Rapid flocculation-sedimentation of microalgae with organosilane-functionalized halloysite

Microalgae is a promising feedstock of biofuel for alternating fossil fuels. The major challenge of microalgal biofuels for commercial applications is in designing an efficient harvesting method with high economic feasibility. In this study, a rapid flocculation-sedimentation harvesting method induced by organosilane-functionalized halloysite flocculant was achieved for Scenedesmus dimorphus harvest. The harvesting efficiency was significantly influenced by the pH of microalgal dispersion and the dosage of flocculant. The optimized harvesting condition was pH 3.0 with flocculant dosage of 1.0 g.g(-1) cell dry mass. Under the optimized harvesting condition, microalgae rapidly reached 93% harvesting efficiency within 0.5 min of settling time, and reached 98% harvesting efficiency within 2 min of settling time. The rapid flocculation was attributed to the charge neutralization of the negatively-charged microalgae cells by the positively-charged organosilane-functionalized halloysite flocculant and to the sweep flocculation by organosilane-functionalized halloysite flocculant. The organosilane-functionalized halloysite flocculant did not affect the lipid extraction of microalgae, and not contaminate the extracted residuals. The organosilane-functionalized halloysite flocculant is of high efficient, cost-effective, and eco-friendly, makes it be of promising application for commercial microalgae harvesting.</p

Skewed X-chromosome inactivation in patients with esophageal carcinoma

ABSTRACT: Skewed X-chromosome inactivation (SXCI) was found in some apparently healthy females mainly from Western countries. It has been linked to development of ovarian, breast and pulmonary carcinomas. The present study aimed to observe the SXCI frequencies in apparently healthy Chinese females and patients with esophageal carcinoma. DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood cells from 401 Chinese females without a detectable tumor and 143 female patients with esophageal carcinoma. Exon 1 of androgen receptor (AR) gene was amplified, and the products of different CAG alleles were resolved on denaturing polyacrylamide gels and visualized after silver staining. The corrected ratios (CR) of the products before and after HpaII digestion were calculated. As to the healthy females, when CR ≥ 3 was used as a criterion, SXCI was found in two (4.3%) of the 46 neonates, 13 (7.8%) of the 166 younger adults (16–50 years) and 37 (25.7%) of the 144 elderly females (51–96 years), with the frequency higher in the elderly subjects than in the two former groups (P < 0.05). When a more stringent criterion (CR ≥ 10) was used, SXCI was found in one (2.2%), two (1.2%) and 16 (11.1%) of the subjects in the three age groups, respectively, itsfrequency being higher in the elderly than in the younger age groups (P < 0.05). Occurrence of SXCI was detected in both the patients and controls at similar frequencies. However, the phenomenon, as defined as CR ≥ 3, was more frequent in the patients aging <40 years (35.7%) compared to the corresponding reference group (7.6%, P = 0.006). When CR ≥ 10 was adopted, the frequencies were 7.1% and 1.2%, respectively. Their difference did not attain statistical significance (P = 0. 217). SXCI also occurs in apparently healthy Chinese females, and is associated with age. It may be considered as a predisposing factor for the early development of esophageal carcinoma. VIRTUAL SLIDES: The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/154236433792765

Characterization and identification of the integrin family in silkworm, Bombyx mori

YesAs an important economic insect, Bombyx mori is also a useful model organism for lepidopteran insect. Integrins are evolutionarily conserved fromsponges to humans, and play vital roles inmany physiological and pathological processes. To explore their diverse functions of integrins in insect, eleven integrins including sixα and five β subunitswere cloned and characterized fromsilkworm. Our results showed that integrins fromsilkwormown more family members compared to other invertebrates. Among those α subunits, integrins α1, α2, and the other four subunits belong to PS1, PS2, and PS3 groups, respectively. The β subunits mainly gather in the insect βν group except the β1 subunit which belongs to the insect β group. Expression profiles demonstrated that the integrins exhibited distinct patterns, but were mainly expressed in hemocytes. α1 and β2 subunits are the predominant ones either in the embryogenesis or larva stages. Interestingly, integrins were significantly up-regulated after stimulated by 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-E) in vivo. These results indicate that integrins performdiverse functions in hemocytes of silkworm. Overall, our results provide a newinsight into the functional and evolutionary features of integrins.National Basic Research Programof China (No. 2012cb114603), the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (20130182110003), the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing (cstc2013jcyjys0007), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (SWU111014)

Nearly a decade-long repeatable seasonal diversity patterns of bacterioplankton communities in the eutrophic Lake Donghu (Wuhan, China).

Uncovering which environmental factors govern community diversity patterns and how ecological processes drive community turnover are key questions related to understand the community assembly. However, the ecological mechanisms regulating long-term variations of bacterioplankton communities in lake ecosystems remain poorly understood. Here we present nearly a decade-long study of bacterioplankton communities from the eutrophic Lake Donghu (Wuhan, China) using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing with MiSeq platform. We found strong repeatable seasonal diversity patterns in terms of both common (detected in more than 50% samples) and dominant (relative abundance &gt;1%) bacterial taxa turnover. Moreover, community composition tracked the seasonal temperature gradient, indicating that temperature is a key environmental factor controlling observed diversity patterns. Total phosphorus also contributed significantly to the seasonal shifts in bacterioplankton composition. However, any spatial pattern of bacterioplankton communities across the main lake areas within season was overwhelmed by their temporal variabilities. Phylogenetic analysis further indicated that 75%-82% of community turnover was governed by homogeneous selection due to consistent environmental conditions within seasons, suggesting that the microbial communities in Lake Donghu are mainly controlled by niche-based processes. Therefore, dominant niches available within seasons might be occupied by similar combinations of bacterial taxa with modest dispersal rates throughout different lake areas

3,5-Dimeth­oxy-N,N-bis­(2-pyridylmeth­yl)aniline

In the title mol­ecule, C20H21N3O2, the benzene ring forms dihedral angles of 80.8 (1) and 83.5 (1)° with the two terminal pyridine rings. In the crystal structure, weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into chains propagating in [001]

MicroRNA-126 regulates the expression of inflammationrelated genes in vascular smooth muscle cells of diabetic rats

Purpose: To investigate the regulatory role of miR-126 in inflammation-associated gene expression in vascular smooth muscle (VSMCs) cells of diabetic rats.Methods: Diabetes was induced in rats by intraperitoneal injection of streptozocin (STZ) at a dose of 50 mg/kg. VSMCs were isolated from the aortic intimal-medial layers of the rats by a standard protocol. Expression of miR-126 was determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blotting. Transfection was performed with Lipofectamine 2000 reagent.Results: Expression of miR-126 was significantly (p &lt; 0.05) downregulated in the VSMCs of diabetic rats. Similarly, expressions of SOD, APX and CAT were downregulated, while those of COX, LOX and NOS were significantly upregulated in VSMCs. However, transfection-induced miR-126 overexpression in the VSMCs of diabetic rats led to significant (p &lt; 0.05) upregulation of SOD, CAT, APX and downregulation of COX, LOX and NOS. TargetScan analysis revealed that miR-126 exerted these effects by targeting SIRT1 gene. Furthermore, qRT-PCR and western blotting revealed that miR-126 overexpression in diabetic VMSCs caused significant (p &lt; 0.05) upregulation of the expression of SIRT-1.Conclusion: The results indicate that miR-126 regulates the expression of inflammation-related genes by targeting SIRT-1 genes in vascular smooth muscle cells of diabetic rats. Thus, miR-126 may be beneficial in the management of diabetes.Keywords: Diabetes, Inflammation, Genes, microRNA, vascular smooth muscle cell

A Low-Voltage High PSRR and High Precision CMOS Bandgap Reference

By adopting the technique of pre-regulator, a high PSRR and low temperature coefficient piecewise-linear bandgap reference (BGR) is designed for analog and mixed-signal application in this paper. The piecewise-linear BGR with pre-regulator, which is analyzed and simulated in SMIC 0.18μm CMOS process, has simple circuit architecture. Simulation results show that piecewise-linear BGR with pre-regulator achieves power supply rejection ratio (PSRR) of -102.488dB and -99.73dB, -82.983dB at 10Hz, 100Hz and 1kHz respectively. Piecewise-linear BGR with pre-regulator achieves the temperature coefficient of 2.235 ppm/°C when temperature is in the range from -50°C to 115°C. When power supply voltage VDD changing from 1.2V to 10V, output voltage deviation of piecewise-linear BGR with pre-regulator is only 0.2765mV, but output voltage of piecewise-linear BGR without pre-regulator has a deviation of 38.08mV. DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/telkomnika.v12i5.405