To achieve value-added recycling of slurry-like mud (MS) and resolve the shortage issue of construction fill materials, physicochemical combined methods (PCCMs), which integrate flocculation, ...solidification, and vacuum preloading (optional), have been proposed to enhance the engineering properties of MS. The optimization of chemical admixtures, which consist of solidification and flocculation components, is crucial in ensuring the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of PCCM in practical application. In this study, a number of solidification model tests are performed to optimize the solidification components for PCCM via determining the optimal mixing ratio in each of the two GGBS-based binders. Subsequently, surcharge preloading deposition tests and vacuum preloading model tests, with different types/dosages of flocculant, are conducted to determine the appropriate flocculation components. The results indicate that OPC-GGBS exhibits remarkable effectiveness in strength improvement, and the use of a combination of organic and inorganic flocculant, particularly CaO-PAM, can significantly enhance the efficiency of PCCM. Moreover, increasing the dosage of the composite flocculants enhances the dewatering process, but the benefit becomes less significant when the dosage exceeds a threshold value of 0.16%. Additionally, this study provides a preliminary understanding of the key mechanism involved in synergizing flocculation, solidification and preloading to enhance the performance of MS. These findings contribute to the optimal design and application of PCCM for the treatment of MS.
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•Optimized chemical admixtures in PCCM enhance slurry-like mud (MS) recycling and construction fill material use.•OPC-GGBS binder significantly improves MS strength, outperforming other GGBS-based binders.•Combined organic and inorganic flocculants, particularly CaO-PAM, accelerate MS dewatering efficiency.•Flocculant dosage threshold identified at 0.16% to balance dewatering performance and cost-effectiveness.•PCCM treated MS shows improved properties due to synergistic physical and chemical actions.
Plastics breaking down of larger plastics into smaller ones (microplastics and nanoplastic) as potential threats to the ecosystem. Previous studies demonstrate that the central nervous system (CNS) ...is a vulnerable target of nanoplastics. However, the potentially epigenetic biomarkers of nanoplastic neurotoxicity in rodent models are still unknown. The present research aimed to determine the role of competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) in the process of polystyrene nanoplastics (PS NPs) exposure-induced nerve injury. The study was designed to investigate whether 25 nm PS NPs could cause learning dysfunction and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms in mice. A total of 40 mice were divided into 4 groups and were exposed to PS NPs (0, 10, 25, 50 mg/kg). Chronic toxicity was introduced in mice by administration of oral gavage for 6 months. The evaluation included assessment of their behavior, pathological investigation and determination of the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and DNA damage. RNA-Seq was performed to detect the expression levels of circRNAs, miRNAs and mRNAs in PFC samples of mice treated with 0 and 50 mg/kg PS NPs. The results indicated that exposure of mice to PS NPs caused a dose-dependent cognitive decline. ROS levels and DNA damage were increased in the PFC following exposure of the mice to PS NPs. A total of 987 mRNAs, 29 miRNAs and 67 circRNAs demonstrated significant differences between the 0 and 50 mg/kg PS NPs groups. Functional enrichment analyses indicated that PS NPs may induce major injury in the synaptic function. A total of 96 mRNAs, which were associated with synaptic dysfunction were identified. A competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network containing 27 circRNAs, 19 miRNAs and 35 synaptic dysfunction-related mRNAs was constructed. The present study provided insight into the molecular events associated with nanoplastic toxicity and induction of cognitive dysfunction.
Pathological cardiac hypertrophy (CH) is a key factor leading to heart failure and ultimately sudden death. Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as a new player in gene regulation relevant to ...a wide spectrum of human disease including cardiac disorders. Here, we characterize the role of a specific lncRNA named cardiac hypertrophy‐associated regulator (CHAR) in CH and delineate the underlying signalling pathway. CHAR was found markedly down‐regulated in both in vivo mouse model of cardiac hypertrophy induced by pressure overload and in vitro cellular model of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy induced by angiotensin II (AngII) insult. CHAR down‐regulation alone was sufficient to induce hypertrophic phenotypes in healthy mice and neonatal rat ventricular cells (NRVCs). Overexpression of CHAR reduced the hypertrophic responses. CHAR was found to act as a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to down‐regulate miR‐20b that we established as a pro‐hypertrophic miRNA. We experimentally established phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), an anti‐hypertrophic signalling molecule, as a target gene for miR‐20b. We found that miR‐20b induced CH by directly repressing PTEN expression and indirectly increasing AKT activity. Moreover, CHAR overexpression mitigated the repression of PTEN and activation of AKT by miR‐20b, and as such, it abrogated the deleterious effects of miR‐20b on CH. Collectively, this study characterized a new lncRNA CHAR and unravelled a new pro‐hypertrophic signalling pathway: lncRNA‐CHAR/miR‐20b/PTEN/AKT. The findings therefore should improve our understanding of the cellular functionality and pathophysiological role of lncRNAs in the heart.
A novel strategy is reported for the fabrication of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA)‐protected graphene–CdSe (P‐GR‐CdSe) composites. An advanced electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) ...immunosensor is proposed for the sensitive detection of human IgG (HIgG) by using the as‐prepared P‐GR‐CdSe composites. The P‐GR‐CdSe composite film shows high ECL intensity, good electronic conductivity, fast response, and satisfactory stability, all of which holds great promise for the fabrication of ECL biosensors with improved sensitivity. After two successive steps of amplification via the conjugation of PDDA and gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in the film, high ECL intensity is observed. The ECL immunosensor has an extremely sensitive response to HIgG in a linear range of 0.02–2000 pg mL−1 with a detection limit of 0.005 pg mL−1. The proposed sensor exhibits high specificity, good reproducibility, and long‐term stability, and may become a promising technique for protein detection.
Specific, stable, sensitive: Poly (diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA)‐protected graphene–CdSe composites were prepared and used for the construction of an advanced electrogenerated‐chemiluminescence immunosensor combined with amplification of PDDA and gold nanoparticles by layer‐by‐layer assembly. The resulting sensor detected the concentration of human IgG with a low detection limit.
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•Two different methods were used to prepare the mesoporous Cs-POM@MOF-199@MCM-41.•The hybrid catalyst by substitution method shows to a best activity for the ODS process.•Stability is ...mainly correlated with MOF-199 and MCM-41.•The catalyst can be easily recovered and reused.
Two different synthetic methods, the direct method and the substitution method, were used to synthesize the Cs-POM@MOF-199@MCM-41 (Cs-PMM), in which the modified heteropolyacid with cesium salt has been encapsulated into the pores with the mixture of MOF and MCM-41. The structural properties of the as-prepared catalysts were characterized using various analytical techniques: powder X-ray diffraction, FT-IR, SEM, TEM, XPS and BET, confirming that the Cs-POM active species retained its Keggin structure after immobilization. The substitution method of Cs-PMM exhibited more excellent catalytic performance for oxidative desulfurization of dibenzothiophene in the presence of oxygen. Under optimal conditions, the DBT conversion rate reached up to 99.6% and could be recycled 10 times without significant loss of catalytic activity, which is mainly attributed to the slow leaching of the active heteropolyacid species from the strong fixed effect of the mixture porous materials.
Heritable symbionts play an essential role in many aspects of host ecology in a temperature-dependent manner. However, how temperature impacts the host and their interaction with endosymbionts ...remains largely unknown. Here, we investigated the impact of moderate (20°C) and high (30 and 35°C) temperatures on symbioses between the spider mite
Tetranychus truncatus
and two maternally inherited endosymbionts (
Wolbachia
and
Spiroplasma
). We found that the thermal tolerance of mites (as measured by survival after heat exposure) was lower for mites that were singly infected with either
Wolbachia
or
Spiroplasma
than it was for co-infected or uninfected mites. Although a relatively high temperature (30°C) is thought to promote bacterial replication, rearing at high temperature (35°C) resulted in losses of
Wolbachia
and particularly
Spiroplasma
. Exposing the mites to 20°C reduced the density and transmission of
Spiroplasma
but not
Wolbachia
. The four spider mite strains tested differed in the numbers of heat shock genes (
Hsps
) induced under moderate or high temperature exposure. In thermal preference (Tp) assays, the two
Wolbachia
-infected spider mite strains preferred a lower temperature than strains without
Wolbachia
. Our results show that endosymbiont-mediated spider mite responses to temperature stress are complex, involving a combination of changing endosymbiont infection patterns, altered thermoregulatory behavior, and transcription responses.
•DcABF3, an ABA-responsive element-binding transcription factor, was cloned and functionally characterized.•DcABF3 alters drought tolerance by increasing stomatal density in Arabidopsis.•DcABF3 ...reduces ABA sensitivity in transgenic Arabidopsis.
Abscisic acid-responsive element (ABRE)-binding factors (ABFs) are important transcription factors involved in various physiological processes in plants. Stomata are micro channels for water and gas exchange of plants. Previous researches have demonstrated that ABFs can modulate the stomatal development in some plants. However, little is known about stomata-related functions of ABFs in carrots. In our study, DcABF3, a gene encoding for ABF transcription factor, was isolated from carrot. The open reading frame of DcABF3 was 1329 bp, encoding 442 amino acids. Expression profiles of DcABF3 indicated that DcABF3 can respond to drought, salt or ABA treatment in carrots. Overexpressing DcABF3 in Arabidopsis led to the increase of stomatal density which caused severe water loss. Expression assay indicated that overexpression of DcABF3 caused high expression of stomatal development-related transcription factor genes, SPCH, FAMA, MUTE and SCRMs. Increased antioxidant enzyme activities and higher expression levels of stress-related genes were also found in transgenic lines after water deficit treatment. Changes in expression of ABA synthesis-related genes and AtABIs indicated the potential role of DcABF3 in ABA signaling pathway. Under the treatment of exogenous ABA, DcABF3-overexpression Arabidopsis seedlings exhibited increased root length and germination rate. Our findings demonstrated that heterologous overexpression of DcABF3 positively affected stomatal development and also reduced ABA sensitivity in transgenic Arabidopsis.
In this paper, we expand the value-added intellectual coefficient (VAIC) model by constructing a comprehensive financial capital (FC) component. Human capital efficiency is subdivided into executive ...(EHCE) and nonexecutive human capital efficiency (NHCE). We have sampled listed agriculture companies (LAC) in China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets from 2009 to 2018 and categorized them as high-tech (HTAC) and non-high-tech agriculture companies (NHTAC). We find that capital employed efficiency (CEE) and EHCE have a significant positive effect on corporate sustainable growth (CSG) of HTAC but no significant effect on CSG of NHTAC, while FC has a significant positive effect on both. These results suggest that companies, especially HTAC, should invest in human capital, and their executives and policymakers should develop effective knowledge management tools and begin accumulating the necessary intellectual capital to allow adaptation to their changing environment. In the spirit of the intellectual agriculture concept, we present some new ways to study the performance of agricultural companies using intellectual capital and offer suggestions that can help to modernize the industry.
Abstract Wood‐derived carbons demonstrate great potential as self‐standing electrodes in energy storage/conversion applications, including supercapacitors and water‐splitting devices. However, the ...key challenge remains the rational customization of surface functionalities for optimized performance. This study introduces an innovative approach to self‐standing wood‐derived carbons with tailored nitrogen and metal functionalities. In contrast to traditional impregnation techniques, which offer limited precision in surface modification, this approach entails the intentional attachment of amidoxime groups to the wood substrates. These groups serve as nitrogen sources, and create abundant surface anchoring sites for metal ions due to the chelation between the amidoxime groups and metals. The resulting carbons feature uniform and high dispersion of nitrogen and metal functionalities, along with a distinctive hierarchical porosity combining interconnected open channels with abundant mesopores. As a proof‐of‐concept, different metals are incorporated (i.e., Mn, Co, Ni) into the amidoximated‐wood precursors, and the resulting self‐standing carbons showcase excellent performance in both supercapacitors and water‐splitting applications. Leveraging the specific chelating ability of amidoxime groups toward metal ions, this strategy holds great potential as a generic approach to systematically tailoring the surface functionalities of carbon‐based materials for various electrochemical energy storage/conversion processes.
Abstract
Uncertainties in ocean-mixing parameterizations are primary sources for ocean and climate modeling biases. Due to lack of process understanding, traditional physics-driven parameterizations ...perform unsatisfactorily in the tropics. Recent advances in the deep-learning method and the new availability of long-term turbulence measurements provide an opportunity to explore data-driven approaches to parameterizing oceanic vertical-mixing processes. Here, we describe a novel parameterization based on an artificial neural network trained using a decadal-long time record of hydrographic and turbulence observations in the tropical Pacific. This data-driven parameterization achieves higher accuracy than current parameterizations, demonstrating good generalization ability under physical constraints. When integrated into an ocean model, our parameterization facilitates improved simulations in both ocean-only and coupled modeling. As a novel application of machine learning to the geophysical fluid, these results show the feasibility of using limited observations and well-understood physical constraints to construct a physics-informed deep-learning parameterization for improved climate simulations.
Deep learning-based and data-driven parameterizations of ocean vertical mixing under well-defined physical constraints outperform the traditional physics-driven parameterizations, facilitating improved simulations in ocean and climate modeling.
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