Increased quality of bowel preparation via smartphone WeChat application: a multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: High-quality bowel preparation is an essential precondition for colonoscopy. Few studies have evaluated the smartphone WeChat application as a means of improving the quality of bowel preparation. Aim: To assess the effect of patient education by using smartphone WeChat application aids on the quality of bowel preparation. Material and methods: A multicenter prospective, endoscopist-blinded, randomized, controlled study was conducted. Patients were randomly assigned to three groups. A total of 478 patents in groups A were accepted for smartphone WeChat application, 477 in groups B were accepted for conventional education plus smartphone WeChat application while group C (473 patients) was a control group. The primary outcome was the quality of the bowel preparation according to the Boston Bowel Preparation Scale (BBPS). The secondary outcomes included polyp detection rate (PDR), cecal intubation rate, insertion and withdrawal time, anxiety score, self-rated sleep quality, and willingness to undergo another colonoscopy. Results: Total BBPS score was significantly higher in groups B and C than in the control group (7.5 ±1.2, 7.5 ±1.3 vs. 6.5 ±1.2, p < 0.001). PDR in group A (40.2%, 192/478) and group B (41.7%, 199/477) was higher than that in the control group (p = 0.003) and mean number of polyps per patient was higher too (p = 0.015). Moreover, a shorter cecal insertion time was recorded in group A and group B than in the control group (8.8 ±3.9, 8.9 ±3.8 vs. 10.5 ±4.2 min, p < 0.001). Intervention groups showed lower anxiety scores and better quality sleep and were more likely to be willing to repeat colonoscopy. Conclusions: Patient instruction via smartphone WeChat application efficiently improved bowel preparation for colonoscopy.

Imparting Multifunctionality in Zr-MOFs Using the One-Pot Mixed-Linker Strategy: The Effect of Linker Environment and Enhanced Pollutant Removal.

The development of mixed-linker metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is an efficient strategy to improve the performance of MOFs. Herein, we successfully integrate tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (TCPP) into different Zr-MOFs via a facile one-pot solvothermal synthesis while preserving the integrity of their frameworks. The functional groups, length of primary linkers, and the inner pore structure significantly affected the properties of the synthesized TCPP@MOFs, such as surface area, average pore size, and 1O2 productivity. Among them, TCPP@PCN-777 demonstrated the largest surface area (2386 cm2/g, as measured by N2 uptake) and the highest 1O2 generation rate (1.15 h-1, [1O2]ss = 2.66 × 10-12 M) under irradiation. The TCPP loading was also shown to affect the crystal phase, morphology, surface area, and photochemical properties of the synthesized MOFs. Therefore, TCPP@PCN-777s with various TCPP loadings were synthesized to investigate the optimum loading. The optimized TCPP@MOF, TCPP@PCN-777-30, was evaluated for its removal of model contaminant ranitidine (RND) through both adsorption and photodegradation. TCPP@PCN-777-30 showed a higher adsorption capacity toward RND than both the parent MOF (PCN-777) and commercially available activated carbon, and effectively degraded RND in aqueous solution (>99% photodegradation in 1 h). With irradiation, TCPP@PCN-777-30 showed a minimal loss in adsorption efficiency over four consecutive treatment cycles, confirming the reusability of the material enabled through the incorporation of TCPP into the MOF structure. This work not only developed an efficient multifunctional material for environmental remediation but also forwarded knowledge on the effect of linker environment (i.e., functional groups, framework structure, and linker ratio) on the properties of TCPP@MOFs to guide future research on mixed-linker MOFs.

Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of PM2.5-bound arsenic: a 7-year observation in the urban area of Jinan, China.

The aim of the study was to analyze the temporal trends, pollution sources, and carcinogenic health risks associated with PM2.5-bound arsenic (As). A total of 588 PM2.5 samples were collected in Jinan during January 2014-December 2020. The content and distribution characteristics were determined for As and Al in PM2.5, and the pollution sources were identified based on enrichment factors (EFs). The health risk of inhalation exposure to As was estimated using the risk assessment methods recommended by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). The annual average concentration of As in PM2.5 was 4.5-17.5 ng m-3, which was 0.8-2.9 times higher than the limit ruled by the European Union and China's Ambient Air Quality Standards (6 ng m-3). From 2014 to 2020, the As concentration gradually decreased from 17.5 to 4.9 ng m-3. After 2017, the concentration was close to the level required by the atmospheric quality standard (6 ng m-3). The PM2.5 and arsenic concentrations in the heating season were significantly higher than those in the non-heating season. The EF of As ranged from 144 to 607, which was higher than 10. The cancer risk of As in PM2.5 decreased to the lowest values (heating season 1.0 × 10-5 and non-heating season 7.1 × 10-6, respectively) in 2019. As in Jinan mainly came from anthropogenic pollution. The level of As pollution has been significantly reduced in recent years, but there is still a high risk of carcinogenesis. Air pollution control strategies and guidelines need to be implemented in urban areas, especially during the heating season in winter and spring.

Removal of aqueous pharmaceuticals by magnetically functionalized Zr-MOFs: Adsorption Kinetics, Isotherms, and regeneration.

The functionalization of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is imperative and challenging for the development of practical MOF-based materials. Herein, a magnetically functionalized Zr-MOF (Fe3O4@MOF-525) was synthesized via secondary-growth approach to obtain an easily-separated and recyclable adsorbent for the removal of pharmaceuticals (tetracycline (TC) and diclofenac sodium (DF)). After loading Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs), due to the increase of micropore volume and specific surface area caused by defects, the adsorption performance of Fe3O4@MOF-525 was improved. The kinetics could be described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The different adsorption capacity and initial rate were attributed to the properties of the pharmaceuticals, including the molecular size and hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity. In isotherm experiments, the maximum adsorption capacities of DF and TC on Fe3O4@MOF-525 calculated by Sips model reached 745 and 277 mg·g-1, respectively. The thermodynamic studies indicated the adsorption was endothermic and spontaneous. The effect of pH suggested that electrostatic interaction, π-π interaction, anion-π interaction, and H-bonding were possibly involved in the adsorption process. The adsorbent was separated by magnetic and regenerated. Washed with ethanol, Fe3O4@MOF-525 remained about 80% adsorption capacity after four cycles. In-situ photo-regeneration under visible-light irradiation was another attractive method, where > 95% TC was degraded in 4 h. The reaction with scavengers revealed that 1O2 was the dominant reactive species in our system, indicating the occurrence of Type II photosensitization. The separability, excellent adsorption performance, and recyclability of Fe3O4@MOF-525 may lead to its beneficial applications in water treatment.

Reduced mitochondrial DNA copy number in occupational workers from brominated flame retardants manufacturing plants.

Decabrominated diphenyl ether (BDE-209) and its substitute decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) are two flame retardants that have similar structure and are widely used in various industrial products. The accumulation and potential toxicity of them to human health have already aroused attention, and some research showed that they may affect mitochondrial function. Therefore, this study focused on the population with high exposure to brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and the related changes in mtDNA copy number (mtDNAcn) in whole blood. 334 blood samples were collected from three groups of people in Shandong Province, including 42 BDE-209 occupational exposure workers from the BDE-209 manufacturing plant, 131 DBDPE occupational exposure workers from the DBDPE manufacturing plant, and 161 non-BFRs occupational exposure residents from the BFRs contaminated area. We measured the levels of BDE-209, DBDPE in serum sample, and the mtDNAcn in whole blood sample and analyzed these data by multiple linear regression. The average concentrations of BDE-209, DBDPE and ∑(BDE-209 + DBDPE) in BDE-209 occupational workers were 3510, 639 and 4600 ng/g lw, respectively; the average concentrations of BDE-209, DBDPE and ∑(BDE-209 + DBDPE) in DBDPE occupational workers were 229, 4040 and 4470 ng/g lw, respectively; the average concentrations of BDE-209, DBDPE and ∑(BDE-209 + DBDPE) in non-BFRs occupational exposure residents were 66.3, 45.7 and 137 ng/g lw, respectively. The relative mtDNAcn was 0.823 in BDE-209 occupational workers, 0.845 in DBDPE occupational workers and 0.989 in non-BFRs occupational exposure residents. A 10-fold increase in BDE-209, DBDPE concentrations was separately associated with a 0.068 and 0.063 decrease in mtDNAcn. Therefore, our study implied that BFRs may affect mitochondrial function. As increasing BFRs exposure has emerged in recent years, the relationship between BFRs exposure and mitochondrial function needs further study.

Rational construction of Ni(OH)2 nanoparticles on covalent triazine-based framework for artificial CO2 reduction.

Artificial photoreduction of CO2 to chemical fuel is an intriguing and reliable strategy to tackle the issues of energy crisis and climate change simultaneously. In the present study, we rationally constructed a Ni(OH)2-modified covalent triazine-based framework (CTF-1) composites to serve as cocatalyst ensemble for superior photoreduction of CO2. In particular, the optimal Ni(OH)2-CTF-1 composites (loading ratio at 0.5 wt%) exhibited superior photocatalytic activity, which surpassed the bare CTF-1 by 33 times when irradiated by visible light. The mechanism for the enhancement was systematically investigated based on various instrumental analyses. The origin of the superior activity was attributable to the enhanced CO2 capture, more robust visible-light response, and improved charge carrier separation/transfer. This study offers an innovative pathway for the fabrication of noble-metal-free cocatalysts on CTF semiconductors and deepens the understanding of photocatalytic CO2 reduction.

Tetracycline removal from aqueous solution using zirconium-based metal-organic frameworks (Zr-MOFs) with different pore size and topology: Adsorption isotherm, kinetic and mechanism studies.

The adsorptive removal of tetracycline (TC) was studied with three types of zirconium-based metal-organic frameworks (Zr-MOFs), UiO-66, NU-1000 and MOF-525. The adsorption kinetics best fitted with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the adsorption equilibrium was rapidly reached within 40 min on UiO-66 and NU-1000, and 120 min on MOF-525. The adsorption isotherms best fitted with Sips model, and the maximum Sips adsorption capacities of TC on UiO-66, NU-1000 and MOF-525 were 145 mg·g-1, 356 mg·g-1 and 807 mg·g-1 respectively, which were much higher than common adsorbents. The X-ray photoelectron spectra measurements and the influence of pH suggested that the π-π interaction played a crucial role during the adsorption. Pore characteristics and topology of MOFs showed great effect on adsorption performance. The cages whose size match well with TC helped MOF-525 to get highest adsorption amount per surface area among MOFs we studied. The proper topology of NU-1000 contributed to its high adsorption rate. River water was also used to confirm the excellent adsorptive performance of these three Zr-MOFs in practical application. These results might aid us to comprehend the adsorption of TC on Zr-MOFs and expand the application of Zr-MOFs in water treatment for removal of emerging contaminants.

Genomic prediction across years in a maize doubled haploid breeding program to accelerate early-stage testcross testing.

KEY MESSAGE: Genomic selection with a multiple-year training population dataset could accelerate early-stage testcross testing by skipping the first-stage yield testing, which significantly saves the time and cost of early-stage testcross testing. With the development of doubled haploid (DH) technology, the main task for a maize breeder is to estimate the breeding values of thousands of DH lines annually. In early-stage testcross testing, genomic selection (GS) offers the opportunity of replacing expensive multiple-environment phenotyping and phenotypic selection with lower-cost genotyping and genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV)-based selection. In the present study, a total of 1528 maize DH lines, phenotyped in multiple-environment trials in three consecutive years and genotyped with a low-cost per-sample genotyping platform of rAmpSeq, were used to explore how to implement GS to accelerate early-stage testcross testing. Results showed that the average prediction accuracy estimated from the cross-validation schemes was above 0.60 across all the scenarios. The average prediction accuracies estimated from the independent validation schemes ranged from 0.23 to 0.32 across all the scenarios, when the one-year datasets were used as training population (TRN) to predict the other year data as testing population (TST). The average prediction accuracies increased to a range from 0.31 to 0.42 across all the scenarios, when the two-years datasets were used as TRN. The prediction accuracies increased to a range from 0.50 to 0.56, when the TRN consisted of two-years of breeding data and 50% of third year's data converted from TST to TRN. This information showed that GS with a multiple-year TRN set offers the opportunity to accelerate early-stage testcross testing by skipping the first-stage yield testing, which significantly saves the time and cost of early-stage testcross testing.

In Situ Synthesis of Defect-Engineered MOFs as a Photoregenerable Catalytic Adsorbent: Understanding the Effect of LML, Adsorption Behavior, and Photoreaction Process.

Defect-engineering is an exciting strategy for the modification of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), which can go beyond the limit of conventional MOFs, tailor material properties, and incorporate multiple functionalities. Herein, based on the large mixed-linker approach, we successfully integrated tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (TCPP) into stable UiO-66 via an in situ one-pot synthetic method and used the obtained material for the removal of diclofenac (DF). TCPP@UiO-66 maintained the structure, excellent stability, and porosity of UiO-66. The defect density significantly affected the phase purity, crystallite morphology, and properties of TCPP@UiO-66s. Owing to the delicate balance between defects, stability, and porosity, TCPP@UiO-66(25%) was the optimal material in our system. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Sips isothermal model described the adsorption of DF onto defect-engineered MOFs, and the adsorption capacity was 590 mg/g. Electrostatic interaction, Lewis acid-base interaction, π-π interaction, hydrogen bonding, and anion-π interaction were possible adsorption mechanisms. Moreover, under simulated sunlight irradiation, TCPP@UiO-66(25%) was catalytically active for the degradation of DF with a removal efficiency of 99%. It displayed good recyclability during three reaction cycles. The result of electron spin resonance revealed the generation of 1O2, implying the occurrence of type II photosensitization reaction. Meanwhile, the first-order rate constants of DF photodegradation after the addition of scavengers confirmed that h+ is also a key reactive species. Both the energy transfer from TCPP to triplet oxygen and the electron transfer from TCPP to Zr clusters contributed to the degradation of DF. The degradation byproducts of DF were monitored by three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3D EEM). Therefore, TCPP@UiO-66(25%) was an attractive photoregenerable catalytic adsorbent for the effective removal of DF. Combining the advantages of the parent framework and the functional linker, our strategy expands the functionality of the stable MOFs for potential applications in environmental remediation.

Pollution characteristics and chronic health risk assessment of metals and metalloids in ambient PM2.5 in Licheng District, Jinan, China.

PM2.5 samples were collected at the Wangsheren primary school site in Licheng District of Jinan, China, during 2016. Eleven metals and metalloids including Al, As, Be, Cd, Cr, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb and Se in PM2.5 were measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy. The annual average mass concentration of PM2.5 was found to be 88.7 µg m-3. The highest PM2.5 concentrations were obtained during the heating seasons of winter and spring. The concentrations of metals and metalloids in PM2.5 were in a descending order of Al, Pb, Mn, As, Se, Cr, Sb, Ni, Cd, Hg and Be. The enrichment factors showed that Pb, Mn, As, Se, Cr, Sb, Ni, Cd, Hg originated from anthropogenic sources. Factor analysis indicated that the main sources of the metals were coal combustion dust, soil dust, metallurgical industry, brake abrasion of vehicles and other mixed sources. Coal combustion dust was the primary source of metal pollution in PM2.5. Non-carcinogenic risks associated with exposure through the respiratory system were between 6.30 × 10-4 and 7.62 × 10-1, which were lower than the safe limit (1). The carcinogenic risks of Cr, As and Cd were 3.17 × 10-5, 1.52 × 10-5, 2.22 × 10-6, respectively, which were higher than the precautionary criterion (10-6/year). This study indicates that the air pollution of PM2.5 is of public health concern in Licheng District of Jinan, particularly related to potential carcinogenic metals of As, Cr and Cd. Intervention action is needed to reduce the emission sources of these elements, especially coal combustion in winter heating season.

Multicenter surveillance study of surgical site infection and its risk factors in radical resection of colon or rectal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal surgery is associated with high rates of surgical site infection (SSI). We investigated SSI in radical resection of colon or rectal carcinoma and its epidemiological distribution in 26 hospitals in China. METHODS: We conducted prospective surveillance of patients who underwent radical resection of colon or rectal carcinoma in 26 selected hospitals from January 2015 to June 2016.An information system monitored all of the surgical inpatients. Infection control professionals observed the inpatients with suspected SSI who had been screened by the system at the bedside. The infection status of the incisions was followed up by telephone 1 month after the operation. RESULTS: In total, 5729 patients were enrolled for the two operations; SSIs occurred in 206 patients, and the infection rate was 3.60%. The incidence of SSI after radical resection of rectal carcinoma (5.12%; 119/2323) was 2.1 times higher than that after radical resection of colon carcinoma (2.55%; 87/3406) (P < 0.0001). Additionally, in the colon versus rectal groups, the rate of superficial incisional SSI was 0.94% versus 2.28% (P < 0.0001), the rate of deep incisional SSI was 0.56% versus 1.11% (P = 0.018), and the rate of organ space SSI was 1.06% versus 1.72% (P = 0.031), respectively. The most common pathogens causing SSIs after radical resection of colon carcinoma were Escherichia coli (21/38) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5/38). Escherichia coli (24/65) and Enterococcus spp. (14/65) were the two most common pathogens in the rectal group. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that only the operating time and number of hospital beds were common independent risk factors for SSIs after the two types of surgery. CONCLUSION: This multicenter study showed that there were significant differences in the incidence of SSIs, three types of SSIs, and some risk factors between radical resection of colon carcinoma and rectal carcinoma.

Understanding the adsorption of sulfonamide antibiotics on MIL-53s: Metal dependence of breathing effect and adsorptive performance in aqueous solution.

This investigation is based on experimental data to deeply understand the unusual adsorption behavior of the flexible MIL-53s in aqueous solution. In contrast to the strongly flexible MIL-53(Cr) and MIL-53(Al) with large pore form (lp) in water and in their anhydrous state, MIL-53(Fe) exhibits narrow pore form (np) or very narrow pore form (vnp), indicating that breathing effect depends on the nature of the metal. Sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) adsorption results demonstrated that the maximum adsorption capacities predicted by Langmuir model were 1.85, 1.78 and 0.314 mmol/g for MIL-53(Cr), MIL-53(Al), and MIL-53(Fe), respectively. The adsorption equilibrium was rapidly reached within 60 min and the kinetic data best fitted with the pseudo second order model. The lp form of MIL-53(Cr) and MIL-53(Al) in aqueous solution provided the easy entrance for contaminants, lead to lower binding energy and caused modifications of the hydrophobic/hydrophilic character, which all enhanced their adsorption capacities for SMZ. However, the np form of MIL-53(Fe) with small inner pores and hydrophilicity compromised its adsorption capacity for SMZ. The experimental results revealed electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding, and π-π interaction/stacking contributed to the adsorption of SMZ on MIL-53s as well. In summary, the complexation of different metal nodes to MOFs is accompanied by the diversity of properties, which significantly affect their adsorptive performance.

Twist Expression in Circulating Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells Predicts Metastasis and Prognoses.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading malignancies worldwide. Enumeration of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has been demonstrated to be a prognostic indicator in HCC. Twist plays a critical role in metastasis and has been proposed as a biomarker for epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). However, links between the expression of Twist in CTCs and HCC clinical parameters are still unclear. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between Twist expression in CTCs and clinicohistopathological risk factors of HCC. Between June 2015 and July 2017, 80 HCC patients and 10 healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. CTCs were isolated and analyzed by the optimized CanPatrol™ CTC-enrichment technique. Our analysis showed that Twist+ CTCs were detected in 54 of the 80 (67.5%) HCC patients. The positive ratios of Twist+ CTCs correlated with portal vein tumor thrombi, TNM staging, AFP, cirrhosis, tumor number, tumor size, and microvascular invasion. Meanwhile, the follow-up results of the 33 HCC patients who underwent hepatectomy showed that the positive ratios of Twist+ CTCs were closely correlated with the rate of metastasis or recurrence and the mortality rate. The ROC curve analyses suggested that the prognostic evaluation of Twist+ CTCs outperforms CTCs alone. Twist+ CTCs showed higher expression in Glypican-3 protein. In conclusion, Twist expression in CTCs could serve as a biomarker for evaluating HCC metastasis and prognosis.

A comparative study of rigid and flexible MOFs for the adsorption of pharmaceuticals: Kinetics, isotherms and mechanisms.

Recently metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted great attention in the field of environmental remediation. In this article, rigid MIL-101(Cr) and flexible MIL-53(Cr) were synthesized and used for the adsorption of two typical pharmaceuticals, clofibric acid (CA) and carbamazepine (CBZ), from water. The adsorption equilibrium was rapidly reached within 60 min and the kinetics best fitted with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. There was no significant difference in the maximum adsorption capacity of CA on MIL-101(Cr) and MIL-53(Cr), and electrostatic interaction was suggested to be the main factor in the adsorption processes. However, for the removal of CBZ, MIL-53(Cr) showed much better adsorptive performance (0.428 mmol/g) than MIL-101(Cr) (0.0570 mmol/g), indicating the adsorption of CBZ on MOFs is affected by the structural property. The Powder X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that MIL-53(Cr) was transformed into large pore form, leading to variations in cell volume up to 33%, lower binding energy and crucial modifications of the hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity. This unusual behavior enhanced its adsorption capacity for CBZ. Moreover, hydrogen bonding and π-π interactions/stacking also contributed to the adsorption of pharmaceuticals on the MOFs. The excellent adsorptive performance of MIL-53(Cr) and its structure/property switching might lead to the applications in water treatment.

TGF-α Overexpression in Breast Cancer Bone Metastasis and Primary Lesions and TGF-α Enhancement of Expression of Procancer Metastasis Cytokines in Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

Bone metastasis (BM) is the advanced complication of breast cancer, while bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in the microenvironment unclearly contribute to cancer metastasis. This study investigated potential roles of transforming growth factor- (TGF-) α in the interaction between breast cancer and BMSCs in BM. Clinical cases of breast cancer with bone metastasis (BMBC), breast cancer without bone metastasis (Non-BM-BC), and benign fibroadenoma (Benign) were enlisted in a retrospective study. TGF-α was found obviously overexpressed in BM lesion of BMBC compared to primary lesion of both BMBC and Non-BM-BC (P < 0.01), and TGF-α was higher in primary lesion of both BMBC and Non-BM-BC (P < 0.01) than Benign group. Interestingly, TGF-α in nontumor tissues of both BMBC and Non-BM-BC was at a higher level than Benign group (P < 0.01), and numbers of macrophages in nontumor tissues of both BMBC and Non-BM-BC (P < 0.01) were higher than Benign group. Furthermore, in cultured human BMSCs, TGF-α stimulated production of procancer cytokines including IL-6, VEGF, FGF10, FGF17, and TGF-ß1 in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, TGF-α in BC could potentially be an important signal of carcinogenesis and metastasis. Macrophages in the nontumor tissue of BC may not be protective but could promote cancer metastasis.

Adsorptive removal of emerging polyfluoroalky substances F-53B and PFOS by anion-exchange resin: A comparative study.

Chrome plating is an important emission source of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) industrial uses in China, where two commercial products potassium 2-(6-chloro-1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6-dodecafluorohexyloxy) (F-53B) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) are applied as mist suppressant, causing non-negligible environmental risk. In this paper, anion-exchange resin IRA67 was evaluated for F-53B and PFOS removal from simulated and actual wastewater. Adsorption kinetics exhibited higher adsorption velocity and capacity of IRA67 for PFOS than F-53B due to their difference in molecular structures. Adsorption isotherms demonstrated the adsorption capacity of F-53B and PFOS on IRA67 was 4.2mmol/g and 5.5mmol/g, respectively. Because of the deprotonating of amine groups, solution pH had significant effect on IRA67 at pH>10. The results indicated that besides anion exchange other interactions including hydrophobic interaction and the formation of micelles or hemi-micelles were all involved in adsorption process. Coexisting sulfate and chromate in wastewater decreased adsorption capacities of F-53B and PFOS. The spent resin could be regenerated by the NaCl/NaOH and methanol mixed solution. In the mixed system and actual wastewater IRA67 can simultaneously remove F-53B and PFOS without obvious preference but the removal percent can be affected by competitive effect.

Photoreactivity of Metal-Organic Frameworks in Aqueous Solutions: Metal Dependence of Reactive Oxygen Species Production.

Promising applications of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) in various fields have raised concern over their environmental fate and safety upon inevitable discharge into aqueous environments. Currently, no information regarding the transformation processes of MOFs is available. Due to the presence of repetitive π-bond structure and semiconductive property, photochemical transformations are an important fate process that affects the performance of MOFs in practical applications. In the current study, the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in isoreticular MIL-53s was studied. Scavengers were employed to probe the production of (1)O2, O2(•-), and •OH, respectively. In general, MIL-53(Cr) and MIL-53(Fe) are dominated by type I and II photosensitization reactions, respectively, and MIL-53(Al) appears to be less photoreactive. The generation of ROS in MIL-53(Fe) may be underestimated due to dismutation. Further investigation of MIL-53(Fe) encapsulated diclofenac transformation revealed that diclofenac can be easily transformed by MIL-53(Fe) generated ROS. However, the cytotoxicity results implied that the ROS generated from MIL-53s have little effect on the viability of the human hepatocyte (HepG2) cell line. These results suggest that the photogeneration of ROS by MOFs may be metal-node dependent, and the application of MIL-53s as drug carriers needs to be carefully considered due to their high photoreactivity.

Combining powers of linkage and association mapping for precise dissection of QTL controlling resistance to gray leaf spot disease in maize (Zea mays L.).

BACKGROUND: Gray Leaf Spot (GLS causal agents Cercospora zeae-maydis and Cercospora zeina) is one of the most important foliar diseases of maize in all areas where the crop is being cultivated. Although in the USA the situation with GLS severity is not as critical as in sub-Saharan Africa or Brazil, the evidence of climate change, increasing corn monoculture as well as the narrow genetic base of North American resistant germplasm can turn the disease into a serious threat to US corn production. The development of GLS resistant cultivars is one way to control the disease. In this study we combined the high QTL detection power of genetic linkage mapping with the high resolution power of genome-wide association study (GWAS) to precisely dissect QTL controlling GLS resistance and identify closely linked molecular markers for robust marker-assisted selection and trait introgression. RESULTS: Using genetic linkage analysis with a small bi-parental mapping population, we identified four GLS resistance QTL on chromosomes 1, 6, 7, and 8, which were validated by GWAS. GWAS enabled us to dramatically increase the resolution within the confidence intervals of the above-mentioned QTL. Particularly, GWAS revealed that QTLGLSchr8, detected by genetic linkage mapping as a locus with major effect, was likely represented by two QTL with smaller effects. Conducted in parallel, GWAS of days-to-silking demonstrated the co-localization of flowering time QTL with GLS resistance QTL on chromosome 7 indicating that either QTLGLSchr7 is a flowering time QTL or it is a GLS resistance QTL that co-segregates with the latter. As a result, this genetic linkage - GWAS hybrid mapping system enabled us to identify one novel GLS resistance QTL (QTLGLSchr8a) and confirm with more refined positions four more previously mapped QTL (QTLGLSchr1, QTLGLSchr6, QTLGLSchr7, and QTLGLSchr8b). Through the novel Single Donor vs. Elite Panel method we were able to identify within QTL confidence intervals SNP markers that would be suitable for marker-assisted selection of gray leaf spot resistant genotypes containing the above-mentioned GLS resistance QTL. CONCLUSION: The application of a genetic linkage - GWAS hybrid mapping system enabled us to dramatically increase the resolution within the confidence interval of GLS resistance QTL by-passing labor- and time-intensive fine mapping. This method appears to have a great potential to accelerate the pace of QTL mapping projects. It is universal and can be used in the QTL mapping projects in any crops.