Preparation of a Modified PTFE Fibrous Photo-Fenton Catalyst and Its Optimization towards the Degradation of Organic Dye

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fiber was grafted with acrylic acid to impart the carboxyl groups onto the fiber surface, which were used to coordinate with both transition metal ions Fe(III) and Cu(II) and a rare metal ion Ce(III) to prepare the metal grafted PTFE fiber complexes as the novel heterogeneous Fenton catalysts for the degradation of the azo dye in water under visible irradiation. Some factors affecting the preparation process, such as nature and concentration of metal ions in the coordination solution, grafting degree of PTFE and reaction temperature were optimized with respect to the content and strength of metal fixation on the fiber and dye degradation efficiency. The results indicated that increasing metal ion concentrations in solution and grafting degree of PTFE fiber as well as higher coordination temperature led to a significant increase in metal content, especially Fe(III) and Cu(II) content of the complexes. Fe(III) ions fixed on the fiber showed the better catalytic performance than Cu(II) and Ce(III) ions fixed when three different complexes with similar metal content being employed, respectively. Moreover, Increasing Fe content or incorporation of Cu(II) ions could significantly improve the catalytic activity of the complexes

Cross-Stream Contrastive Learning for Self-Supervised Skeleton-Based Action Recognition

Self-supervised skeleton-based action recognition enjoys a rapid growth along with the development of contrastive learning. The existing methods rely on imposing invariance to augmentations of 3D skeleton within a single data stream, which merely leverages the easy positive pairs and limits the ability to explore the complicated movement patterns. In this paper, we advocate that the defect of single-stream contrast and the lack of necessary feature transformation are responsible for easy positives, and therefore propose a Cross-Stream Contrastive Learning framework for skeleton-based action Representation learning (CSCLR). Specifically, the proposed CSCLR not only utilizes intra-stream contrast pairs, but introduces inter-stream contrast pairs as hard samples to formulate a better representation learning. Besides, to further exploit the potential of positive pairs and increase the robustness of self-supervised representation learning, we propose a Positive Feature Transformation (PFT) strategy which adopts feature-level manipulation to increase the variance of positive pairs. To validate the effectiveness of our method, we conduct extensive experiments on three benchmark datasets NTU-RGB+D 60, NTU-RGB+D 120 and PKU-MMD. Experimental results show that our proposed CSCLR exceeds the state-of-the-art methods on a diverse range of evaluation protocols.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

Renovation and Reuse of Reactive Dyeing Effluent by a Novel Heterogeneous Fenton System Based on Metal Modified PTFE Fibrous Catalyst/H 2

Cu-Fe bimetallic grafted polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fiber complexes were prepared and optimized as the novel heterogeneous Fenton catalysts for the degradation of reactive dyes under UV irradiation. Cotton fabrics were dyed with three reactive dyes, namely, Reactive Red 195, Reactive Yellow 145, and Reactive Blue 222, in tap fresh water using exhaustion process. The spent dyeing effluents were then collected and degraded with the optimized Cu-Fe bimetallic grafted PTFE fiber complex/H2O2 system. The treated dyeing effluents were characterized and reused for the dyeing of cotton fabrics through the same process. The effect of reuse process number on quality of the dyed cotton fabrics was examined. The results indicated that the Cu-Fe bimetallic modified PTFE fiber complex with a Cu/Fe molar ratio of 2.87 was found to be the most effective fibrous catalyst, which enhanced complete decolorization of the treated dyeing effluents with H2O2 in 4 h. However, the TOC removal for the treated dyeing effluents was below 80%. The dyeing quality was not affected for three successive cycles. The increase in residual TOC value influences fourth dyeing cycle. Further TOC reduction of the treated effluents is needed for its repeated reuse in more than three dyeing cycles

Preparation of a Modified PTFE Fibrous Photo-Fenton Catalyst and Its Optimization towards the Degradation of Organic Dye

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fiber was grafted with acrylic acid to impart the carboxyl groups onto the fiber surface, which were used to coordinate with both transition metal ions Fe(III) and Cu(II) and a rare metal ion Ce(III) to prepare the metal grafted PTFE fiber complexes as the novel heterogeneous Fenton catalysts for the degradation of the azo dye in water under visible irradiation. Some factors affecting the preparation process, such as nature and concentration of metal ions in the coordination solution, grafting degree of PTFE and reaction temperature were optimized with respect to the content and strength of metal fixation on the fiber and dye degradation efficiency. The results indicated that increasing metal ion concentrations in solution and grafting degree of PTFE fiber as well as higher coordination temperature led to a significant increase in metal content, especially Fe(III) and Cu(II) content of the complexes. Fe(III) ions fixed on the fiber showed the better catalytic performance than Cu(II) and Ce(III) ions fixed when three different complexes with similar metal content being employed, respectively. Moreover, Increasing Fe content or incorporation of Cu(II) ions could significantly improve the catalytic activity of the complexes

Application of the improved dynamical–Statistical–Analog ensemble forecast model for landfalling typhoon precipitation in Fujian province

The forecasting performance of the Dynamical–Statistical–Analog Ensemble Forecast (DSAEF) model for Landfalling Typhoon [or tropical cyclone (TC)] Precipitation (DSAEF_LTP), with new values of two parameters (i.e., similarity region and ensemble method) for landfalling TC precipitation over Fujian Province, is tested in four experiments. Forty-two TCs with precipitation over 100 mm in Fujian Province during 2004–2020 are chosen as experimental samples. Thirty of them are training samples and twelve are independent samples. First, simulation experiments for the training samples are used to determine the best scheme of the DSAEF_LTP model. Then, the forecasting performance of this best scheme is evaluated through forecast experiments. In the forecast experiments, the TSsum (the sum of threat scores for predicting TC accumulated rainfall of ≥250 mm and ≥100 mm) of experiments DSAEF_A, B, C, D is 0.0974, 0.2615, 0.2496, and 0.4153, respectively. The results show that the DSAEF_LTP model performs best when both adding new values of the similarity region and ensemble method (DSAEF_D). At the same time, the TSsum of the best performer of numerical weather prediction (NWP) models is only 0.2403. The improved DSAEF_LTP model shows advantages compared to the NWP models. It is an important method to improve the predictability of the DSAEF_LTP model by adopting different schemes in different regions

Deletion of 1.8-kb mRNA of Marek's disease virus decreases its replication ability but not oncogenicity

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The 1.8-kb mRNA was reported as one of the oncogenesis-related genes of Marek's disease virus (MDV). In this study, the bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clone of a MDV field strain GX0101 was used as the platform to generate mutant MDV to examine the functional roles of 1.8-kb mRNA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Based on the BAC clone of GX0101, the 1.8-kb mRNA deletion mutant GX0101Δ(A+C) was constructed. The present experiments indicated that GX0101Δ(A+C) retained a low level of oncogenicity, and it showed a decreased replication capacity in vitro and in vivo when compared with its parent virus, GX0101. Further studies in vitro demonstrated that deletion of 1.8-kb mRNA significantly decreased the transcriptional activity of the bi-directional promoter between 1.8-kb mRNA and pp38 genes of MDV.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results suggested that the 1.8-kb mRNA did not directly influence the oncogenesis but related to the replication ability of MDV.</p

Clinical factors of post-chemoradiotherapy as valuable indicators for pathological complete response in locally advanced rectal cancer

OBJECTIVES: Pathological complete response has shown a better prognosis for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer after preoperative chemoradiotherapy. However, correlations between post-chemoradiotherapy clinical factors and pathologic complete response are not well confirmed. The aim of the current study was to identify post-chemoradiotherapy clinical factors that could serve as indicators of pathologic complete response in locally advanced rectal cancer. METHODS: This study retrospectively analyzed 544 consecutive patients with locally advanced rectal cancer treated at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center from December 2003 to June 2014. All patients received preoperative chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed to identify post-chemoradiotherapy clinical factors that are significant indicators of pathologic complete response. RESULTS: In this study, 126 of 544 patients (23.2%) achieved pathological complete response. In multivariate analyses, increased pathological complete response rate was significantly associated with the following factors: post-chemoradiotherapy clinical T stage 0-2 (odds ratio=2.098, 95% confidence interval=1.023-4.304, p=0.043), post-chemoradiotherapy clinical N stage 0 (odds ratio=2.011, 95% confidence interval=1.264-3.201, p=0.003), interval from completion of preoperative chemoradiotherapy to surgery of >;7 weeks (odds ratio=1.795, 95% confidence interval=1.151-2.801, p=0.010) and post-chemoradiotherapy carcinoembryonic antigen ≤2 ng/ml (odds ratio=1.579, 95% confidence interval=1.026-2.432, p=0.038). CONCLUSIONS: Post-chemoradiotherapy clinical T stage 0-2, post-chemoradiotherapy clinical N stage 0, interval from completion of chemoradiotherapy to surgery of >;7 weeks and post-chemoradiotherapy carcinoembryonic antigen ≤2 ng/ml were independent clinical indicators for pathological complete response. These findings demonstrate that post-chemoradiotherapy clinical factors could be valuable for post-operative assessment of pathological complete response

Delineating the molecular landscape of different histopathological growth patterns in colorectal cancer liver metastases

BackgroundHistopathological growth patterns (HGPs) have shown important prognostic values for patients with colorectal cancer liver metastases, but the potential molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown.MethodsWe performed an exploratory analysis by conducting the RNA sequencing of primary colorectal lesions, colorectal liver metastatic lesions and normal liver tissues.FindingsWe found that desmoplastic HGPs of the metastatic lesions were significantly enriched in EMT, angiogenesis, stroma, and immune signaling pathways, while replacement HGPs were enriched in metabolism, cell cycle, and DNA damage repair pathways. With the exception of immune-related genes, the differentially expressed genes of the two HGPs from colorectal liver metastases were mostly inherited from the primary tumor. Moreover, normal liver tissue in the desmoplastic HGP subgroup was markedly enriched in the fibrinous inflammation pathway.ConclusionsWe surmised that HGPs are observable morphological changes resulting from the regulation of molecular expressions, which is the combined effect of the heterogeneity and remodeling of primary tumors seeds and liver soils

Identification of Renal Long Non-coding RNA RP11-2B6.2 as a Positive Regulator of Type I Interferon Signaling Pathway in Lupus Nephritis

Objective: Lupus nephritis (LN) is one of the most serious complications of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Type I interferon (IFN-I) is associated with the pathogenesis of LN. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of SLE, however, the roles of lncRNAs in LN are still poorly understood. Here, we identified and investigated the function of LN-associated lncRNA RP11-2B6.2 in regulating IFN-I signaling pathway.Methods: RNA sequencing was used to analyze the expression of lncRNAs in kidney biopsies from LN patients and controls. Antisense oligonucleotides and CRISPRi system or overexpression plasmids and CRISPRa system were used to perform loss or gain of function experiments. In situ hybridization, imaging flow cytometry, dual-luciferase reporter assay, and ATAC sequencing were used to study the functions of lncRNA RP11-2B6.2. RT-qPCR, ELISA, and western blotting were done to detect RNA and protein levels of specific genes.Results: Elevated lncRNA RP11-2B6.2 was observed in kidney biopsies from LN patients and positively correlated with disease activity and IFN scores. Knockdown of lncRNA RP11-2B6.2 in renal cells inhibited the expression of IFN stimulated genes (ISGs), while overexpression of lncRNA RP11-2B6.2 enhanced ISG expression. Knockdown of LncRNA RP11-2B6.2 inhibited the phosphorylation of JAK1, TYK2, and STAT1 in IFN-I pathway, while promoted the chromatin accessibility and the transcription of SOCS1.Conclusion: The expression of lncRNAs is abnormal in the kidney of LN. LncRNA RP11-2B6.2 is a novel positive regulator of IFN-I pathway through epigenetic inhibition of SOCS1, which provides a new therapeutic target to alleviate over-activated IFN-I signaling in LN