Geochemical characteristics of biogenic barium in sediments of the Antarctica Ross Sea and their indication for paleoproductivity

241-248In this paper, the biogenic Ba of Column R11 in the Antarctic Ross Sea and its implications to the paleo oceanographic productivity since the late of Late Quaternary were discussed, combined with the organic carbon, opal and biogenic calcium carbonate. The biogenic Ba contents ranged from 51.8 to 508.4 μg/g overall, exhibiting a gradually rising trend from the bottom to the top. It highly correlated both with TOC and opal, revealing that on one hand biogenic Ba can be used to study the change of productivity in the Ross Sea; and on the other hand, the marine productivity gradually increased since the late Pleistocene. The new productivity based on Francois model varied from 0.40 to 233.90 gC/(m2•a). The high values were mainly concentrated at the depth from 32 to 48 cm, but the new productivity values of the bottom were lower. It was inferred that the change in marine productivity in the Ross Sea was possibly affected by the ice cover since the late Pleistocene

Safety Requirements for Transportation of Lithium Batteries

The demand for battery-powered products, ranging from consumer goods to electric vehicles, keeps increasing. As a result, batteries are manufactured and shipped globally, and the safe and reliable transport of batteries from production sites to suppliers and consumers, as well as for disposal, must be guaranteed at all times. This is especially true of lithium batteries, which have been identified as dangerous goods when they are transported. This paper reviews the international and key national (U.S., Europe, China, South Korea, and Japan) air, road, rail, and sea transportation requirements for lithium batteries. This review is needed because transportation regulations are not consistent across countries and national regulations are not consistent with international regulations. Comparisons are thus provided to enable proper and cost-effective transportation; to aid in the testing, packaging, marking, labelling, and documentation required for safe and reliable lithium cell/battery transport; and to help in developing national and internal policies.https://doi.org/10.3390/en1006079

Glechoma longituba (Lamiaceae) alleviates apoptosis in calcium oxalate-induced oxidative stress in kidney proximal tubule epithelial cell line, HK-2

Purpose: To investigate the effects of Glechoma longituba on calcium oxalate (CaOx)-induced stress in HK-2 cells as a possible treatment strategy for nephrolithiasis (kidney stones).Methods: Human kidney HK-2 cells were treated with CaOx and Glechoma longituba at different concentrations. The levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured. Cell apoptosis and viability were assessed by flow cytometry and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays, respectively, while apoptosis-related proteins were determined using western blotting. The levels of the nuclear factorerythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), and NADPH-quinone-oxidoreductase 1 (NQO-1) genes were evaluated using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Using lentivirus, Nrf2 was knocked down in HK-2 cells, and this was confirmed by both qRT-PCR and western blotting. Scramble and si-Nrf2 transfected HK-2 cells were treated with CaOx and Glechoma longituba, and ROS levels and apoptosis were also assessed.Results: CaOx significantly increased the levels of ROS, LDH and MDA, while Glechoma longituba pretreatment attenuated these elevations in a dose-dependent manner. CaOx treatment increased cell apoptosis and decreased cell viability (p < 0.05), while Glechoma longituba pre-treatment abolished these effects in a dose-dependent manner. Glechoma longituba pre-treatment significantly upregulated the expressions of Nrf2, HO-1 and NQO-1 (p < 0.05). In HK-2 cells, Si-Nrf-2 attenuated the effects of Glechoma longituba pre-treatment on cell oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by CaOx.Conclusion: Glechoma longituba pre-treatment attenuates cell apoptosis and oxidative stress induced by CaOx via Nrf2/HO-1 signalling pathway. Thus, the plant is a potential source of agents for the treatment of nephrolithiasis.Keywords: Glechoma longituba, Nephrolithiasis, Nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2, Oxidative stress, Apoptosi

Determining surface structure and stability of ε-Fe2C, χ-Fe5C2, θ-Fe3C and Fe4C phases under carburization environment from combined DFT and atomistic thermodynamic studies

The chemical–physical environment around iron based FTS catalysts under working conditions is used to estimate the influences of carbon containing gases on the surface structures and stability of ε-Fe2C, χ-Fe5C2, θ-Fe3C and Fe4C from combined density functional theory and atomistic–thermodynamic studies. Higher carbon content gas has higher carburization ability; while higher temperature and lower pressure as well as higher H2/CO ratio can suppress carburization ability. Under wide ranging gas environment, ε-Fe2C, χ-Fe5C2 and θ-Fe3C have different morphologies, and the most stable non-stoichiometric termination changes from carbon-poor to carbon-rich (varying surface Fe/C ratio) upon the increase in ΔμC. The most stable surfaces of these carbides have similar surface bonding pattern, and their surface properties are related to some common phenomena of iron based catalysts. For these facets, χ-Fe5C2-(100)-2.25 is most favored for CO adsorption and CH4 formation, followed by θ-Fe3C-(010)-2.33, ε-Fe2C-(121)-2.00 and Fe4C-(100)-3.00, in line with surface work function and the charge of the surface carbon atoms

Leptin-Dependent Control of Glucose Balance and Locomotor Activity by POMC Neurons

SummaryLeptin plays a pivotal role in regulation of energy balance. Via unknown central pathways, leptin also affects peripheral glucose homeostasis and locomotor activity. We hypothesized that, specifically, pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons mediate those actions. To examine this possibility, we applied Cre-Lox technology to express leptin receptors (ObRb) exclusively in POMC neurons of the morbidly obese, profoundly diabetic, and severely hypoactive leptin receptor-deficient Leprdb/db mice. Here, we show that expression of ObRb only in POMC neurons leads to a marked decrease in energy intake and a modest reduction in body weight in Leprdb/db mice. Remarkably, blood glucose levels are entirely normalized. This normalization occurs independently of changes in food intake and body weight. In addition, physical activity is greatly increased despite profound obesity. Our results suggest that leptin signaling exclusively in POMC neurons is sufficient to stimulate locomotion and prevent diabetes in the severely hypoactive and hyperglycemic obese Leprdb/db mice

7,8beta-dihydroponasterone A, a new phytoecdysteroid from the needles of the Japanese Yew, Taxus cuspidata

A new plant ecdysteroid 7,8beta-dihydroponasterone A, together with ponasterone A, were isolated from the methanol extract of the needles of the Japanese yew, Taxus cuspidata. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis including ¹H NMR, 13C NMR, ¹H-¹H COSY, NOESY, HMQC and HMBC and confirmed by high-resolution FABMS data

Case report: Surgical repair for left main coronary artery to right atrium fistula with endocarditis

Coronary artery fistula (CAF) is a rare coronary anomaly defined as a communication between coronary artery and other heart chambers or vascular structures. In this case report, a 32-year-old woman with a giant left main coronary artery to the right atrium fistula with endocarditis was presented. CAF was diagnosed by transthoracic echocardiography and subsequently confirmed by cardiac computerized tomographic and coronary angiography. The patient received antibiotic treatment for infective endocarditis for 6 weeks preoperatively. The fistula was successfully treated with surgical repair. The patient is well now after 18 months of follow-up

SILOS: An Intelligent Fault Detection Scheme for Solar Insecticidal Lamp IoTs with Improved Energy Efficiency

Solar Insecticidal Lamp Internet of Things (SIL-IoTs) nodes are susceptible to failures due to the harsh environment, burn-in, theft, and vandalism in the agricultural setting. Most state-of-the-art research mainly focuses on fault detection without considering hardware and communication performance in terms of potential fault modes, energy consumption, and network loads. This study presents a completely decentralized solution, namely a SIL-Oriented binary Sliding window-based fault self-detection scheme (SILOS), which can be performed on each SIL-IoTs node. The problem we are trying to answer is how to detect faults as accurately as possible while keeping the communication overhead, memory, and computational costs low. Specifically, we develop a fault dictionary concept to 1) model the faults of SIL-IoTs nodes, 2) construct the fault dictionary according to the characteristics of measurements, and 3) detect faults via the fault dictionary. In addition, a binary-based sliding window (BSW) fault self-detection approach is proposed to save detection costs and reduce the false alarm rate (with only 92B system caches). A series of experiments are performed to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The result demonstrates that the BSW method can detect faults with an average accuracy of 99.14% with less than 1% energy consumption. By only sending the fault code, 71B data (i.e., data transmitting and forwarding) can be reduced, saving energy consumption, and decreasing network congestion

Neuroprotective Effect of Gui Zhi ( Ramulus Cinnamomi

Herb Ephedra (Ma Huang in Chinese) and Ramulus Cinnamomi (Gui Zhi in Chinese) are traditional Chinese herbs, often used together to treat asthma, nose and lung congestion, and fever with anhidrosis. Due to the adverse effects of ephedrine, clinical use of Ma Huang is restricted. However, Gui Zhi extract has been reported to decrease spontaneous activity in rats and exert anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects. The present study explored the possible inhibitory effect of Gui Zhi on Ma Huang-induced neurotoxicity in rats when the two herbs were used in combination. All Ma Huang and Ma Huang-Gui Zhi herb pair extracts were prepared using methods of traditional Chinese medicine and were normalized based on the ephedrine content. Two-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=6 rats/group) were administered Ma Huang or the Ma Huang-Gui Zhi herb pair extracts for 7 days (ephedrine = 48 mg/kg), and locomotor activity was measured. After 7 days, oxidative damage in the prefrontal cortex was measured. Gui Zhi decreased hyperactivity and sensitization produced by repeated Ma Huang administration and attenuated oxidative stress induced by Ma Huang. The results of this study demonstrate the neuroprotective potential of Gui Zhi in Ma Huang-induced hyperactivity and oxidative damage in the prefrontal cortex of rats when used in combination