Solvent extraction of boron from mildly alkaline salt lake brine in Tibet, China.

Since the level of resource depletion is maintained at a high level, the recovery of boron from salt lake brine has become an effective way to meet the increasing demand for boron. This study investigates the optimization of boron extraction from the weakly alkaline brine of the Laguocuo Salt Lake (LGCSL) in Tibet, China, a representative of Tibetan weakly alkaline salt lakes. We evaluated the efficacy of 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol (TMPD) as an extractant within a solvent mixture of 2-butyl-1-octanol (C-OH) and sulfonated kerosene.

BicD and MAP7 collaborate to activate homodimeric kinesin-1 by complementary mechanisms.

The folded auto-inhibited state of kinesin-1 is stabilized by multiple weak interactions and binds weakly to microtubules. Here we investigate the extent to which homodimeric kinesin-1 lacking light chains is activated by the dynein activating adaptor BicD. We show that one or two kinesins can bind to the central region of BicD (CC2), a region distinct from that which binds dynein-dynactin (CC1) and cargo-adaptor proteins (CC3).

Optimization of Fermentation and Biocontrol Efficacy of XHG-1-3m2.

Biological control plays an increasingly important role in various aspects of modern agriculture and forestry. Identifying biocontrol strains with commercial potential for effective disease management is currently a focal point in biological control research. In this study, XHG-1-3m2, a strain with significant biocontrol potential against causing shot hole disease in wild apricots, was developed.

Serum molecules of the folate-driven one-carbon cycle as indicators of depressive tendencies in the elderly.

Aims: The folate-driven one-carbon (1C) cycle plays a significant role in the occurrence and development of depression. This study aimed to examine the potential of important molecules of the folate-driven 1C cycle as biomarkers for depressive tendency.

Methods: Ninety-five serum samples from older adults (age >60 years) were collected for this study.

Identification of Shaker Potassium Channel Family Members and Functional Characterization of in Suggest That Contributes to Cold Resistance.

is an excellent shade-tolerant warm-season turfgrass. Its poor cold resistance severely limits its promotion and application in temperate regions. Mining cold resistance genes is highly important for the cultivation of cold-resistant .

The Therapeutic Potential of Hemp Seed Oil in D-Galactose-Induced Aging Rat Model Was Determined through the Combined Assessment of H NMR Metabolomics and 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing.

Aging is an irreversible process of natural degradation of bodily function. The increase in the aging population, as well as the rise in the incidence of aging-related diseases, poses one of the most pressing global challenges. Hemp seed oil, extracted from the seeds of hemp ( L.

Screening of environmental stimuli for the positive regulation of stomatal aperture in centipedegrass.

Grasslands, the largest carbon pool in China, possess enormous potential for carbon sequestration. Increasing the stomatal aperture to increase the CO absorption capacity is a potential method to improve plant photosynthetic efficiency and ultimately enhance the carbon sequestration capacity of grass plants. Research on stomatal aperture regulation has focused mostly on Arabidopsis or crops, while research on grass plants in these areas is scarce, which seriously restricts the implementation of this grassland carbon sequestration strategy.

Alteration of soil pH induced by submerging/drainage and application of peanut straw biochar and its impact on Cd(II) availability in an acidic soil to indica-japonica rice varieties.

The effects of soil pH variations induced by submergence/drainage and biochar application on soil cadmium (Cd) availability to different rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties are not well understood. This study aims to investigate the possible reasons for available Cd(II) reduction in paddy soil as influenced by biochar and to determine Cd(II) absorption and translocation rates in different parts of various rice varieties.

Effect of Cd(II) adsorption onto rice roots on its uptake by different indica and japonica rice varieties and toxicity effect of Cd(II) under acidic conditions.

The rapid increase in soil acidity coupled with the deleterious effects of cadmium (Cd) toxicity had led to a decline in worldwide agricultural production. Rice absorbs and accumulates Cd(II) from polluted paddy soils, increasing human health risks throughout the food chain. A 35-day hydroponic experiment with four japonica and four indica (two each of them tolerant and sensitive cultivars) was conducted in this study to investigate the adsorption and absorption of Cd(II) by rice roots as related with surface chemical properties of the roots.

Constructing a "micro-nano collaboration" network via disk-milling: Value-enhanced utilization of flexible temperature-resistant cellulose insulation films.

Cellulose is a sustainable natural polymer material that has found widespread application in transformers and other power equipment because of its excellent electrical and mechanical performance. However, the utility of cellulose materials has been limited by the challenge of balancing heat resistance with flexibility. On the basis of the preliminary research conducted by the research team, further proposals have been put forward for a method involving disk milling to create a "micro-nanocollaboration" network for the fabrication of flexible, high-temperature-resistant, and ultrafine fiber-based cellulose insulating films.

Different Responses of Bacteria and Archaea to Environmental Variables in Brines of the Mahai Potash Mine, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Salt mines feature both autochthonous and allochthonous microbial communities introduced by industrialization. It is important to generate the information on the diversity of the microbial communities present in the salt mines and how they are shaped by the environment representing ecological diversification. Brine from Mahai potash mine (Qianghai, China), an extreme hypersaline environment, is used to produce potash salts for hundreds of millions of people.

Electrochemical properties of roots determine antibiotic adsorption on roots.

The adsorption behaviors and transfer pathways of antibiotics in plant-soil system are greatly influenced by the electrochemical properties of both soil particles and plant roots. However, the effects of roots electrochemical properties on antibiotic adsorption are largely unknown. Here, the fresh soybean, maize, and wheat roots with different electrochemical properties were obtained from hydroponic cultivation, and the adsorption processes and mechanisms of doxycycline, tetracycline, sulfadiazine, and norfloxacin on roots under various environmental conditions were investigated.

More negative charges on roots enhanced manganese(II) uptake in leguminous and non-leguminous poaceae crops.

Background: Manganese (Mn) is an essential micronutrient for plants, whereas excess Mn(II) in soils leads to its toxicity to crops. Mn(II) is adsorbed onto plant roots from soil solution and then absorbed by plants. Root charge characteristics should affect Mn(II) toxicity to crops and Mn(II) uptake by the roots of the crops.

Integration of transcriptomics and metabonomics revealed the protective effects of hemp seed oil against methionine-choline-deficient diet-induced non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in mice.

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a chronic liver disease with few therapeutic options available currently. Hemp seed oil extracted from the seeds of hemp ( L.) has significant nutritional and biological properties due to the unique composition of polyunsaturated fatty acids and various antioxidant compounds.

Time series analysis revealed prognostic value of continuous nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid quantification for COVID-19: A retrospective study of >3000 COVID-19 patients from 2 centers.

Background: Early stratification of disease progression remains one of the major challenges towards the post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era. The clinical relevance of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleic acid load is debated due to the heterogeneity in patients' underlying health conditions. We determined the prognostic value of nasopharyngeal viral load dynamic conversion for COVID-19.

The important role of surface hydroxyl groups in aluminum activation during phyllosilicate mineral acidification.

Phyllosilicate minerals are the important components in soils and an important source of activated aluminum (Al) during soil acidification. However, the mechanisms for Al activation in phyllosilicate minerals were not understood well. In this paper, the effect of phyllosilicate surface hydroxyl groups on Al activation during acidification was studied after the minerals were modified with inorganic and organic materials.

Application of ultrasensitive assay for SARS-CoV-2 antigen in nasopharynx in the management of COVID-19 patients with comorbidities during the peak of 2022 Shanghai epidemics in a tertiary hospital.

Objectives: Various comorbidities associated with COVID-19 add up in severity of the disease and obviously prolonged the time for viral clearance. This study investigated a novel ultrasensitive MAGLUMI SARS-CoV-2 Ag chemiluminescent immunoassay assay (MAG-CLIA) for diagnosis and monitoring the infectivity of COVID-19 patients with comorbid conditions during the pandemic of 2022 Shanghai.

Methods: Analytical performances of the MAG-CLIA were evaluated, including precision, limit of quantitation, linearity and specificity.

Microbial communities associated with thermogenic gas hydrate-bearing marine sediments in Qiongdongnan Basin, South China Sea.

Biogenic and thermogenic gas are two major contributors to gas hydrate formation. Methane hydrates from both origins may have critical impacts on the ecological properties of marine sediments. However, research on microbial diversity in thermogenic hydrate-containing sediments is limited.

Green production of lignocellulose nanofibrils by FeCl-catalyzed ethanol treatment.

The traditional strategy for isolating cellulose nanomaterials requires various chemicals and a high energy input, while achieving a low product yield owing to lignin removal during pulping and bleaching. Here, we propose a green ethanol pretreatment process with a synergistic effect using ultrasound and FeCl to produce lignocellulose nanofibrils (LCNF) with a high yield (over 67 %) from thermomechanical pulp. Notably, a high-aspect-ratio LCNF with uniformly distributed lignin nanoparticles, a high lignin content, and excellent thermostability (T > 330 °C) with a typical cellulose I crystalline structure were successfully obtained.

Palliative radiotherapy combined with stent insertion to relieve dysphagia in advanced esophageal carcinoma patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Esophageal cancer is one of the most aggressive malignancies with limited treatment options, thus resulting in high morbidity and mortality. For patients with advanced esophageal cancer, the median survival is 3-6 months, with the majority requiring intervention for dysphagia.

Objective: To compare the relief of dysphagia in patients with incurable esophageal cancer treated with stenting alone or a combination of stenting and palliative radiotherapy.

Molecular Insights into the Effect of Nitrogen Bubbles on the Formation of Tetrahydrofuran Hydrates.

In this work, a molecular dynamics simulation was conducted to study the microscopic mechanism of how nitrogen bubbles affect the formation of THF hydrates at the molecular level. The results obtained reveal that the nitrogen bubble can promote the formation of THF hydrates. In the system with a nitrogen bubble, more THF-filled cages were generated, and the crystal structure was more orderly.

Solvent-free preparation of thermoplastic bio-materials from microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) through reactive extrusion.

Cellulose, as a renewable biopolymer, was acknowledged as a promising alternative for petroleum polymer. However, the poor thermoplasticity of cellulose caused a limitation in its full development. Herein, a solvent-free and simple strategy was proposed for the preparation of thermoplastic bio-materials from microcrystalline cellulose (MCC).

Effects of the increases in soil pH and pH buffering capacity induced by crop residue biochars on available Cd contents in acidic paddy soils.

To explore the effects of the increases in pH and pH buffering capacity (pHBC) induced by crop residue biochars on the changes in soil available Cd content, six acidic paddy soils developed from different parents were amended with seeded sunflower plate biochar (SSPBC), peanut straw biochar (PSBC) and corn straw biochar (CSBC). The pH, pHBC, and available Cd of the soils were measured after laboratory incubation. The results showed that the incorporation of crop residue biochars led to the increases in soil pH and pHBC, but a decrease in soil available Cd content.

Geochemical Characteristics and Significance of Organic Matter in Hydrate-Bearing Sediments from Shenhu Area, South China Sea.

Rock-Eval pyrolysis and the biomarker composition of organic matter were systematically studied in hydrate-bearing sediments from the Shenhu area, South China Sea. The n-alkane distribution patterns revealed that the organic matter in the sediments appeared to originate from mixed sources of marine autochthonous input, terrestrial higher plants, and ancient reworked organic matter. The low total organic carbon contents (average < 0.

Effects of pH variations caused by redox reactions and pH buffering capacity on Cd(II) speciation in paddy soils during submerging/draining alternation.

Incubation experiments were conducted to investigate the influencing factors of pH variation in different paddy soils during submerging/draining alternation and the relationship between pH buffering capacity (pHBC) and Cd speciation in ten paddy soils developed from different parent materials (including 8 acid paddy soils and 2 alkaline paddy soils). The soil pHBC and the changes in soil pH, Eh, Fe, Mn, SO and Cd speciation were determined. The results showed that there was a significant positive correlation between cation exchange capacity (CEC) and pHBC of these paddy soils, indicating that soil CEC is a key factor affecting the pHBC of paddy soils.