Development of Mining Technology and Equipment for Seafloor Massive Sulfide Deposits

Seafloor massive sulfide(SMS) deposits which consist of Au, Ag, Cu, and other metal elements, have been a target of commercial mining in recent decades. The demand for established and reliable commercial mining system for SMS deposits is increasing within the marine mining industry. The current status and progress of mining technology and equipment for SMS deposits are introduced. First, the mining technology and other recent developments of SMS deposits are comprehensively explained and analyzed. The seafloor production tools manufactured by Nautilus Minerals and similar mining tools from Japan for SMS deposits are compared and discussed in turn. Second, SMS deposit mining technology research being conducted in China is described, and a new SMS deposits mining tool is designed according to the environmental requirement. Finally, some new trends of mining technology of SMS deposits are summarized and analyzed. All of these conclusions and results have reference value and guiding significance for the research of SMS deposit mining in China

Cytological and proteomic analyses of horsetail (Equisetum arvense L.) spore germination

Spermatophyte pollen tubes and root hairs have been used as single-cell-type model systems to understand the molecular processes underlying polar growth of plant cells. Horsetail (Equisetum arvense L.) is a perennial herb species in Equisetopsida, which creates separately growing spring and summer stems in its life cycle. The mature chlorophyllous spores produced from spring stems can germinate without dormancy. Here we report the cellular features and protein expression patterns in five stages of horsetail spore germination (mature spores, rehydrated spores, double-celled spores, germinated spores, and spores with protonemal cells). Using 2-DE combined with mass spectrometry, 80 proteins were found to be abundance changed upon spore germination. Among them, proteins involved in photosynthesis, protein turnover, and energy supply were over-represented. Thirteen proteins appeared as proteoforms on the gels, indicating the potential importance of post-translational modification. In addition, the dynamic changes of ascorbate peroxidase, peroxiredoxin, and dehydroascorbate reductase implied that reactive oxygen species homeostasis is critical in regulating cell division and tip-growth. The diverse expression patterns of proteins in photosynthesis, energy supply, lipid and amino acid metabolism indicated that heterotrophic and autotrophic metabolism were necessary in light-dependent germination of the spores. Twenty-six proteins were involved in protein synthesis and fate, indicating that protein turnover is vital to spore germination. Furthermore, the altered abundance of small G protein Ran, 14-3-3 protein, actin, and Caffeoyl-CoA O-methyltransferase revealed that signaling transduction, vesicle trafficking, cytoskeleton dynamics, and cell wall modulation were critical to cell division and polar growth. These findings lay a foundation toward understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying fern spore asymmetric division and rhizoid polar growth

Abnormal chromosome behavior during meiosis in the allotetraploid of Carassius auratus red var. (♀) × Megalobrama amblycephala(♂)

BACKGROUND: Allopolyploids generally undergo bivalent pairing at meiosis because only homologous chromosomes pair up. On the other hand, several studies have documented abnormal chromosome behavior during mitosis and meiosis in allopolyploids plants leading to the production of gametes with complete paternal or maternal chromosomes. Polyploidy is relatively rare in animals compared with plants; thus, chromosome behavior at meiosis in the allopolyploid animals is poorly understood. RESULTS: Tetraploid hybrids (abbreviated as 4nRB) (4n = 148, RRBB) of Carassius auratus red var. (abbreviated as RCC) (2n = 100, RR) (♀) × Megalobrama amblycephala (abbreviated as BSB) (2n = 48, BB) (♂) generated gametes of different size. To test the genetic composition of these gametes, the gynogenetic offspring and backcross progenies of 4nRB were produced, and their genetic composition were examined by chromosome analysis and FISH. Our results suggest that 4nRB can produce several types of gametes with different genetic compositions, including allotetraploid (RRBB), autotriploid (RRR), autodiploid (RR), and haploid (R) gametes. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides direct evidence of abnormal chromosome behavior during meiosis in an allotetraploid fish

Three-dimensional coupled dynamic analysis of deep ocean mining system

Razvijen je novi trodimenzionalno spregnuti dinamički model sustava za rudarenje u dubokom oceanu. Kopač koji se vuče po dnu napravljen je kao 3D model kompaktnog vozila s mehaničkim modelom gusjeničara s elementima u zahvatu, s kojim ne samo da se može ostvariti brza dinamička simulacija nasuprot tradicionalnom 3D modelu sastavljenom od više dijelova, već se može također omogućiti nošenje specijalnog terramehaničkog modela za talog s morskog dna. Cjevovod za kopanje izrađen je kao 3D model diskretnih elemenata s više dijelova koji je podijeljen u krute elemente povezane fleksibilnim konektorima, i može također ostvariti brzu dinamičku simulaciju za tako dugačak cjevovod. Predloženi su i simulirani novi integrirani načini iskapanja za čitav sustav koji pokazuju da se kroz cijeli postupak može dobro održati stabilno sinhronizirano djelovanje čitavog sustava. Dinamička simulacijska analiza data u radu može pružiti važnu teoretsku bazu i tehničku referencu za dizajn konstrukcije, ocjenu djelovanja i kontrolu rada praktičnog sustava iskapanja u dubokom oceanu.A new three-dimensional coupled dynamic model of the deep ocean mining system is developed. The seafloor tracked miner is built as a 3D single-body vehicle model with mesh element track-terrain interaction mechanics model, which not only can realize the fast dynamic simulation in contrast to traditional 3D multi-body model, but also can allow the loading of the seafloor sediment special terramechanics model. The mining pipeline is built as a 3D multi-body discrete element model that is divided into rigid elements linked by flexible connectors, also can realize the fast dynamic simulation for such long pipeline. New integrated mining operation modes for the total system are proposed and simulated, which show that during the whole operation processes, the synchronized stable motion of the total system can be kept well. The dynamic simulation analysis in the paper can provide important theoretical basis and technical reference for structure design, performance evaluation and operation control of the practical deep ocean mining system

M2 Polarization of Macrophages Facilitates Arsenic-Induced Cell Transformation of Lung Epithelial Cells

The alterations in microenvironment upon chronic arsenic exposure may contribute to arsenic-induced lung carcinogenesis. Immune cells, such as macrophages, play an important role in mediating the microenvironment in the lungs. Macrophages carry out their functions after activation. There are two activation status for macrophages: classical (M1) or alternative (M2); the latter is associated with tumorigenesis. Our previous work showed that long-term arsenic exposure induces transformation of lung epithelial cells. However, the crosstalk between epithelial cells and macrophages upon arsenic exposure has not been investigated. In this study, using a co-culture system in which human lung epithelial cells are cultured with macrophages, we determined that long-term arsenic exposure polarizes macrophages towards M2 status through ROS generation. Co-culture with epithelial cells further enhanced the polarization of macrophages as well as transformation of epithelial cells, while blocking macrophage M2 polarization decreased the transformation. In addition, macrophage M2 polarization decreased autophagy activity, which may account for increased cell transformation of epithelial cells with co-culture of macrophages

Genome-Wide Identification of the A20/AN1 Zinc Finger Proteon Family Genes in \u3cem\u3eIpomoea batatas\u3c/em\u3e and Its Two Relatives and Function Analysis of \u3cem\u3eIbSAP16\u3c/em\u3e in Salinity Tolerance

Stress-associated protein (SAP) genes—encoding A20/AN1 zinc-finger domain-containing proteins—play pivotal roles in regulating stress responses, growth, and development in plants. They are considered suitable candidates to improve abiotic stress tolerance in plants. However, the SAP gene family in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) and its relatives is yet to be investigated. In this study, 20 SAPs in sweet potato, and 23 and 26 SAPs in its wild diploid relatives Ipomoea triloba and Ipomoea trifida were identified. The chromosome locations, gene structures, protein physiological properties, conserved domains, and phylogenetic relationships of these SAPs were analyzed systematically. Binding motif analysis of IbSAPs indicated that hormone and stress responsive cis-acting elements were distributed in their promoters. RT-qPCR or RNA-seq data revealed that the expression patterns of IbSAP, ItbSAP, and ItfSAP genes varied in different organs and responded to salinity, drought, or ABA (abscisic acid) treatments differently. Moreover, we found that IbSAP16 driven by the 35 S promoter conferred salinity tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis. These results provided a genome-wide characterization of SAP genes in sweet potato and its two relatives and suggested that IbSAP16 is involved in salinity stress responses. Our research laid the groundwork for studying SAP-mediated stress response mechanisms in sweet potato

The Technology of Mould Steel for Online Pre-hardening

AbstractThis article describes a production method of mould steel pre-hardening, and focus on the advantage of this method, The technical core of method is the variable frequency and variable amplitude pulse uniform high-precision temperature control, which achieved by using strong-medium-weak water cooling, gas-water cooling and gas mist cooling composite cooling control technology. Optimizing the cooling rate path is a good method of optimizing quenched organization and structure

Proteomics and Phosphoproteomics of Heat Stress-Responsive Mechanisms in Spinach

Elevated temperatures limit plant growth and reproduction and pose a growing threat to agriculture. Plant heat stress response is highly conserved and fine-tuned in multiple pathways. Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) is a cold tolerant but heat sensitive green leafy vegetable. In this study, heat adaptation mechanisms in a spinach sibling inbred heat-tolerant line Sp75 were investigated using physiological, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic approaches. The abundance patterns of 911 heat stress-responsive proteins, and phosphorylation level changes of 45 phosphoproteins indicated heat-induced calcium-mediated signaling, ROS homeostasis, endomembrane trafficking, and cross-membrane transport pathways, as well as more than 15 transcription regulation factors. Although photosynthesis was inhibited, diverse primary and secondary metabolic pathways were employed for defense against heat stress, such as glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway, amino acid metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, nucleotide metabolism, vitamin metabolism, and isoprenoid biosynthesis. These data constitute a heat stress-responsive metabolic atlas in spinach, which will springboard further investigations into the sophisticated molecular mechanisms of plant heat adaptation and inform spinach molecular breeding initiatives

Sensitizing Leukemia Stem Cells to NF-κB Inhibitor Treatment in Vivo by Inactivation of Both TNF and IL-1 Signaling

We previously reported that autocrine TNF-α (TNF) is responsible for JNK pathway activation in a subset of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patient samples, providing a survival/proliferation signaling parallel to NF-κB in AML stem cells (LSCs). In this study, we report that most TNF-expressing AML cells (LCs) also express another pro-inflammatory cytokine, IL1β, which acts in a parallel manner. TNF was produced primarily by LSCs and leukemic progenitors (LPs), whereas IL1β was mainly produced by partially differentiated leukemic blasts (LBs). IL1β also stimulates an NF-κB-independent pro-survival and proliferation signal through activation of the JNK pathway. We determined that co-inhibition of signaling stimulated by both TNF and IL1β synergizes with NF-κB inhibition in eliminating LSCs both ex vivo and in vivo. Our studies show that such treatments are most effective in M4/5 subtypes of AML