Description: Abstract. The asymmetrical crystal [Na(15C5) 2 ][Na(15C5)] 2 (AsMo 12 O 40 )] · CH 3 CN ( 1 ) was synthesized. Interestingly, the huge α-keggin ion AsMo 12 is distorted by introduction of CH 3 CN molecules and adopts a chiral assembly with space group P 4 . In contrast, the analogous compound AsW 12 co-crystallizes with trace H 2 O molecules. The hydrogen atoms of H 2 O are positionally disordered with 50 % occupation to correlate with AsW 12 in space group P 4/ m . Solid and solution CD spectra indicate that the crystals of 1 are in R configuration. This leads to the conclusion that molybdenum has greater affinity toward organic CH 3 CN, whereas tungsten has greater affinity to inorganic H 2 O. Additionally, AsMo 12 shows greater deformability than AsW 12 . It is suggested that POMo shows a greater potential as chiral material than POW because of the flexibility of Mo. As a highlight, CH 3 CN can function as a general chiral inducer for the innovation of other chiral crystals, if fixed along one dimension.

Description: Free nitrous acid (FNA), which is the protonated form of nitrite and inevitably produced during biological nitrogen removal, has been demonstrated to strongly inhibit the activity of polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs). Herein we reported an efficient process for wastewater treatment, i.e., the oxic/anoxic/oxic/extended-idle process to mitigate the generation of FNA and its inhibition on PAOs. The results showed that this new process enriched more PAOs which thereby achieved higher phosphorus removal efficiency than the conventional four-step (i.e., anaerobic/oxic/anoxic/oxic) biological nutrient removal process (41 ± 7% versus 30 ± 5% in abundance of PAOs and 97 ± 0.73% versus 82 ± 1.2% in efficiency of phosphorus removal). It was found that this new process increased pH value but decreased nitrite accumulation, resulting in the decreased FNA generation. Further experiments showed that the new process could alleviate the inhibition of FNA on the metabolisms of PAOs even under the same FNA concentration. Scientific Reports 5 doi: 10.1038/srep08602

Description: The effectiveness of grouting scheme has been simulated to prevent the coal spontaneous combustion at a goaf in Haizi Colliery, China. The colliery has been operated for long period over 27 years and has a complex ventilation network including airflow leakages which could possibly lead to the spontaneous combustion of coal at goafs. Firstly, the mine ventilation simulator MIVENA was used to analyze the mine ventilation network airflows to control airflows in and out of working faces and goafs. As the second approach, numerical simulations were carried by the simulator FLUENT in order to predict spontaneous combustion of residual coal with leakage flow in the #3205 goaf. It was cleared that the goaf can be divided into three zones based on oxygen concentration in the goaf area. Finally, the numerical simulation results show that the slurry grouting method is able to be an effective and economical method by reducing porosity in the goaf area to prevent spontaneous combustion of residual coal.

Description: Background: Necrosis of alveolar macrophages following Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection has been demonstrated to play a vital role in the pathogenesis of tuberculosis. Our previous study demonstrated that Wnt/β-catenin signaling was able to promote mycobacteria-infected cell apoptosis by a caspase-dependent pathway. However, the functionality of this signaling in the necrosis of macrophage following mycobacterial infection remains largely unknown. Methods: Murine macrophage RAW264.7 cells were infected with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) in the presence of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. The necrotic cell death was determined by cytometric assay and electronic microscopy; the productions of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reduced glutathione (GSH) were measured by a cytometric analysis and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively; and the activity of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1)/apoptosis inhibition factor (AIF) signaling was examined by an immunoblotting assay. Results: The BCG can induce RAW264.7 macrophage cells necrosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner along with an accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Intriguingly, an enhancement of Wnt/β-catenin signaling shows an ability to reduce the mycobacteria-induced macrophage necrosis. Mechanistically, the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling is capable of inhibiting the necrotic cell death in BCG-infected RAW264.7 cells through a mechanism by which the Wnt signaling scavenges intracellular ROS accumulation and increases cellular GSH concentration. In addition, immunoblotting analysis further reveals that Wnt/β-catenin signaling is capable of inhibiting the ROS-mediated cell necrosis in part through a PARP-1/AIF- dependent pathway. Conclusions: An activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling can inhibit BCG-induced macrophage necrosis by increasing the production of GSH and scavenging ROS in part through a mechanism of repression of PARP-1/AIF signaling pathway. This finding may thus provide an insight into the underlying mechanism of alveolar macrophage cell death in response to mycobacterial infection.

Description: Article Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting up to 3% of the population. Here, Zuo et al. perform exome array analysis, identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms at 15 new loci, implicating several biological pathways in psoriasis risk and disease heritability. Nature Communications doi: 10.1038/ncomms7793 Authors: Xianbo Zuo, Liangdan Sun, Xianyong Yin, Jinping Gao, Yujun Sheng, Jinhua Xu, Jianzhong Zhang, Chundi He, Ying Qiu, Guangdong Wen, Hongqing Tian, Xiaodong Zheng, Shengxiu Liu, Wenjun Wang, Weiran Li, Yuyan Cheng, Longdan Liu, Yan Chang, Zaixing Wang, Zenggang Li, Longnian Li, Jianping Wu, Ling Fang, Changbing Shen, Fusheng Zhou, Bo Liang, Gang Chen, Hui Li, Yong Cui, Aie Xu, Xueqin Yang, Fei Hao, Limin Xu, Xing Fan, Yuzhen Li, Rina Wu, Xiuli Wang, Xiaoming Liu, Min Zheng, Shunpeng Song, Bihua Ji, Hong Fang, Jianbin Yu, Yongxin Sun, Yan Hui, Furen Zhang, Rongya Yang, Sen Yang, Xuejun Zhang

Description: P-n junction BiOBr/ZnO composites were prepared by a facile solvothermal process with double Br sources of CTAB and KBr. The samples were characterized by XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, DRS, BET and PL. The BiOBr/ZnO composites exhibited much higher photocatalytic activity than single BiOBr and ZnO for the degradation of phenol under simulated sunlight irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of BiOBr/ZnO composites could be mainly ascribed to the high-efficiency separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs through BiOBr/ZnO p-n junction. The reaction mechanism for the removal of phenol was also discussed. Hole and ·OH were the main reactive species. Moreover, the influence of disparate ratios of double Br sources to BiOBr/ZnO composites was also investigated. The results indicated that the BiOBr/ZnO composites prepared by double Br sources showed better photocatalytic activities than the sample prepared by single Br source. P-n junction BiOBr/ZnO composites were prepared by a facile solvothermal process with double Br sources and the composites exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than BiOBr and ZnO for the degradation of phenol, which could be ascribed to two reasons. One reason may be the high efficient separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs through BiOBr/ZnO p-n junction. Another one would be the high surface area achieved by adjusting the content of CTAB.

Description: In this paper, we extend the deterministic single-group MSIRS epidemic model to a multi-group model, and we also extend the deterministic multi-group framework to a stochastic one and formulate it as a stochastic differential equation. In the deterministic multi-group model, the basic reproduction number R0 is a threshold that completely determines the persistence or extinction of the disease. By using Lyapunov function techniques, we show that if R0〉1, then the disease will prevail, the infective condition persists and the endemic state is asymptotically stable in a feasible region. If R0⩽1, then the infective condition disappears and the disease dies out. For the stochastic version, we perform a detailed analysis on the asymptotic behavior of the stochastic model, which also depends on the value of R0, when R0〉1, we determine the asymptotic stability of the endemic equilibrium by measuring the difference between the solution and the endemic equilibrium of the deterministic model in time-averaged data. Numerical methods are used to illustrate the dynamic behavior of the model and to solve the systems.

Description: Energy & Fuels DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.6b00451

Description: The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy and tolerability of the Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV) implant and the Baerveldt implant for the treatment of refractory glaucoma.

Description: The cloud water content (CWC) in rainy clouds is a crucial parameter to determine the onset and the growth rate of precipitation, and to quantify the associated latent heating rate. No direct retrieval of CWC in rainy cloud from satellite observations is reported due to the difficulties of separating cloud particles from precipitation sized particles. However, based on multiple cloud simulations from the Weather and Research Forecasting (WRF) model, we have found that the CWC profile in warm rains can be well determined by three macro-physical cloud properties of cloud water path (CWP), cloud top height (CTH), and cloud bottom height (CBH). The CBH can be estimated using CWP, CTH and near surface rain rate. We proposed an algorithm with a lookup table for estimating the CWC profile using CWP, CTH and near surface rain rate as inputs. The performance of this algorithm was tested with WRF model simulations and a real drizzle case observed by the CloudSat satellite. Testing verified that the algorithm can retrieve the vertical distribution of CWC correctly with few errors at different spatiotemporal scales. In addition, the algorithm is not confined to particular microphysics schemes and is valid for multiple cloud systems in different areas over the world. This algorithm is expected to improve current knowledge of cloud water content in rainy clouds.