Porous Polyethylene Composite as Biomass Carrier for Red Pigment Production Using Monosodium Glutamate Wastewater as Medium

This research article published by American Scientific Publishers, Volume 17, Number 1, October 2012Abundant acidic wastewater from monosodium glutamate production is difficult to treat, leading to serious water pollution. Utilization of monosodium glutamate wastewater (MSGW) with high concentration of COD (33170 mg/L) as substrates for microbial fermentation is a challenge. In this study, MSGW after diluted was treated under non-sterile conditions by immobilized Monascus purpureus onto porous PE composites. The effects of porous PE composites ( p PEC), initial pH, wastewater concentration and inoculum amount on red pigment production and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of MSGW were evaluated. Observation of the microbial community using a scanning electron microscope indicated that Monascus purpureus was attached to the pPEC after 10 days of operation. The immobilized biomass of Monascus purpureus increased with the increase of the porosity of the p PEC. And p PEC could not only increase the yield of red pigment, but also enhance the COD removal efficiency of MSGW. Under the optimal conditions (20% MSGW, pH = 2, 10 mL inoculum), 4.5±0.3 UA500 of red pigment and 53.3±1.8% of COD removal were obtained respectively, when p PEC of 89.79 m2/g in BET specific surface area was applied as biomass carrier. This preliminary study demonstrates that by selecting suitable biomass carrier, proper management of the pH and optimization of application rate, MSGW can be utilized as a nutrient source for Monascus pigment production

Lithospheric electrical structure across the Bangong-Nujiang Suture in northern tibet revealed by magnetotelluric

Competing hypotheses have been proposed to explain the subduction polarity of the Bangong-Nujiang Tethyan Ocean and the formation of the high-conductivity anomaly beneath the Qiangtang terrane. However, the lithospheric architecture of the northern Tibetan Plateau is still poorly understood due to inhospitable environments and topography. Therefore, in the winter of 2021, a 440 km long, SN-trending broadband magnetotelluric (MT) profile was recorded in northern Tibet to detect its regional lithospheric structure. The nonlinear conjugate gradients algorithm is conducted to invert the individual TM mode data. A reliable 2D electrical model was obtained by ablation processing and analysis of broadband magnetotelluric data to test the lithospheric electrical structure and dynamics between the northern Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes. The inversion results reveal the lithospheric structure at a depth of 100 km in northern Tibet, which synthesizes geological, geochemical and deep seismic reflection evidence and firmly identifies that the trace of the south-dipping conductor mainly resulted from the southward subduction of the Bangong-Nujiang Tethyan Ocean under the Lhasa terrane and the trace of the north-dipping conductor likely due to the northward subduction of the Bangong-Nujiang Tethyan Ocean under the Qiangtang terrane. In addition, the magnetotelluric profile also images a high-conductivity lithospheric-scale anticline beneath the central Qiangtang terrane, which may correspond to the upwelling of postcollisional magmatism triggered by northward subduction of the Bangong-Nujiang Tethyan Ocean under the Qiangtang terrane, aqueous fluid and/or partial melting

Genetic variation of isolated Picea balfouriana populations from the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

• The objective of this work is to estimate the level of genetic variation and pattern of genetic structure of isolated Picea balfouriana populations. • Nine SSR markers and six STS markers were assayed in ten natural populations of P. balfouriana, which is a regionally distributed conifer species in the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. • Expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.592 to 0.710 based on SSRs, and from 0.489 to 0.635 based on STS markers. The SSR and STS markers revealed that 11% and 12% of variation, respectively, was present among populations. However, the SSRs showed no deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium ($F_{\mathrm{IS}}$ = - 0.030), unlike the STS markers ($F_{\mathrm{IS}}$ = 0.249). In addition, assignment methods showed that individuals from the same sampling site usually cluster together. • Our results indicated that the distribution of genetic variation and population genetic structure of P. balfouriana may be attributed to habitat fragmentation and heterogeneous environments caused by the complex topographic environment in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The population genetic information obtained in our study will benefit the development and utilization of appropriate conservation and breeding strategies for P. balfouriana.Variation génétique des populations isolées de Picea balfouriana du sud-est du plateau Qinghai-Tibet. • L'objectif de ce travail a été d'estimer le niveau de variation génétique et le modèle de la structure génétique de populations isolées de Picea balfouriana. • Neuf marqueurs SSR et six marqueurs STS ont été testés sur dix populations naturelles de P. balfouriana qui est un conifère distribué au niveau régional dans le sud-est du plateau Qinghai-Tibet. • L'hétérozygotie attendue allait de 0,592 à 0,710 sur la base des marqueurs SSR, et de 0,489 à 0,635 sur la base des marqueurs STS. Les marqueurs SSR et STS ont révélé que 11 % et 12 % de la variation, respectivement, étaient présentes parmi les populations. Toutefois, les marqueurs SSR ne montraient aucun écart par rapport à l'équilibre de Hardy-Weinberg ($F_{\mathrm{I}}$ = - 0,030) à la différence des marqueurs STS ($F_{\mathrm{I}}$ = 0,249).Les méthodes d'assignation bayésiennes ont montré que les individus d'un même site d'échantillonnage étaient habituellement groupés ensemble. • Nos résultats pourraient indiquer que la distribution de la variation génétique et la structure génétique de la population de Pinus balfouriana peuvent être attribuées à la fragmentation de l'habitat et à des environnements hétérogènes causés par un environnement topographique complexe dans le sud-est du plateau Qinghai-Tibet. L'information génétique obtenue sur la population dans notre étude sera bénéfique pour le développement et l'utilisation appropriés des stratégies de conservation et de sélection de Pinus balfouriana

A General Planning-Based Framework for Goal-Driven Conversation Assistant

We propose a general framework for goal-driven conversation assistant based on Planning methods. It aims to rapidly build a dialogue agent with less handcrafting and make the more interpretable and efficient dialogue management in various scenarios. By employing the Planning method, dialogue actions can be efficiently defined and reusable, and the transition of the dialogue are managed by a Planner. The proposed framework consists of a pipeline of Natural Language Understanding (intent labeler), Planning of Actions (with a World Model), and Natural Language Generation (learned by an attention-based neural network). We demonstrate our approach by creating conversational agents for several independent domains

The Mabja Dome Structure in Southern Tibet Revealed by Deep Seismic Reflection Data and Its Tectonic Implications

The ongoing India-Asia collision has led to the formation of the northern Himalayan gneiss domes belt in southern Tibet. The domes are the result of the ongoing convergence and were formed by geological processes that may include crustal thickening, metamorphism, partial melting, and exhumation of middle crustal rocks to the surface. A combination of compressional, extensional, and diapiric processes has been invoked to explain the formation and evolution of these domes. Differentiating among these competing hypotheses requires well-defined geophysical images of the internal structure of the domes. The Mabja dome is the largest dome within the northern Himalayan gneiss domes belt. A 70-km long deep seismic reflection profile across Mabja dome was acquired in 2016. The seismic data could provide new information about the structural elements beneath the domes to the depth of 25 Km. We address the structure of the Mabja dome by conducting an integrated analysis of shallow crustal velocity structure and a normal-incidence seismic reflection image of deeper crust. Our work suggests that the Mabja dome is underlain by shear zones at depths of 10–15 km and two high-velocity bodies at depths of 3 km possibly representing the eclogitic-facies rocks or mafic intrusions. We propose that the dome formation may have been controlled by collision-induced north-south shortening expressed by thrust stacking of middle crustal rocks, which led to the doming of the upper-crustal rocks. The proposed mechanism inferred for Mabja dome can be applied to interpret the widespread domes throughout the southern Tibet and other related structures in orogenic mountain belts. © 2021. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.The authors thank Professor Jinyi Li, Rizheng He, Dr Yuanzhi Yao and Zhigang Shi, and three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments that have greatly improved the manuscript. The authors also thank Professor Daniel Koehn and Denise De Nil for providing us FWT code. The study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (41704089, 42074097,41590863), China Geological Survey projects (DD20190016) and National Key R&D Program of China (2107YFC0601301).Peer reviewe

A Novel SNPs Detection Method Based on Gold Magnetic Nanoparticles Array and Single Base Extension

To fulfill the increasing need for large-scale genetic research, a high-throughput and automated SNPs genotyping method based on gold magnetic nanoparticles (GMNPs) array and dual-color single base extension has been designed. After amplification of DNA templates, biotinylated extension primers were captured by streptavidin coated gold magnetic nanoparticle (SA-GMNPs). Next a solid-phase, dual-color single base extension (SBE) reaction with the specific biotinylated primer was performed directly on the surface of the GMNPs. Finally, a &#8220;bead array&#8221; was fabricated by spotting GMNPs with fluorophore on a clean glass slide, and the genotype of each sample was discriminated by scanning the &#8220;bead array&#8221;. MTHFR gene C677T polymorphism of 320 individual samples were interrogated using this method, the signal/noise ratio for homozygous samples were over 12.33, while the signal/noise ratio for heterozygous samples was near 1. Compared with other dual-color hybridization based genotyping methods, the method described here gives a higher signal/noise ratio and SNP loci can be identified with a high level of confidence. This assay has the advantage of eliminating the need for background subtraction and direct analysis of the fluorescence values of the GMNPs to determine their genotypes without the necessary procedures for purification and complex reduction of PCR products. The application of this strategy to large-scale SNP studies simplifies the process, and reduces the labor required to produce highly sensitive results while improving the potential for automation.</p

Novel Strategy Utilizing Extracellular Cysteine-Rich Domain of Membrane Receptor for Constructing d -Peptide Mediated Targeted Drug Delivery Systems: A Case Study on Fn14

The development of proteolysis-resistant d-peptide ligands for targeted drug/gene delivery has been greatly limited, due to the challenge that lies in the chemical synthesis of membrane receptors without altering their structures. In the present research, a novel strategy utilizing self-stabilized extracellular CRD of the membrane receptor was developed to construct d-peptide ligands and their mediated targeted drug delivery systems. Fn14, a cell surface receptor overexpressed in many cancers including pancreatic and triple-negative breast cancers, was selected as the model receptor. Fn14 CRD was synthesized and folded, and used to screen Fn14 binding peptides using phage display (l-peptide) and mirror-image phage display (d-peptide) techniques, respectively. The d-peptide ligand successfully mediated targeted drug delivery to Fn14 positive tumor cells. In addition, the d-peptide possessed better target-binding affinity, stromal barrier permeability, and tumor targeting ability in vivo when conjugated with liposomes. More importantly, d-peptide mediated liposomal paclitaxel delivery significantly inhibited pancreatic tumor growth in a subcutaneous xenograft model and drastically prolonged survival in a lung metastasis of breast cancer mouse model. This study demonstrated that mirror-image phage display based on the CRD of membrane receptor can be a promising strategy to advance active targeted drug delivery via biostable d-peptides

A recombinant oncolytic Newcastle virus expressing MIP-3α promotes systemic antitumor immunity

Background The oncolytic Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is inherently able to trigger the lysis of tumor cells and induce the immunogenic cell death (ICD) of tumor cells and is also an excellent gene-engineering vector. The macrophage inflammatory protein-3α (MIP-3α) is a specific chemokine for dendritic cells (DCs). Thus, we constructed a recombinant NDV expressing MIP-3α (NDV-MIP3α) as an in vivo DC vaccine for amplifying antitumor immunities.Methods The recombinant NDV-MIP3α was constructed by the insertion of MIP-3α cDNA between the P and M genes. Western blotting assay and ELISA were used to detect MIP-3α, HMGB1, IgG, and ATP in the supernatant and sera. The chemotaxis of DCs was examined by Transwell chambers. The phenotypes of the immune cells (eg, DCs) were analyzed by flow cytometry. The antitumor efficiency of NDV-MIP3α was observed in B16 and CT26 tumor-bearing mice. Immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry were applied to observe the ecto-calreticulin (CRT) and intratumoral attraction of DCs. Adoptive transfer of splenocytes and antibodies and depletion of T-cell subsets were used to evaluate the relationship between antitumor immunities and the role of the T-cell subtype.Results The findings show that NDV-MIP3α has almost the same capabilities of tumor lysis and induction of ICD as the wild-type NDV (NDV-WT). MIP-3α secreted by NDV-MIP3α could successfully attract DCs in vitro and in vivo. Both B16 and CT26 cells infected with NDV-MIP3α could strongly promote DC maturation and activation. Compared with NDV-WT, intratumoral injection of NDV-MIP3α and the adoptive transfer of T lymphocytes from mice injected with NDV-MIP3α resulted in a significant suppression of B16 and CT26 tumor growth. The NDV-MIP3α-induced production of tumor-specific cellular and humoral immune responses was dependent on CD8+ T cells and partially on CD4+ T cells. A significant reversion of tumor microenvironments was found in the mice injected with NDV-MIP3α.Conclusions Compared with NDV-WT, the recombinant NDV-MIP3α as an in vivo DC vaccine demonstrates enhanced antitumor activities through the induction of stronger system immunities and modulation of the tumor microenvironment. This strategy may be a potential approach for the generation of an in vivo DC vaccine

Preparation of Graphene Quantum Dots for Bioimaging Application

In this communication, preparation of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with size about 10 nm by vigorous oxidation of graphite is reported. Thus obtained GQDs exhibit good physiological solubility, high photostability, low cytotoxicity, and yellow-green fluorescence with quantum yield about 7%. Furthermore, the feasibility of the GQDs for cell imaging application is demosntrated