•Tubular PCFC with effective area of 2.3 cm2 is fabricated by dip-coating technique.•It shows high performance at reduced temperature, giving 465 mW cm−2 at 600 °C.•The cell outputs 118 mW cm−2 at ...450 °C and reveals detectable power at 200 °C, 3 mW.•Cell stability is tested for 30 h, at a constant voltage of 0.7 V under 600 °C.•Performance declines first and then tend to be stable during stability test.
An anode-supported tubular protonic ceramic fuel cell with BaCe0.7Zr0.1Y0.2O3-δ electrolyte is fabricated using dip-coating technique. Electrochemical performances of the cell are tested at temperatures from 600 to 200 °C, utilizing humidified H2 (3 vol% H2O) as fuel and ambient air as oxidant. With an effective area of 2.3 cm2, the cell yields a peak power density of 465 mW cm−2 at 600 °C and 118 mW cm−2 at 450 °C. Even when the temperature is as low as 200 °C, there is still an output power of 3 mW. Stability of the cell under 600 °C is tested by operating the cell at a constant voltage of 0.7 V. The test lasts for 30 h during which the operating power density decreases rapidly in the first 10 h, then tend to be stable at 300 mW cm−2.
► Fe3O4 MNPs synthesized by facile coprecipitation method were characterized roundly. ► Bisphenol A can be effectively eliminated in US+Fe3O4+H2O2 system in neutral pH. ► Fe3O4 MNPs performed similar ...good activity within a wide pH range from 3 to 9. ► Fe3O4 remained good stability and activity even after several recycles.
In this study, the Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were synthesized as heterogeneous catalysts to effectively degrade bisphenol A (BPA). The properties of the synthesized catalysts were characterized by Brunnaer–Emmett–Teller (BET), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The results indicated that the Fe3O4 MNPs appeared to be roughly spherical shapes and their average size was 10–20nm. The catalytic capacity of MNPs in US+Fe3O4+H2O2 system with different pH conditions, H2O2 concentrations and MNPs doses was investigated. It was found that the OH radicals were promptly generated due to the catalysis of the Fe3O4 MNPs. BPA could be degraded within a wide pH range from 3 to 9, and the degradation efficiencies were remarkably enhanced by ultrasound. The apparent rate constants were 8.31×10−3, 7.96×10−3 and 5.64×10−3min−1, respectively, when the pH values were 3, 7 and 9, respectively. The removal efficiencies of BPA were all over 95%. About half total organic carbon (TOC) in solution was eliminated under neutral condition by sono-Fenton process. Furthermore, the results of stability and reusability demonstrated that the Fe3O4 MNPS were promising in the treatment of wastewater with refractory organics.
In this study, the effects of concentrations 0, 100, 250, 500, 750 and 1000 mg kg−1 of nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) on germination, seedlings growth, physiology and toxicity mechanisms were ...investigated. The results showed that nZVI had no effect on germination, but inhibited the rice seedlings growth in higher concentrations (>500 mg kg−1 nZVI). The highest suppression rate of the length of roots and shoots reached 46.9% and 57.5%, respectively. The 1000mg kg−1 nZVI caused the highest suppression rates for chlorophyll and carotenoids, at 91.6% and 85.2%, respectively. In addition, the activity of antioxidant enzymes was altered by the translocation of nanoparticles and changes in active iron content. Visible symptoms of iron deficiency were observed at higher concentrations, at which the active iron content decreased 61.02% in the shoots, but the active iron content not decreased in roots. Interestingly, the total and available amounts of iron in the soil were not less than those in the control. Therefore, the plants iron deficiency was not caused by (i) deficiency of available iron in the soil and (ii) restraint of the absorption that plant takes in the available iron, while induced by (ⅲ) the transport of active iron from the root to the shoot was blocked. The cortex tissues were seriously damaged by nZVI which was transported from soil to the root, these were proved by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). This current study shows that the mechanism of iron deficiency in rice seedling was due to transport of active iron from the root to the shoot blocked, which was caused by the uptake of nZVI.
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•Higher concentrations of nZVI induced iron deficiency in rice seedlings visibly.•nZVI was taken in rice seedlings and transported form root to shoot.•The pathway of active iron transport from root to shoot was inhibited.•The cortex tissues in root were damaged seriously by nZVI.
Higher concentrations nZVI induced symptoms of iron deficiency in the shoot of rice seedlings due to the inhibition of active iron transporting from root to shoot.
The seroprevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was examined among 105 healthcare workers (HCWs) exposed to four patients who were laboratory confirmed with ...coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. These HCWs were immediately under quarantine for 14 days as soon as they were identified as close contacts. The nasopharyngeal swab samples were collected on the first and 14th day of the quarantine, while the serum samples were obtained on the 14th day of the quarantine. With the assay of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and microneutralization assay, 17.14% (18/105) of HCWs were seropositive, while their swab samples were found to be SARS-CoV-2 RNA negative. Risk analysis revealed that wearing face mask could reduce the infection risk (odds ratio OR, 0.127, 95% confidence interval CI 0.017, 0.968), while when exposed to COVID-19 patients, doctors might have higher risk of seroconversion (OR, 346.837, 95% CI 8.924, 13479.434), compared with HCWs exposed to colleagues as well as nurses and general service assistants who exposed to patients. Our study revealed that the serological testing is useful for the identification of asymptomatic or subclinical infection of SARS-CoV-2 among close contacts with COVID-19 patients.
Alternative splicing (AS) is an important mechanism of posttranscriptional modification and dynamically regulates multiple physiological processes in plants, including fruit ripening. However, little ...is known about alternative splicing during fruit development in fleshy fruits. We studied the alternative splicing at the immature and ripe stages during fruit development in cucumber, melon, papaya and peach. We found that 14.96-17.48% of multiexon genes exhibited alternative splicing. Intron retention was not always the most frequent event, indicating that the alternative splicing pattern during different developmental process differs. Alternative splicing was significantly more prevalent at the ripe stage than at the immature stage in cucumber and melon, while the opposite trend was shown in papaya and peach, implying that developmental stages adopt different alternative splicing strategies for their specific functions. Some genes involved in fruit ripening underwent stage-specific alternative splicing, indicating that alternative splicing regulates fruits ripening. Conserved alternative splicing events did not appear to be stage-specific. Clustering fruit developmental stages across the four species based on alternative splicing profiles resulted in species-specific clustering, suggesting that diversification of alternative splicing contributes to lineage-specific evolution in fleshy fruits. We obtained high quality transcriptomes and alternative splicing events during fruit development across the four species. Dynamics and nonconserved alternative splicing were discovered. The candidate stage-specific AS genes involved in fruit ripening will provide valuable insight into the roles of alternative splicing during the developmental processes of fleshy fruits.
Limited data are available for clinical characteristics of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outside Wuhan. This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 and ...identify the risk factors for severe illness of COVID-19 in Jiangsu province, China. Clinical data of hospitalized COVID-19 patients were retrospectively collected in 8 hospitals from 8 cities of Jiangsu province, China. Clinical findings of COVID-19 patients were described and risk factors for severe illness of COVID-19 were analyzed. By Feb 10, 2020, 202 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were enrolled. The median age of patients was 44.0 years (interquartile range, 33.0-54.0). 55 (27.2%) patients had comorbidities. At the onset of illness, the common symptoms were fever (156 77.2%) and cough (120 59.4%). 66 (32.7%) patients had lymphopenia. 193 (95.5%) patients had abnormal radiological findings. 11 (5.4%) patients were admitted to the intensive care unit and none of the patients died. 23 (11.4%) patients had severe illness. Severe illness of COVID-19 was independently associated with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 28 kg/m2 (odds ratio OR, 9.219; 95% confidence interval CI, 2.731 to 31.126; P<0.001) and a known history of type 2 diabetes (OR, 4.326; 95% CI, 1.059 to 17.668; P = 0.041). In this case series in Jiangsu Province, COVID-19 patients had less severe symptoms and had better outcomes than the initial COVID-19 patients in Wuhan. The BMI ≥ 28 kg/m2 and a known history of type 2 diabetes were independent risk factors of severe illness in patients with COVID-19.
With the widespread application of fullerenes, it is critical to assess their environmental behaviors and their impacts on the transport and bioavailability of organic contaminants. The effects of ...fullerene particle size, chemistry of the solution, and natural organic matter on the adsorption of atrazine by aqueous dispersions of fullerenes (C60) were investigated in this work. The results showed that the Polanyi-Manes model could fit the adsorption isotherms well. Smaller sizes of fullerene particles led to increased available sites and, consequently, enhanced the adsorption of atrazine on C60. However, intensely dispersed C60 systems might not possess suitably high adsorptive capacities due to surface chemistry change. Adsorption of atrazine by aqueous dispersions of C60 increased with a decrease in the pH of the solution. Introduction of humic acid significantly reduced the size of the C60 particles, and resulted in the increase of the adsorption amount. Fullerene materials, once released into the aquatic environment, are inclined to form aqueous suspensions with different degrees of dispersion, which would greatly affect the transport and fate of organic contaminants.
Abstract Background Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by its high metastatic potential, which results in poor patient survival. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are crucial in ...facilitating TNBC metastasis via induction of mitochondrial biogenesis. However, how to inhibit CAF-conferred mitochondrial biogenesis is still needed to explore. Methods We investigated metastasis using wound healing and cell invasion assays, 3D-culture, anoikis detection, and NOD/SCID mice. Mitochondrial biogenesis was detected by MitoTracker green FM staining, quantification of mitochondrial DNA levels, and blue-native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The expression, transcription, and phosphorylation of peroxisome-proliferator activated receptor coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) were detected by western blotting, chromatin immunoprecipitation, dual-luciferase reporter assay, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, immunoprecipitation, and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The prognostic role of PGC-1α in TNBC was evaluated using the Kaplan–Meier plotter database and clinical breast cancer tissue samples. Results We demonstrated that PGC-1α indicated lymph node metastasis, tumor thrombus formation, and poor survival in TNBC patients, and it was induced by CAFs, which functioned as an inducer of mitochondrial biogenesis and metastasis in TNBC. Shikonin impeded the CAF-induced PGC-1α expression, nuclear localization, and interaction with estrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRα), thereby inhibiting PGC-1α/ERRα-targeted mitochondrial genes. Mechanistically, the downregulation of PGC-1α was mediated by synthase kinase 3β-induced phosphorylation of PGC-1α at Thr295, which associated with neural precursor cell expressed developmentally downregulated 4e1 recognition and subsequent degradation by ubiquitin proteolysis. Mutation of PGC-1α at Thr295 negated the suppressive effects of shikonin on CAF-stimulated TNBC mitochondrial biogenesis and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions Our findings indicate that PGC-1α is a viable target for blocking TNBC metastasis by disrupting mitochondrial biogenesis, and that shikonin merits potential for treatment of TNBC metastasis as an inhibitor of mitochondrial biogenesis through targeting PGC-1α.
► The reaction products were stable in their chemical property. ► The negative effect of the released toxic ion was temporary. ► The toxicity caused by the nZVI would gradually vanish with time.
...Nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) technology is promising for treating the oxidizing pollutants. Understanding the potential risk of nZVI in solution is important for in situ remediation. In this work, the impacts of nZVI on the chemical properties of solution and microorganism were investigated to assess the risk of environmental exposure of nZVI. The effects of salinity (NaCl), pH and humic acid on the chemical stability of nZVI were studied, the concentrations of released toxic ions within 36days were examined, and the toxicity of solution was evaluated based on the luminous bacteria-based toxicity test. The results indicated that nZVI was chemically stable as the total chromium concentration was below 0.05mg/L all along and the maximum concentration of released total iron ion was 0.22mg/L. The results of the toxicity test showed that the reaction products were non-toxic to microorganism even if they existed in solution for a long-term time.
The performance of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) acting as contaminants-carriers in vivo is critical for understanding the environmental risks of CNTs. In this study, the whole-body accumulation and tissue ...distribution of phenanthrene in Japanese medaka was examined in the presence of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and the potential release of phenanthrene was investigated from two types of SWCNTs suspensions that differed in surface charge and stability. The results showed that the coexistence of SWCNTs facilitated the accumulation of phenanthrene in the digestive track of fish and therefore enhanced the whole-body phenanthrene concentration by 2.1 fold after exposure for 72 h. Meanwhile, 6.4–48 and 20–34 times higher phenanthrene concentrations were measured in the liver and brain of fish exposure to the two mixtures, respectively, when comparing with the phenanthrene alone treatment with equal concentration of soluble phenanthrene. The extra phenanthrene was from the SWCNTs-associated phenanthrene that accumulated in the digestive track indicating the release of phenanthrene from SWCNTs did occur in fish. Moreover, the neutrally charged SWCNTs showed different agglomeration behaviors from the negatively charged SWCNTs, which could affect the accumulation of SWCNTs in the digestive track of fish and subsequently influence the retention of phenanthrene associated with the carbon nanotubes.
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