Synergistic utilization of industrial solid wastes: Extraction of valuable metals from tungsten leaching residue by photovoltaic sawing waste.

Solid waste challenges in both the tungsten and photovoltaic industries present significant barriers to achieving carbon neutrality. This study introduces an innovative strategy for the efficient extraction of valuable metals from hazardous tungsten leaching residue (W-residue) by leveraging photovoltaic silicon kerf waste (SKW) as a silicothermic reducing agent. W-residue contains 26.2% valuable metal oxides (WO3, CoO, Nb2O5, and Ta2O5) and other refractory oxides (SiO2, TiO2, etc.), while micron-sized SKW contains 91.9% Si with a surface oxide layer. The impact of SKW addition on the silicothermic reduction process for valuable metal oxides in W-residue was investigated. Incorporating SKW and Na2CO3 flux enables valuable metal oxides from W-residue to be effectively reduced and enriched as a valuable alloy phase, with unreduced refractory oxides forming a harmless slag phase during the Na2O-SiO2-TiO2 slag refining process. This process achieved an overall recovery yield of valuable metals of 91.7%, with individual recovery yields of W, Co, and Nb exceeding 90% with the addition of 8 wt.% SKW. This innovative approach not only achieves high-value recovery from W-residue and utilization of SKW but also minimizes environmental impact through an efficient and eco-friendly recycling pathway. The strategy contributes significantly to the establishment of a resource-efficient circular economy, wherein the recovered high-value alloy phase return to the tungsten supply chain, and the harmless slag phase become raw materials for microcrystalline glass production.

Karyopherin alpha 2 expression is a novel diagnostic and prognostic factor for colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-associated mortality in Western countries. CRC treatment is dependent on the preoperative and postoperative condition of patients. At present, the prognostic value of conventional parameters for the estimation of patient prognosis is limited. The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of karyopherin α2 (KPNA2) in cancerous and healthy colon tissues and to evaluate the prognostic factors for patients with primary CRC. KPNA2 expression in CRC and paired normal tissues was analyzed by immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). In addition, serum KPNA2 expression was evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Subsequently, the association between KPNA2 expression in CRC tissues and patient clinicopathological features was analyzed. Kaplan-Meier analysis was utilized to investigate the prognostic value of KPNA2 expression on overall survival rates following radical surgery for the treatment of CRC. Immunohistochemistry and RT-qPCR revealed that KPNA2 expression was significantly increased in CRC tissues compared with paired normal tissues. Serum KPNA2 expression was significantly increased in CRC patients compared with healthy individuals. Furthermore, KPNA2 expression was observed to positively correlate with Tumor-Node-Metastasis stage, lymph node involvement, tumor differentiation, infiltration depth, lymphovascular invasion and perineural invasion, which are factors known to affect the prognosis of CRC patients following surgery. In addition, increased KPNA2 expression was associated with decreased overall survival and disease-free survival rates. Patients not suited for surveillance regimens may be identified at initial biopsy test with a positive KPNA2 immunohistochemistry. Increased serum expression of KPNA2 may be utilized as a diagnostic factor for patients with CRC. High nuclear KPNA2 expression may serve as a novel predictor of survival following radical colorectal surgery in CRC patients. The results of the present study may improve individualized risk stratification, leading to the optimization of therapies for CRC patients.

pri-miR-34b/c rs4938723 polymorphism is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma risk: a case-control study in a Chinese population.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. miR-34 induces changes of its downstream genes, and plays a key role in altering the apoptotic cycle and pathways of downstream cells, and finally influences the development of cancer. We assessed the relationship of the pri-miR-34b/c rs4938723 polymorphism with hepatocellular carcinoma risk in a Chinese population. During the period of January 2014 and December 2015, a total of 164 HCC patients and 305 healthy controls were recruited from the Inner Mongolia People's Hospital. Genotyping of the pri-miR-34b/c rs4938723 was determined using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Using χ2 test, we observed that HCC patients were likely to have a habit of alcohol consumption (χ2 = 10.24, P = 0.001) and infect with HBV or HCV (χ2 = 128.17, P < 0.001). In co-dominant model, the CC genotype of pri-miR-34b/c rs4938723 had a significant higher risk of HCC as compared with the TT genotype, and the corresponding adjusted OR (95% CI) was 4.14 (1.91-9.75). In dominant model, we observed that the TC+CC genotype were associated with an increased risk of HCC in comparison to the TT genotype (OR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.17-2.55). In recessive model, the CC genotype was correlated with an elevated risk of HCC when compared with the TT+TC genotype (OR = 3.46, 95% CI = 1.62-8.54). The pri-miR-34b/c rs4938723 polymorphism was associated with a higher risk of HCC in the Chinese population examined. Further large-scale and multi-center studies are required to confirm these results.

Embryos aggregation improves development and imprinting gene expression in mouse parthenogenesis.

Mouse parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells (PgESCs) could be applied to study imprinting genes and are used in cell therapy. Our previous study found that stem cells established by aggregation of two parthenogenetic embryos at 8-cell stage (named as a2 PgESCs) had a higher efficiency than that of PgESCs, and the paternal expressed imprinting genes were observably upregulated. Therefore, we propose that increasing the number of parthenogenetic embryos in aggregation may improve the development of parthenogenetic mouse and imprinting gene expression of PgESCs. To verify this hypothesis, we aggregated four embryos together at the 4-cell stage and cultured to the blastocyst stage (named as 4aPgB). qPCR detection showed that the expression of imprinting genes Igf2, Mest, Snrpn, Igf2r, H19, Gtl2 in 4aPgB were more similar to that of fertilized blastocyst (named as fB) compared to 2aPgB (derived from two 4-cell stage parthenogenetic embryos aggregation) or PgB (single parthenogenetic blastocyst). Post-implantation development of 4aPgB extended to 11 days of gestation. The establishment efficiency of GFP-a4 PgESCs which derived from GFP-4aPgB is 62.5%. Moreover, expression of imprinting genes Igf2, Mest, Snrpn, notably downregulated and approached the level of that in fertilized embryonic stem cells (fESCs). In addition, we acquired a 13.5-day fetus totally derived from GFP-a4 PgESCs with germline contribution by 8-cell under zona pellucida (ZP) injection. In conclusion, four embryos aggregation improves parthenogenetic development, and compensates imprinting genes expression in PgESCs. It implied that a4 PgESCs could serve as a better scientific model applied in translational medicine and imprinting gene study.

Generation of neural progenitors from induced Bama miniature pig pluripotent cells.

Pig pluripotent cells may represent an advantageous experimental tool for developing therapeutic application in the human biomedical field. However, it has previously been proven to be difficult to establish from the early embryo and its pluripotency has not been distinctly documented. In recent years, induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology provides a new method of reprogramming somatic cells to pluripotent state. The generation of iPS cells together with or without certain small molecules has become a routine technique. However, the generation of iPS cells from pig embryonic tissues using viral infections together with small molecules has not been reported. Here, we reported the generation of induced pig pluripotent cells (iPPCs) using the iPS technology in combination with valproic acid (VPA). VPA treatment significantly increased the expression of pluripotent genes and played an important role in early reprogramming. We showed that iPPCs resembled pig epiblast cells in their morphology and pluripotent markers, such as OCT4, NANOG, and SSEA1. It had a normal karyotype and could form embryoid bodies, which express three germ layer markers in vitro. In addition, the iPPCs might directly differentiate into neural progenitors after being induced with the retinoic acid and extracellular matrix. Our study established a reasonable method to generate pig pluripotent cells, which might be a new donor cell source for human neural disease therapy.

Aggregation of pre-implantation embryos improves establishment of parthenogenetic stem cells and expression of imprinted genes.

Parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells (PgES) might advance cell replacement therapies and provide a valuable in vitro model system to study the genomic imprinting. However, the differential potential of PgES cells was limited. It could result from relative low heterology of PgES cells compared with ES cells from fertilization (fES), which produce different expression of most imprinted genes. Here, we described the establishment of PgES cells by aggregating parthenogenetic embryos at the 8-cell stage (aPgES cells), which may increase heterozygy. We found that derivation of aPgES cells in association with an increased number of inner cell mass cells by aggregating was more efficient than that of PgES cells from a single parthenogenetic blastocyst. The aPgES cells have normal karyotype, stain positive for alkaline phosphatase, express high levels of ES cell markers and can differentiate into teratomas composed of the three germ layers. Moreover, compared with PgES cells, the more highly upregulated paternally expressed imprinted genes were observed in aPgES cells, the same change was not shown in aPg blastocysts. This suggested that the aggregation induced effect could modify the expression of paternally expressed imprinted genes. Our studies showed that aPgES cells, the expression of imprinted genes in which more closely resemble fES cells than PgES cells, would contribute to all organs and avoiding immuno-rejection, which may provide invaluable material for regeneration medicine.