreover, BOD1 overexpression reversed the suppressive effect of miR-142-3p overexpression on the apoptosis and oxidative stress of HK-2 cells treated with HG. MiR-142-3p ameliorates HG-induced renal tubular epithelial cell injury by targeting BOD1. The finding might provide novel insight into the role of miR-142-3p/BOD1 axis in DN treatment.

The friction performance and compression properties of geotextile bags under different degrees of consolidation are researched through the slope sliding test, direct shear test, and unconfined compression test in this study. The geotextile bags are made up of geotextile and tailings sands obtained from a construction site of a prototype tailings dam in Yunnan Province. The slope sliding test is considered as an easy method to study the friction performance of geotextile bags with different degrees of consolidation. Through the test, the friction coefficients between the bags were obtained. Given the geotextile bags can withstand the vertical load in practical engineering, the direct shear test is also proposed and conducted. The ultimate bearing capacity of the geotextile bags with different consolidation degrees is studied in the unconfined compression test. The test reveals that the ultimate bearing capacity of geotextile bags, although featured with different moisture contents before the test, stays the same under the condition of slow loading. Finally, a stability analysis method based on the limit equilibrium theory is developed to simulate the stability of the tailings dam using geotextile bags (TDGB). According to the test results, the TDGB has demonstrated an improved stability compared with the general tailings dam.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with good chemical stability, flexible chemical functionalization, tunable pore sizes, and high specific surface areas have been increasingly employed in the field of fluorescence sensing. In this work, a crystalline vinyl-functionalized COF TzDa-V was facilely prepared through a room-temperature synthetic method via condensation reaction between 4,4',4″-(1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triyl)trianiline (Tz) and 2,5-diallyloxyterephthalaldehyde (Da-V). The intermolecular charge transfer (ICT) effect endowed the TzDa-V with fluorescence characteristic, and it was sensitive to trace water and can be quenched due to the disruption of ICT process by water. On this base, the prepared COF TzDa-V with excellent chemical/thermal stability was applied to sensing of trace water in common organic solvents such as DMF, acetone, THF, and ethyl acetate with rapid response (less than 10 s), satisfactory sensing range (0.5-18% water in DMF, 0.5-15% water in acetone, 0.5-16% water in THF, 0.5-5% in ethyl acetate, v/v), and high sensitivity. The limits of detection for water in DMF, acetone, THF, and ethyl acetate were 0.0497%, 0.0590%, 0.0502%, and 0.0766% (v/v), respectively. The proposed probe was successfully used for the detection of trace water in food products such as salt and sugar. The COF TzDa-V would be a good candidate for application in water sensing.

Shrubland ecosystems are vulnerable and typical ecosystems across European countries, but now they are facing a range of threats and an uncertain future because of climate change. Within the INCREASE project, six shrubland ecosystems along a geographical and climatic gradient across Europe from Wales and Denmark in the North, over The Netherlands to Hungary and Italy in the South, were exposed to ecosystem-level warming and extended periods of drought using automated curtain technologies. Sites ranged naturally from xeric to hydric. During our measurement period, mean annual precipitation (MAP) was reduced by 8-25%, while mean annual air temperature (MAT) was increased year-round by 0.2 - 0.9 ℃.Previously, Reinsch et al. (2017) * showed that aboveground net primary production (ANPP) was relatively resilient to the climate treatments while soil respiration (Rs) was reduced in xeric to mesic sites but increased in the hydric site. However, quantification of the gross primary production (GPP) or ecosystem respiration (Reco) rates and their responsiveness to climate manipulations have not previously been published. We will here present data from the six shrubland sites along the European climate gradient of the responses of GPP and Reco to drought and warming expressed as annual relative change (%) from the untreated control along a Gaussen index (GI). Results are in contrast to the previously reported decrease in Rs responsiveness with increased aridity. For both Reco and GPP rates, our preliminary results indicate that the more arid sites have a stronger, negative effect of drought suggesting different response patterns of autotrophic and heterotrophic components of the ecosystems.*Reinsch, S., Koller, E., Sowerby, A. et al. Shrubland primary production and soil respiration diverge along European climate gradient. Sci Rep 7, 43952 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep43952

The development of novel stationary phases to achieve high-efficiency separation is still an important topic in separation sciences. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with the advantages of large specific surface areas, high porosity and stability have attracted great attention in chromatographic field. Here, a novel crystalline covalent organic framework (TzDa-V) was designed and synthesized by condensation reaction between 4,4',4″-(1,3,5-Triazine-2,4,6-triyl)trianiline (Tz) and 2,5-diallyloxyterephthalaldehyde (Da-V) for open-tubular capillary electrochromatography (OT-CEC). Thanks to the regular shape, strong hydrophobicity and microporous structure of COF TzDa-V, the TzDa-V modified capillary column exhibited excellent efficiency for the separation of several groups of small molecules, including alkylbenzenes, chlorobenzenes, sulfonamides and so on. The maximum column efficiency can reach about 2.0 × 10

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women globally, and chemoresistance is a major challenge to disease treatment that is associated with a poor prognosis. This study was formulated to identify a reliable prognostic biosignature capable of predicting the survival of patients with chemoresistant breast cancer (CRBC) and evaluating the associated tumor immune microenvironment. Through a series of protein-protein interaction and weighted correlation network analyses, genes that were significantly associated with breast cancer chemoresistance were identified. Moreover, univariate Cox regression and lasso-penalized Cox regression analyses were employed to generate a prognostic model, and the prognostic utility of this model was then assessed using time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and Kaplan-Meier survival curves. Finally, The CIBERSORT and ESTIMATE algorithms were additionally leveraged to assess relationships between the tumor immune microenvironment and patient prognostic signatures. Overall, a multigenic prognostic biosignature capable of predicting CRBC patient risk was successfully developed based on bioinformatics analysis and in vitro experiments. This biosignature was able to stratify CRBC patients into high- and low-risk subgroups. ROC curves also revealed that this biosignature achieved high diagnostic efficiency, and multivariate regression analyses indicated that this risk signature was an independent risk factor linked to CRBC patient outcomes. In addition, this signature was associated with the infiltration of the tumor microenvironment by multiple immune cell types. In conclusion, the chemoresistance-associated prognostic gene signature developed herein was able to effectively evaluate the prognosis of CRBC patients and to reflect the overall composition of the tumor immune microenvironment.

Geotextile tubes are one of the emerging and promising technologies to build fine-grain tailings dams. In this study, shaking table model tests are conducted to evaluate the seismic performance as characterized by horizontal acceleration and displacement of the tailings dam subject to horizontal peak ground accelerations (HPGAs). The test results indicate that the tailings dam is sustainable, whereas the whole dam tends to slide forward. Test results reveal a W-pattern variation of acceleration amplification coefficient (A m) at the same elevation despite different HPGA, whereas A m on the geotextile tubes exhibits minimal changes with increasing HPGA. A m inside the dam is highly variable in terms of the elevation and the specific position. The maximum vertical displacement occurs at the top of the geotextile tubes as the side of the geotextile tubes tilting upward. The highest horizontal displacement is observed in the middle section of the geotextile tubes, resulting in an overall convex deformation pattern. Two reinforcement schemes are proposed accordingly including strengthening the drainage and installing the anti-slide piles. The dynamic behaviors of the tailings dam subject to earthquakes from this study can serve as guidance for seismic design and technology promotion.

To enhance hydrogen production rate and increase substrate utilization efficiency of anaerobic fermentation, three carrier materials, Granular Activated Carbon (GAC), Zeolite Molecular Sieve (ZMS) and Biological Ceramic Ring (BCR), were used as carrier materials in Continuous Mixed Immobilized Sludge Reactors (CMISRs). The effects of carrier materials and substrate organic loading rate (OLR, OLR = 12, 24, 36, 48 kg/m3/d) on biohydrogen production were investigate, respectively. The highest HPRs of ZMS, GAC and BCR were achieved under the OLR of 36 kg COD/m3/d, and were 2.01, 1.81, and 2.86 L/L/d, respectively. The highest COD removal efficiencies of ZMS, GAC and BCR were 38.95 % (OLR = 24 kg COD/m3/d), 36.47 % (OLR = 36 kg COD/m3/d), and 41.03 % (OLR = 36 kg COD/m3/d), respectively. The best substrate degradation rate of ZMS, GAC and BCR were 40.33 % (OLR = 24 kg COD/m3/d), 38.30 % (OLR = 24 kg COD/m3/d) and 45.60 % (OLR = 12 kg COD/m3/d). The results indicated that biological ceramic ring get better hydrogen production and wastewater treatment performance as sludge carrier material for hydrogen production in immobilized bioprocesses.

Developing nitrogen-enriched porous carbons using inexpensive and easily accessible biomass remains a great challenge in recent years. Herein, a series of nitrogen-doped porous carbons were prepare...

A series of ultrafine core@shell electrocatalysts (CoRuOx@NC) are prepared using oleylamine (OA)-passivated metal-oxide nanosheets (CoRuOy@OA) as single precursors. The optimal catalyst Co0.8Ru0.2O...

International audience; Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) is a class of porous materials with high surface area, high porosity, good stability and tunable structure that have been neatly used in the separation area. In this work, we have proposed the in-situ synthesis of a novel COF composed of 4,4',4''-(1,3,5-Triazine-2,4,6-triyl)trianiline (Tz) and 1,4-dihydroxyterephthalaldehyde (Da) onto the capillary inner surface for electrochromatographic separation. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), elemental analysis (EA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) have been facilitated to characterize the prepared capillary columns. The COF (TzDa) modified OT-CEC column exhibited satisfactory separation selectivity towards neutral compounds (such as chlorobenzenes and alkylbenzenes), acidic and basic compounds (such as phenols and anilines), food additives (vanillin and its analogues) and small biomolecules (such as amino acids and polypeptides). Furthermore, the TzDa modified capillary was quite stable and repeatable. The relative standard deviations for retention times of the test analytes (alkylbenzenes) were as follow: for intra-day (n = 3) runs (≤ 1.74%), inter-day (n = 3) runs (≤ 2.25%) and column to columns (n = 3) (≤ 4.83%). This new type of COF-based stationary phase has tremendous potential in separation science.

The transformation of zero-dimensional carbon dots (CDs) to cross-linked nanomaterials is rare. In this work, a novel carbon dots-based covalent organic nanomaterial (CON CDs-TAPB) consisted of 1,3,5-tris(4-aminophenyl)-benzene (TAPB) and carbon dots (CDs) through facile Schiff-base reaction was synthesized and then employed as a stationary phase for open-tubular capillary electrochromatography (OT-CEC). The CON CDs-TAPB and the CDs-TAPB coated column were characterized through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-spectra experiments and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Thanks to CON CDs-TAPB unique structure and abundant accessibility and interaction sites, the prepared column exhibited a satisfactory separation ability towards analytes including parabens, phenolic compounds. Among all analytes, the highest column efficiency was over 1.6 × 10

Crown ethers are macrocyclic polyether compounds containing multiple -oxo-methylene-structural units, which are often used for recognition of metal ions and ammonium ions. Inspired by the molecular design of rotaxanes, a novel covalent organic nanospheres material (CON ADBC-Tp) constructed by 4,4'-diaminodibenzo-18-crown-6 (ADBC) and 2,4,6-triformylphloroglucinol (Tp) was rationally designed as stationary phase for the separation of compounds containing imidazole structure. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) were carried out to confirm the morphology and composition of ADBC-Tp and ADBC-Tp modified capillary column. Thanks to the introduction of crown ether building ligands, the prepared capillary column exhibited excellent separation selectivity towards protonated imidazole structure, with benzimidazole and its 2-substituted derivatives as modal analytes. Moreover, separation of fungicides, nucleobases, short peptides and sulfanilamides were achieved on ADBC-Tp@capillary. The multifunctional ADBC-Tp@capillary with satisfactory reproducibility and stability gives great promise for separation science.

Cyclic desulfurization-regeneration-denitrification over carbon-based catalysts is a promising technology for SO