This work explored the potential application of an engineered biochar prepared from Mg-enriched tomato tissues to reclaim and reuse phosphate (P) from aqueous solution. Findings from batch sorption ...experiments suggested that, although sorption of P on the biochar was controlled by relatively slow kinetics, the maximum P sorption capacity of the biochar could reach >100 mg·g–1. Mathematical modeling and postsorption characterization results indicated that the sorption was mainly controlled by two mechanisms: precipitation of P through chemical reaction with Mg particles and surface deposition of P on Mg crystals on biochar surfaces. Most of the P retained in the engineered biochar was bioavailable and could be released equally at multiple successive extractions. In addition, the P-laden biochar significantly stimulated grass seed germination and growth. These results suggested the postsorption biochar can be cycled back directly to soils as an effective slow-release P-fertilizer.
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Epigenetic modifications occur on genomic DNA and histones to influence gene expression. More recently, the discovery that mRNA undergoes similar chemical modifications that powerfully impact ...transcript turnover and translation adds another layer of dynamic gene regulation. Central to precise and synchronized regulation of gene expression is intricate crosstalk between multiple checkpoints involved in transcript biosynthesis and processing. There are more than 100 internal modifications of RNA in mammalian cells. The most common is N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methylation. Although m6A is established to influence RNA stability dynamics and translation efficiency, rapidly accumulating evidence shows significant crosstalk between RNA methylation and histone/DNA epigenetic mechanisms. These interactions specify transcriptional outputs, translation, recruitment of chromatin modifiers, as well as the deployment of the m6A methyltransferase complex (MTC) at target sites. In this review, we dissect m6A-orchestrated feedback circuits that regulate histone modifications and the activity of regulatory RNAs, such as long noncoding (lnc)RNA and chromosome-associated regulatory RNA. Collectively, this body of evidence suggests that m6A acts as a versatile checkpoint that can couple different layers of gene regulation with one another.
Chemical modifications on histones, DNA, and RNA robustly impact gene regulation. Installation of the RNA modification m6A leads to altered mRNA stability and translation. Emerging data suggest that perturbations in m6A feedback on epigenetic checkpoints and vice versa.RNA methylation of intracisternal A particle, a type of repetitive element, is required for proper heterochromatin formation and maintain genome integrity.Loss of m6A in mouse embryonic stem cells enhances the stability of chromatin-associated RNAs, leading to more-open chromatin and active transcription.m6A destabilizes transcripts that encode histone-modifying enzymes and complexes, including KDM6B, CBP, and P300.The histone elongation mark H3K36me3 guides m6A deposition.Xist-mediated silencing of the X chromosome requires m6A deposition and recognition by reader proteins.m6A influence extends beyond mRNA stability, and investigation of functional effects of m6A on RNA biogenesis should be considered in physiological and mechanistic studies.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Cobalt is a transition metal located in the fourth row of the periodic table and is a neighbor of iron and nickel. It has been considered an essential element for prokaryotes, human beings, and other ...mammals, but its essentiality for plants remains obscure. In this article, we proposed that cobalt (Co) is a potentially essential micronutrient of plants. Co is essential for the growth of many lower plants, such as marine algal species including diatoms, chrysophytes, and dinoflagellates, as well as for higher plants in the family
Fabaceae
or
Leguminosae
. The essentiality to leguminous plants is attributed to its role in nitrogen (N) fixation by symbiotic microbes, primarily rhizobia. Co is an integral component of cobalamin or vitamin B
12
, which is required by several enzymes involved in N
2
fixation. In addition to symbiosis, a group of N
2
fixing bacteria known as diazotrophs is able to situate in plant tissue as endophytes or closely associated with roots of plants including economically important crops, such as barley, corn, rice, sugarcane, and wheat. Their action in N
2
fixation provides crops with the macronutrient of N. Co is a component of several enzymes and proteins, participating in plant metabolism. Plants may exhibit Co deficiency if there is a severe limitation in Co supply. Conversely, Co is toxic to plants at higher concentrations. High levels of Co result in pale-colored leaves, discolored veins, and the loss of leaves and can also cause iron deficiency in plants. It is anticipated that with the advance of omics, Co as a constitute of enzymes and proteins and its specific role in plant metabolism will be exclusively revealed. The confirmation of Co as an essential micronutrient will enrich our understanding of plant mineral nutrition and improve our practice in crop production.
Antimony chalcogenides such as Sb2S3, Sb2Se3, and Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 have emerged as very promising alternative solar absorber materials due to their high stability, abundant elemental storage, ...nontoxicity, low‐cost, suitable tunable bandgap, and high absorption coefficient. Remarkable achievements have been made in antimony chalcogenide solar cells in the past few decades, with the power conversion efficiency (PCE) currently reaching 9.2%, which is close to the PCE level required for industrial applications. To facilitate the realization of highly efficient antimony chalcogenide solar cells in the future, a comprehensive review of antimony chalcogenide‐based materials and photovoltaic devices is presented. First, the fundamental physical properties and preparation methods of antimony chalcogenide‐based materials are outlined, and then, notable recent developments in antimony chalcogenide‐based photovoltaic devices with various architectures are highlighted. Finally, the most prominent limitations are described, and approaches to achieving remarkable advances in antimony chalcogenide solar cells in the future are provided.
Recent progress in antimony chalcogenide‐based photovoltaic materials and devices including Sb2S3 solar cells, Sb2Se3 solar cells, and Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 solar cells is comprehensively reviewed. The fundamental properties and preparation techniques of antimony chalcogenides are discussed. The achievements and challenges in antimony chalcogenide solar cells are highlighted. In addition, the outlook for future research in this field is provided.
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Biochar is a promising agent for wastewater treatment, soil remediation, and gas storage and separation. This review summarizes recent research development on biochar production and applications with ...a focus on the application of biochar technology in wastewater treatment. Different technologies for biochar production, with an emphasis on pre-treatment of feedstock and post treatment, are succinctly summarized. Biochar has been extensively used as an adsorbent to remove toxic metals, organic pollutants, and nutrients from wastewater. Compared to pristine biochar, engineered/designer biochar generally has larger surface area, stronger adsorption capacity, or more abundant surface functional groups (SFG), which represents a new type of carbon material with great application prospects in various wastewater treatments. As the first of its kind, this critical review emphasizes the promising prospects of biochar technology in the treatment of various wastewater including industrial wastewater (dye, battery manufacture, and dairy wastewater), municipal wastewater, agricultural wastewater, and stormwater. Future research on engineered/designer biochar production and its field-scale application is discussed. Based on the review, it can be concluded that biochar technology represents a new, cost effective, and environmentally-friendly solution for the treatment of wastewater.
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•Biochar technologies in various wastewater treatment are elucidated.•Feedstock pre-treatment and post-treatment effect on biochar production is reviewed.•Biochar as an innovative adsorbent to remove aqueous contaminants is discussed.•Future perspectives of biochar technology in wastewater treatment are summarized.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The development of next-generation sequencing technology and the discovery of specific antibodies targeting chemically modified nucleotides have paved the way for a new era of epitranscriptomics. ...Cellular RNA is known to dynamically and reversibly undergo different chemical modifications after transcription, such as N6-methyladenosine (m6A), N1-methyladenosine, N6,2′-O-dimethyladenosine, 5-methylcytosine, and 5-hydroxymethylcytidine, whose identity and location comprise the field of epitranscriptomics. Dynamic post-transcriptional modifications determine the fate of target RNAs by regulating various aspects of their processing, including RNA export, transcript processing, splicing, and degradation. The most abundant internal mRNA modification in eukaryotic cells is m6A, which exhibits essential roles in physiological processes, such as embryogenesis, carcinogenesis, and neurogenesis. m6A is deposited by the m6A methyltransferase complex (composed of METTL3/14/16, WTAP, KIAA1429, and RBM15/15B), erased by demethylases (FTO and ALKBH5), and recognised by binding proteins (e.g., YTHDF1/2/3, YTHDC1/2, IGF2BP1/2/3). The liver is the largest digestive and metabolic organ, and m6A modifications play unique roles in critical physiological hepatic functions and various liver diseases. This review focuses on the biological roles of m6A RNA methylation in lipid metabolism, viral hepatitis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, liver cancer, and tumour metastasis. In addition, we summarise the existing inhibitors targeting m6A regulators and discuss the potential of modulating m6A modifications as a therapeutic strategy.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Weeds are a serious threat to crop production as they interfere with the crop growth and development and result in significant crop losses. Weeds actually cause yield loss higher than any other pest ...in crop production. As a result, synthetic herbicides have been widely used for weed management. Heavy usage of synthetic herbicides, however, has resulted in public concerns over the impact of herbicides on human health and the environment. Due to various environmental and health issues associated with synthetic herbicides, researchers have been exploring alternative environmentally friendly means of controlling weed. Among them, incorporating allelopathy as a tool in an integrated weed management plan could meaningfully bring down herbicide application. Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon of chemical interaction between plants, and this phenomenon has great potential to be used as an effective and environmentally friendly tool for weed management in field crops. In field crops, allelopathy can be applied through intercropping, crop rotation, cover crops, mulching and allelopathic water extracts to manage weeds. Accumulating evidence indicates that some plant species possess potent allelochemicals that have great potential to be the ecofriendly natural herbicides. This review is intended to provide an overview of several allelopathic species that release some form of the potent allelochemical with the potential of being used in conventional or organic agriculture. Further, the review also highlights potential ways allelopathy could be utilized in conventional or organic agriculture and identify future research needs and prospects. It is anticipated that the phenomenon of allelopathy will be further explored as a weed management tool, and it can be a part of a sustainable, ecological, and integrated weed management system.
The rapid developments in nanotechnology and plasmonics allow the manipulation of light at nanometer scales, such as light propagation and resonances. Differing from the symmetric Lorentzian‐like ...profiles in the conventional resonances, Fano resonances, which originate from the interference of different resonant modes, exhibit obviously asymmetric spectral profiles. Based on lineshape engineering, the Fano resonances with sharp asymmetric profiles exhibit a small linewidth and a high spectral contrast by exploiting different mechanisms and designing various metallic nanostructures. Both of the above properties in the sharp Fano resonances have significant applications in nanoscale plasmonic sensors and modulators. This review summarizes the underlying mechanism of the Fano resonances in various metallic nanostructures. Then, practical applications of the Fano resonances in nanoscale plasmonic sensing and modulation are reviewed. At last, the development and challenges of plasmonic sensing and modulation based on Fano resonances are discussed.
Fano resonances, which originate from the interference of different resonant modes in metallic nanostructures, show obviously asymmetric spectral profiles. Based on lineshape engineering, the Fano resonances exhibit small linewidths and high spectral contrasts, which are significant for the application in nanoscale plasmonic sensors and modulators. The mechanisms of the Fano resonances and their applications in plasmonic sensing and modulation are reviewed.
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•The hierarchical microsphere CeO2 (CeO2-HS) is prepared.•The CeO2-HS is self-assembled by many ceria nanowires.•The CeO2-HS exhibits the outstanding activity toward toluene catalytic ...oxidation.•Surface oxygen vacancies control the reaction rate.
The catalytic oxidation of toluene has been investigated over pure CeO2 hierarchical catalyst for the first time. The novel CeO2 catalyst was prepared by a hydrothermal-driven assembly method. The structure of CeO2 catalyst was consisted of nanowire self-assembled hierarchical microspheres. The new hierarchical CeO2 catalyst showed much better catalytic activity than analogous nonporous catalyst by traditional hydrothermal method. The hierarchical CeO2 catalyst could reach more than 90% toluene conversion even as low as 210°C (T90) under a high space velocity of 60,000mL/(g·h). The high catalytic activities could be attributed to the large surface areas, in addition, the hierarchical porous structures provide more contents of surface oxygen vacancies for the dissociation of gaseous O2 on the surface.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Fractional vegetation cover (FVC) is an important parameter in studies of ecosystem balance, soil erosion, and climate change. Remote-sensing inversion is a common approach to estimating FVC. ...However, there is an important gap between ground-based surveys (quadrat level) and remote-sensing imagery (satellite image pixel scale) from satellites. In this study we evaluated that gap with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) aerial images of alpine grassland on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP). The results showed that: (1) the most accurate estimations of FVC came from UAV (FVC UAV) at the satellite image pixel scale, and when FVC was estimated using ground-based surveys (FVC gᵣₒᵤₙd), the accuracy increased as the number of quadrats used increased and was inversely proportional to the heterogeneity of the underlying surface condition; (2) the UAV method was more efficient than conventional ground-based survey methods at the satellite image pixel scale; and (3) the coefficient of determination (R ²) between FVC UAV and vegetation indices (VIs) was significantly greater than that between FVC gᵣₒᵤₙd and VIs (p < 0.05, n = 5). Our results suggest that the use of UAV to estimate FVC at the satellite image pixel scale provides more accurate results and is more efficient than conventional ground-based survey methods.
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