Synthesis of ordered mesoporous carbonaceous materials and their highly efficient capture of uranium from solutions

An extremely effortless method was applied for successful synthesis of mesoporous carbonaceous materials(MCMs) using well-ordered mesoporous silica as template. Various characterizations(scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR), Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), Brunner-Emmet-Teller(BET) and Zeta potential) confirmed that MCMs had large surface area, uniform pore size distribution, and abundant oxygen-containing functional groups. The batch techniques were employed to study U(VI) adsorption on MCMs under a wide range of experiment conditions. The adsorption kinetics of U(VI) onto MCMs were well-fitted by pseudo-second-order kinetic model, indicating a chemisorption process. The excellent adsorption capacity of MCMs calculated from the Langmuir model was 293.95 mg g^(-1) at pH 4.0. The FT-IR and XPS analyses further evidenced that the binding of U(VI) onto MCMs was ascribed to the plentiful adsorption sites(–OH and –COOH groups) in the internal mesoporous structure, which could efficiently trap guest U(VI) ions. The results presented herein revealed that MCMs were ideal adsorbents in the efficient elimination of uranium or other lanthanides/actinides from aqueous solutions, which would play an important role in environmental pollution management application.

锰铝二元水滑石和锰铁铝三元水滑石对U(Ⅵ)的高效去除及其机理研究

本文采用一步水热法制备了新型低成本的二元水滑石(MnAl-LDHs)和三元水滑石(MnFeAl-LDHs)吸附剂,并利用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)、X射线粉末衍射仪(XRD)和X射线光电子能谱(XPS)等微观表征技术分析了材料的物理化学性质,通过静态批示实验和光谱分析研究了U(Ⅵ)在MnAl-LDHs和MnFeAl-LDHs上的吸附行为和相互作用机理.宏观实验结果表明, MnAl-LDHs和MnFeAl-LDHs对U(Ⅵ)的吸附在60 min内都达到了平衡,且在pH=5.0条件下三元MnFeAl-LDHs对U(Ⅵ)呈现出较高的吸附量(157.73 mg/g),是U(Ⅵ)在二元MnAl-LDHs上饱和吸附量(70.72 mg/g)的两倍.此外, MnFeAl-LDHs在高盐度、复杂共存离子环境下和不同水体系中依然表现出优越的吸附性能. FTIR和XPS光谱分析结果表明, U(Ⅵ)不仅可以与材料表面的–OH和层间CO32-形成较强的络合,还能与水滑石中的部分Mn^(2+)发生取代反应.本文的研究揭示了含锰水滑石材料在高效修复放射性废水中的吸附机理和潜在的应用前景.

Interactive effects of understory removal and fertilization on soil respiration in subtropical Eucalyptus plantations

Aims It has been well recognized that understory vegetation plays an important role in driving forest ecosystem processes and functioning.In subtropical plantation forests,understory removal and fertiliza-tion have been widely applied;however,our understanding on how understory removal affects soil respiration and how the process is regulated by fertilization is limited.Here,we conducted an under-story removal experiment combined with fertilization to evaluate the effects of the two forest management practices and their inter-actions on soil respiration in subtropical forest in southern China.Methods The study was conducted in a split-plot design with fertilization as the whole-plot factor,understory removal as the subplot factor and block as the random factor in subtropical Eucalyptus plantations.In total,there were four treatments:control with unfertilized and intact understory(CK),understory removal but without fertilization(UR),with fertilization but without understory removal(FT)and with fertilization+understory removal(FT+UR).Eucalyptus above-and belowground biomass increment,fine root biomass,soil tempera-ture,soil moisture and soil respiration were measured in the present study.understory respiration(Ru)was quantified in different ways:Ru=RCK−Ru or Ru=RFT−R(FT+u);fertilization increased soil respiration(RFI)was also quantified in different ways:RFI=RFT−RCK or RFI=R(FT+u)−Ru.Important Findingsover a 2-year experiment,our data indicate that understory removal significantly decreased soil respiration,while fertilization increased soil respiration.understory removal decreased soil respiration by 28.8%under fertilization,but only 15.2%without fertilization.Fertilization significantly increased soil respiration by 23.6%with the presence of understory vegetation,and only increased by 3.7%when understory was removed,indicating that fertilization increased soil respiration mainly by increasing the contribution of the understory.our study advances our understanding of the interactive effects of understory management and fertilization on soil respiration in subtropical plantations.

Considerable impacts of litter inputs on soil nematode community composition in a young Acacia crassicapa plantation

Aboveground litter inputs and root exudates provide basal resources for soil communities,however,their relative contributions to soil food web are still not well understood.Here,we conducted a field manipulative experiment to differentiate the effects of litter inputs and living root on nematode community composition of surface and subsoils in a young Acacia crassicapa plantation in southern China.Our results showed that both litter addition and root presence significantly enhanced soil nematode abundance by 17.3%and 35.3%,respectively.Litter addition altered nematode trophic group composition,decreased fungivore to bacterivore ratio,and enhanced maturity index and structure index,which led to a bacterial-based energy channel and a more complex food web structure.However,root presence had a limited impact on the nematode community composition and ecological indices.Despite nematodes surface assembly,soil depth did not affect nematode trophic group composition or ecological index.Our findings highlight the importance of litter inputs in shaping soil nematode community structure and regulating soil energy channel.

Ufl1 deficiency causes kidney atrophy associated with disruption of endoplasmic reticulum homeostasis

The UFMylation modification is a novel ubiquitin-like conjugation system,consisting of UBA5(E1),UFC1(E2),UFL1(E3),and the conjugating molecule UFM1.Deficiency in this modification leads to embryonic lethality in mice and diseases in humans.However,the function of UFL1 is poorly characterized.Studies on Ufl1 conditional knockout mice have demonstrated that the deletion of Ufl1 in cardiomyocytes and in intestinal epithelial cells causes heart failure and increases susceptibility to experimentally induced colitis,respectively,suggesting an essential role of UFL1 in the maintenance of the homeostasis in these organs.Yet,its physiological function in other tissues and organs remains completely unknown.In this study,we generate the nephron tubules specific Ufl1 knockout mice and find that the absence of Ufl1 in renal tubular results in kidney atrophy and interstitial fibrosis.In addition,Ufl1 deficiency causes the activation of unfolded protein response and cell apoptosis,which may be responsible for the kidney atrophy and interstitial fibrosis.Collectively,our results have demonstrated the crucial role of UFL1 in regulating kidney function and maintenance of endoplasmic reticulum homeostasis,providing another layer of understanding kidney atrophy.

Toripalimab in advanced biliary tract cancer

Gemcitabine combined with platinum/fluorouracil drugs is the standard firstline treatment for advanced biliary tract cancers(BTCs).We explored the safety and efficacy of toripalimab plus gemcitabine and S-1(GS)as the first-line treatment for advanced BTCs.At a one-sided significance level of 0.025,a total of 50 patients could provide 80%power to show the efficacy at targeted progression-free survival(PFS)rate at 6 months of 70%versus 40%for the combined treatment.This single-arm,phase II study enrolled 50 patients with advanced BTCs who previously received no systemic treatment.The regimen was as follows:toripalimab(240 mg,i.v.,d1),gemcitabine(1,000 mg/m2,i.v.,d1 and d8),and S-1(40–60 mg bid p.o.,d1–14,Q21d).The primary endpoint was progression-free survival.The secondary endpoints included overall survival(OS),objective response rate(ORR),duration of response(DOR),and safety.The associations between response with PDL1 expression,tumor mutational burden(TMB),and genetic variations were explored.Patients were enrolled from January 2019 to August 2020,with a median follow-up time of 24.0 months(IQR:4.3–31.0 months).

Synthetic Analogues of Betulinic Acid as Potent Inhibitors of PS1/BACE1 Interaction to Reduce Aβ Generation

The lupane-type triterpenoids are endowed with a wide range of biological activities such as antiviral, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activity. We describe here its potential application in Alzheimer＇s disease （AD） treatment as an inhibitor of PS1/BACE1 interaction. 3-a-Akebonoic acid, which emanated from a high throughput screening （HTS）, was discovered to interfere with P S 1/BACE 1 interaction and reduce amyloid β-protein （Aβ） production. In view of the limited source, we instead used naturally rich betulinic acid （compound 2） as starting material for lead optimization and a focused library of its derivatives was constructed to gain a better understanding of the structure activity relationship （SAR） of triterpenoid-type inhibitor of PS1/BACE1 interaction. Compound 22 was finally chosen as the most potent PS 1/BACE 1 interaction inhibitor, which reduced Aβgeneration effectively.