Single-Step Hydrothermal Synthesis of Biochar from H3PO4-Activated LettuceWaste for Efficient Adsorption of Cd(II) in Aqueous Solution

Developing an ideal and cheap adsorbent for adsorbing heavy metals from aqueous solution has been urgently need. In this study, a novel, effective and low-cost method was developed to prepare the biochar from lettuce waste with H3PO4 as an acidic activation agent at a low-temperature (circa 200°C) hydrothermal carbonization process. A batch adsorption experiment demonstrated that the biochar reaches the adsorption equilibrium within 30 min, and the optimal adsorption capacity of Cd(II) is 195.8 mg⋅g-1at solution pH 6.0, which is significantly improved from circa 20.5 mg⋅g-1 of the original biochar without activator. The fitting results of the prepared biochar adsorption data conform to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (PSO) and the Sips isotherm model, and the Cd(II) adsorption is a spontaneous and exothermic process. The hypothetical adsorption mechanism is mainly composed of ion exchange, electrostatic attraction, and surface complexation. This work offers a novel and low-temperature strategy to produce cheap and promising carbon-based adsorbents from organic vegetation wastes for removing heavy metals in aquatic environment efficiently

Optimization of the cry1Ah1 Sequence Enhances the Hyper-Resistance of Transgenic Poplars to Hyphantria cunea

Increased expression of the insect control protein genes of Bacillus thuringiensis in Populus has been critical to the development of genetically improved plants with agronomically acceptable levels of insect resistance. Bacillus thuringiensis (Cry1Ah1) proteins with highly specific toxicity against Hyphantria cunea were screened using an indoor bioactivity assay to obtain hyper-resistant transgenic poplars. Then, the Cry1Ah1 sequence was optimized and transformed according to the optimal codon in poplar using software of our own design (http://120.79.60.226:8080/u/chen/w/codonpoplar). A vector was constructed to transform poplar NL895. The Cry1Ah1 gene was transformed to poplar NL895 and six transgenic lines were obtained. The expression and insecticidal effect of the Cry1Ah1 gene in transgenic poplar were evaluated by PCR and ELISA, and the specific indoor activity and field insecticidal activity against H. cunea were compared with a control. We concluded that the insecticidal activity of the transgenic NL895 was significantly better against lower instar larvae of H. cunea than against higher instar larvae. The mortality and pupation rates clearly differed among the various instar larvae and between transgenic and non-transgenic poplar. We obtained poplar seedlings with hyper-resistance to H. cunea by screening Bt genes and optimizing their genetic sequence

Mycoplasma hyorhinis infection in gastric carcinoma and its effects on the malignant phenotypes of gastric cancer cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Mycoplasma hyorhinis </it>infection has been postulated to play a role in the development of several types of cancer, but the direct evidence and mechanism remained to be determined.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Immunohistochemistry assay and nested polymerase-chain reaction (PCR) were performed to examine the <it>mycoplasma hyorhinis </it>infection in gastric cancer tissues. Statistical analysis was used to check the association between mycoplasma infection and clinicopathologic parameters. Transwell chamber assay and metastasis assay were used to evaluate <it>mycoplasma hyorhinis</it>' effects on metastasis in vitro and in vivo. <it>Mycoplasma hyorhinis</it>-induced extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation were investigated by Western blot.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>My<it>coplasma hyorhinis </it>infection in gastric cancer tissues was revealed and statistical analysis indicated a significant association between mycoplasma infections and lymph node metastasis, Lauren's Classification, TNM stage, and age of the patients. <it>Mycoplasma hyorhinis </it>promoted tumor cell migration, invasion and metastasis <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo</it>, which was possibly associated with the enhanced phosphorylation of EGFR and ERK1/2. The antibody against p37 protein of <it>Mycoplasma hyorhinis </it>could inhibit the migration of the infected cells.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The infection of <it>m</it>y<it>coplasma hyorhinis </it>may contribute to the development of gastric cancer and <it>Mycoplasma hyorhinis</it>-induced malignant phenotypes were possibly mediated by p37.</p

Application of catastrophe theory in comprehensive ecological security assessment of plastic greenhouse soil contaminated by phthalate esters

Large amount of phthalate esters (PAEs) used as plasticizers in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products has caused ubiquitous contamination to the environment and potential ecology security risk all around the world, especially in places plastic films were indispensably utilized due to the widely proposing of facility agriculture in China. A case of PAEs contamination in four suburb areas of Nanjing was analyzed and discussed in this study. A new frame work has been put forward based on multi-criteria evaluation model and mathematical method of catastrophe theory, using farming work, laboratory determination and relevant environmental standards to measure the ecology security risk of PAEs in study areas. The factors were selected based on the availability of the data and the local conditions. The assessment model involves the contamination status of PAEs in soil and vegetables, the contamination effects of PAEs to human and soil organisms and the contamination source of PAEs from plastic films and other products in the four study facility agriculture areas. An evaluation system of the model was composed of thirteen mesosphere indicators and twenty-five underlying indicators including total PAEs concentration in soils, single PAE concentration in soils, total PAEs concentrations in roots, leafy, solanaceous and stem vegetables, PAE human risks, soil microbial counts, microorganism diversity indices, atmospheric deposition of PAEs, whether sewage wastewater irrigation, planting mode of the facility agriculture areas and climate condition of study areas. The modified evaluation system was used in the assessment of ecology security of the same place based on the data of 2012, and the results suggested that the ecology security indicators were reliable and were agree well with the practical situation of the study areas. The results could provide guidance for the application of health risk assessment of soil environment for the strong objectivity of catastrophe theory compared with other evaluation methods

Current-driven magnetization dynamics and their correlation with magnetization configurations in perpendicularly magnetized tunnel junctions

We study spin-transfer-torque driven magnetization dynamics of a perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) nanopillar. Based on the combination of spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance and microwave spectroscopy techniques, we demonstrate that the free layer (FL) and the weak pinned reference layer (RL) exhibit distinct dynamic behaviors with opposite frequency vs. field dispersion relations. The FL can support a single coherent spin-wave (SW) mode for both parallel and antiparallel configurations, while the RL exhibits spin-wave excitation only for the antiparallel state. These two SW modes corresponding to the FL and RL coexist at an antiparallel state and exhibit a crossover phenomenon of oscillation frequency with increasing the external magnetic field, which could be helpful in the mutual synchronization of auto-oscillations for SW-based neuromorphic computing.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

Thickness-dependent magnetic properties in Pt[CoNi]n multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

We systematically investigated the Ni and Co thickness-dependent perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) coefficient, magnetic domain structures, and magnetization dynamics of Pt(5 nm)/[Co(t_Co nm)/Ni(t_Ni nm)]5/Pt(1 nm) multilayers by combining the four standard magnetic characterization techniques. The magnetic-related hysteresis loops obtained from the field-dependent magnetization M and anomalous Hall resistivity (AHR) \r{ho}_xy found that the two serial multilayers with t_Co = 0.2 and 0.3 nm have the optimum PMA coefficient K_U well as the highest coercivity H_C at the Ni thickness t_Ni = 0.6 nm. Additionally, the magnetic domain structures obtained by Magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) microscopy also significantly depend on the thickness and K_U of the films. Furthermore, the thickness-dependent linewidth of ferromagnetic resonance is inversely proportional to K_U and H_C, indicating that inhomogeneous magnetic properties dominate the linewidth. However, the intrinsic Gilbert damping constant determined by a linear fitting of frequency-dependent linewidth does not depend on Ni thickness and K_U. Our results could help promote the PMA [Co/Ni] multilayer applications in various spintronic and spin-orbitronic devices.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure

Phase-field-lattice Boltzmann method for dendritic growth with melt flow and thermosolutal convection–diffusion

We propose a new phase-field model formulated within the system of lattice Boltzmann (LB) equation for simulating solidification and dendritic growth with fully coupled melt flow and thermosolutal convection–diffusion. With the evolution of the phase field and the transport phenomena all modeled and integrated within the same LB framework, this method preserves and combines the intrinsic advantages of the phase-field method (PFM) and the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). Particularly, the present PFM/LBM model has several improved features compared to the existing phase-field models including: (1) a novel multiple-relaxation-time (MRT) LB scheme for the phase-field evolution is proposed to effectively model solidification coupled with melt flow and thermosolutal convection–diffusion with improved numerical stability and accuracy, (2) convenient diffuse interface treatments are implemented for the melt flow and thermosolutal transport which can be applied to the entire domain without tracking the interface, and (3) the evolution of the phase field, flow, concentration, and temperature fields on the level of microscopic distribution functions in the LB schemes is decoupled with a multiple-time-scaling strategy (despite their full physical coupling), thus solidification at high Lewis numbers (ratios of the liquid thermal to solutal diffusivities) can be conveniently modeled. The applicability and accuracy of the present PFM/LBM model are verified with four numerical tests including isothermal, iso-solutal and thermosolutal convection–diffusion problems, where excellent agreement in terms of phase-field and thermosolutal distributions and dendritic tip growth velocity and radius with those reported in the literature is demonstrated. The proposed PFM/LBM model can be an attractive and powerful tool for large-scale dendritic growth simulations given the high scalability of the LBM

Insights into Adaptations to a Near- Obligate Nematode Endoparasitic Lifestyle from the Finished Genome of Drechmeria coniospora

Nematophagous fungi employ three distinct predatory strategies: nematode trapping, parasitism of females and eggs, and endoparasitism. While endoparasites play key roles in controlling nematode populations in nature, their application for integrated pest management is hindered by the limited understanding of their biology. We present a comparative analysis of a high quality finished genome assembly of Drechmeria coniospora, a model endoparasitic nematophagous fungus, integrated with a transcriptomic study. Adaptation of D. coniospora to its almost completely obligate endoparasitic lifestyle led to the simplification of many orthologous gene families involved in the saprophytic trophic mode, while maintaining orthologs of most known fungal pathogen-host interaction proteins, stress response circuits and putative effectors of the small secreted protein type. The need to adhere to and penetrate the host cuticle led to a selective radiation of surface proteins and hydrolytic enzymes. Although the endoparasite has a simplified secondary metabolome, it produces a novel peptaibiotic family that shows antibacterial, antifungal and nematicidal activities. Our analyses emphasize the basic malleability of the D. coniospora genome: loss of genes advantageous for the saprophytic lifestyle; modulation of elements that its cohort species utilize for entomopathogenesis; and expansion of protein families necessary for the nematode endoparasitic lifestyle

Enrichment of homologs in insignificant BLAST hits by co-complex network alignment

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Homology is a crucial concept in comparative genomics. The algorithm probably most widely used for homology detection in comparative genomics, is BLAST. Usually a stringent score cutoff is applied to distinguish putative homologs from possible false positive hits. As a consequence, some BLAST hits are discarded that are in fact homologous.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Analogous to the use of the genomics context in genome alignments, we test whether conserved functional context can be used to select candidate homologs from insignificant BLAST hits. We make a co-complex network alignment between complex subunits in yeast and human and find that proteins with an insignificant BLAST hit that are part of homologous complexes, are likely to be homologous themselves. Further analysis of the distant homologs we recovered using the co-complex network alignment, shows that a large majority of these distant homologs are in fact ancient paralogs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results show that, even though evolution takes place at the sequence and genome level, co-complex networks can be used as circumstantial evidence to improve confidence in the homology of distantly related sequences.</p