► In this study, we first cloned the B-cell activating factor (BAFF) gene in goat (
Capra hircus). ► The sequence alignment and 3D structure were analyzed using bioinformatics methods. ► Real-time ...quantification PCR tested the tissue distribution. ► Protein was expressed in
Escherichia coli and purified by Ni column. ► MTT and flow cytometry analysis tested the bioactivity of BAFF to B cells.
B-cell activating factor of the TNF family (BAFF) induces B cell survival, proliferation, immunoglobulin secretion and has a role in enhancing immune responses. In the present study, we amplified the cDNA of goat (
Capra hircus) BAFF (designated gBAFF) from spleen by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). The open reading frame (ORF) of gBAFF covers 843
bp encoding 280 amino acids, with a 152-aa mature peptide. Sequence comparison indicated that the amino acid of gBAFF possessed the TNF signature, a transmembrane domain, a putative furin protease cleavage site and three cysteine residues. The predicted three-dimensional (3D) structure of the soluble part of gBAFF (gsBAFF) analyzed by “comparative protein modelling” revealed that it was very similar to its counterparts. Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis indicated that gBAFF mRNA was predominantly expressed in goat lymphoid tissue spleen. Recombinant gsBAFF was fused with a small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) gene to enhance the soluble expression level in
Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The resulting fused protein SUMO-gsBAFF was efficiently expressed and purified using metal chelate affinity chromatography (Ni–NTA), then confirmed by SDS–PAGE and Western blotting analysis.
In vitro, the MTT assays and flow cytometric analysis indicated that SUMO-gsBAFF as well as gsBAFF could promote the survival/proliferation of goat splenic B cells or mouse splenic B cells. Therefore, BAFF may be a potential immunologic factor for enhancing immunological efficacy in goat.
Due to the implementation of “electrical energy substitution” strategy in China, the proportion of electrical energy in terminal energy consumption is increasing. The improvement of electrical energy ...efficiency could increase overall energy efficiency. Thus, a special attention should be paid on electrical energy efficiency. An input-oriented epsilon-based measure-DEA (data envelopment analysis) model was used to measure electrical energy efficiency from the perspective of total factor, and the spatial-temporal variability of electrical energy efficiency was investigated. Results draw that the overall electrical energy efficiency is relatively low and shows a downward trend. The eastern region has the best scores of electrical energy efficiency, followed by the central region and then the western region. Furthermore, the main associated determinants were investigated by panel Tobit regression model. It was found that the effect of industrial structure and economic opening degree on electrical energy efficiency is positive on the whole country level, whereas the effect of government intervention and urbanization is negative. From a regional perspective, there are great differences in the effect of each influencing factors. Some corresponding policy recommendations are given.
Handheld sample preparation devices are urgently required for point-of-care diagnosis in resource-limited settings. In this paper, we develop a novel handheld sorter with a multifunction integrated ...microfluidic chip. The integrated microfluidic handheld sorter (μHCS) is composed of three units, including cartridges, shells, and core integrated microchip. The integrated microchip contains two flow regulators for achieving the on-chip regulation of the input flows generated by a low-cost diaphragm pump to the desired flow rates and a spiral inertial microfluidic channel for size-based cell separation. After introducing the conceptual design of our μHCS system, the performances of the separate spiral channel and flow regulator are systematically characterized and optimized, respectively. Finally, the prototype of the μHCS is successfully assembled to separate the malignant tumor cells from the clinical pleural effusions. Our μHCS is simple to use, inexpensive, portable, and compact and can be used for high-throughput label-free separation of rare cells from large volume samples in resource-limited areas.
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•Degree of fragmentation in Wuhan become increasingly serious.•Ecological source (tributaries of the Yangtze River) contains more land use types than others.•Number of ecological ...corridors is decreasing.
The construction of the urban ecological network has a comprehensive effect on urban aesthetics, society and economy, and provides the driving force for urban sustainable development. However, we found few studies on constructing and optimizing urban ecological networks in cities with the highest human density. In this paper, landscape pattern indexes were applied to analyze the landscape characteristics and morphological pattern analysis (MSPA) to identify the ecological source, the landscape connectivity and the region attributes revised the ecological resistance surface, and urban ecological network was constructed by MCR model. The results show that: (1) many ecological land types mainly distributed in the tributaries of the Yangtze River, while only forest land and water areas occupied in the northwest are. (2) Compared with 1995 and 2005, the number of ecological corridors in 2015 was decreasing. Although the ecological connectivity was improved, which of the Yangtze River was limited. (3) The coordinated development and the ecological protection ecological network optimization plan would promote the connectivity of the urban ecological functioning stability. This study provides recommendations for the optimization of the urban ecological network, which are of great significance for protecting biodiversity, improving ecosystem functions, and maintaining the regional ecological security pattern.
Abstract
Providing sufficient driving force for charge separation and transfer (CST) is a critical issue in photoelectrochemical (PEC) energy conversion. Normally, the driving force is derived mainly ...from band bending at the photoelectrode/electrolyte interface but negligible in the bulk. To boost the bulky driving force, we report a rational strategy to create effective electric field via controllable lattice distortion in the bulk of a semiconductor film. This concept is verified by the lithiation of a classic TiO
2
(Li-TiO
2
) photoelectrode, which leads to significant distortion of the TiO
6
unit cells in the bulk with well-aligned dipole moment. A remarkable internal built-in electric field of ~2.1 × 10
2
V m
−1
throughout the Li-TiO
2
film is created to provide strong driving force for bulky CST. The photoelectrode demonstrates an over 750% improvement of photocurrent density and 100 mV negative shift of onset potential upon the lithiation compared to that of pristine TiO
2
film.
Biological light-driven ion pumps move ions against a concentration gradient to create a membrane potential, thus converting sunlight energy directly into an osmotic potential. Here, we describe an ...artificial light-driven ion pump system in which a carbon nitride nanotube membrane can drive ions thermodynamically uphill against an up to 5000-fold concentration gradient by illumination. The separation of electrons and holes in the membrane under illumination results in a transmembrane potential which is thought to be the foundation for the pumping phenomenon. When used for harvesting solar energy, a sustained open circuit voltage of 550 mV and a current density of 2.4 μA/cm
can reliably be generated, which can be further scaled up through series and parallel circuits of multiple membranes. The ion transport based photovoltaic system proposed here offers a roadmap for the development of devices by using simple, cheap, and stable polymeric carbon nitride.
The photocatalytic conversion of solar energy offers a potential route to renewable energy, and its efficiency relies on effective charge separation in nanostructured photocatalysts. Understanding ...the charge‐separation mechanism is key to improving the photocatalytic performance and this has now been enabled by advances in the spatially resolved surface photovoltage (SRSPV) method. In this Review we highlight progress made by SRSPV in mapping charge distributions at the nanoscale and determining the driving forces of charge separation in heterogeneous photocatalyst particles. We discuss how charge separation arising from a built‐in electric field, diffusion, and trapping can be exploited and optimized through photocatalyst design. We also highlight the importance of asymmetric engineering of photocatalysts for effective charge separation. Finally, we provide an outlook on further opportunities that arise from leveraging these insights to guide the rational design of photocatalysts and advance the imaging technique to expand the knowledge of charge separation.
Charge separation is key to efficient photocatalytic solar energy conversion. The distribution of surface charge on photocatalysts can be identified and the driving forces of charge separation quantitatively determined at the nanoscale by the spatially resolved surface photovoltage technique. The identification of photocatalytic charge separation mechanisms will enable the rational design of efficient photocatalytic systems.
The construction and development of local culture marks the local economic construction. The role, advantages and important functions of local university libraries in the construction of local ...culture explain the importance of local cultural construction in local development, and the cultural construction of university libraries also proposes that local cultural construction needs to be strengthened. Construction of document reading room and special collection room. The computer aided technology enters the university library and the local culture construction cooperates the development. Large-scale development of cultural resources in the localities and provision of corresponding cultural services. We provide services to the people in need of the society, play a cultural display function, and carry out certain cultural exchange activities according to the society and people's lifestyles, so as to better provide regional cultural construction services.
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