The design and preparation of cheaper, greener and more efficient adsorbents is essential for the removal of pollutants by adsorption. In this study, biochar was prepared from peel of Brassica juncea ...var. gemmifera Lee et Lin (PoBJ) using a facile, low-temperature and vacuum pyrolysis, and the adsorption mechanism toward organic dyes in aqueous solution was elucidated. The adsorbent was characterized by XPS, FT-IR and SEM, and zeta potential techniques. The adsorption ability of PoBJ biochar for cationic dyes (methylene blue, brilliant green, calcein-safranine, azure I, rhodamine B), anionic dyes (alizarin yellow R), and neutral dyes (neutral red) revealed that the biochar exhibited adsorption selectivity toward cationic dyes. The effects of different factors on the adsorption performance of PoBJ biochar, as well as the adsorption kinetics and thermodynamics, were further investigated by using methylene blue as the model adsorbate. These factors included temperature, pH, contact time and dye concentration. The experimental results showed that BJ280 and BJ160 (prepared at 280 °C and 160 °C, respectively) possessed relatively higher adsorption capacity of 192.8 and 167.40 mg g
for methylene blue (MB), respectively, demonstrating the possibility of utilization of PoBJ biochar as a superior bio-adsorbent. The experimental data of BJ160 toward MB were correlated with various kinetic and isothermal models. The results indicated that the adsorption process was consistent with the Langmuir isotherm model and nonlinear pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Thermodynamic parameters indicated that the adsorption of MB onto BJ160 was exothermic. Thus, the low-temperature prepared PoBJ biochar was an environmentally friendly, economic and efficient cationic dye adsorbent.
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Tibet’s ancient topography and its role in climatic and biotic evolution remain speculative due to a paucity of quantitative surface-height measurements through time and space, and sparse fossil ...records. However, newly discovered fossils from a present elevation of ∼4,850 m in central Tibet improve substantially our knowledge of the ancient Tibetan environment. The 70 plant fossil taxa so far recovered include the first occurrences of several modern Asian lineages and represent a Middle Eocene (∼47 Mya) humid subtropical ecosystem. The fossils not only record the diverse composition of the ancient Tibetan biota, but also allow us to constrain the Middle Eocene land surface height in central Tibet to ∼1,500 ± 900 m, and quantify the prevailing thermal and hydrological regime. This “Shangri-La”–like ecosystem experienced monsoon seasonality with a mean annual temperature of ∼19 °C, and frosts were rare. It contained few Gondwanan taxa, yet was compositionally similar to contemporaneous floras in both North America and Europe. Our discovery quantifies a key part of Tibetan Paleogene topography and climate, and highlights the importance of Tibet in regard to the origin of modern Asian plant species and the evolution of global biodiversity.
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Developing photoresponsive circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) materials is an essential step for biosensing and biomedical applications. However, fabricating CPL assemblies rooted in the ...chirality amplification and transmission of the molecular building blocks, which simultaneously show photo‐controllable CPL signals, remains challenging. Herein, a molecular building block containing an overcrowded‐alkene core and bis‐PBI (MPBI) was designed. Importantly, the enantiopure MPBI can self‐assemble into well‐organized nanofibers via π‐π stacking interactions and enable the transmission of the intrinsic chirality, providing opposite CPL signals. The photoisomerization of MPBI induced a transformation from nanofibers to discrete nanospheres, accompanied by a gradually decreased CPL signal. The results demonstrated the development of photo‐controllable CPL materials from the assembly of chiral MPBI, which provides an alternatively facile strategy to fabricate CPL‐active materials and would offer opportunities for future biosensing and biomedical applications.
Two chiral overcrowded alkene‐based modulators were designed, which self‐assembled into π‐π stacking nanofibers, inducing opposite circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) through the amplification of intrinsically molecular chirality. Upon UV light irradiation, a transformation from nanofibers to nanospheres resulted in a gradual decrease in CPL signal, providing a photo‐controllable CPL system.
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An excess of glucocorticoids (GCs) is reported to be one of the most common causes of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH). In addition, GCs can induce bone cell apoptosis through modulating ...endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Among the three main signal pathways in ER stress, the PERK (protein kinase RNA-like ER kinase)/CHOP (CCAAT-enhancer-binding protein homologous protein) pathway has been considered to be closely associated with apoptosis. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been referred to as a concentration of growth factors and the exosomes derived from PRP (PRP-Exos) have a similar effect to their parent material. The enriched growth factors can be encapsulated into PRP-Exos and activate Akt and Erk pathways to promote angiogenesis. Activation of the Akt pathway may promote the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins like Bcl-2, while CHOP can inhibit B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) expression to increase the level of cleaved caspase-3 and lead to cell death. Consequently, we hypothesized that PRP-Exos prevent apoptosis induced by glucocorticoid-associated ER stress in rat ONFH via the Akt/Bad/Bcl-2 signal pathway. To verify this hypothesis, a dexamethasone (DEX)-treated
cell model and methylprednisolone (MPS)-treated
rat model were adopted. Characterization of PRP-Exos, and effects of PRP-Exos on proliferation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and osteogenesis of cells treated with GCs
and
were examined. Furthermore, the mechanism by which PRP-Exos rescue the GC-induced apoptosis through the Akt/Bad/Bcl-2 pathway was also investigated. The results indicate that PRP-Exos have the capability to prevent GC-induced apoptosis in a rat model of ONFH by promoting Bcl-2 expression via the Akt/Bad/Bcl-2 signal pathway under ER stress.
Warming temperatures caused by climate change are predicted to vary temporally and spatially. For mid‐ and high‐latitude reptiles, the seasonal variation in warming temperatures experienced by ...embryos and hatchlings may determine offspring fitness, yet this has remained largely unexplored.
To evaluate the independent and interactive influence of seasonal variation in warming temperatures on embryonic and hatchling development, we incubated eggs and reared hatchlings of a cold‐climate oviparous ectothermic species, the Heilongjiang grass lizard (Takydromus amurensis), following a 2 × 2 factorial design (present climate versus warming climate for embryos × present climate versus warming climate for hatchlings). We then evaluated embryonic and hatchling development, including hatching success, incubation period, initial hatchling body size, hatchling metabolic rate, growth rate and survival in the mesocosms.
We found that warming temperatures shortened the incubation period and produced hatchlings with higher survival rates than those incubated under the present climate conditions. Similarly, hatchlings reared under a warming climate had similar growth rates and resting metabolic rates, but higher survival rates than those reared under the present climate. Hatchlings that experienced both warming incubation and warming growth conditions had the highest survival rates.
This study revealed that moderate warming temperatures (Representative Concentration Pathway, RCP 4.5, 1.1–2.6°C) experienced by embryos and hatchlings interact to benefit hatchling fitness in cold‐climate oviparous ectotherms. Our study also highlighted the importance of integrating seasonal variation in warming temperatures when evaluating the responses to climate warming in multiple developmental stages in oviparous ectotherms.
摘要
气候变暖导致的温度升高存在着时空变异。对于中高纬度的爬行动物而言, 胚胎发育和后代生长经历的变暖温度可能存在季节间差异。而此种季节间差异的变暖温度如何影响后代的适合度, 目前仍然知之甚少。
为了评估季节间差异的变暖温度对胚胎发育和后代发育的独立或交互的影响, 我们以一种寒冷气候区分布的卵生外温物种黑龙江草蜥 (Takydromus amurensis) 为研究对象, 利用2 × 2因子控制的实验方案开展胚胎孵化和幼体饲养等工作 (当前气候与变暖气候胚胎孵化 × 当前气候与变暖气候幼体饲养)。并且, 我们检测了胚胎和幼体发育的指标, 包括孵化成功率、孵化期和幼体初始体长和体重、幼体代谢率、生长率和存活率等。
我们发现, 模拟气候变暖的孵化环境缩短了胚胎的孵化期, 并且孵出的幼体具有更高的存活率。此外, 尽管与当前气候下饲养的幼体在生长率和代谢率上并无差异, 但是在模拟变暖气候下饲养的幼体的存活率得到了显著地提升。从胚胎发育到后代生长阶段均经历变暖温度的幼体, 具有最高的存活率。
本研究揭示了胚胎和幼体均经历中等程度的气候变暖 (RCP 4.5, 1.1–2.6°C) 交互地提升了幼体的适合度, 证明了中等程度的气候变暖可能有益于寒冷气候的卵生外温动物。不仅如此, 本研究也强调了在评估具有多生活史阶段的卵生外温动物对气候变暖的响应时, 考虑季节间温度变暖差异的重要性。
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The three‐dimensional flow velocities within the typical pool chamber of the rectangular fishway were measured in a vertical slit bottom‐hole combination fishway by a hydraulic model test using an ...acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV). This was aimed to analyze the effect of eddy structures within the pool chamber of the fishway on fish migration. Based on this, a numerical simulation study was conducted using the Reynolds mean model (RNG k‐ε) and large eddy simulation (LES). Additionally, the omega (Ω) eddy identification method was used to identify the eddy structure within the pool chamber of the fishway and dissect the flow characteristics of the water body within the pool chamber. The findings revealed that longitudinal flow velocity dominated the flow in the lower bottom layer of the pond. Moreover, the flow in the middle and upper layers was more turbulent and there is a phenomenon of backflow upstream, and the flow at the orifice was a divergent jet with the main flow slightly to the right bank, forming two vortices in opposite directions on both sides of the orifice. The fish passage mainly displayed the turbulent vortex structure, which can effectively slow down the water flow and provide a resting place for migratory fish. The vortex identification method can more accurately identify the vortex structure inside the flow field.
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Allergic diseases (ADs) such as asthma are presumed risk factors for COVID-19 infection. However, recent observational studies suggest that the assumed correlation contradicts each other. We ...therefore systematically investigated the genetic causal correlations between various ADs and COVID-19 infection/severity.
We performed a two-sample, bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) study for five types of ADs and the latest round of COVID-19 GWAS meta-analysis datasets (critically ill, hospitalized, and infection cases). We also further validated the significant causal correlations and elucidated the potential underlying molecular mechanisms.
With the most suitable MR method, asthma consistently demonstrated causal protective effects on critically ill and hospitalized COVID-19 cases (OR < 0.93, p < 2.01 × 10
), which were further confirmed by another validated GWAS dataset (OR < 0.92, p < 4.22 × 10
). In addition, our MR analyses also observed significant causal correlations of food allergies such as shrimp allergy with the risk of COVID-19 infection/severity. However, we did not find any significant causal effect of COVID-19 phenotypes on the risk of ADs. Regarding the underlying molecular mechanisms, not only multiple immune-related cells such as CD4
T, CD8
T and the ratio of CD4
/CD8
T cells showed significant causal effects on COVID-19 phenotypes and various ADs, the hematology traits including monocytes were also significantly correlated with them. Conversely, various ADs such as asthma and shrimp allergy may be causally correlated with COVID-19 infection/severity by affecting multiple hematological traits and immune-related cells.
Our systematic and bidirectional MR analyses suggest a unidirectional causal effect of various ADs, particularly of asthma on COVID-19 infection/severity, but the reverse is not true. The potential underlying molecular mechanisms of the causal effects call for more attention to clinical monitoring of hematological cells/traits and may be beneficial in developing effective therapeutic strategies for allergic patients following infection with COVID-19.
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