The enhanced dewaterability of sludge by a starch-based flocculant combined with attapulgite.

Coagulation/flocculation is one of the most widely used and cost-effective pretreatment methods for improving the dewaterability of sludge. In this study, a cationic modified starch-based flocculant (St-CTA) in conjunction with a popular clay, attapulgite (ATP), was used for the conditioning of waste-activated sludge. The dewatering properties, including the filter cake moisture content, filtration specific resistance, capillary suction time, filtration rate and compressibility coefficient, were measured and compared by varying the doses of St-CTA and ATP.

Band engineering in heterostructure catalysts to achieve High-Performance Lithium-Oxygen batteries.

The electronic structure of cathode catalysts dominates the electrochemistry reaction kinetics in lithium-oxygen batteries. However, conventional catalysts perform inferior intrinsic activity due to the low d-band level of the active sites makes it difficult to bond with the reaction intermediates, which results in poor electrochemical performance of lithium-oxygen batteries. Herein, NiFeO/MoS heterostructures are elaborately constructed to reach an electronic state balance for the active sites, which realizes the upper shift of the d-band level and enhanced adsorption of intermediates.

Effects of Phytochelatin-like Gene on the Resistance and Enrichment of Cd in Tobacco.

Phytochelatins (PCs) are class III metallothioneins in plants. They are low molecular-weight polypeptides rich in cysteine residues which can bind to metal ions and affect the physiological metabolism in plants. Unlike other types of metallothioneins, PCs are not the product of gene coding but are synthesized by phytochelatin synthase () based on glutathione (GSH).

Heterologous Expression of Human Metallothionein Gene Can Enhance the Tolerance of Tobacco ( Watson) to Zinc and Cadmium.

Metallothionein (MT) is a multifunctional inducible protein in animals, plants, and microorganisms. MT is rich in cysteine residues (10-30%), can combine with metal ions, has a low molecular weight, and plays an essential biological role in various stages of the growth and development of organisms. Due to its strong ability to bind metal ions and scavenge free radicals, metallothionein has been used in medicine, health care, and other areas.

Symmetry-Guaranteed High Carrier Mobility in Quasi-2D Thermoelectric Semiconductors.

Quasi-2D semiconductors have garnered immense research interest for next-generation electronics and thermoelectrics due to their unique structural, mechanical, and transport properties. However, most quasi-2D semiconductors experimentally synthesized so far have relatively low carrier mobility, preventing the achievement of exceptional power output. To break through this obstacle, a route is proposed based on the crystal symmetry arguments to facilitate the charge transport of quasi-2D semiconductors, in which the horizontal mirror symmetry is found to vanish the electron-phonon coupling strength mediated by phonons with purely out-of-plane vibrational vectors.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans and mercury in vegetable of the contaminated Ya-Er Lake area: Concentrations, sources, and health risk.

The Ya-Er Lake is a seriously polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzo-furans (PCDD/Fs) and mercury (Hg)-contaminated lake by pesticide and chlor-alkali plants in China. The oxidation pond method has been conducted to control pollution, moreover, the contaminated sediment was dredged and stacked, becoming a sediment stack yard for vegetable cultivation. To assess effects of oxidation pond method and dredging programme on pollution management and long-term risks of PCDD/Fs and Hg, the concentrations of PCDD/Fs, total Hg (THg), and methylmercury (MeHg) in soil and vegetable sampled from the sediment stack yard were measured and analyzed.

Genomic and Transcriptomic Analysis Reveal Multiple Strategies for the Cadmium Tolerance in N10-18 Isolated from Aquatic Animal .

The waterborne Vibrio parahaemolyticus can cause acute gastroenteritis, wound infection, and septicemia in humans. Pollution of heavy metals in aquatic environments is proposed to link high incidence of the multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogen. Nevertheless, the genome evolution and heavy metal tolerance mechanism of V.

Risk-taking in the human brain: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of the balloon analog risk task (BART).

The Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART) is increasingly used to assess risk-taking behavior and brain function. However, the brain networks underlying risk-taking during the BART and its reliability remain controversial. Here, we combined the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis with both task-based and task-free functional connectivity (FC) analysis to quantitatively synthesize brain networks involved in risk-taking during the BART, and compared the differences between adults and adolescents studies.

Research on the paths and strategies of the integrated development of culture and tourism industry in urban historical blocks.

COVID-19 has brought about great impact on the global economy. Various countries have adopted different levels of spatial isolation measures to curb the spread of the epidemic. These measures not only limit the spatial flow of people and property, but also cause global anxiety and public mental health problems.

Evidence for progesterone acting as an inhibitor of stress axis via stimulating pituitary neuropeptide B/W receptor 2 (NPBWR2) expression in chickens.

In vertebrates, the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal gland (HPA) axis is the main endocrine pathway regulating the stress response, thus also called the stress axis. It has been well-accepted that the stress axis is tightly controlled by both hypothalamic stimulators and inhibitors [e.g.

Correlation between Mean Arterial Pressure and Regional Cerebral Oxygen Saturation on Cardiopulmonary Bypass in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery.

Some pediatric cardiac patients might experience low regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2) during surgery. We investigated whether a pediatric patient's mean arterial pressure (MAP) can affect the rSO2 value during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). We retrospectively analyzed the cases of the pediatric patients who underwentcardiac surgery at our hospital (Jan.

Can Locked Fibula Nail Replace Plate Fixation for Treatment of Acute Ankle Fracture? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The standard surgical treatment for unstable ankle fractures involves open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) with plates. However, ORIF has been associated with several complications, such as soft tissue irritation, wound infection, and nerve injury. Previous studies have shown that closed reduction and internal fixation with locked intramedullary nails (LIMNs) yields satisfactory efficacy in the treatment of ankle fractures and is associated with low complication rates.

Large Magneto-Transverse and Longitudinal Thermoelectric Effects in the Magnetic Weyl Semimetal TbPtBi.

Magnetic topological semimetals provide new opportunities for power generation and solid-state cooling based on thermoelectric (TE) effect. The interplay between magnetism and nontrivial band topology prompts the magnetic topological semimetals to yield strong transverse TE effect, while the longitudinal TE performance is usually poor. Herein, it is demonstrated that the magnetic Weyl semimetal TbPtBi has high value for both transverse and longitudinal thermopower with large power factor (PF).

Purification and Functional Characterization of a Soluble Trehalase in (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).

Trehalase is the only enzyme known for the irreversible splitting of trehalose and plays a major role in insect growth and development. In this report, we describe a basic study of the trehalase gene fragment encoding a soluble trehalase from (). Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis suggested that was similar to some known insect trehalases and belongs to the Coleoptera trehalase group.

Comparison of flexible fixation and screw fixation for isolated Lisfranc ligament injuries: A protocol for a meta-analysis of comparative studies.

Background: The frequency of isolated Lisfranc ligament (ILL) injuries has been increasing recently with the increase in low-energy trauma resulting from sports injuries. For ILL injuries, the optimal method of fixation still remains controversial. The traditional fixation method is achieved by trans-articular screws, but recently, dorsal bridge plates and suture button (SB) fixation have become alternatives.

Flexible Coordination of the Bis(amino-oxazoline) Ligand in Rare-Earth Metal Complexes: Synthesis, Structure, and Their Reactivity and Polymerization Performance.

Mononuclear rare-earth metal alkyl complexes supported by tetradentate dianionic bis(amino-oxazoline) ligands have been synthesized, and their reactivity toward small molecules and catalytic performance on ring-opening polymerization have been studied. Treatment of Ln(CHSiMe)(THF) (Ln = Sc, Y; THF = tetrahydrofuran) with the bis(amino-oxazoline) proligand HL afforded the corresponding rare-earth metal monoalkyl complexes L-Ln(CHSiMe)(THF) (Ln = Sc, = 0 (); Ln = Y, = 1 ()). The isopropyl-substituted Sc alkyl complex L'-Sc(CHSiMe) () and the analogue Y silylamide complex L-Y[N(SiHMe)] () have been prepared by a similar method.

Pyruvate carboxylase promotes malignant transformation of papillary thyroid carcinoma and reduces iodine uptake.

Previous studies have shown that pyruvate carboxylase (PC) plays a key role in the occurrence and progression of thyroid cancer (TC); however, the relationship between PC and iodine-refractory TC is unclear. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the molecular mechanism of PC in the malignant progression and loss of iodine uptake in papillary TC (PTC) and to explore the potential therapeutic effect of PC inhibitors in iodine-refractory PTC. PC increased cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis, inhibited expression of the iodine metabolism-related genes TSHR, NIS, TPO, and TG, and decreased the iodine-uptake capacity by activating the mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway in PTC cell lines.

Peripheral Iron Metabolism is Associated with Leg Movements on Polysomnography but Not with the Severity of Restless Legs Syndrome or Its Impact on Patients.

Purpose: This study investigated the associations of peripheral iron status with different manifestations of restless legs syndrome (RLS), including leg movements (LMs) on polysomnography (PSG), disease severity, and impact on patients.

Patients And Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 108 patients with RLS were enrolled at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital's Center for Sleep Medicine. Demographic information, disease characteristics, RLS severity, and impact on patients were assessed through a semi-structured questionnaire.

Dynamic single-photon 3D imaging with a sparsity-based neural network.

Deep learning is emerging as an important tool for single-photon light detection and ranging (LiDAR) with high photon efficiency and image reconstruction quality. Nevertheless, the existing deep learning methods still suffer from high memory footprint and low inference speed, which undermine their compatibility when it comes to dynamic and long-range imaging with resource-constrained devices. By exploiting the sparsity of the data, we proposed an efficient neural network architecture which significantly reduces the storage and computation overhead by skipping the inactive sites with no photon counts.