We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study of IgA nephropathy (IgAN) in Han Chinese, with 1,434 affected individuals (cases) and 4,270 controls in the discovery phase and follow-up of the top 61 SNPs in an additional 2,703 cases and 3,464 controls. We identified associations at 17p13 (rs3803800, P = 9.40 × 10(-11), OR = 1.21; rs4227, P = 4.31 × 10(-10), OR = 1.23) and 8p23 (rs2738048, P = 3.18 × 10(-14), OR = 0.79) that implicated the genes encoding tumor necrosis factor (TNFSF13) and α-defensin (DEFA) as susceptibility genes. In addition, we found multiple associations in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region (rs660895, P = 4.13 × 10(-20), OR = 1.34; rs1794275, P = 3.43 × 10(-13), OR = 1.30; rs2523946, P = 1.74 × 10(-11), OR = 1.21) and confirmed a previously reported association at 22q12 (rs12537, P = 1.17 × 10(-11), OR = 0.78). We also found that rs660895 was associated with clinical subtypes of IgAN (P = 0.003), proteinuria (P = 0.025) and IgA levels (P = 0.047). Our findings show that IgAN is associated with variants near genes involved in innate immunity and inflammation.

The future of TiO2-based photocatalysts strongly depends on their structural optimization so as to obtain high activity as well as visible light response. Recently we successfully fabricated sulfur-doped highly ordered TiO2 nanotubular arrays by potentiostatic anodization of titanium foils, followed by annealing in a flow of H2S at 380 °C. The as-prepared arrays were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet−visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV−vis DRS), and photoelectrochemical measurements. The results clearly show that the vertically oriented nanotubular arrays are highly ordered with a wall thickness of 10 nm. After being annealed at 380 °C, the original TiO2 nanotubular arrays were transformed from an amorphous structure to an anatase phase with a crystallization enthalpy of 324.6 J/g. With treatment in a H2S atmosphere, sulfur ions were incorporated into oxygen atom sites in the TiO2 nanotubes to form O−Ti−S bonds, confirmed by high-resolution XPS of S2p and Ti2p and XRD analysis. The sulfur doping caused the absorption edge of TiO2 to shift into the lower energy region, making the nanotubular arrays active under visible light irradiation up to 650 nm, demonstrated by UV−vis DRS and photocurrent measurements.

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is one of the most common primary glomerulonephritis. Previously identified genome-wide association study (GWAS) loci explain only a fraction of disease risk. To identify novel susceptibility loci in Han Chinese, we conduct a four-stage GWAS comprising 8,313 cases and 19,680 controls. Here, we show novel associations at ST6GAL1 on 3q27.3 (rs7634389, odds ratio (OR)=1.13, P=7.27 × 10−10), ACCS on 11p11.2 (rs2074038, OR=1.14, P=3.93 × 10−9) and ODF1-KLF10 on 8q22.3 (rs2033562, OR=1.13, P=1.41 × 10−9), validate a recently reported association at ITGAX-ITGAM on 16p11.2 (rs7190997, OR=1.22, P=2.26 × 10−19), and identify three independent signals within the DEFA locus (rs2738058, P=1.15 × 10−19; rs12716641, P=9.53 × 10−9; rs9314614, P=4.25 × 10−9, multivariate association). The risk variants on 3q27.3 and 11p11.2 show strong association with mRNA expression levels in blood cells while allele frequencies of the risk variants within ST6GAL1, ACCS and DEFA correlate with geographical variation in IgAN prevalence. Our findings expand our understanding on IgAN genetic susceptibility and provide novel biological insights into molecular mechanisms underlying IgAN.

The extractive desulfurization of thiophene (TS), dibenzothiophene (DBT), and benzothiophene (BT) in model oil was carried out using carboxylic acid-based deep eutectic solvents (DES). It was found that DES formed by formic acid as hydrogen bond donor and Tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) as hydrogen bond acceptor could efficiently separate organosulfur from oils. The influence parameters in this process were discussed, such as extraction temperature, reaction time, mass ratio of DES to oil; multistage extraction effect; recycle times and regeneration of DES. The results showed that the desulfurization selectivity of TBAB/HCOOH followed the order TS < BT ≈DBT. Under the Optimized conditions, the sulfur removal of BT, DBT and TS were 81.75%, 80.47% and 72% in a single stage, respectively, and after three cycles, it will rise to 98.32%, 98.24% and 97.6%. The sulfur content in fuels can be achieved to less than 8.4, 8.8 and 12 ppm for BT, DBT and TS. In addition, by mechanism discussion, it was proved that hydrogen bonding between the sulfide and DES was the main driving force of the extraction desulfurization process.

Nitrogen and cerium codoped TiO 2 photocatalysts were prepared by a modified sol-gel process with doping precursors of cerium nitrate and urea, and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry-differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and ultraviolet-visible light diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-vis DRS). Results indicate that anatase TiO 2 is the dominant crystalline type in as-prepared samples, and CeO 2 crystallites appear as the doping ratio of Ce/Ti reaches to 3.0 at%. The TiO 2 starts to transform from amorphous phase to anatase at 987.1 K during calcination, according to the TG-DSC curves. The XPS show that three major metal ions of Ce 3+ , Ce 4+ , Ti 4+ and one minor metal ion of Ti 3+ coexist on the surface. The codoped TiO 2 exhibits significant absorption within the range of 400-500 nm compared to the non-doped and only nitrogen-doped TiO 2 . The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the codoped TiO 2 is demonstrated through degradation of methyl orange under visible light irradiation. r