Function of Graphene Oxide as the “Nanoquencher” for Hg2+ Detection Using an Exonuclease I-Assisted Biosensor

Graphene oxide is well known for its excellent fluorescence quenching ability. In this study, positively charged graphene oxide (pGO25000) was developed as a fluorescence quencher that is water-soluble and synthesized by grafting polyetherimide onto graphene oxide nanosheets by a carbodiimide reaction. Compared to graphene oxide, the fluorescence quenching ability of pGO25000 is significantly improved by the increase in the affinity between pGO25000 and the DNA strand, which is introduced by the additional electrostatic interaction. The FAM-labeled single-stranded DNA probe can be almost completely quenched at concentrations of pGO25000 as low as 0.1 μg/mL. A simple and novel FAM-labeled single-stranded DNA sensor was designed for Hg²⁺ detection to take advantage of exonuclease I-triggered single-stranded DNA hydrolysis, and pGO25000 acted as a fluorescence quencher. The FAM-labeled single-stranded DNA probe is present as a hairpin structure by the formation of T–Hg²⁺–T when Hg²⁺ is present, and no fluorescence is observed. It is digested by exonuclease I without Hg²⁺, and fluorescence is recovered. The fluorescence intensity of the proposed biosensor was positively correlated with the Hg²⁺ concentration in the range of 0–250 nM (R² = 0.9955), with a seasonable limit of detection (3σ) cal. 3.93 nM. It was successfully applied to real samples of pond water for Hg²⁺ detection, obtaining a recovery rate from 99.6% to 101.1%.     

现代商业理念与“非遗”旅游开发中的难题——以大坝高装开发面临的资源成本难题为例

国家级“非遗”大坝高装的旅游开发,面临着成本高、所需资源短缺的难题,传统的小生产模式及其思想的限制是重要原因。在价值工程、外包等现代商业理念指导下整合其他“非遗”资源进行合作开发,可以较好地克服前述难题。合作开发会使“非遗”旅游开发中的各方之间的矛盾更为复杂,最佳协调方式是市场交易。但是,市场主体之间的自发交易成本过高。根据交易成本理论可找到降低成本的方式,即在政府部门主导下组建公司制经济实体作为合作开发平台,利用公司治理机制协调各利益相关者。     

Characteristic strength and acoustic emission properties of weakly cemented sandstone at different depths under uniaxial compression

As coal mining is extended from shallow to deep areas along the western coalfield,it is of great significance to study weakly cemented sandstone at different de...     

地下柴油发电站机房的通风与降温设计

介绍了柴油发电机组的几种换热方式与发热量的构成。强调了采用通风降温时,换热器的热风不能排入机房,应直接排入排风道,再由耐高温风机排至室外。通过实例说明了这种降温方式最小进排风量的计算方法。介绍了目前工程中存在的几个共性问题,并提出了解决方法。     

路灯双侧交错布置方式和设计要求

道路照明灯具的布置方式与灯具的安装高度、间距等密不可分,采用双侧交错灯具布置方式应满足《城市道路照明设计标准》(CJJ 45—2015)的相关要求。为使相关照明值达到规范标准,分析此种布置方式的设计要求。     

Cytokinin Confers Brown Planthopper Resistance by Elevating Jasmonic Acid Pathway in Rice

Plants have evolved a sophisticated defense system that employs various hormone pathways to defend against attacks by insect pests. Cytokinin (CK) plays an important role in plant growth and stress tolerance, but the role of CKs in plant–insect interaction remains largely unclear. Here, we report that CKs act as a positive regulator in rice resistance against brown planthopper (BPH), a devastating insect pest of rice. We found that BPH feeding promotes CK biosynthesis and signaling in rice. Exogenous application of CKs significantly increased the rice resistance to BPH. Increasing endogenous CKs by knocking out cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase (OsCKXs) led to enhanced resistance to BPH. Moreover, the levels of the plant hormone jasmonic acid (JA) and the expression of JA-responsive genes were elevated by CK treatment and in OsCKXs knockout plants. Furthermore, JA-deficient mutant og1 was more susceptible to BPH, and CK-induced BPH resistance was suppressed in og1. These results indicate that CK-mediated BPH resistance is JA-dependent. Our findings provide the direct evidence for the novel role of CK in promoting insect resistance, and demonstrate that CK-induced insect resistance is JA-dependent. These results provide important guidance for effective pest management strategies in the future.     

Carbon Metabolism of a Soilborne Mn(II)-Oxidizing Escherichia coli Isolate Implicated as a Pronounced Modulator of Bacterial Mn Oxidation

Mn(II)-oxidizing microorganisms are generally considered the primary driving forces in the biological formation of Mn oxides. However, the mechanistic elucidation of the actuation and regulation of Mn oxidation in soilborne bacteria remains elusive. Here, we performed joint multiple gene-knockout analyses and comparative morphological and physiological determinations to characterize the influence of carbon metabolism on the Mn oxide deposit amount (MnODA) and the Mn oxide formation of a soilborne bacterium, Escherichia coli MB266. Different carbon source substances exhibited significantly varied effects on the MnODA of MB266. A total of 16 carbon metabolism-related genes with significant variant expression levels under Mn supplementation conditions were knocked out in the MB266 genome accordingly, but only little effect on the MnODA of each mutant strain was accounted for. However, a simultaneous four-gene-knockout mutant (namely, MB801) showed an overall remarkable MnODA reduction and an initially delayed Mn oxide formation compared with the wild-type MB266. The assays using scanning/transmission electron microscopy verified that MB801 exhibited not only a delayed Mn-oxide aggregate processing, but also relatively smaller microspherical agglomerations, and presented flocculent deposit Mn oxides compared with normal fibrous and crystalline Mn oxides formed by MB266. Moreover, the Mn oxide aggregate formation was highly related to the intracellular ROS level. Thus, this study demonstrates that carbon metabolism acts as a pronounced modulator of MnODA in MB266, which will provide new insights into the occurrence of Mn oxidation and Mn oxide formation by soilborne bacteria in habitats where Mn(II) naturally occurs.     

Enhancing the Therapeutic Potential of Mesenchymal Stromal Cell-Based Therapies with an Anti-Fibrotic Agent for the Treatment of Chronic Kidney Disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects 1 in 10 members of the general population, placing these patients at an increasingly high risk of kidney failure. Despite the significant burden of CKD on various healthcare systems, there are no effective cures that reverse or even halt its progression. In recent years, human bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSCs) have been recognised as a novel therapy for CKDs, owing to their well-established immunomodulatory and tissue-reparative properties in preclinical settings, and their promising safety profile that has been demonstrated in patients with CKDs from several clinical trials. However, renal fibrosis (scarring), a hallmark of CKD, has been shown to impair the viability and functionality of BM-MSCs post-transplantation. This has suggested that BM-MSCs might require a pre-treatment or adjunct therapy that can enhance the viability and therapeutic efficacy of these stromal cells in chronic disease settings. To address this, recent studies that have combined BM-MSCs with the anti-fibrotic drug serelaxin (RLX), have demonstrated the enhanced therapeutic potential of this combination therapy in normotensive and hypertensive preclinical models of CKD. In this review, a critical appraisal of the preclinical data available on the anti-fibrotic and renoprotective actions of BM-MSCs or RLX alone and when combined, as a treatment option for normotensive vs. hypertensive CKD, is discussed.     

Maternal Prenatal Inflammation Increases Brain Damage Susceptibility of Lipopolysaccharide in Adult Rat Offspring via COX-2/PGD-2/DPs Pathway Activation

A growing body of research suggests that inflammatory insult contributes to the etiology of central nervous system diseases, such as depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and so forth. However, the effect of prenatal systemic inflammation exposure on offspring brain development and cerebral susceptibility to inflammatory insult remains unknown. In this study, we utilized the prenatal inflammatory insult model in vivo and the neuronal damage model in vitro. The results obtained show that prenatal maternal inflammation exacerbates LPS-induced memory impairment, neuronal necrosis, brain inflammatory response, and significantly increases protein expressions of COX-2, DP2, APP, and Aβ, while obviously decreasing that of DP1 and the exploratory behaviors of offspring rats. Meloxicam significantly inhibited memory impairment, neuronal necrosis, oxidative stress, and inflammatory response, and down-regulated the expressions of APP, Aβ, COX-2, and DP2, whereas significantly increased exploring behaviors and the expression of DP1 in vivo. Collectively, these findings suggested that maternal inflammation could cause offspring suffering from inflammatory and behavioral disorders and increase the susceptibility of offspring to cerebral pathological factors, accompanied by COX-2/PGD-2/DPs pathway activation, which could be ameliorated significantly by COX-2 inhibitor meloxicam treatment.     

尖晶石相型LiM_(0.2)Mn_(1.8)O_4(M=Mg、Cd)相的晶格畸变与红外吸收峰频移

通过室温固相法制备了不同元素掺杂的前驱体,并采用分步煅烧法获得了尖晶石型LiMn2O4和LiM0.2Mn1.8O4(M=Mg、Cd)相。采用XRD和FTIR技术就元素掺杂对产物晶格畸变、Mn—O键长和键能强度等微观结构参数和光谱频移现象进行分析。结果表明,不同元素掺杂导致产物产生不同程度的晶格畸变。Mg元素掺杂使晶格收缩,Mn(Ⅳ)—O和Mn(Ⅲ)—O键收缩和键能强度增加,对应吸收峰发生蓝移;Cd元素掺杂使晶格膨胀,Mn(Ⅳ)—O和Mn(Ⅲ)—O键增长和键能强度降低,对应吸收峰发生红移。