Agricultural wastes co-densification: A solution for seasonal feedstock storage and anaerobic digestion performance improvement.

Rice straw and pig manure pellets (RPP) and sorghum straw and pig manure pellets (SPP) were used to identify their competition as the flexible feedstock of anaerobic digestion with one-year indoor storage. The results indicated the effect of time on their characteristic was tiny during storage period, such as density, calorific value, total solid, volatile solid, ratio of carbon and nitrogen, and lignocellulosic components. Biogas yields of stored RPP and SPP were 8.

Preparation of Curcumin Solid Lipid Nanoparticles Loaded with Flower-Shaped Lactose for Lung Inhalation and Preliminary Evaluation of Cytotoxicity In Vitro.

The purpose of this study is to design a flower-shaped lactose loaded curcumin solid lipid nanoparticles dry powder inhaler and characterize it to improve the solubility and dissolution rate of curcumin in lung. Curcumin solid lipid nanoparticles (Cur-SLNs) were prepared by solvent evaporation method, and then they were micronized by freeze-drying technology. Finally, Cur-SLN micropowder obtained by freeze-drying was mixed with flower-shaped lactose (FL) at a ratio of 2 : 1 and then passed through a 200-mesh sieve to obtain Cur-SLN-FL powder.

Evidence for mixotrophy in pico-chlorophytes from a new Picochlorum (Trebouxiophyceae) strain.

Mixotrophs are increasingly recognized for their wide distribution in aquatic ecosystems and significant contributions to biogeochemical cycling. Many taxa within the phyla Chrysophyta, Cryptophyta, and Haptophyta are capable of phago-mixotrophy, however, phagotrophy in the Chlorophyta remains controversial due to insufficient research and solid evidence. In this study, we identified a new strain, Picochlorum sp.

Microencapsulation of Fe2+ in Spray-Dried Lactose for Improved Bioavailability.

The development of spray drying technology has been widely used for drying and preservation of food products. Though infant milk powder iron fortification is necessary for infants and children, iron fortification is accompanied by some limitations that reduce its quality and oxidation of Fe2+ into Fe3+, causing sensory problems and even a decrease in iron absorption, which does not meet the normal requirements of infant and child body development. To overcome this adverse effect and to improve the bioavailability of iron, a spray drying method was used to simulate the milk powder production process by codrying a mixture of ascorbic acid and ferrous sulfate, where ascorbic acid was uniformly coated on the outer layer of ferrous sulfate.

Dramatically comprehensive improved electrochemical performances of symmetric and asymmetric supercapacitors under external magnetic field.

Recently, magnetic field (MF) has been described as a potential way to improve the properties of electrode materials, which significantly enhances the ion diffusion behavior and material wettability. We first synthezised for the first time a comparable carbon-based electrode material (GCA) including active carbon, reduced graphene and carbon nanotubes through a facile stirring method for further research under MF. Herein, 0.

Predictors of infliximab-induced deep remission in treatment-naïve patients with isolated small bowel Crohn's disease.

Objectives: Deep remission should be induced early in the disease course of Crohn's disease (CD), because it significantly prevents disease progression. Identifying predictors of deep remission before treatment is important to guide therapeutic strategy. Little is known about the predictors of infliximab-induced deep remission in treatment-naïve patients with isolated small bowel CD.

Phenylacetylglutamine is associated with the degree of coronary atherosclerotic severity assessed by coronary computed tomographic angiography in patients with suspected coronary artery disease.

Background And Aims: Phenylacetylglutamine (PAG), a gut microbiota metabolite, has recently been found to be associated with major adverse cardiovascular events. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between plasma PAG and coronary atherosclerotic severity assessed by coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA).

Methods: We enrolled consecutive patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent CCTA.

Transcriptomic response of to nitrogen- or phosphorus-limited diet.

Effects of nutrient-imbalanced diet on the growth and fitness of zooplankton were widely reported as key issues to aquatic ecology. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms driving the physiological changes of zooplankton under nutrient stress.In this study, we investigated the physiological fitness and transcriptomic response of when exposed to nitrogen (N)-limited or phosphorus (P)-limited algal diet () compared to regular algae (N and P saturated).

An empirical model to estimate ammonia emission from cropland fertilization in China.

Ammonia (NH) volatilization is one of the main pathways of nitrogen loss from cropland, resulting not only in economic losses, but also environmental and human health impacts. The magnitude and timing of NH emissions from cropland fertilizer application highly depends on agricultural practices, climate and soil factors, which previous studies have typically only considered at coarse spatio-temporal resolution. In this paper, we describe a first highly detailed empirical regression model for ammonia (ERMA) emissions based on 1443 field observations across China.

Tunable Band-Edge Potentials and Charge Storage in Colloidal Tin-Doped Indium Oxide (ITO) Nanocrystals.

Degenerately doped metal-oxide nanocrystals (NCs) show localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) that are tunable via their tunable excess charge-carrier densities. Modulation of excess charge carriers has also been used to control magnetism in colloidal doped metal-oxide NCs. The addition of excess delocalized conduction-band (CB) electrons can be achieved through aliovalent doping or by postsynthetic techniques such as electrochemistry or photodoping.

Bimetallic Sulfide SnS/FeS Nanosheets as High-Performance Anode Materials for Sodium-Ion Batteries.

Transition-metal sulfide SnS has aroused wide concern due to its high capacity and nanosheet structure, making it an attractive choice as the anode material in sodium-ion batteries. However, the large volume expansion and poor conductivity of SnS lead to inferior cycle stability as well as rate performance. In this work, FeS was in situ introduced to synchronously grow with SnS on rGO to prepare a heterojunction bimetallic sulfide nanosheet SnS/FeS/rGO composite.

Distinct metabolic strategies of the dominant heterotrophic bacterial groups associated with marine Synechococcus.

The marine Synechococcus is a major primary producer in the global oceans. It is phylogenetically highly diverse, and its major phylogenetic lineages display clear spatial segregation among different marine environments. Here, we showed that the composition of the associated bacterial communities was related to the geographic origin of the different Synechococcus strains, and it was stable during long-term lab incubation.

ADAM17 and NF-κB p65 form a positive feedback loop that facilitates human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell viability.

A Disintegrin and metalloproteinase 17 (ADAM17) was proposed to cooperate with NF-κB p65, promoting tumorigenesis and progression of several human cancers. However, the role of ADAM17 remains unknown in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). In this study, gene expression analyses and cell viability assays suggested that knockdown of ADAM17 suppressed ESCC cell viability.

Preparation and application of quick hemostatic gauze based on biomimetic mineralized thrombin.

Thrombin is a serine protease known as activated coagulation factor II and is primarily applied as an effective local hemostatic agent. However, its clinical application is hindered by drawbacks, such as high sensitivity to the surrounding environment, instability and poor storage stability, easy inactivation, and low bioavailability. The biological functions of biomacromolecules in harsh environments can be preserved through biomineralization.

Lactic acid in macrophage polarization: The significant role in inflammation and cancer.

Metabolite lactic acid has always been regarded as a metabolic by-product rather than a bioactive molecule. Recently, this view has changed since it was discovered that lactic acid can be used as a signal molecule and has novel signal transduction functions both intracellular and extracellular, which can regulate key functions in the immune system. In recent years, more and more evidence has shown that lactic acid is closely related to the metabolism and polarization of macrophages.

Surface soil metal elements variability affected by environmental and soil properties.

Identifying the factors controlling the spatial variability of soil metal elements could be a challenge task due to the interaction of environmental attributes and human activities. This study aimed to investigate the critical explanatory variables controlling total Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Mg, Pb, and Zn variations in the arable topsoil using classical statistics, principal component analysis, and random forest techniques. The work was conducted in the core region of the Three Gorges Reservoir of China.

Pten Regulates Cardiomyocyte Differentiation by Modulating Non-CG Methylation via Dnmt3.

The regulation of cardiomyocyte differentiation is a fundamental aspect of cardiac development and regenerative medicine. PTEN plays important roles during embryonic development. However, its role in cardiomyocyte differentiation remains unknown.

Neighborhood component analysis for modeling papermaking wastewater treatment processes.

It is of great importance to obtain accurate effluent quality indices in time for pulping and papermaking wastewater treatment processes. However, considering the complex characteristics of industrial wastewater treatment systems, conventional modeling methods such as partial least squares (PLS) and artificial neural networks (ANN) cannot achieve satisfactory prediction accuracy. As a supervised metric learning method, neighborhood component analysis (NCA) is able to significantly improve the prediction performance by training an appropriate model in metric space using the distance between samples for papermaking wastewater treatment processes.

Essential Role of CFAP53 in Sperm Flagellum Biogenesis.

The sperm flagellum is essential for male fertility. Despite vigorous research progress toward understanding the pathogenesis of flagellum-related diseases, much remains unknown about the mechanisms underlying the flagellum biogenesis itself. Here, we show that the cilia and flagella associated protein 53 () gene is predominantly expressed in testes, and it is essential for sperm flagellum biogenesis.

The impact of immersed liquid circulation on anaerobic digestion of rice straw bale and methane generation improvement.

Immersed liquid circulation is assumed to improve solid-state anaerobic digestion (SS-AD) with digestate flow convection on the surface of solid-state bed (SSB), which depends on SSB concentration and circulation rate (CR). In this study, the impact of CR on rice straw SS-AD was investigated within a 30 L pilot digester. Results showed that SSB threshold concentration for efficient biogas conversion was 10%-12% TS, achieving the methane yield of 185.

Copper Peroxide-Loaded Gelatin Sponges for Wound Dressings with Antimicrobial and Accelerating Healing Properties.

Catalytic conversion of hydrogen peroxide (HO) to more toxic hydroxyl radicals (OH) is a good choice for sterilization and anti-infection, but endogenous HO is insufficient to achieve satisfactory sterilization efficacy. Despite great efforts, designing and developing antimicrobial materials that specifically and effectively self-supply HO at the wound site remain as tremendous challenges. Here, we report a pH-responsive copper peroxide-loaded wound dressing made from copper hydroxide and gelatin sponge and then reacted with HO.

Hydrogel sunscreen based on yeast /gelatin demonstrates excellent UV-shielding and skin protection performance.

Traditional organic and inorganic sunscreens suffer from the disadvantages of low stability and poor biocompatibility. In the study, we developed a novel hydrogel sunscreen based on the yeast and gelatin, which demonstrated excellent UV protection property and broad absorption of UV across UVA and UVB region. Yeast was used as effective component and gelatin as matrix to fabricate the hydrogel, which is high hydrated and reasonable to simulate natural living tissue.