The biogas yield of rice straw during anaerobic digestion can be substantially increased through solid-state sodium hydroxide (NaOH) pretreatment. This study was conducted to explore the mechanisms of biogas yield enhancement. The chemical compositions of the pretreated rice straw were first analyzed. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), hydrogen-1 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H NMR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and gas permeation chromatography (GPC) were then used to investigate the changes of chemical structures and physical characteristics of lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose. The results showed that the biogas yield of 6% NaOH-treated rice straw was increased by 27.3-64.5%. The enhancement of the biogas yield was attributed to the improvement of biodegradability of the rice straw through NaOH pretreatment. Degradation of 16.4% cellulose, 36.8% hemicellulose, and 28.4% lignin was observed, while water-soluble substances were increased by 122.5%. The ester bond of lignin-carbohydrate complexes (LCCs) was destroyed through the hydrolysis reaction, releasing more cellulose for biogas production. The linkages of interunits and the functional groups of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose were either broken down or destroyed, leading to significant changes of chemical structures. The original lignin with a large molecular weight and three-dimensional network structure became one with a small molecular weight and linear structure after NaOH pretreatment. The cellulosic crystal style was not obviously changed, but the crystallinity of cellulose increased. The changes of chemical compositions, chemical structures, and physical characteristics made rice straw become more available and biodegradable and thus were responsible for the enhancement of the biogas yield.

No abstract

Characterization of genetic regulatory variants acting on the livestock gene expression is essential for interpreting the molecular mechanisms underlying traits of economic value and for increasing the rate of genetic gain through artificial selection. Here we build a Cattle Genotype-Tissue Expression atlas (CattleGTEx) as part of the pilot phase of Farm animal GTEx (FarmGTEx) project for the research community based on publicly available 7,180 RNA-Seq samples. We describe the transcriptomic landscape of over 100 tissues/cell types and report hundreds of thousands of genetic associations with gene expression and alternative splicing for 23 distinct tissues. We evaluate the tissue-sharing patterns of these genetic regulatory effects, and functionally annotate them using multi-omics data. Finally, we link gene expression in different tissues to 43 economically important traits using both transcriptome-wide association and colocalization analyses to decipher the molecular regulatory mechanisms underpinning such agronomic traits in cattle.

No abstract

No abstract

Effectively separating CO2 from the natural gas, which is one of alternative “friendly” fuels, is a very important issue. A hybrid material CNT@Cu3(BTC)2 has been prepared to separate CO2 from the CO2/CH4 mixture. For comparison of separation efficiency, a series of representative metal–organic frameworks (MOF-177, UMCM-1, ZIF-8, MIL-53 (Al), and Cu3(BTC)2) have also been synthesized by the solvothermal method. Adsorption isotherms of CO2 and CH4 pure gases are measured by Hiden Isochema Intelligent Gravimetric Analyzer (IGA-003). The dual-site Langmuir–Freundlich (DSLF)-based ideal adsorption solution theory (IAST) is used to predict adsorption of each component in the CO2/CH4 mixture. The IAST-predicted results show that the hybrid material CNT@Cu3(BTC)2 exhibits the greatest selectivity among the six materials, and its selectivity keeps in the range of 5.5 to 7.0 for equimolar CO2/CH4 mixture at 1 < p < 20 bar, which is higher than activated carbons. Moreover, the selectivity of CNT@Cu3(BTC)2 for the CO2/CH4 mixture keeps almost no change with the composition of CH4, which is one of the excellent properties as a promising separation material. In short, this hybrid material CNT@Cu3(BTC)2 shows great potential in separation and purification of CO2 from various CO2/CH4 mixtures by adsorptive processes in important industrial systems.

Background and Aim: Receptor interacting protein(RIP)-1 is thought to have a significant role in inflammation signaling pathways; however, the role of RIP-1 in malignant tumors is largely unknown. Methods: The present study examined the functions and underlying mechanisms of RIP-1 in gallbladder cancer in vitro and in vivo. In this study we determined the expression and role of RIP-1 in 60 clinical specimens from patients with gallbladder cancer and 3 gallbladder cancer cell lines. Using siRNA targeting RIP-1, plasmid vectors (phU6-EGFP-puro/siRIP-1) were constructed and transfected into the gallbladder cells to characterize the biological effect of RIP-1. Results: In vitro experiments indicated that silencing of RIP-1 in NOZ cells significantly suppressed growth and invasion. Furthermore, silencing of RIP-1 affected the RIP1-NF-κB/c-jun(AP-1)-VEGF-C pathways in NOZ cells. Silencing of RIP-1 in vivo inhibited tumor growth in a NOZ cell subcutaneous xenograft model. Immunohistochemstry analysis of the tumor in thesubcutaneous xenograft model also suggested that RIP-1 mediates the expression of VEGF-C. Conclusion: We have elucidated therelationship between RIP-1 overexpression and the growth and invasion of gallbladder cancer from clinical specimens using a xenograft model. We provide evidence that a reduction in the expression of RIP-1 in gallbladder cancer cells can exert inhibitory effects on the ability of cells to grow and invade in vitro. Thus, targeting RIP-1may be useful in the treatment of gallbladder cancer.

No abstract