Human midbrain dopaminergic progenitors.

Human midbrain dopaminergic progenitors (mDAPs) are one of the most representative cell types in both basic research and clinical applications. However, there are still many challenges for the preparation and quality control of mDAPs, such as the lack of standards. Therefore, the establishment of critical quality attributes and technical specifications for mDAPs is largely needed.

Gestational cadmium exposure disrupts fetal liver development via repressing estrogen biosynthesis in placental trophoblasts.

Cadmium (Cd), commonly found in diet and drinking water, is known to be harmful to the human liver. Nevertheless, the effects and mechanisms of gestational Cd exposure on fetal liver development remain unclear. Here, we reported that gestational Cd (150 mg/L) exposure obviously downregulated the expression of critical proteins including PCNA, Ki67 and VEGF-A in proliferation and angiogenesis in fetal livers, and lowered the estradiol concentration in fetal livers and placentae.

[Heavy Metal Content of Rural Living Solid Waste and Related Source and Distribution Analysis].

Living solid waste of 72 typical villages and towns in 12 provinces was investigated, and related heavy metal pollution characteristics, source, and distribution were analyzed. Results showed that heavy metal content of As, Hg, Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu, Zn, and Ni in living solid waste of typical northern villages of China was (7.51±8.

Modification of chitin with high adsorption capacity for methylene blue removal.

Porous chitin sorbents (PChs) with different content of chitin, ranging from 0.9% to 3.5%, were prepared by gel method with CaBr·xHO/CHOH solution and characterized by FT-IR, XRD and SEM.

Observation on the ion association equilibria in NaNO3 droplets using micro-Raman spectroscopy.

Ion association ratios as a function of concentration were estimated in single NaNO(3) droplets (5-60 μm) on a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) substrate with molar water-to-solute ratios (WSRs) of 0.8-28 and bulk NaNO(3) solutions with WSRs of 35-200 by combining micro-Raman spectroscopy and component band analysis. Concentrations of the NaNO(3) droplets were accurately controlled by adjusting relative humidity (RH) in a sample chamber.

Suppression of NaNO3 crystal nucleation by glycerol: micro-Raman observation on the efflorescence process of mixed glycerol/NaNO3/water droplets.

Although the hygroscopicity of a NaNO(3)/water microdroplet and a polyalcohol/water microdroplet, two of the most important aerosols in atmosphere, has been widely studied, little is known about the relationship between the hygroscopic behavior of mixed NaNO(3)/polyalcohol/water droplets and their structures on the molecular level. In this study, the hygroscopicity of mixed glycerol/NaNO(3)/water droplets deposited on a hydrophobic substrate was studied by micro-Raman spectroscopy with organic-to-inorganic molar ratios (OIRs) of 0.5, 1, and 2.

Observation of conformational changes in 1-propanol-water complexes by FTIR spectroscopy.

Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) measurements were carried out on the 1-propanol-water (abbreviated as 1PA-W) mixtures over the entire 1-propanol molar fraction range at 298 K. The two bands at approximately 1053 and approximately 1068 cm(-1), assigned to the vibrational modes of the gauche (v(C-C-C-O-G)) and the trans (v(C-C-C-O-T)) conformational isomers, respectively, which both include C-O and C-C stretching motions, were used to monitor the structural changes of the mixtures. When the water to 1-propanol molar ratio (WPR) is smaller than 0.