Microplastics (MPs) increase the effective state of heavy metals (HMs) in soil and seriously threaten the yield and quality of peanuts (Arachis Hypogea L.). Kaolinite (KL) has the potential to ...ameliorate MP- and HM- contaminated soils, but the mechanism of action between them is not well understood. Therefore, 60-day experiments were conducted, where KL (1%, 2%) and MPs (0.1%, 1%) were individually or jointly mixed into soils with different cadmium (Cd) concentrations (0.5, 2.5, and 5.0 mg kg-1) to cultivate peanuts in a greenhouse. Finally, soil-bioavailable Cd, peanut dry weight, peanut Cd concentrations, the pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) were determined. It was shown that MPs negatively affected the peanut dry weight and increased the content of soil-bioavailable Cd and Cd concentration in peanut. In the MP- and Cd-contaminated soils, KL mitigated the negative influence of MPs by increasing the dry weight of peanuts by 8.40%−40.59%, decreasing the soil-bioavailable Cd by 23.70%–35.74%, and significantly decreasing peanut Cd concentrations by 9.65%–30.86%. The presence of MPs decreased soil pH (7.69–7.87) and the CEC (20.96–23.95 cmol·L-1) and increased the soil DOC (1.84–2.26mg·kg-1). KL significantly increased soil pH (7.79–8.03) and the CEC (24.96–28.28 cmol·L-1) and mitigated the adverse influence of MPs on the pH and CEC of Cd-contaminated soils. A regression path analysis (RPA) evidenced that KL decreased Cd accumulation in plants by changing the properties of soil contaminated with MPs and Cd. The research results revealed the mechanism of KL on peanut growth and Cd absorption in MP- and Cd-contaminated soil. The results of this study provide a foundation to improve the quality of MP- and HM-contaminated soils and realize safe peanut production.
•Kaolinite significantly reduced the negative impact of MPs on peanut biomass•Kaolinite reduced the bioavailability of Cd in MPs- and Cd- contaminated soil•Kaolinite improves the physicochemical properties of Cd contaminated soil in the presence of MPs
In the last decade, a large number of common variants underlying complex diseases have been identified through genome-wide association studies (GWASs). Summary data of the GWASs are freely and ...publicly available. The summary data is usually obtained through single marker analysis. Gene-based analysis offers a useful alternative and complement to single marker analysis. Results from gene level association tests can be more readily integrated with downstream functional and pathogenic investigations. Most existing gene-based methods fall into two categories: burden tests and quadratic tests. Burden tests are usually powerful when the directions of effects of causal variants are the same. However, they may suffer loss of statistical power when different directions of effects exist at the causal variants. The power of quadratic tests is not affected by the directions of effects but could be less powerful due to issues such as the large number of degree of freedoms. These drawbacks of existing gene based methods motivated us to develop a new powerful method to identify disease associated genes using existing GWAS summary data.
In this paper, we propose a new truncated statistic method (TS) by utilizing a truncated method to find the genes that have a true contribution to the genetic association. Extensive simulation studies demonstrate that our proposed test outperforms other comparable tests. We applied TS and other comparable methods to the schizophrenia GWAS data and type 2 diabetes (T2D) GWAS meta-analysis summary data. TS identified more disease associated genes than comparable methods. Many of the significant genes identified by TS may have important mechanisms relevant to the associated traits. TS is implemented in C program TS, which is freely and publicly available online.
The proposed truncated statistic outperforms existing methods. It can be employed to detect novel traits associated genes using GWAS summary data.
In photosynthesis, the pigments chlorophyll a/b absorb light energy to convert to chemical energy in chloroplasts. Though most enzymes of chlorophyll biosynthesis from glutamyl-tRNA to chlorophyll ...a/b have been identified, the exact composition and regulation of the multimeric enzyme Mg-protoporphyrin IX monomethyl ester cyclase (MPEC) is largely unknown. In this study, we isolated a rice pale-green leaf mutant m167 with yellow-green leaf phenotype across the whole lifespan. Chlorophyll content decreases 43-51% and the granal stacks of chloroplasts becomes thinner in m167. Chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, including Fv/Fm (the maximum quantum efficiency of PSII) and quantum yield of PSII (Y(II)), were lower in m167 than those in wild type plants (WT), and photosynthesis rate decreases 40% in leaves of m167 mutant compared with WT plants, which lead to yield reduction in m167. Genetic analysis revealed that yellow-green leaf phenotype of m167 is controlled by a single recessive genetic locus. By positional cloning, a single mutated locus, G286A (Alanine 96 to Threonine in protein), was found in the coding sequence of LOC_Os01g17170 (Rice Copper Response Defect 1, OsCRD1), encoding a putative subunit of MPEC. Expression profile analysis demonstrated that OsCRD1 is mainly expressed in green tissues of rice. Sequence alignment analysis of CRD1 indicated that Alanine 96 is very conserved in all green plants and photosynthetic bacteria. OsCRD1 protein mainly locates in chloroplast and the point mutation A96T in OsCRD1 does not change its location. Therefore, Alanine96 of OsCRD1 might be fundamental for MPEC activity, mutation of which leads to deficiency in chlorophyll biosynthesis and chloroplast development and decreases photosynthetic capacity in rice.
Quantifying the carbon storage of grasslands under different management strategies can help us understand how this ecosystem responds to different land management practices. To assess the C cycle and ...the importance of soil microbial biomass carbon, we measured the levels of soil organic carbon, biomass carbon (above- and underground) and soil microbial biomass carbon in areas with different grazing intensities and different management strategy (fenced and unfenced) in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We also calculated the ratio of soil microbial biomass carbon to soil organic carbon as an indicator of the soil organic matter availability and quality. Results showed that degradation had significant effects on the soil organic carbon, biomass carbon and microbial biomass carbon (P < 0.05). However, fencing only had a significant effect on the non-degraded and moderately degraded grasslands (P < 0.05). We also found that the level of soil microbial biomass carbon was positively correlated with the biomass carbon and soil organic carbon. From our research, we concluded that the level of soil microbial biomass carbon was crucial to the C cycle in the alpine grasslands and that fencing may be an important management strategy for restoring lightly or moderately degraded grassland in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.
•Carbon storage decreased with the increasing of degradation levels.•Fencing promoted the restoration of moderately degraded grassland.•Soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) was crucial to the carbon cycle in QTP.•SMBC was positively correlated with biomass carbon and soil organic carbon.
One of the main electrolytic aluminum production costs is the consumption of carbon anodes, and carbon anode slag is a common hazardous waste in the aluminum industry. In this work, electrolytic ...aluminum carbon anode slag was separated by flotation. Using the selectivity index (
SI
) as an indicator, the influencing factors of the carbon slag flotation process were optimized, and the separation performance of carbon and cryolite in the carbon anode slag was investigated. The raw carbon anode slag was ground for 40 min to achieve dissociation of the cryolite from the carbon, the optimized
SI
value was then used to determine the optimal flotation test conditions. The test results showed that the
SI
value under the optimal grinding flotation was approximately four times larger than the value of direct flotation. This indicated that carbon anode slag had a better flotation selectivity under the grinding flotation, which significantly improved the flotation performance.
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•Homogenization, sonication, and their combination were assessed for preparing Pickering emulsions.•Optical microscopic images and chord length of emulsion droplets were ...evaluated.•Rotor-stator homogenizer had essential effects on emulsions when a chord length was greater than 20 μm.•Sonication method could disperse micro-scale aggregates of the nano-silica effectively.•Ultrasonic treatment was found superior over the rotor-stator homogenizer in reducing droplet size.
Pickering emulsions are eco-friendly, stabilized by solid particles, and have an essential role in leading industries. Although Pickering emulations have found several applications, surprisingly few investigations have attempted to explore the effectiveness of various mechanical processes for its production. To fill these gaps, the present investigation comprehensively examined the application of various Pickering emulsion preparation processes such as rotor-stator homogenization emulsification (R-SH), ultrasonic emulsification, and their combined processes by using nano-silica particles. The influences of emulsification time and intensity on emulsion droplets' distribution were analyzed as indicative factors. The kerosene/water nano-silica Pickering emulsion was utilized for all assessments. The obtained results demonstrated that the main distribution peak of the emulsion prepared by R-SH occurred where the chord length was greater than 40 μm. Micro-scale nano-silica-aggregates generated large droplets, while the fine-emulsion fraction was significantly increased after ultrasonic treatment. The experimental results showed that the emulsion prepared only by ultrasound needed substantial power to form a Pickering emulsion since the oil phase was difficult to disperse in the water phase. Finally, it was concluded that preprocessing by R-SH could form a stable and uniform emulsion speedily, which is essential for ultrasound emulsion preparation.
Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is related to developing lung and liver disease, but no large-scale studies examine its association with birth outcomes.
We investigated the risk of pregnancy ...complications and adverse birth outcomes in mothers and children with AATD.
Using a large cohort data of Danish mothers and children with AATD from 1973 to 2013 (n = 2,027,229), with 559 cases (305 mothers and 254 children). We conducted Poisson regression to examine associations between alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, adverse birth outcomes, and pregnancy complications in mothers and children.
AATD was related to term low birth weight <2500g; Risk Ratio(RR) = 2.04, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.50-2.79, lowest quartile of abdominal circumference at birth in children of non-smoking mothers (RR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.14-2.11), delivery via Cesarean-section (RR = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.05-2.40), preterm birth (RR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.19-2.00) and preeclampsia (RR = 2.64, 95% CI: 1.76-3.94).
This emphasizes the need for mothers with AATD to be monitored closely during pregnancy to reduce the risk of adverse birth outcomes. Routine screening for alpha-1 antitrypsin in pregnancy may be considered among mothers with a pulmonary and liver disease history.
We report a unique aqueous solution deposition method to prepare yttrium doped hafnium oxide (Y:HfO2) thin films using all-inorganic reagents. The composition and chemical bonding features of the ...films were investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The Y:HfO2 film was integrated into metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structure capacitors for electrical measurements. A transition of the polarization behavior from apparent ferroelectric-type to linear dielectric-type was observed for films with thickness increasing from 25 nm to 80 nm, which is correlated to the dominant crystal structure change from high-symmetry phase to monoclinic phase evidenced by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction analysis.
Microcrystalline graphite is a valuable non-metallic mineral that can be separated by flotation, a physico-chemical processing method that uses air bubbles to capture mineral particles. The size and ...stability of the bubbles, which depend on the type and amount of frother added, affect the flotation performance and the recovery of water from the froth layer. However, the effects of different types of frother on the froth properties and water recovery of microcrystalline graphite flotation are not well understood. In this study, two common frothers, sec-octanol and terpineol, were compared in terms of their effects on the bubble size, froth layer height, water recovery, and flotation selectivity index (SI) of microcrystalline graphite flotation. It was found that sec-octanol produced smaller bubbles than terpineol, but also a slightly lower froth layer height. The water recovery was higher with sec-octanol than with terpineol. The SI values were similar for both frothers, indicating comparable flotation performance. This study revealed the differences between sec-octanol and terpineol in terms of their effects on the froth properties and water recovery of microcrystalline graphite flotation. These findings can help optimize the choice and dosage of frother for this important mineral processing method.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with t(8;21)/AML1-ETO is considered to have favorable prognosis. However, outcome is not universally satisfactory. The aim of this study was to search for potential ...prognostic risk factors which can help individualized treatment in t(8;21) AML patients. All available clinical and laboratory indicators were analyzed retrospectively in 103 t (8;21) AML patients. All patients were followed up for median of 30 months (range 0.3–73 months). CD56 and IDH1 were found to be closely related to high recurrence (
p
= 0.002;
p
= 0.001) and incidence of cumulative recurrence (
p
= 0.001;
p
< 0.0001). C-KIT was associated with a high cumulative incidence of non-relapse mortality (
p
< 0.0001). Elevated galectin-3 (gal-3) had a significantly adverse effect on overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of patients receiving standard-dose cytarabine-based consolidation chemotherapy. In multivariable analysis, gal-3 (
p
= 0.01), CD56 (
p
= 0.002), IDH1 (
p
= 0.007) and C-KIT (
p
= 0.041) were the independent unfavorable factors for OS. CD56 (
p
= 0.019), IDH1 (
p
= 0.001) and consolidation chemotherapy regimen (
p
= 0.041) were the independent risk factors in terms of DFS. A scoring system incorporating gal-3, CD56, IDH1 and C-KIT proved to be helpful for predicting OS in t (8;21) AML patients. Our results revealed that those carrying four factors mentioned above should be considered to be high-risk patients.
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