Study on measurement model of lignin content in pulp after alkaline extraction

Because kappa number cannot accurately represent the lignin content in the pulp after alkaline extraction, lead to the excessive dosage of bleaching chemicals added and the pollutant content increases. In order to accurately determine the dosage of bleaching agent, reduce pollutant emissions, a prediction model of lignin content of pulp was established by analyzing the correlation between lignin content and alkaline extraction conditions in this paper. The results show that the established soft sensor model can accurately measure lignin content, it is helpful to determine the amount of bleaching agent more accurately, reduce pollutant generation after pulp bleaching

Long non-coding RNA PVT1 regulates the migration of hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells via miR-3619-5p/MKL1 axis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third most common malignant tumor of the digestive system. Plasma cell tumor heterotopic gene 1 (PVT1) is an intergenic long non-coding RNA that is aberrantly expressed in different cancers. Myocardin-related transcription factor A or megakaryoblastic leukemia 1 (MKL1) is a transcriptional coactivator of serum response factor that has been shown to promote cancer cell migration and invasion. In this study, we investigated the relationship between PVT1 and MKL1 as a novel regulatory mechanism underlying HCC progression. We used HepG2 and Cos‑7 cell lines. Transfection experiments with miR-3619-5p mimics/inhibitor, PVT1, siRNA-PVT1, MKL1, or siRNA-MKL1 were performed. RNA and protein levels were analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription PCR and Western blot, respectively. Cell migration was assessed by transwell assay. Luciferase assays, RNA-FISH, RNA immunoprecipitation, and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays were performed to confirm the interaction between PVT1, miR-3619-5p, and MKL1 in HCC cells. Overexpression of PVT1 was positively correlated with MKL1 upregulation, which promoted HepG2 cell migration. miR-3619-5p inhibited MKL1 expression in HCC cells by acting on its 3′-UTR. Furthermore, PVT1 promoted MKL1 expression and migration in HCC cells by directly binding to miR-3619-5p. In a positive feedback loop, MKL1 could activate PVT1 transcription by binding to the CArG box in the promoter region. Our findings may provide a basis for the development of novel targeted therapies in HCC

Efficacy and safety of combined immunotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery in NSCLCBM patients and a novel prognostic nomogram: A real-world study

ObjectiveTo explore the effectiveness of combined immunotherapy (IT) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and address the gap between evidence-based clinical practice and academic knowledge of optimal timing of IT relative to SRS. In addition, to meet the unmet need for an up-to-date prognostic assessment model in the era of IT.MethodsThe data of 86 non-small cell lung cancer brain metastasis (NSCLCBM) patients treated with SRS to 268 brain metastases (BMs) were retrospectively extracted from our hospital database. The Kaplan–Meier analysis was employed for overall survival (OS) and a log-rank test for comparison between groups. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to identify the significant prognostic factors. The prognostic nomogram was established utilizing the rms package of R software.ResultsIT was found to be associated with improved OS (from BM diagnosis: HR 0.363, 95% CI 0.199 - 0.661, P < 0.001; from SRS: HR 0.472, 95% CI 0.260 - 0.857, P = 0.014). Individuals who received IT in combination with SRS had better OS than those who didn’t (from the day of BM diagnosis: 16.8 vs. 8.4 months, P = 0.006; from the day of SRS: 12 vs. 7 months, P = 0.037). Peri-SRS timing of IT administration was a significant prognostic factor for OS (from BM diagnosis: HR 0.132, 95% CI 0.034 - 0.517, P = 0.004; from SRS: HR 0.14, 95% CI 0.044 - 0.450, P = 0.001). Initiating IT after SRS led to superior OS than concurrent or before (from BM diagnosis: 26.5 vs. 14.1 vs. 7.1 months; from SRS: 21.4 vs. 9.9 vs. 4.1 months, respectively). Additionally, we build a nomogram incorporating IT, cumulative intracranial tumor volume (CITV), and recursive partitioning analysis (RPA), demonstrating a remarkable prognosis prediction performance for SRS-treated NSCLCBM patients.ConclusionPeri-SRS IT is a promising approach in treating NSCLCBM, as improved OS was observed without significantly increasing adverse events. Receipt of IT post-SRS was associated with superior OS than those who received IT concurrently or before. Incorporating IT and CITV into the RPA index could augment its prognosis assessment value for SRS-treated NSCLCBM patients, predominantly in the wild-type

Efficacy and safety of low-dose IL-2 in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Objectives Open-labelled clinical trials suggested that low-dose IL-2 might be effective in treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). A double-blind and placebocontrolled trial is required to formally evaluate the safety and efficacy of low-dose IL-2 therapy. Methods A randomised, double-blind and placebocontrolled clinical trial was designed to treat 60 patients with active SLE. These patients received either IL-2 (n=30) or placebo (n=30) with standard treatment for 12 weeks, and were followed up for additional 12 weeks. IL-2 at a dose of 1 million IU or placebo was administered subcutaneously every other day for 2 weeks and followed by a 2-week break as one treatment cycle. The primary endpoint was the SLE Responder Index-4 (SRI-4) at week 12. The secondary endpoints were other clinical responses, safety and dynamics of immune cell subsets. Results At week 12, the SRI-4 response rates were 55.17% and 30.00% for IL-2 and placebo, respectively (p=0.052). At week 24, the SRI-4 response rate of IL-2 group was 65.52%, compared with 36.67% of the placebo group (p=0.027). The primary endpoint was not met at week 12. Low-dose IL-2 treatment resulted in 53.85% (7/13) complete remission in patients with lupus nephritis, compared with 16.67% (2/12) in the placebo group (p=0.036). No serious infection was observed in the IL-2 group, but two in placebo group. Besides expansion of regulatory T cells, low-dose IL-2 may also sustain cellular immunity with enhanced natural killer cells. Conclusions Low-dose IL-2 might be effective and tolerated in treatment of SThe work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31530020,31570880,81471601,81601417 and 81701598), Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences to ZG LI, Beijing Sci-Tech Committee Z171100000417007,Clinical Medicine Plus X-Young Scholars Project of Peking University (PKU2019LCXQ013) supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Beijing Nova Program Z171100001117025, National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFC0909003 to DY), BellberryViertel Senior Medical Research Fellowship to DY and Beijing SL PHARM

Bibliometric Analysis of Coastal and Marine Tourism Research from 1990 to 2020

Coastal and marine tourism (CMT) has become a growing and important subsector of the tourism industry in recent years. To identify the state of and trends in the field, a bibliometric analysis of CMT was conducted to evaluate global productivity over the past 31 years (1990-2020). All relevant publications in the analysis were extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection database. As a result, the review found that the identified 6190 documents showed an upward trend during this time period. The most productive and influential countries, institutions, and authors were also identified in this analysis, and the distribution of subject categories and journals was analyzed. VOSviewer was used to analyze the coauthorships among countries, institutions, and authors. Based on an analysis of the high-frequency keyword co-occurrence network, four major CMT research topics were identified: (1) the sustainable development of CMT, (2) the impact of CMT on destinations, (3) CMT management and conservation, and (4) the impact of climate change on CMT. This analysis can help reveal and determine the research focus and trends in the CMT field

Two-Step Solvothermal Synthesis of (Zn0.5Co0.5Fe2O4/Mn0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4)@C-MWCNTs Hybrid with Enhanced Low Frequency Microwave Absorbing Performance

In this study, the quaternary hybrid of (Zn0.5Co0.5Fe2O4/Mn0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4)@C-MWCNTs with high-performance in low frequency electromagnetic absorption was synthesized via a facile two-step solvothermal synthesis method. The physicochemical properties as well as electromagnetic parameters and microwave absorption performance were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, RS, TGA, and VNA, respectively. The results indicate a nuclear-shell morphology of this hybrid for amorphous carbon coated on the surface of Zn0.5Co0.5Fe2O4 and Mn0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4 mixed polycrystalline ferrites. In addition, the MWCNTs synchronously enwind in the nuclear-shell NPs to form a special cross-linking structure. The outstanding low frequency microwave absorption property is attributed to the synergistic effect of dielectric and magnetic loss, better impedance matching condition, and excellent attenuation characteristics of the as-prepared paramagnetic quaternary hybrid. Maximum RL of −35.14 dB at 0.56 GHz with an effective absorption bandwidth in the range of 0.27–1.01 GHz can be obtained with thickness of 5 mm. This hybrid exhibits superior low frequency microwave absorption properties compared with other ferrite-carbon nanocomposites. This investigation provides a new route to prepare suitable candidates for the absorption of electromagnetic waves in a low frequency band on account of its good performance and simple preparation process

The transformation and outcome of traditional cassava starch processing in Guangxi, China

To improve the resource utilization, reduce the pollution generation, and increase the economic benefits of enterprises, a cleaner process to produce cassava starch was proposed based on potato starch processing, and it was applied to the transformation of a traditional cassava starch processing factory in the Guangxi Province in China. The transformation involves the implementation of several new techniques/facilities, including a rasper, horizontal centrifuge, and hydrocyclone. Based on the transformation, typical cassava starch factories in Guangxi were evaluated. The results show that, through the application of a series of cleaner techniques/facilities, the starch recovery rate increased to 84.5%. The water consumption, wastewater generation, and chemical oxygen demand generation decreased by 53.8%, 49.0%, and 20.7%, respectively. Based on the cleaner process, the wastewater can be treated to meet the national discharge standard by using common wastewater treatment technology

4‑Amino-1-(3-mercapto-propyl)-pyridine Hexafluorophosphate Ionic Liquid Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles for IgG Immunosensing Enhancement

A novel ionic liquid, 4-amino-1-(3-mercapto-propyl)-pyridine hexafluorophosphate (AMPPH), was successfully synthesized and characterized. Subsequently, AMPPH was used as a functional monomer to fabricate AMPPH-modified gold nanoparticles (AMPPH–AuNPs) via a one-pot synthesis method. The as-prepared AMPPH–AuNPs were confirmed with transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. AMPPH–AuNPs were used to construct a biocompatible interface to immobilize rabbit anti-human IgG (anti-HIgG) onto a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surface, followed by a cross-linking step with glutaraldehyde to fabricate an anti-HIgG–AMPPH–AuNPs/GCE. The nonspecific binding sites were enclosed with bovine serum albumin (BSA) to develop an immunosensor for human IgG. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry were used to investigate the electrochemical properties of the developed immunosensor. The results indicate that AMPPH–AuNPs can improve the immunosensing performance. The current response of the immunosensor was found linearly related to human IgG concentration in the range of 0.1–5.0 ng mL^–1 and 5.0–100.0 ng mL^–1. The detection limit is estimated to be 0.08 ng mL^–1 (<i>S</i>/<i>N</i> = 3). The obtained immunosensor was successfully applied to the analysis human IgG immunoglobulin in human serum, and the results were well consistent with ELISA method