An EXAFS investigation of the mechanism of competitive sorption between Co(Ⅱ) and Ni(Ⅱ) at γ-alumina/solution interface

Co(Ⅱ)and Ni(Ⅱ)are two common toxic heavy metals,and may simultaneously exist in contaminated water,soil,and sediment systems in Earth’s surface environment.Under this circumstance,competitive adsorption between the two metals may influence their migration,toxicity,and bioavailability.In this research,the competitive sorption of Co(Ⅱ)and Ni(Ⅱ)on γ-Al_2O_3was studied using both macroscopic sorption experiments and extended X-ray absorption fine structure(EXAFS)spectroscopy.Results suggest that Ni(Ⅱ)reduced the amount of Co(Ⅱ)sorption in a binary-solute system at pH 6.0.This is because both Co(Ⅱ)and Ni(Ⅱ)form inner-sphere surface complexes during sorption on γ-Al_2O_3and compete for the surface reactive sites.However,Co(Ⅱ)exhibited a negligible influence on sorption amount of Ni(Ⅱ)under the same conditions,which suggests Ni(Ⅱ)has a stronger affinity to alumina surface.At pH 7.5,Co(Ⅱ)and Ni(Ⅱ)sorption density were much higher than that at pH 6.0,but there no mutual competitive effect was observed.EXAFS analysis further revealed that formation of layered double-hydrated precipitates was the dominant sorption mechanism for both Co(Ⅱ)and Ni(Ⅱ)at pH 7.5.Because this type of sorption does not rely on surface reactive sites,there was no competition between Co(Ⅱ)and Ni(Ⅱ).This finding sheds light on risk assessment and remediation of Ni/Co pollution.

Pull-out Behaviour of Axially Loaded Screwed-in Threaded Rods Embedded in CLT Elements: Experimental Study

Experimental investigation on the pull-out behaviour,including the withdrawal capacity,slip stiffness and inter-facial shear stress,of axially loaded screwed-in threaded rod embedded in cross laminated timber(CLT)was con-ducted.Specimens with varying embedment length and different number of threaded rods were tested in this study.To prevent premature splitting failure of timber,some specimens were reinforced in the direction perpen-dicular to the timber grain with self-tapping screws.Test results showed that the screwed-in threaded rod con-nections exhibited good pull-out behaviour with high withdrawal capacity and slip stiffness.Within a certain range,the withdrawal capacity increases considerably with the increase of embedment length,while the average interfacial shear stress shows the opposite tendency.The self-tapping screws played an important role on reducing the splitting of the timber and improving the withdrawal capacity and slip stiffness of the screwed-in threaded rod.Additionally,for the specimens with self-tapping screw reinforcements,the improvement of withdrawal capacity and stiffness when increasing the number of threaded rods are much more obvious than that of the speci-mens without the self-tapping screws,due to the change of failure modes.

Geochemistry of Water and Suspended Particulate in the Lower Yangtze River: Implications for Geographic and Anthropogenic Effects

The lower Yangtze River undergoes intense anthropogenic activities and various natural progress compared to the upper-middle reaches. We explore the aqueous geochemistry of ions and elements of suspended particulate in order to recognize the effects of natural conditions and anthropogenic inputs on rivers. These results show that total dissolved solids of water in the lower Yangtze River are similar as those in the upper-middle reaches of mainstream, but higher in tributaries. The major elements of suspended particulate in high-flow regime (HFR) have approximate concentrations with those in low-flow regime (LFR). But remarkable high concentrations of trace elements in tributaries exhibit regardless of HFR or LFR. Multivariate statistics show the suspended particulate matter (SPM) of mainstream presents similar characteristics in flood season and diverse characteristics in dry season. While SPM of tributaries reveals different results. The majority of suspended matter originates from municipal and industrial discharge both in flood season and dry season, and a part from road runoff in flood season, showing an effect of hydrological regime. Mining activity induces remarkably high concentrations of metals regardless of HFR or LFR. Therefore, the geochemistry of SPM in the lower reach of Yangtze River are significantly affected by the anthropogenic input of different sources, which is different from the upper-middle Yangtze River.

Regenerative treatment of ophthalmic diseases with stem cells:Principles,progress,and challenges

Background:Degenerate eye disorders,such as glaucoma,cataracts and age-related macular degeneration(AMD),are prevalent causes of blindness and visual impairment worldwide.Other eye disorders,including limbal stem cell deficiency(LSCD),dry eye diseases(DED),and retinitis pigmentosa(RP),result in symptoms such as ocular discomfort and impaired visual function,significantly impacting quality of life.Traditional therapies are limited,primarily focus on delaying disease progression,while emerging stem cell therapy directly targets ocular tissues,aiming to restore ocular function by reconstructing ocular tissue.Main text:The utilization of stem cells for the treatment of diverse degenerative ocular diseases is becoming increasingly significant,owing to the regenerative and malleable properties of stem cells and their functional cells.Currently,stem cell therapy for ophthalmopathy involves various cell types,such as embryonic stem cells(ESCs),induced pluripotent stem cells(iPSCs),mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs),and retinal progenitor cells(RPCs).In the current article,we will review the current progress regarding the utilization of stem cells for the regeneration of ocular tissue covering key eye tissues from the cornea to the retina.These therapies aim to address the loss of functional cells,restore damaged ocular tissue and or in a paracrine-mediated manner.We also provide an overview of the ocular disorders that stem cell therapy is targeting,as well as the difficulties and opportunities in this field.Conclusions:Stem cells can not only promote tissue regeneration but also release exosomes to mitigate inflam-mation and provide neuroprotection,making stem cell therapy emerge as a promising approach for treating a wide range of eye disorders through multiple mechanisms.

Geochemical characterization of major elements in desert sediments and implications for the Chinese loess source

Mineral dust released from the desert is one of the important components of atmospheric aerosols. Arid and semi-arid deserts, sandy lands in northern China and their adjacent Gobi Desert lands in northern China and neighboring Mongolia(hereinafter referred to as Gobi) are potential sources of mineral dust in Asia. However, there is currently a lack of systematic studies on the characteristics of major elements in the potential mineral dust source area. This study investigates the major elements of 310 surficial sand samples in the stabilized and semi-stabilized dune fields from 12 deserts/sandy land and Gobi in northern China and southern Mongolian Gobi and compiles published data. We identify four regions with distinct geochemical characteristics:(1) Taklimakan, Kumtag and Qaidam deserts in western China;(2) Badain Jaran, Tengger, Hobq, and Mu Us deserts in the central and western regions of northern China;(3) Hulun Buir, Onqin Daga and Horqin sandy lands in northeast China;and(4) Gobi and Gurbantunggut deserts. The spatial distributions of the SiO2 and CaO contents in Chinese deserts are highly variable. The average content of SiO2 generally reflects an increasing trend from west to east, while the average content of CaO shows a decreasing trend from west to east. We demonstrate that the spatial variation of major elements is likely controlled by two key scenarios: the composition of source rocks and the mineral maturity caused by the supply of fresh materials. The SiO2/(Al2O3+K2O+Na2O) ratio of desert sediments is relatively lower in western China and may be caused by high ferricmagnesia and high carbonate minerals;this ratio is relatively higher in the northeast sandy lands and may be linked to a lack of fresh material supply and the presence of high K-feldspar minerals in source rocks. The deserts can be further distinguished by ternary diagrams with SiO2/10-CaO-Al2O3,(K2O+Na2O)-CaO-Fe2O3 and CaO-Na2O-K2O. The comparison of major elements between desert sediments and loess suggests that the western and/or central deserts in China may be the potential provenances of loess on the Loess Plateau.

Ecological risk assessment of Cd and other heavy metals in soil-rice system in the karst areas with high geochemical background of Guangxi,China

Karst areas are widely distributed in China,and the soil derived in these areas is enriched with trace elements and has the typical characteristics of high geochemical background.Therefore,soil ecological risk has gradually attracted extensive attention.In this study,1090 sets of rice grains and paired rhizosphere soils were collected as research objects from the outcropped karst areas of carbonate rocks in Guangxi,and the concentration characteristics and influencing factors of heavy metals,such as Cd and As,in rice grains and the corresponding soils were studied.According to the Chinese Soil Environmental Quality Standard(GB 15618-2018),the proportion of karstic soil samples in Guangxi with heavy metal(As,Cd,Cr,Cu,Hg,Ni,Pb and Zn)concentrations that exceed the standard risk screening values was generally greater than that of surface soils in China or non-karstic soils in Guangxi.Notably,Cd and As were the most prominently enriched heavy metals in soils.According to the Chinese Food Safety Standard(GB 2762-2017),Pb in rice grains from the studied area did not exceed the standard;the exceedance rates of Cr,Hg,and inorganic As were only about 1%;and the exceedance rate of Cd was 12.5%.Soil Cd concentration increased gradually whereas the concentration and exceedance rate of Cd in rice grains decreased gradually with the increase of soil pH.Specifically,the exceedance rate of Cd in rice grains was only 4%when soil pH>6.5.The results indicated that the risk screening values of Cd element in the Chinese Soil Environmental Quality Standard are not satisfactorily applicable to the ecological risk assessment of Cd in karstic soils.Therefore,the recommended threshold values for the safe utilization and risk control of Cd in karstic soils was proposed so as to provide a basis for soil environmental quality hierarchization,pollution risk control and land safety zoning of agricultural land in karst areas in China.

East Asian paleoclimate change in the Weihe Basin (central China) since the middle Eocene revealed by clay mineral analysis

Obtaining a continuous sedimentary record of Cenozoic East Asian paleoclimate change is key to understand the origin,evolution and driving mechanism of the East Asian monsoon and climate change.Based on the continuous Cenozoic fluvial and lacustrine sedimentary sequence in the Weihe Basin,central China,we carried out research on the content and crystal parameters of clay minerals.The paleoclimate change since the middle Eocene was reconstructed accordingly.The results show that smectite and illite are the dominant clay minerals in fluvial-lacustrine sediments of Weihe Basin.The crystallinity of illite,the chemical index of illite,the ratio of smectite to illite and chlorite decrease gradually,which indicates that chemical weathering in the Weihe River watershed stepwise weakened since the middle Eocene,under the background of a semi-arid and semi-humid climate.The formation of palygorskite may be affected by a weak diagenesis.In this case,the content of smectite and the illite crystallinity caused by the weathering in the corresponding period may be actually higher than that of the current,which indicates that the climate in the Weihe Basin region was relatively warm and humid from the middle Eocene to Pliocene.With the decrease of Cenozoic global temperature and the continuous accumulation of sediments,the intensity of chemical weathering in the Weihe Basin gradually weakened,and the East Asian monsoon climate gradually evolved until becoming dry in the Quaternary.Evidence from clay minerals also indicates that the aridification in the Weihe Basin from the late Eocene to the Oligocene may be a response to the global cooling event at the Eocene-Oligocene transition.

Origin of illites in the Luochuan loess section——Evidence from TEM study

Morphology and composition of illite from the Luochuan loess section were investigated by TEM. The results show that most of the illite grains are characterized by rounded shapes and chemical compositions are closely similar to those of anchizonal illites. The enrichment of illites in paleosol over loess was mainly caused by the weak winter monsoon during the interglacial periods, and was not related to the in situ pedogenesis. Illite can serve as an indicator for tracing eolian dust from Loess Plateau in pelagic and lacustrine sediments.

Aberrant DNA methylation reprogramming during induced pluripotent stem cell generation is dependent on the choice of reprogramming factors

The conversion of somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells via overexpression of reprogramming factors involvesepigenetic remodeling. DNA methylation at a significant proportion of CpG sites in induced pluripotent stem cells(iPSCs) differs from that of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Whether different sets of reprogramming factors influencethe type and extent of aberrant DNA methylation in iPSCs differently remains unknown. In order to help resolvethis critical question, we generated human iPSCs from a common fibroblast cell source using either the Yamanakafactors (OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and cMYC) or the Thomson factors (OCT4, SOX2, NANOG and LIN28), and determinedtheir genome-wide DNA methylation profiles. In addition to shared DNA methylation aberrations present in all ouriPSCs, we identified Yamanaka-iPSC (Y-iPSC)-specific and Thomson-iPSC (T-iPSC)-specific recurrent aberrations.Strikingly, not only were the genomic locations of the aberrations different but also their types: reprogrammingwith Yamanaka factors mainly resulted in failure to demethylate CpGs, whereas reprogramming with Thomsonfactors mainly resulted in failure to methylate CpGs. Differences in the level of transcripts encoding DNMT3b andTET3 between Y-iPSCs and T-iPSCs may contribute partially to the distinct types of aberrations. Finally, de novoaberrantly methylated genes in Y-iPSCs were enriched for NANOG targets that are also aberrantly methylated insome cancers. Our study thus reveals that the choice of reprogramming factors influences the amount, location,and class of DNA methylation aberrations in iPSCs. These findings may provide clues into how to produce humaniPSCs with fewer DNA methylation abnormalities.