Novel Fe/Ca oxide co-embedded coconut shell biochar for phosphorus recovery from agricultural return flows.

Efficient elimination and recovery of phosphorus from agricultural return flows are crucial for effective eutrophication management and phosphorus reuse. In this study, a neutral Fe/Ca oxide co-embedded biochar (FCBC) was synthesized using calcium peroxide and ferrous chloride as precursors for phosphate recovery from agricultural return flows. FCBC possesses a highly intricate pore structure and an abundance of surface-active groups.

Biotransformation of benzo[]pyrene by sp. JPA3 and the degradation mechanism through the initially oxidized benzo[]pyrene-4,5-dihydrodiol to downstream metabolites.

Owing to its adverse effects on the environment and human health, benzo[]pyrene (BaP) has attracted considerable attention and has been used as a model compound in ecotoxicology. In this study, sp. JPA3 as a BaP-degrading strain was isolated from the production water of an oil well.

The potency of HPLC-DAD and LC-MS/MS combined with ion chromatography for detection/purification of levulinic acid and bio-compounds from acid hydrolysis of OPEFB.

This work reports a new strategy for the detection and purification of levulinic acid (LA) and bio-compounds from the acid hydrolysis and enzymatic treatment of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) through high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) techniques combined with ion/ligand chromatography. The detections of LA, biomass-saccharides, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), and furfural were successfully elucidated by optimizing the multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM) and liquid chromatography conditions using a Pb ligand exchange column in the liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) approach. High-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (HPLC-DAD) combined with an H ion exchange column also showed potency for detecting chromophoric compounds such as LA, HMF, furfural, and acid (by-products) but not biomass-saccharides.

CeO Nanoparticles Seed Priming Increases Salicylic Acid Level and ROS Scavenging Ability to Improve Rapeseed Salt Tolerance.

Soil salinity is a major issue limiting efficient crop production. Seed priming with nanomaterials (nanopriming) is a cost-effective technology to improve seed germination under salinity; however, the underlying mechanisms still need to be explored. Here, polyacrylic acid coated nanoceria (cerium oxide nanoparticles) (PNC, 9.

Mesoporous MnFeO magnetic nanoparticles as a peroxidase mimic for the colorimetric detection of urine glucose.

Mesoporous MnFeO magnetic nanoparticles (mMnFeO MNPs) were prepared with a one-step synthesis method and characterized to possess intrinsic peroxidase-like activity, and had obvious advantages over other peroxidase nanozymes in terms of high catalytic affinity, high stability, mono-dispersion, easy preparation, and quick separation. The mMnFeO MNPs were used as a colorimetric sensor for indirect sensing of urine glucose based on the sensing principle that HO can be produced from glucose oxidation catalyzed by glucose oxidase (GOx), and under the catalysis of the mMnFeO MNPs nanozyme, HO can oxidize 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to produce a blue color in a few minutes. This sensor is simple, cheap, sensitive, and specific to glucose detection with a detection limit of 0.

Structure-based design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel piperine-resveratrol hybrids as antiproliferative agents targeting SIRT-2.

A series of novel piperine-resveratrol hybrids 5a-h was designed, synthesized, and structurally elucidated by IR, and H, C, and F NMR. Antiproliferative activities of 5a-h were evaluated by NCI against sixty cancer cell lines. Compound 5b, possessing resveratrol pharmacophoric phenolic moieties, showed a complete cell death against leukemia HL-60 (TB) and Breast cancer MDA-MB-468 with growth inhibition percentage of -0.

Genomic and Phenotypic Divergence in Wild Barley Driven by Microgeographic Adaptation.

Microgeographic adaptation is a fundamental driving force of evolution, but the underlying causes remain undetermined. Here, the phenotypic, genomic and transcriptomic variations of two wild barley populations collected from sharply divergent and adjacent micro-geographic sites to identify candidate genes associated with edaphic local adaptation are investigated. Common garden and reciprocal transplant studies show that large phenotypic differentiation and local adaptation to soils occur between these populations.

Effects of the surface polarity of nanomaterials on their interaction with complement protein gC1q.

There are increasing studies about the biocompatibility of nanomaterials (NMs) as their applications in biomedicine become more widespread. The biocompatibility of NMs involves the recognition by the immune system including complement protein gC1q. In this work, the interaction of graphene oxide (GO) and self-assembled monolayer (SAM)-coated gold (111) surface with gC1q was studied by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations.

Novel Insights into Adipogenesis from the Perspective of Transcriptional and RNA N6-Methyladenosine-Mediated Post-Transcriptional Regulation.

Obesity is a critical risk factor causing the development of metabolic diseases and cancers. Its increasing prevalence worldwide has aroused great concerns of the researchers on adipose development and metabolic function. During adipose expansion, adipogenesis is a way to store lipids as well as to avoid lipotoxicity in other tissues, and may be an approach to offset the negative metabolic effects of obesity.

Structural configuration and tetragonal phase stability in the equiatomic quaternary Heusler compound TiZnMnSi.

Heusler materials have aroused great scientific research interest during recent years due to their special electronic and magnetic properties. Especially for the equiatomic quaternary Heusler compounds, they exhibit very high composition flexibility and structure tunability. In this work, we have carried out a systematic study on the structural configuration and tetragonal stability for the Heusler compound TiZnMnSi by first-principles calculations.

The Manipulation of RNA-Guided Nucleic Acid Cleavage with Ninhydrin Chemistry.

CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) systems have been established as valuable genome-editing tools. Controlling CRISPR systems has high biological significance and this field has garnered intense interest. There is a considerable need for simple approaches with no need for protein engineering.

Capture and selective release of multiple types of circulating tumor cells using smart DNAzyme probes.

The effective capture, release and reanalysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are of great significance to acquire tumor information and promote the progress of tumor therapy. Particularly, the selective release of multiple types of CTCs is critical to further study; however, it is still a great challenge. To meet this challenge, we designed a smart DNAzyme probe-based platform.

Sorption of carbendazim on activated carbons derived from rape straw and its mechanism.

Due to the production and widespread application of pesticides, pesticide pollution poses a potential danger to human health and the ecosystem. Herein, activated carbons employing rape straw as a precursor were produced using HPO as an activating agent at various temperatures (300-600 °C). The activated carbons differed with respect to the physicochemical properties, which were derived from elemental analysis, N sorption-desorption, FTIR, XPS, XRD, pH, Boehm titration and blocking of the oxygen-containing groups.

Facile one-step hydrothermal synthesis of α-FeO/g-CN composites for the synergistic adsorption and photodegradation of dyes.

With the expansion of industrialization, dye pollution has become a significant hazard to humans and aquatic ecosystems. In this study, α-FeO/g-CN- (where is the relative percentage of α-FeO) composites were fabricated by a one-step method. The as-prepared α-FeO/g-CN-0.

A novel gold-nanocluster-based fluorescent sensor for detection of sodium 2-mercaptoethanesulfonate.

Gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) are widely used in various types of detections due to their unique fluorescence properties. However, there are rare reports on enhanced fluorescence sensors for drug molecules. Here, we report a novel strategy for detection of sodium 2-mercaptoethanesulfonate (MES) by using a fluorescence-enhanced histidine stabilized Au NCs (His-Au NCs) probe.

Sn-doped 3D ATO inverse opal/hematite hierarchical structures: facile fabrication and efficient photoelectrochemical performance.

The coupling of hematite with a three-dimensional (3D) conductive inverse opal (IO) skeleton provides an efficient route to enhance the photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties of hematite without changing its chemical composition. In this work, novel 3D antimony-doped SnO (ATO) IO/hematite heterostructures were facilely fabricated, and their PEC properties were thoroughly studied. Analysis of the morphologies and photocurrent densities of the 3D ATO IO//FeO heterostructures reveals that the high conductivity of the ATO skeleton as well as the high specific area and good light harvesting properties of the 3D IO structures greatly enhance their PEC performance.

A green approach for the synthesis of novel AgPO/SnO/porcine bone and its exploitation as a catalyst in the photodegradation of lignosulfonate into alkyl acids.

A novel AgPO/SnO/porcine bone composite photocatalyst was successfully prepared an ion exchange method, which can convert lignin derivatives into small molecular acids upon exposure to visible light at room temperature at ambient pressure. The composition characterization, optical absorption properties and photocatalytic activities of the AgPO/SnO/porcine bone composites were thoroughly investigated. The certain role of each component of the composites in the degradation reaction was discussed: AgPO acted as the major active component, while SnO and porcine bone as cocatalyst contributed to improve the photocatalytic activity and stability of AgPO.

Amino acid composition and nutritional value evaluation of Chinese chestnut ( Blume) and its protein subunit.

The amino acid composition, nutritional value and proteins subunit of chestnuts ( Blume) from three regions of China (Henan, Hunan, and Guangdong) were investigated. Experimental results showed that the albumin fraction dominated the chestnut protein composition, but globulin and prolamin were nondetectable. All the Chinese chestnut proteins had a nutritionally balanced amino acid composition.

Removal of cadmium from contaminated by optimized complexation and coagulation.

Heavy metal pollution is a serious problem for ; however, the treatment of contaminated has seldom been studied. This study investigated the removal of cadmium (Cd) from contaminated and its lentinan by complexation and coagulation. Some influencing factors, such as pH, medical dosage, and preoxidation were examined.

Do differences in life-history traits and the timing of peak mating activity between host-associated populations of Chilo suppressalis have a genetic basis?

The development of host races, genetically distinct populations of the same species with different hosts, is considered to be the initial stage of ecological speciation. Ecological and biological differences consistent with host race formation have been reported between water-oat and rice-associated populations of Chilo suppressalis. In order to confirm whether these differences have a genetic basis, we conducted experiments to determine the extent to which various life-history traits and the time of peak mating activity of these populations were influenced by the species of host plant larvae were raised on.

Effect of plant nitrogen and water status on the foraging behavior and fitness of an omnivorous arthropod.

Omnivorous arthropods make dietary choices according to the environment in which they forage, mainly availability/quality of plant and/or prey resources. Such decisions and their subsequent impacts on life-history traits may be affected by the availability of nutrients and water to plants, that is, through bottom-up forces. By setting up arenas for feeding behavior observation as well as glasshouse cages for plant preference assessment, we studied effects of the presence of prey (Lepidoptera eggs) and nitrogen/water availability to host tomato plants on the foraging behavior and life-history traits in the omnivorous predator Macrolophus pygmaeus (Heteroptera: Miridae).

SpUSP, an annexin-interacting universal stress protein, enhances drought tolerance in tomato.

Universal stress protein (USP) appears to play an active role in the abiotic stress response, but their functions remain largely unknown in plants. A USP gene (SpUSP) was cloned from wild tomato (Solanum pennellii) and functionally characterized in cultivated tomato in the present study. The SpUSP transcript is abundantly accumulated in leaf stomata and its expression varied with the circadian rhythm.