Growing evidence suggests epigenetic alteration is involved during the development and progression of prostate cancer. Previously, we found Nrf2, a key regulator of cellular antioxidant defense ...systems, was silenced through epigenetic mechanism during tumorigenesis in vivo TRAMP mice and in vitro TRAMP C1 cells. Sulforaphane (SFN) in cruciferous vegetable has been demonstrated to be a potent cancer prevention agent for years. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential of SFN to restore Nrf2 expression in TRAMP C1 cells through epigenetic modifications. Bisulfite genomic sequencing results indicated that SFN treatment led to demethylation of the first 5 CpGs in the promoter region of the Nrf2 gene in TRAMP C1 cells. Using methylation DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) assay, SFN significantly reduced the ratio of anti-mecyt antibody binding to the Nrf2 promoter containing the first 5 CpGs. SFN increased mRNA and protein expressions of Nrf2 and Nrf2 downstream target gene NQO-1. In addition, SFN decreased the protein levels of DNMT1 and DNMT3a. SFN treatment also attenuated the protein expression levels of HDACs 1, 4, 5, and 7 while increased the level of active chromatin marker acetyl-Histone 3 (Ac-H3). SFN treatments also increased chromatin-immunoprecipitated DNA of Nrf2 gene promoter using anti-Ac-H3 antibody. Taken together, our current study shows that SFN regulates Nrf2's CpGs demethylation and reactivation in TRAMP C1 cells, suggesting SFN may exert its chemopreventive effect in part via epigenetic modifications of Nrf2 gene with subsequent induction of its downstream anti-oxidative stress pathway.
A simple method was proposed to activate alkaline Cu(OH)2 with an acidic ionomer, Nafion, to regulate its surface microenvironment, including hydrophobicity and local basicity. In particular, the ...direct complete neutralization reaction between Cu(OH)2 and Nafion in aqueous solution induces the exposing of vast anions which can exclude the in‐situ‐formed hydroxides and raise the local basicity. Remarkably, the optimal Nafion‐activated Cu(OH)2‐derived Cu can efficiently suppress the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and improve the selectivity for multi‐carbon products in the CO2 electroreduction reaction (eCO2RR). The H2 Faradaic efficiency (FE) decreased to 11% at a current density of 300 mA/cm2 (−0.76 V vs. RHE) in a flow cell, while the bare one with H2 had an FE of 40%. The total eCO2RR FE reaches as high as 83%, along with an evidently increased C2H4 FE of 44% as compared with the bare one (24%), and good stability (8000 s), surpassing that of most of the reported Cu(OH)2‐derived Cu. The experimental and theoretical results both show that the strong hydrophobicity and high local basicity jointly boosted the eCO2RR as acquired by felicitously introducing ionomer on the Cu(OH)2‐derived Cu surface.
A simple method was proposed to activate Cu(OH)2 with an ionomer, Nafion, to regulate its surface microenvironment, including hydrophobicity and local basicity. The optimal Nafion‐modified Cu(OH)2‐derived Cu can efficiently suppress the hydrogen evolution reaction and improve the selectivity for multi‐carbon products in the CO2 electroreduction reaction.
A lower prevalence of dental caries (hereafter termed "caries") has been observed in children with dental extrinsic black stain (EBS).
We investigated the epidemiologic characterization of EBS and ...explored the possible role of the oral microbiome (OM) and gut microbiome (GM) in EBS formation and caries prevention. In an epidemiologic survey, 2,675 children aged 3-6 years were included. Thirty-eight of these children (7 children had both caries and EBS, 10 had EBS only, 11 had caries only, and 10 were healthy children) were recruited for 16S rRNA sequencing and collection of samples of supragingival plaque and feces. Collected plaque samples were divided into four groups: BCP (EBS+, caries+), BP (EBS+, caries-), CP (EBS-, caries+), and P (EBS-, caries-). Fecal samples were also divided into four groups: BCF (EBS+, caries+), BF (EBS+, caries-),
(EBS-, caries+), and F (EBS-, caries-).
EBS was observed in 12.10% of this population. Children with EBS had a significantly reduced prevalence of caries and a lower mean value of decayed-missing-filled teeth (dmft;
< 0.01). According to analyses of dental plaque, the P group had the most complex microbiome. The BCP group exhibited greater operational taxonomic unit (OTU) richness but a reduced evenness compared with the BP group, and the CP group showed greater OTU richness than the BP group. At the genus level, higher abundance of
and
species was observed in the BCP group. Higher abundance of
and
species was observed in the BP group compared with P and CP groups, respectively (
< 0.05).
species were significantly more common in P and CP groups than in BP groups, whereas
and
species were more common in the CP group (
< 0.05). With regard to the GM, the
group exhibited greater OTU diversity than the BF group. The GM in the BCF group exhibited the most complex relationships across all fecal groups. GM groups could be distinguished by various unique biomarkers, such as
and
species in the BCF group,
and
species in the
group,
species in the BF group, and
species in the F group. Our results suggest that EBS is a possible protective factor against early-childhood caries. Dental plaque and the GM may be relevant to EBS in primary dentition.
High‐aspect‐ratio V2O5 nanoribbons are synthesized by thermal vapor deposition technique. Our results reveal that the nanoribbons can serve as effective active optical waveguides. In addition, the ...observation of strong Raman signals collected at the end of the ribbon indicate that the unique nanostructure could play a vital role in Raman amplifers and other nonlinear photonic components.
Starch is the most abundant organic compound in nature, second only to cellulose. However, the conserved structure of native starches limits their properties and applications. Therefore, it is often ...necessary to modify them to give them specific properties. As a common green and safe physical modification method, pre-gelatinization can improve the cold water solubility and swelling power of starch. The typical preparation methods of pre-gelatinized starch include spray drying, extrusion, and drum drying. Spray-dried pre-gelatinized starch still had good granule shape, but the increase of cold water solubility and cold paste viscosity was relatively small. Extruded and drum-dried pre-gelatinized starch showed serious structure destruction, significant increases in cold water solubility and cold paste viscosity, but relatively low hot paste viscosity. The properties of pre-gelatinized starch obtained by different methods are different, so do their effects on the quality of flour products. Wheat flour products, as one of the leading staple food for the people all over the world, play a vital role in people's daily life. With the improvement of people's living standards, more and more special flour products with unique features have received attentions of consumers and researchers. However, the sensory characteristics of special flour products are often inferior to traditional flour products, which limits its development. The unique functional characteristics of pre-gelatinized starch make it expected to play an essential role in the quality improvement of featured flour products. In this paper, the granule morphology, crystal structure, hydration and gelatinization properties of pre-gelatinized starch prepared by three common methods and their application in flour products were reviewed, which provides a theoretical basis for the application of pre-gelatinized starch in food industry.
The conserved structure of native starches limits their properties and applications. Pre-gelatinized starch prepared by spray drying, extrusion and drum drying, its structure and physicochemical properties changed significantly. Spray-dried pre-gelatinized starch still had good granule shape, but the increase of cold water solubility and cold paste viscosity was relatively small. Extruded and drum-dried pre-gelatinized starch showed serious structure destruction, significant increases in cold water solubility and cold paste viscosity. Due to its good hydration properties in cold water, it has a good application prospect in multi-grain flour products, frozen dough, gluten-free flour products and high-moisture bread. Display omitted
•Metasedimentary rocks in the Qinling block represent a sedimentary series with depositional ages between 1262 and 840 Ma.•The 1754–1266 Ma detritus was sourced from the Indian craton and the younger ...detritus was sourced from the Qinling block during assembly of Rodinia.•A sequence of oceanic subduction (1262–981 Ma), arc-continent collision (981–911 Ma), continuous subduction of oceanic crust (929–833 Ma), and continental rifting (833–774 Ma) during the formation of the Qinling block were identified.•The Qinling block, as part of the circum-Rodinia subduction zone, represents the outer margin of Rodinia.
The Meso-Neoproterozoic Rodinia supercontinent formed a coherent large landmass, which was later dispersed over all current major continents and a number of microcontinents. The Qinling block is a Precambrian continental mass, located in the Qinling orogenic belt, which marks the junction of the North China and South China cratons. In this paper, we present a systematic study of the petrology, whole-rock geochemistry and geochronology of metasedimentary rocks from the Xiahe Group, which is a key unit of the Precambrian basement in the Qinling block, to constrain the paleogeographic reconstruction of Rodinia. The studied metasedimentary rocks have detrital zircon ages of 3054–1082 Ma that peak at 1172 Ma and 1582 Ma. The protoliths of the metasedimentary rocks are mainly shales and wackes with maximum depositional ages from 1147 to 1082 Ma, representing a part of a continental arc-related sedimentary sequence. Combining our results with existing data, we propose that their protoliths constituted a sedimentary series including an older sequence of basement and a younger sequence with depositional ages between 1262 and 840 Ma. The detritus that is older than 1266 Ma was sourced from the continental margin of the Indian craton, which was part of the Columbia supercontinent. There was a Paleo-Mesoproterozoic continental nucleus in the Qinling block that split from the margin of the Indian craton during the breakup of Columbia. The source rocks for the younger detritus were arc magmatic rocks in the Qinling block, which formed in a continental arc by oceanic lithosphere subduction during the assembly of Rodinia. A sequence of oceanic subduction beneath the continental nucleus of the Qinling block (1262–981 Ma), arc-continent collision between the continental nucleus and the Indian craton (981–911 Ma), continuous subduction of oceanic crust beneath the block with formation of a mature volcanic arc (929–833 Ma), and continental rifting (833–774 Ma) during the formation of the Qinling block was identified. The block faced the Neoproterozoic ocean during the assembly of Rodinia, and finally rifted off the supercontinent during its breakup to form an isolated arc terrane
Correction for ‘Multifunctional sulfur-mediated strategy enabling fast-charging Sb 2 S 3 micro-package anode for lithium-ion storage’ by Shaohua Wang et al. , J. Mater. Chem. A , 2021, 9 , 7838–7847, ...DOI: 10.1039/D0TA11954G.
Correction for 'Multifunctional sulfur-mediated strategy enabling fast-charging Sb
2
S
3
micro-package anode for lithium-ion storage' by Shaohua Wang
et al.
,
J. Mater. Chem. A
, 2021,
9
, 7838-7847, ...DOI:
10.1039/D0TA11954G
.
There is growing evidence for the potential of biochars (BCs) in remediating mercury-contaminated paddy soils, but the high doses commonly used in laboratory studies discourage BC application in ...practice. To address these difficulties, we compared the effects of varying amounts of BCs from different sources on the formation of methylmercury (MeHg) in soil and its accumulation in rice through microcosm and pot experiments. The addition of a wide range of added doses (0.3, 0.6, 1, 2, 4 and 5 %, w/w) of BCs derived from different biomass feedstocks (i.e., corn stalk, wheat straw, bamboo, oak and poplar) significantly decreased the fraction of ammonium thiosulfate ((NH4)2S2O3)-extractable MeHg in the soil, although the MeHg contents varied with BC types and doses during soil incubation. However, the extractable MeHg in the soil did not continuously decrease with increasing BC doses, especially at doses of >1 %, resulting in limited further reductions. Moreover, a relatively low application rate (0.3–0.6 %, w/w) of BCs (i.e., corn stalk, wheat straw and bamboo-derived BC), especially of bamboo-derived BCs, significantly decreased the MeHg levels (42–76 %) in rice grains (brown rice). Meanwhile, the extractable soil MeHg decreased (57–85 %), although the MeHg in the soil varied under BC amendment during rice cultivation. These results provide further evidence that applying BC produced from different raw carbon materials (e.g., lignocellulosic biomass) could effectively reduce MeHg accumulation in rice grains, possibly due to MeHg bioavailability reduction in the soil. Our results suggest the possibility of mitigating MeHg accumulation in rice with a low dose of BCs, with great potential for use in remediating moderately contaminated paddy soils.
Display omitted
•Different types of biochars with a wide range of added doses (0.3–5 %, w/w) decreased MeHg bioavailability in soil.•A low application rate (0.3–0.6 %) of biochars reduced MeHg in rice grains.•MeHg sorption onto biochar could contribute to the decrease of MeHg bioavailability.
•The effects of wax crystals on hydrate nucleation and growth were studied by combining experimental methods with MD simulation.•The wax crystals at the oil–water interface influenced the mass ...transfer of methane molecules instead of providing heterogeneous nucleation sites.•The mechanism of wax crystals on hydrate nucleation and growth were proposed.
Hydrate formation and wax deposition in underwater multiphase pipelines have become two vital problems affecting the flow assurance safety. Experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to investigate the effect of wax crystals on hydrate nucleation and growth. Our experimental results showed that wax crystals had an inhibitory effect on hydrate growth, but played a dual role in methane hydrate nucleation (promotion and inhibition). The addition of wax could decrease mass transfer coefficient of methane by increasing viscosity of oil phase, which lower methane supply from the oil bulk phase to the oil–water interface. The simulation results revealed that the wax crystals at the interface influenced the mass transfer of methane molecules instead of providing heterogeneous nucleation sites. Small wax crystal adjacent to the oil–water interface accelerated methane supersaturation dissolution and restricted gas diffusion in the aqueous phase because of adsorption to methane, which promoted hydrate nucleation and shifted the nucleation position toward the oil–water interface. While the large wax crystal could effectively block the methane mass transfer from oil phase to aqueous phase by covering the oil–water surface, which reduced the concentration of methane in the aqueous phase and prolonged the induction time of hydrate formation. These results of this work would provide a better understanding of the interaction mechanism between hydrate and wax.
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