Application of biochar derived from rice straw for the removal of Th(IV) from aqueous solution

<p>Biochar is increasingly used as a low-cost and effective adsorbent for heavy metals in wastewater. Herein, biochar pyrolyzed from rice straw was employed as an adsorbent for the removal of Th(IV) from aqueous solutions. The sorption of Th(IV) on biochar was strongly dependent on pH, but independent on ionic strength at pH < 6.4. The inner-sphere complexation dominated the sorption mechanism of Th(IV) on biochar. The competition for Th(IV) between aqueous or surface-adsorbed cations/anions and functional groups of biochar was pivotal for Th(IV) sorption. The thermodynamic data suggested that Th(IV) sorption was a spontaneous and endothermic process.</p

The relationship between OLC1 expression and patient clinicopathological characteristics.

#<p>(−) = no staining; (±) = background or faint staining; (+) = positive staining; (++) = intense staining. Samples marked (+) or (++) were considered positive for OLC1 protein expression.</p><p>*Significance was determined by Pearson chi-square test.</p

The effects of OLC1 overexpression on CDDP-induced apoptosis.

<p>(A) Cell lines were treated with CDDP at 0, 20, 40, or 80 µM for 24 h, followed by DAPI staining and analysis by fluorescent microscopy and photography. The total number of the apoptotic cells was counted, and the percentage of apoptotic cells was calculated. (B) Cells were treated with 20 µM CDDP for different time periods (including 0, 24, 48, 72 h) as indicated, followed by DAPI staining. (C) Cells were treated with different doses of CDDP (including 0, 10, 20, 40 µM) for 24 h, and the effects of OLC1 on the expression of the apoptosis-related proteins caspase-3 and Bcl-2 was assessed by western blotting. Significance was determined by the Student’s <i>t</i> test. * = <i>P</i><0.05; ** = <i>P</i><0.001.</p

Expression of OLC1 in normal esophageal epithelium, dysplasia, and ESCC, as assessed by immunohistochemistry.

<p>(A) Images of representative IHC staining of OLC1 in human ESCC and paired adjacent normal tissue, magnified 100- and 400-fold, as indicated. OLC1 staining in the cytoplasm of ESCC tissue was positive (A–a) and strongly positive (A–c), but the paired adjacent normal tissues showed no or faint OLC1 staining (A–b and A–d). (B) The correlation of OLC1 protein expression with the developmental stages of human ESCC. Representative images of OLC1 staining in normal adjacent, mild dysplasia, moderate dysplasia, severe dysplasia, carcinoma in situ, and invasive carcinoma tissues (x200 magnification).</p

Construction of stable OLC1-overexpressing cell lines, and the effects of OLC1 overexpression on KYSE150 cells.

<p>(A) To investigate OLC1 expressions among ESCC cell lines (EC9706, KYSE 510, KYSE 150, KYSE450 and KYSE180), the relative protein levels of OLC1 from these cell lines were examined by western blotting analysis. (B) KYSE150 cells were transfected with pEGFP-N1-OLC1 and pEGFP-N1, and stable, positive clones were selected using with G418 (400 µg/mL) from candidate clones. Two positive clones were designated as OLC-1 and OLC-2, the null control colony was designated KYSE150/GFP. Confirmed by western blotting, the expressed GFP-OLC1 fusion protein (68 kDa) was detected in OLC-1 and OLC-2, but not in KYSE150/GFP cells (C) mRNA levels of OLC1 in OLC-1, OLC-2 and KYSE150/GFP cells, assessed by RT-PCR. (D) Cell proliferation curves were calculated after counting the numbers of OLC-1, OLC-2 and KYSE150/GFP cells for 5 days. (E) The numbers of colonies of each cell line were counted, and then compared. All experiments were repeated three times. Significance was determined by the Student’s t test. * = P<0.05; ** = P<0.001.</p

OLC1 expression in esophageal samples with different lesions.

#<p>(−) = no staining; (±) = background or faint staining; (+) = positive staining; (++) = intense staining. Samples marked (+) or (++) were considered positive for OLC1 protein expression.</p><p>Significance was determined by Pearson chi-square test. S-DYs/CIS <i>vs.</i> Normal adjacent tissues, <i>P</i><0.05; Invasive carcinoma <i>vs.</i> Normal adjacent tissues, <i>P</i><0.05; Mi-DYS/Mo-DYS <i>vs.</i> Normal adjacent tissues, <i>P</i>>0.05; S-DYs/CIS <i>vs.</i> Mi-DYs/Mo-DYs, <i>P</i><0.05; Invasive carcinoma <i>vs.</i> Mi-DYs/Mo-DYs, <i>P</i><0.05; Invasive carcinoma <i>vs.</i> S-DYs/CIS, <i>P</i>>0.05.</p