Citric Acid Modified Bentonite for Congo Red Adsorption

Raw bentonite (RB) was chemically modified by citric acid (CA) to obtain a low-cost and environment-friendly citric acid incorporated bentonite (CAB) adsorbent, which was applied for the adsorptive removal of Congo Red (CR). The effect of adsorbent dosage, contact time, ionic strength, surfactant, and pH on adsorption was investigated. Adsorption equilibrium data fitted well with Langmuir model while the Langmuir adsorption capacity of CR on CAB reached up to 384 mg·g−1. Furthermore, CR adsorption on CAB followed pseudo-second kinetic model while intra-particle diffusion was not the only rate-limiting step as determined from intra-particle diffusion model investigation. RB and CAB were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, and BET techniques. A proposed mechanism for the adsorption of CR over CAB suggested the chemical adsorption phenomenon is mainly controlled by chelation, hydrogen bonding, and fixing

Lifestyle impacts on the aging-associated expression of biomarkers of DNA damage and telomere dysfunction in human blood: Measuring the influence of lifestyle on aging

Cellular aging is characterised by telomere shortening, which can lead to uncapping of chromosome ends (telomere dysfunction) and that activation of DNA damage responses. There is some evidence the DNA damage accumulates during human aging and that lifestyle factors contribute to the accumulation of DNA damage. Recent studies have identified a set of serum markers that are induced by telomere dysfunction and DNA damage and these markers showed an increased expression in blood during human aging. Here, we investigated the influence of lifestyle factors (such as exercise, smoking, body mass) on the aging associated expression of serum markers of DNA damage (CRAMP, EF-1α, Stathmin, n-acetyl-glucosaminidase, and chitinase) in comparison to other described markers of cellular aging (p16INK4a upregulation and telomere shortening) in human peripheral blood. The study shows that lifestyle factors have an age-independent impact on the expression level of biomarkers of DNA damage. Smoking and increased body mass indices were associated with elevated levels of biomarkers of DNA damage independent of the age of the individuals. In contrast, exercise was associated with an age-independent reduction in the expression of biomarkers of DNA damage in human blood. The expression of biomarkers of DNA damage correlated positively with p16INK4a expression and negatively with telomere length in peripheral blood T-lymphocytes. Together, these data provide experimental evidence that both aging and lifestyle impact on the accumulation of DNA damage during human aging

Método híbrido para categorización de texto basado en aprendizaje y reglas

En este artículo se presenta un nuevo método híbrido de categorización automática de texto, que combina un algoritmo de aprendizaje computacional, que permite construir un modelo base de clasificación sin mucho esfuerzo a partir de un corpus etiquetado, con un sistema basado en reglas en cascada que se emplea para filtrar y reordenar los resultados de dicho modelo base. El modelo puede afinarse añadiendo reglas específicas para aquellas categorías difíciles que no se han entrenado de forma satisfactoria. Se describe una implementación realizada mediante el algoritmo kNN y un lenguaje básico de reglas basado en listas de términos que aparecen en el texto a clasificar. El sistema se ha evaluado en diferentes escenarios incluyendo el corpus de noticias Reuters-21578 para comparación con otros enfoques, y los modelos IPTC y EUROVOC. Los resultados demuestran que el sistema obtiene una precisión y cobertura comparables con las de los mejores métodos del estado del arte

Conservation Assessment of the State Goat Farms by Using SNP Genotyping Data

Conservation of genetic resources is of great concern globally to maintain genetic diversity for sustainable food security. Comprehensive identification of the breed composition, estimation of inbreeding and effective population size are essential for the effective management of farm animal genetic resources and to prevent the animals from genetic erosion. The Zhongwei male (ZWM), Arbas Cashmere male (ACM) and Jining Grey male (JGM) goats are conserved in three different state goat farms in China but their family information, level of inbreeding and effective population size are unknown. We investigated the genomic relationship, inbreeding coefficient and effective population size in these three breeds from three state goat farms using the Illumina goat SNP50 BeadChip. Genomic relationships and phylogenetic analysis revealed that the breeds are clearly separated and formed separate clusters based on their genetic relationship. We obtained a high proportion of informative SNPs, ranging from 91.8% in the Arbas Cashmere male to 96.2% in the Jining Grey male goat breeds with an average mean of 96.8%. Inbreeding, as measured by FROH, ranged from 1.79% in ZWM to 8.62% in ACM goat populations. High FROH values, elevated genomic coverage of very long ROH (>30 Mb) and severe decline in effective population size were recorded in ACM goat farm. The existence of a high correlation between FHOM and FROH indicates that FROH can be used as an alternative to inbreeding estimates in the absence of pedigree records. The Ne estimates 13 generations ago were 166, 69 and 79 for ZWM, ACM and JGM goat farm, respectively indicating that these goat breeds were strongly affected by selection pressure or genetic drift. This study provides insight into the genomic relationship, levels of inbreeding and effective population size in the studied goat populations conserved in the state goat farms which will be valuable in prioritizing populations for conservation and for developing suitable management practices for further genetic improvement of these Chinese male goats

Adsorption of Ciprofloxacin and Tetracycline by Organically Modified Magnetic Bentonite

In order to endow magnetic bentonite (MB) with better magnetic separation and magnetic stability, obtain stronger adsorption of antibiotics, carboxymethylcellulose-chitosan/magnetic bentonite composite (MB/CC) was prepared by modifying previously fabricated MB with carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and chitosan (CS). The characterization of MB/CC and the adsorption properties towards ciprofloxacin (CIP) and tetracycline (TC) was investigated. The characterization results revealed that CC improves the Fe3O4 stability and removal capability of CIP and TC for the final product. Adsorption results indicated that MB/CC exhibited superior adsorption performance for CIP (182 mg·g−1) and TC (189 mg·g−1). Adsorptive removal of CIP and TC by MB/CC was more than 90% even after 5 cycles of adsorption-desorption process. The adsorption process fitted well with the Langmuir model and the pseudo-second order kinetic model. The main steps during the successful adsorption process of MB/CC for CIP and TC includes pore diffusion, ion exchange and electrostatic interaction. MB/CC has advantages of simplified synthesis, convenient operation and high-efficiency, which could be deemed as a promising alternative adsorbent for antibiotics removal from wastewater

Low-Spin Fe Redox-Based Prussian Blue with excellent selective dual-band electrochromic modulation and energy-saving applications.

Dual-band electrochromic materials (DBEMs) are of utmost importance for smart windows to realize independent control of the visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) light. However, very few single-component DBEMs are capable of independently and effectively controlling both VIS and NIR light. Here, we present Prussian blue (PB) with remarkable performance to replace the composite DBEMs that require deliberate design and complicated preparation. Excellent durability and capacity were achieved simultaneously due to the activated low-spin Fe in PB. A dual-band electrochromic device (DBED) by using PB thin films as electrochromic layers was constructed, exhibiting superior dual-band electrochromic performance, energy storage performance and memory effect. We show that the energy-saving DBED can be bleached without applying any external bias potential, and can be colored by using a commercial photovoltaic solar panel under ambient solar irradiation. The stored energy during coloration can be further used to light up the lights. Finally, the coloration mechanism of the DBED was studied by the density functional theory calculations, to shed light on the large optical transmittance modulation in both VIS and NIR regions. The new insights will advance the design of efficient and durable DBEMs and the development of bi-functional smart windows

Selective oxidation synthesis of MnCr2O4 spinel nanowires from Commercial stainless steel foil

For the first time, MnCr2O4 spinel single-crystalline nanowires were simply synthesized by heating commercial stainless steel foil (Cr0.19Fe0.70Ni0.11) under a reducing atmosphere. The nanowires have an average diameter of 50 nm and a length of about 10 &mu;m. Some nanowires are sheathed with a thin layer of amorphous silicon oxide. Photoluminescence measurements revealed that the nanowires exhibit an emission band at 435 nm, which resulted from the oxygen-related defects in the silicon oxide sheath. It was found that the reducing atmosphere plays a key role for the nanowire growth. In the reducing atmosphere, the Mn and Cr elements in the stainless steel could be selectively oxidized because of their higher affinity for oxygen than the Fe and Ni elements. The Fe and Ni elements in the stainless steel, however, acted as the catalyst for the vapor&ndash;liquid&ndash;solid (VLS) growth of the MnCr2O4 nanowires.<br /

Preparation of Ca- and Na-Modified Activated Clay as a Promising Heterogeneous Catalyst for Biodiesel Production via Transesterification

For efficient biodiesel production, an acid-activated clay (AC) modified by calcium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide (CaNa/AC) was prepared as a catalyst. CaNa/AC and Na/AC were characterized by Hammett indicators, CO2-TPD, FT-IR, XRD, and N2 adsorption techniques. The influence of catalyst dose, reaction temperature, methanol/oil molar ratio, and reaction time on the transesterification of Jatropha oil was studied. Due to the introduction of calcium, CaNa/AC displayed a higher activity and stability, thereby achieving an oil conversion of 97% under the optimal reaction conditions and maintaining over 80% activity after five successive reuses. The reaction was accelerated as the temperature rose, and the apparent activation energy of CaNa/AC was 75.6 kJ·mol−1. The enhanced biodiesel production by CaNa/AC was ascribed to the increase in active sites and higher basic strength. This study presents a facile and practical method for producing biodiesel on large-scale operation

Preparation of Ca- and Na-Modified Activated Clay as a Promising Heterogeneous Catalyst for Biodiesel Production via Transesterification

For efficient biodiesel production, an acid-activated clay (AC) modified by calcium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide (CaNa/AC) was prepared as a catalyst. CaNa/AC and Na/AC were characterized by Hammett indicators, CO2-TPD, FT-IR, XRD, and N2 adsorption techniques. The influence of catalyst dose, reaction temperature, methanol/oil molar ratio, and reaction time on the transesterification of Jatropha oil was studied. Due to the introduction of calcium, CaNa/AC displayed a higher activity and stability, thereby achieving an oil conversion of 97% under the optimal reaction conditions and maintaining over 80% activity after five successive reuses. The reaction was accelerated as the temperature rose, and the apparent activation energy of CaNa/AC was 75.6 kJ&middot;mol&minus;1. The enhanced biodiesel production by CaNa/AC was ascribed to the increase in active sites and higher basic strength. This study presents a facile and practical method for producing biodiesel on large-scale operation