Separation of bastnäsite from fluorite using ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid as depressant

Bastnäsite is an important mineral resource in the production of rare earth materials and is usually beneficiated by flotation. The flotation of bastnäsite is problematic due to the competitive adsorption of hydroxamate collector on bastnäsite and its associated calcium-bearing gangue minerals such as fluorite. One strategy to solve this problem is to use effective depressants to depress the gangue minerals. However, the current depressants all have some drawbacks. In this study, the effect of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) as a depressant was tested in the flotation of single mineral of bastnäsite and fluorite and their mixture. The mechanism underpinning the role of EDTA was investigated through theoretical thermodynamic calculation, zeta potential and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. The results show that fluorite was significantly depressed, while the flotation of bastnäsite was almost unaffected when EDTA was present. The separation index between bastnäsite and fluorite increased from 1.18 to 12.66 with the increase of EDTA concentration from 0 to 7.79 kg/t. It was found that EDTA could dissolve the chemically adsorbed octyl hydroxamic acid (OHA) on fluorite through the formation of soluble Ca-EDTA complexes, whereas the chemically adsorbed OHA on bastnäsite was more stable and could not be transformed into Ce-EDTA spontaneously. Therefore, the flotation of fluorite was selectively depressed by EDTA. The results show that EDTA was a promising depressant for fluorite gangue mineral in bastnäsite flotation

An Integrative Analysis Reveals the Potential Mechanism between Herbal Medicine Yinchen and Immunoregulation in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Aims. Abundant evidences in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) supported the therapeutic value of herbal medicine Yinchen in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the underlying mechanism remains to be investigated. Main Methods. The intersection of immune gene set, module genes, HCC-associated genes, and target genes of Yinchen was employed for further analyses. The module genes were identified by weighted gene coexpression network analysis, and the other three gene sets were obtained from public databases. Subsequently, we further explored the clinical value and immunoregulation of the hub gene of intersection. The relevant pathways related to hub gene expression were investigated by gene set enrichment analysis. Finally, the interaction of active compounds and target genes was validated by molecular docking. Key Findings. Thirteen active compounds and 90 target genes of Yinchen were included. After constructing the network among Yinchen, target genes, and HCC, BIRC5 was identified as the hub gene. Significant difference was found between the high-expressed group and the low-expressed group in survival and stage. Different immune subtypes also presented significant difference in BIRC5 expression. Moreover, NK cell and T cell (CD4+ effector memory and CD4+ memory resting) were negatively correlated with BIRC5 expression, while CTLA4 and LAG3 were positively correlated. The results of molecular docking further validated a good binding activity of quercetin-BIRC5 interaction. Significance. In summary, our research identified for the first time a novel underlying association among herbal medicine Yinchen, BIRC5, immunotherapy, and HCC. We speculated that Yinchen may target the immune checkpoints (CTLA4 and LAG3) and activate the immune cells by suppressing BIRC5