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Photocatalytic C 2 H 6 -to-C 2 H 4 conversion is very promising, yet it remains a long-lasting challenge due to the high C-H bond dissociation energy of 420 kJ mol -1 . Herein, partially oxidized Pd δ+ species anchored on ZnO nanosheets are designed to weaken the C-H bond by the electron interaction between Pd δ+ species and H atoms, with efforts to achieve high-rate and selective C 2 H 6 -to-C 2 H 4 conversion. X-ray photoelectron spectra, Bader charge calculations, and electronic localization function demonstrate the presence of partially oxidized Pd δ+ sites, while quasi-in situ X-ray photoelectron spectra disclose the Pd δ+ sites initially adopt and then donate the photoexcited electrons for C 2 H 6 dehydrogenation. In situ electron paramagnetic resonance spectra, in situ Fourier transform infrared spectra, and trapping agent experiments verify C 2 H 6 initially converts to CH 3 CH 2 OH via ·OH radicals, then dehydroxylates to CH 3 CH 2 · and finally to C 2 H 4 , accompanied by H 2 production. Density-functional theory calculations elucidate that loading Pd site can lengthen the C-H bond of C 2 H 6 from 1.10 to 1.12 Å, which favors the C-H bond breakage, affirmed by a lowered energy barrier of 0.04 eV. As a result, the optimized 5.87% Pd-ZnO nanosheets achieve a high C 2 H 4 yield of 16.32 mmol g -1 with a 94.83% selectivity as well as a H 2 yield of 14.49 mmol g -1 from C 2 H 6 dehydrogenation in 4 h, outperforming all the previously reported photocatalysts under similar conditions.

Electrochemically reconstructed Cu-based catalysts always exhibit enhanced CO 2  electroreduction performance; however, it still remains ambiguous whether the reconstructed Cu vacancies have a substantial impact on CO 2 -to-C 2+ reactivity. Herein, Cu vacancies are first constructed through electrochemical reduction of Cu-based nanowires, in which high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy image manifests the formation of triple-copper-vacancy associates with different concentrations, confirmed by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy. In situ attenuated total reflection-surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy discloses the triple-copper-vacancy associates favor *CO adsorption and fast *CO dimerization. Moreover, density-functional-theory calculations unravel the triple-copper-vacancy associates endow the nearby Cu sites with enriched and disparate local charge density, which enhances the *CO adsorption and reduces the CO-CO coupling barrier, affirmed by the decreased *CO dimerization energy barrier by 0.4 eV. As a result, the triple-copper-vacancy associates confined in Cu nanowires achieve a high Faradaic efficiency of over 80% for C 2+ products in a wide current density range of 400-800 mA cm -2 , outperforming most reported Cu-based electrocatalysts., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Antibiotic abuse, particularly the excessive use of tetracycline (TC), a drug with significant environmental risk, has gravely harmed natural water bodies and even posed danger to human health. In this study, a three-dimensional self-supported MoS 2 /MXene nanohybrid with an expanded layer spacing was synthesized via a facile one-step hydrothermal method and used to activate peroxydisulfate (PDS) for the complete degradation of TC. The results showed that a stronger •OH signal was detected in the aqueous solution containing MoS 2 /MXene, demonstrating a superior PDS activation effect compared to MoS 2 or Ti 3 C 2 T X MXene alone. Under the conditions of a catalyst dosage of 0.4 g/L, a PDS concentration of 0.4 mM, and pH = 5.0, the MoS 2 /MXene/PDS system was able to fully eliminate TC within one hour, which was probably due to the presence of several reactive oxygen species (ROS) (•OH, SO 4 •- , and O 2 •- ) in the system. The high TC degradation efficiency could be maintained under the influence of various interfering ions and after five cycles, indicating that MoS 2 /MXene has good anti-interference and reusability performance. Furthermore, the possible degradation pathways were proposed by combining liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) data and other findings, and the mechanism of the MoS 2 /MXene/PDS system on the degradation process of TC was elucidated by deducing the possible mechanism of ROS generation in the reaction process. All of these findings suggest that the MoS 2 /MXene composite catalyst has strong antibiotic removal capabilities with a wide range of application prospects.

The goal of photocatalytic CO 2 reduction system is to achieve near 100 % selectivity for the desirable product with reasonably high yield and stability. Here, two-dimensional metal-organic frameworks are constructed with abundant and uniform monometallic active sites, aiming to be an emerged platform for efficient and selective CO 2 reduction. As an example, water-stable Cu-based metal-organic framework nanoribbons with coordinatively unsaturated single CuII sites are first fabricated, evidenced by X-ray diffraction patterns and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. In situ Fourier-transform infrared spectra and Gibbs free energy calculations unravel the formation of the key intermediate COOH* and CO* is an exothermic and spontaneous process, whereas the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction is endothermic and non-spontaneous, which accounts for the selective CO 2 reduction. As a result, in an aqueous solution containing 1 mol L -1 KHCO 3 and without any sacrifice reagent, the water-stable Cu-based metal-organic framework nanoribbons exhibited an average CO yield of 82 μmol g -1  h -1 with the selectivity up to 97 % during 72 h cycling test, which is comparable to other reported photocatalysts under similar conditions., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Transition metals and their oxide compounds exhibit excellent chemical reactivity; however, their easy agglomeration and high cost limit their catalysis applications. In this study, an interpolation structure of a Myriophyllum verticillatum L. biochar-supported Mn/Mg composite (Mn/Mg@MV) was prepared to degrade triphenyl phosphate (TPhP) from wastewater through the activating periodate (PI) process. Interestingly, the Mn/Mg@MV composite showed strong radical self-producing capacities. The Mn/Mg@MV system degraded 93.34% TPhP (pH 5, 10 μM) within 150 min. The experimental results confirmed that the predominant role of IO3· and the auxiliary ·OH jointly contributed to the TPhP degradation. In addition, the TPhP pollutants were degraded to various intermediates and subsequent Mg mineral phase mineralization via mechanisms like interfacial processes and radical oxidation. DFT theoretical calculations further indicated that the synergy between Mn and Mg induced the charge transfer of the carbon-based surface, leading to the formation of an ·OH radical-enriched surface and enhancing the multivariate interface process of ·OH, IO 3 , and Mn(VII) to TPhP degradation, resulting in the further formation of Mg PO 4 mineralization.

The slow charge dynamics and large activation energy of CO 2 severely hinder the efficiency of CO 2 photoreduction. Defect engineering is a well-established strategy, while the function of common zero-dimensional defects is always restricted to promoting surface adsorption. In this work, a gradient layer of tungsten vacancies with a thickness of 3-4 nm is created across Bi 2 WO 6 nanosheets. This gradient layer enables the formation of an inner-to-outer tandem homojunction with an internal electric field, which provides a strong driving force for the migration of photoelectrons from the bulk to the surface. Meanwhile, W vacancies change the coordination environment around O and W atoms, leading to an alteration in the basic sites and the mode of CO 2 adsorption from weak/strong adsorption to moderate adsorption, which ultimately decreases the formation barrier of the key intermediate *COOH and facilitates the conversion thermodynamics for CO 2 . Without any cocatalyst and sacrificial reagent, W-vacant Bi 2 WO 6 shows an outstanding photocatalytic CO 2 reduction performance with a CO production rate of 30.62 µmol g -1  h -1 , being one of the best catalysts in similar reaction systems. This study reveals that gradient vacancies as a new type of defect will show huge potential in regulating charge dynamics and catalytic reaction thermodynamics., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Microwave-absorbing materials have attracted extensive attention due to the development of electronic countermeasures. In this study, novel nanocomposites with core-shell structures based on the core of Fe-Co nanocrystals and the shell of furan methylamine (FMA)-modified anthracite coal (Coal-F) were designed and fabricated. The Diels-Alder (D-A) reaction of Coal-F with FMA creates a large amount of aromatic lamellar structure. After the high-temperature treatment, the modified anthracite with a high degree of graphitization showed an excellent dielectric loss, and the addition of Fe and Co effectively enhanced the magnetic loss of the obtained nanocomposites. In addition, the obtained micro-morphologies proved the core-shell structure, which plays a significant role in strengthening the interface polarization. As a result, the combined effect of the multiple loss mechanism promoted a remarkable improvement in the absorption of incident electromagnetic waves. The carbonization temperatures were specifically studied through a setting control experiment, and 1200 °C was proved to be the optimum parameter to obtain the best dielectric loss and magnetic loss of the sample. The detecting results show that the 10 wt.% CFC-1200/paraffin wax sample with a thickness of 5 mm achieves a minimum reflection loss of -41.6 dB at a frequency of 6.25 GHz, indicating an excellent microwave absorption performance.

Herein, we first design a model of reversible redox-switching metal-organic framework single-unit-cell sheets, where the abundant metal single sites benefit for highly selective CO 2 reduction, while the reversible redox-switching metal sites can effectively activate CO 2 molecules. Taking the synthetic Cu-MOF single-unit-cell sheets as an example, synchrotron-radiation quasi in situ X-ray photoelectron spectra unravel the reversible switching Cu II /Cu I single sites initially accept photoexcited electrons and then donate them to CO 2 molecules, which favors the rate-liming activation into CO 2 δ- , verified by in situ FTIR spectra and Gibbs free energy calculations. As an outcome, Cu-MOF single-unit-cell sheets achieve near 100 % selectivity for CO 2 photoreduction to CO with a high rate of 860 μmol g -1  h -1 without any sacrifice reagent or photosensitizer, where both the activity and selectivity outperform previously reported photocatalysts evaluated under similar conditions., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The chemical conversion of CO 2 to long-chain chemicals is considered as a highly attractive method to produce value-added organics, while the underlying reaction mechanism remains unclear. By constructing surface vacancy-cluster-mediated solid frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs), the 100 % atom-economical, efficient chemical conversion of CO 2 to dimethyl carbonate (DMC) was realized. By taking CeO 2 as a model system, we illustrate that FLP sites can efficiently accelerate the coupling and conversion of key intermediates. As demonstrated, CeO 2 with rich FLP sites shows improved reaction activity and achieves a high yield of DMC up to 15.3 mmol g -1 . In addition, by means of synchrotron radiation in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier-transform spectroscopy, combined with density functional theory calculations, the reaction mechanism on the FLP site was investigated systematically and in-depth, providing pioneering insights into the underlying pathway for CO 2 chemical conversion to long-chain chemicals., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Objectives: Conventional approaches for patients with nonerosive gastroesophageal reflux disease (NERD) were not satisfactory. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and mechanisms of Chinese herbal medicine Hewei Jiangni Decoction (HWJND) as a novel and promising regimen for NERD., Methods: A total of 128 patients with NERD were randomly assigned to the Treatment group and Control group. The patients from the Treatment group were administered HWJND (81 g) plus dummy omeprazole (20 mg) daily for 8 weeks, and the others were given dummy HWJND granules (81 g) plus omeprazole (20 mg). The clinical efficacy was assessed using the gastroesophageal reflux disease questionnaire (GERD-Q) scale, patient reported outcomes (PRO) scale, and short form health survey 36 (SF-36) scale at week 4. Moreover, its pharmacological and molecular mechanisms were elucidated based on network pharmacology and molecular docking., Results: Due to case shedding and other reasons, 109 patients, including 56 in the Treatment group and 53 in the Control group completed this study. Our results showed that HWJND significantly improved heartburn, regurgitation, epigastric pain, nausea, and sleep disturbance, which led to a significant reduction of GERD-Q scores in NERD patients. In addition, PRO scores of NERD patients with HWJND administration were improved, and sufficient relief of physical role, body pain, general health, social function, and mental health on the SF-36 scale was also observed in patients after HWJND treatment. We further showed that the curative effect of HWJND was close to that of omeprazole, except for the better improvement of general health and social function. What's more, the main active ingredients of HWJND included quercetin, beta-sitosterol, naringenin, baicalein, and kaempferol were retrieved, and the protective effects of HWJND against NERD may be closely related to targets such as TNF, IL6, IL1B, MMP9, CXCL8, and EGFR, which were mainly enriched in IL-17 signaling pathway and TNF signaling pathway., Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that HWJND is noninferior to oral omeprazole for the treatment of patients with NERD, plays a therapeutic role through multiple targets and diverse pathways, and holds promise for complementary and alternative therapy for the treatment of NERD. This trial is registered with http://www.chictr.org.cn, Chinese Clinical Trials Registry [ChiCTR2200055960]., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Feng Li et al.)

Bauxite residue is generated from alumina production in the alumina refining industry by the Bayer process, which requires a large amount of land resource and causes serious environmental problems. In this paper, a novel recycling strategy is proposed to rehabilitate the land and produce the polyaluminium ferric sulfate (PAFS) and siliceous gypsum byproducts from the bauxite residue. The batch experiments reveal that the maximum Cr(VI) removal efficiency of as-prepared PAFS can reach 95.80% with an initial concentration of 10.41 mg/L. In addition, the non-toxic siliceous gypsum should be an ideal raw material for cement plants. Various characterizations (e.g., SEM, FTIR, and XRD) are employed to reveal the mechanism of synthesis PAFS and their Cr(VI) removal performance. Consequently, this paper provides a deep insight into the utilization of bauxite residue as a resource and gives a new strategy for preparing PAFS and gypsum from bauxite residue., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

CO 2 electroreduction to high-energy-density C 2+ products is highly attractive, whereas the C 2+ selectivity under industrial current densities is still unsatisfying. Here, an anti-swelling anion exchange ionomer (AEI) was first proposed to optimize the local environment for promoting industrial-current-density CO 2 -to-C 2+ electroreduction. Taking the anti-swelling AEI-modified oxide-derived Cu nanosheets as an example, in situ Raman spectroscopy and contact angle measurements revealed that the OH - -accumulated -N(CH 3 ) 3 + groups and anti-swelling backbone of AEI could synergistically regulate the local pH level and water content. In situ Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and theoretical calculations demonstrated that the higher local pH value could lower the energy barrier for the rate-limiting COCO* hydrogenated to COCOH* from 0.08 to 0.04 eV, thereby boosting the generation of C 2+ products. Owing to the anti-swelling backbone, the optimized water content of 3.5% could suppress the competing H 2 evolution and hence facilitate the proton-electron transfer step for C 2+ production. As a result, the anti-swelling AEI-modified oxide-derived Cu nanosheets achieved a C 2+ Faradaic efficiency of 85.1% at a current density up to 800 mA cm -2 with a half-cell power conversion efficiency exceeding 50%, outperforming most reported powder catalysts.

Ovarian damage induced by platinum-based chemotherapy seriously affects young women with cancer, manifesting as infertility, early menopause, and premature ovarian insufficiency. However, effective prevention strategies for such damage are lacking. Senescent cells may be induced by chemotherapeutic agents. We hypothesized that cisplatin can lead to senescence in ovarian cells during the therapeutic process, and senolytic drugs can protect animals against cisplatin-induced ovarian injury. Here, we demonstrated the existence of senescent cells in cisplatin-treated ovaries, identified the senescence-associated secretory phenotype, and observed significant improvement of ovarian function by treatment with metformin or dasatinib and quercetin (DQ) independently or in combination. These senotherapies improved both oocyte quality and fertility, increased the ovarian reserve, and enhanced hormone secretion in cisplatin-exposed mice. Additionally, attenuated fibrosis, reorganized subcellular structure, and mitigated DNA damage were observed in the ovaries of senotherapeutic mice. Moreover, RNA sequencing analysis revealed upregulation of the proliferation-related genes Ki , Prrx2 , Sfrp4 , and Megfl0 ; and the antioxidative gene H2-Q10 after metformin plus DQ treatment. Gene ontology analysis further revealed that combining senotherapies enhanced ovarian cell differentiation, development, and communication. In this study, we demonstrated that metformin plus DQ recovered ovarian function to a greater extent compared to metformin or DQ independently, with more follicular reserve, increased pups per litter, and reduced DNA damage. Collectively, our work indicates that senotherapies might prevent cisplatin-induced ovarian injury by removing senescent cells and reducing DNA damage, which represent a promising therapeutic avenue to prevent chemotherapy-induced ovarian damage., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Dingfu Du et al.)

A 6 weeks pot culture experiment was carried out to investigate the stabilization effects of a modified biochar (BCM) on metals in contaminated soil and the uptake of these metals by wheat seedlings. The results showed that the application of BCM significantly increased the soil fertility, the biomass of wheat seedling roots increased by more than 50%, and soil dehydrogenase (DHA) and catalase (CAT) activities increased by 369.23% and 12.61%, respectively. In addition, with the application of BCM, the diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid extractable (DTPA-extractable) Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn in soil were reduced from 2.34 to 0.38 mg/kg, from 49.27 to 25.65 mg/kg, from 3.55 mg/kg to below the detection limit and from 4.05 to 3.55 mg/kg, respectively. Correspondingly, the uptake of these metals in wheat roots and shoots decreased by 62.43% and 79.83% for Cd, 73.21% and 66.32% for Pb, 57.98% and 68.92% for Cu, and 40.42% and 43.66% for Zn. Furthermore, BCM application decreased the abundance and alpha diversity of soil bacteria and changed the soil bacterial community structure dramatically. Overall, BCM has great potential for the remediation of metal-contaminated soils, but its long-term impact on soil metals and biota need further research., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Di- n -octyl phthalate (DOP), a plasticizer used in many different industrial products, is a frequently observed pollutant in the environment. Biodegradation by microorganisms is considered to be a realistic choice for the remediation of DOP contamination. In the present research, the halotolerant bacterial consortium (LF) enriched in our previous research was used to degrade DOP. It was found that the optimal conditions for LF to degrade DOP was temperature 30 o C, pH 6.0, inoculum size >5%, and salt content <3%. LF could degrade a high concentration of DOP (2000 mg/L) with the removal efficiency of 96.33%. Substrate inhibition analyses indicated that the inhibition constant, maximum specific degradation rate and half-saturation constant were 2544.6 mg/L, 0.7 d -1 and 59.1 mg/L, respectively. Based on the analysis of the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), the biodegradation pathway for DOP by LF was proposed. Furthermore, LF could degrade DOP in soil (100 mg/kg) with the highest removal efficiency of 89.3%. This study is the first report on DOP biodegradation by bacterial consortium. These results suggest that LF can be used to remediate DOP-contaminated environment.

Herein, we first design a fast low-pressure ultraviolet light irradiation strategy for easily regenerating the nearly equivalent surface vacancies. Taking the defective Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 nanosheets as an example, nearly equal amount of oxygen vacancies can be regenerated under UV light irradiation. Synchrotron-radiation quasi in situ X-ray photoelectron spectra disclose the Bi sites in the O-defective Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 nanosheets can act as the highly active sites, which not only help to activate CO 2 molecules, but also contribute to stabilizing the rate-limiting COOH* intermediate. Also, in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and in situ mass spectrometry unravel the UV light irradiation contributes to accelerating CO desorption process. As a result, the O-defective Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 nanosheets achieve a stability up to 2640 h over 110 cycling tests and a high evolution rate of 275 μmol g -1  h -1 for visible-light-driven CO 2 reduction to CO., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Layer-structured graphene oxide excellent carrier for modifications; however, its poor recoverability and stability preclude its application in wastewater treatment fields. Herein, three-dimensional magnetic fungal hyphal/graphene oxide nanofibers (MFHGs) were assembled by a reductive self-assembly (RSA) strategy for the efficient capture of Co(II) and Ni(II) from high-salinity aqueous solution. The RSA strategy is inexpensive, eco-friendly and easy to scale up. The obtained MFHGs enhanced the dispersity and stability of graphene oxide and exhibited excellent magnetization and large coercivity, leading to satisfactory solid-liquid separation performance and denser sediment. The results of batch removal experiments showed that the maximum removal capacity of MFHGs for Ni(II) and Co(II) was 97.44 and 104.34 mg/g, respectively, in 2 g/L Na 2 SO 4 aqueous solution with a pH of 6.0 at 323 K, and the effects of initial pH and ionic strength on Co(II) and Ni(II) removal were explored. Yield residue analysis indicated that the high porosity and oxygen-containing functional groups of MFHGs remarkably improved their Co(II)- and Ni(II)-removal capacities. According to the analysis, hydroxyl groups and amine groups participated in the chemical reaction of Co(II) and Ni(II) removal, and cation-exchange chemical adsorption was dominant during the Co(II)- and Ni(II)-removal process. Based on the attributes of MFHGs, a continuous-flow recycle reactor (CFRR) was proposed for emergency aqueous solution treatment and exhibited satisfactory removal efficiency and regeneration performance. The combination of MFHGs and the proposed CFRR is a promising water treatment strategy for rapid treatment applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Heavy metal contamination in soil has attracted great attention worldwide. In situ stabilization has been considered an effective way to remediate soils contaminated by heavy metals. In the present research, a multiple-modified biochar (BCM) was prepared to stabilize Cd and Cu contamination in two different soils: a farmland soil (JYS) and a vegetable soil (ZZS). The results showed that BCM was a porous-like flake material and that modification increased its specific surface area and surface functional groups. The incubation experiment indicated that BCM decreased diethylenetriaminepentaacetic (DTPA)-extractable Cd and Cu by 92.02% and 100.00% for JYS and 90.27% and 100.00% for ZZS, respectively. The toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP)-extractable Cd and Cu decreased 66.46% and 100.00% for JYS and 46.33% and 100.00% for ZZS, respectively. BCM also reduced the mobility of Cd and Cu in soil and transformed them to more stable fractions. In addition, the application of BCM significantly increased the soil dehydrogenase, organic matter content and available K (p < 0.05). These results indicate that BCM has great potential in the remediation of Cd- and Cu-contaminated soil., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Ovarian aging leads to reproductive and endocrine dysfunction, causing the disorder of multiple organs in the body and even declined quality of offspring's health. However, few studies have investigated the changes in gene expression profile in the ovarian aging process. Here, we applied integrated bioinformatics to screen, identify, and validate the critical pathogenic genes involved in ovarian aging and uncover potential molecular mechanisms. The expression profiles of GSE84078 were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, which included the data from ovarian samples of 10 normal C57BL/6 mice, including old (21-22 months old, ovarian failure period) and young (5-6 months old, reproductive bloom period) ovaries. First, we filtered 931 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 876 upregulated and 55 downregulated genes through comparison between ovarian expression data from old and young mice. Functional enrichment analysis showed that biological functions of DEGs were primarily immune response regulation, cell-cell adhesion, and phagosome pathway. The most closely related genes among DEGs ( Tyrobp , Rac2 , Cd14 , Zap70 , Lcp2 , Itgb2 , H2-Ab1 , and Fcer1g ) were identified by constructing a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and consequently verified using mRNA and protein quantitative detection. Finally, the immune cell infiltration in the ovarian aging process was also evaluated by applying CIBERSORT, and a correlation analysis between hub genes and immune cell type was also performed. The results suggested that plasma cells and naïve CD4 + T cells may participate in ovarian aging. The hub genes were positively correlated with memory B cells, plasma cells, M1 macrophages, Th17 cells, and immature dendritic cells. In conclusion, this study indicates that screening for DEGs and pathways in ovarian aging using bioinformatic analysis could provide potential clues for researchers to unveil the molecular mechanism underlying ovarian aging. These results could be of clinical significance and provide effective molecular targets for the treatment of ovarian aging., (Copyright © 2020 Ma, Lu, Chen, Wu, Jin, Zhang and Wang.)

Water pollution has caused the ecosystem to be in a state of imbalance for a long time. It has become a major global ecological and environmental problem today. Solving the potential hidden dangers of pollutants and avoiding unauthorized access to resources has become the necessary condition and important task to ensure the sustainable development of human society. To solve such problems, this review summarizes the research progress of nanomaterials in the field of water aimed at the treatment of water pollution and the development and utilization of new energy. The paper also tries to seek scientific solutions to environmental degradation and to create better living environmental conditions from previously published cutting edge research. The main content in this review article includes four parts: advanced oxidation, catalytic adsorption, hydrogen, and oxygen production. Among a host of other things, this paper also summarizes the various ways by which composite nanomaterials have been combined for enhancing catalytic efficiency, reducing energy consumption, recycling, and ability to expand their scope of application. Hence, this paper provides a clear roadmap on the status, success, problems, and the way forward for future studies.

Various types of biochar have been widely used to remediate soil contamination from heavy metals (HMs) and to reduce HM mobility and bioavailability in soils in recent years. Most researchers have paid attention to the beneficial effects of biochar during the remediation process, but few have emphasized their negative effects and the challenges for their application. In this review, the negative effects and challenges of applying biochar for the remediation of HM-contaminated soils are thoroughly summarized and discussed, including the changeable characteristics of biochar, biochar over-application, toxic substances in biochar, activation of some HMs in soils by biochar, nonspecific adsorption, and the negative influences of biochar on soil microorganisms and plants. In addition, further research directions and several recommendations (standardization, long-term field experiments, mechanisms research and designer biochars) were also proposed to enable the large-scale application of biochar for the remediation of HM-contaminated soils., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Although many studies have examined changes in gut microbiota composition in gastric carcinogenesis to clarify the mechanism of action of anticancer drugs, it is unclear whether animal models of gastric carcinogenesis adequately reflect the disease in humans., Methods: To address this issue, the present study investigated changes in the gut microbiome profile of a rat model of gastric carcinogenesis established using a combination of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), sodium salicylate, irregular fasting, and ranitidine. The rats were divided into control (Normal), chronic non-atrophic gastritis (CNAG), chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG), precancerous lesion of gastric cancer (PLGC), and gastric cancer (GC) groups according to histopathological features. Gut microbiome in gastric carcinogenesis profiling was performed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing of rat feces samples., Results: We found that gut bacterial species richness increased whereas species diversity decreased during gastric carcinogenesis, with the most significant changes detected in the PLGC group. Gut microbiota community composition differed across groups, with the greatest similarities observed between CNAG and CAG groups and between PLGC and GC groups. There were significant differences in taxonomic representation at the phylum level: the PLGC group had the highest ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes whereas the GC group had the highest abundance of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria., Conclusions: These results indicate that changes in the gut microbiome in a rat model of MNNG-induced gastric carcinogenesis are similar to those observed in humans, thus providing a useful tool for evaluating the efficacy and mechanism of action of novel monotherapies or drug combinations for the treatment of gastric carcinogenesis., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Penicillium chrysogenum F1 is very efficient in bioleaching heavy metals from the soil and is used for that purpose. We found that F1 can extract 19.8 mg Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn from 2.5 g soil; the total heavy metals' bioleaching ratio was 60.4%. In this study, the bioleaching mechanism was investigated by means of metabonomics; different metabolite ions were screened (relative standard deviation >30%) and analyzed using clustering, univariate and multivariate analysis. Statistical analyses via Volcano Plot, principal component analysis, and partial least square discriminant analysis models revealed a difference between Ctrl 7 (the controls cultured and sampled on day 7) and Ctrl 15 (the controls cultured and sampled on day 15). Samp 15 (the samples cultured with heavy-metal-contaminated soil) was significantly different from Ctrl 7 and Ctrl 15. Analysis of the different ions demonstrated that the glucose catabolism pathways of glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle were enhanced, and glucose anabolism through the pentose phosphate pathway was inhibited during bioleaching. At the same time, the metabolism of glutathione was also downregulated. Therefore, the catabolism of glucose was unaffected by the addition of heavy-metal-contaminated soil, and increasing glucose is beneficial to catabolism. The extraction of metals is mainly attributed to the metabolites of the TCA cycle.

While the solution assembly of amphiphilic copolymers has been studied extensively, the assembly of DNA-containing copolymers is only recently emerging as a promising new area. DNA, a natural hydrophilic biopolymer that is highly predictable in its hybridization characteristics, brings to the field several useful and unique properties including monodispersity, the ability to functionalize in a site-specific manner, and programmability with Watson-Crick base pairing. The inclusion of DNA as a segment in the copolymer not only adds to the current knowledge base in the block copolymer assembly but also creates new modalities of assembly that have already led to novel and technologically useful structures. In this Review, we discuss recent progress in the self-assembly of DNA-containing copolymers, including assemblies driven by hydrophobicity via amphiphilic constructs, programmed assemblies mediated by DNA hybridization, and assemblies involving both of these interactions.

Currently, it remains controversial whether p-phenylenediamine (PPD) is genotoxic. In this study, we evaluated the potential genotoxicity of PPD using the newly-developed Pig-a gene mutation assay. The results of three classical genetic toxicity tests (bacterial reverse mutation assay, mammalian cell chromosomal aberration test, and mammalian erythrocyte micronucleus test) are all positive, suggesting that PPD is potentially genotoxic. In Pig-a assay, Sprague-Dawley rats are orally administered with PPD for 28 consecutive days at three doses (12.5, 25, and 50 mg/kg/day). Our result shows that PPD (25 and 50 mg/kg/day) dose-dependently increases RET CD59- value over controls on Day 8. RET CD59- keeps increasing to the maximum on Day 15 and then decreases until Day 29. PPD also dose-dependently increase RBC CD59- value on Day 15, which keeps elevating until Day 29. The time-course of RET CD59- and RBC CD59- induced by PPD are similar with that induced by N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) treatment for 3 days. Our data suggests that PPD has potential genotoxic effects, and the Pig-a assay is sensitive to assess mutagenicity. However, further investigation of the changes of RET CD59- and RBC CD59- induced by hair dyes containing PPD should be detected by Pig-a assay in occupational exposure population to confirm the safety of PPD usage., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this study, a novel method based on the magnetic Fe/C crosslinked nanoparticles (MNZVI/CNTs-OH) is reported for the effective removal of Cr(VI) in aqueous solutions. Parameters that influence the effectiveness of the nanoparticles, such as pH, temperature, reaction time, and particle dosage, was analyzed. It was found that MNZVI/CNTs-OH particles exhibit significantly higher activity toward Cr(VI) removal than bare NZVI, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and other synthetic nanomaterials. Under optimized conditions, the removal efficiency of Cr(VI) by MNZVI/CNTs-OH is up to 98% with an initial contaminant concentration of 50 mg/L, and chromium content in the residue up to 48 mg/g. Physical characterizations, including Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and TG-TD measurements, provide insights into the working mechanism of Cr(VI) purification. Our findings suggest that immobilization of MNZVI onto carbon nanotubes increase the covalent bond property, while crosslinked nanoparticles (NPs) provide the electron transfer passage from the NZVI surface and improves the dispersity of the MNZVI, thus enhancing the performance. These results demonstrate the potential of the MNZVI/CNTs-OH nanoparticles for the rapid and efficient treatment of Cr(VI)-containing wastewater.

Introduction: The transition from chronic non-atrophic gastritis (CNAG) to chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) and gastric carcinoma (GC) is regarded as a representative disease model of gastric mucosa malignant transformation led by uncontrolled inflammation. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome-targeted therapies have been applied in treating chronic gastritis (CG) malignant transformation in China with satisfying efficacy. This study aims to validate TCM syndrome features in each stage of CG malignant transformation. The findings may shed light on the TCM hypothesis of CG malignant transformation, and thus optimise syndrome-targeted treatment strategies of CNAG, CAG and GC, respectively., Methods and Analysis: The present study is a cross-sectional study conducted in China. A total of 2000 eligible patients, including 500 CNAG cases, 1000 CAG cases and 500 GC cases, will be recruited from four TCM hospitals. Primary outcome measures include the prevalence of TCM syndrome patterns in varied stages of CG malignant transformation. Secondary outcome measures include prevalence and severity of all the presenting signs and symptoms collected by using TCM four diagnostic methods. Descriptive analysis, comparative analysis and correlation analysis of all the measurement data will be performed by biostatisticians. Unsupervised data mining analyses, including exploratory factor analysis, association rule analysis, hierarchical clustering analysis, complex system entropy clustering analysis, and so on, will also be performed by data scientists respectively for in-depth analyses of TCM syndrome-related indicators., Ethics and Dissemination: The protocol has been approved by the Ethical Review Board of Dongzhimen Hospital Affiliated to Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (No ECPJ-BDY-2014-02). All the study outcomes will be disseminated through national conference reports and in the meantime published on peer-reviewed journals., Trial Registration Number: NCT03314038; Pre-results., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2018. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Sepsis is generally considered as a severe condition of inflammation that leads to lymphocyte apoptosis and multiple organ dysfunction. Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) exerts anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects in infectious diseases. However, the therapeutic effect of HSYA on polymicrobial sepsis remains unknown. This study was undertaken to investigate the therapeutic effects and the mechanisms of action of HSYA on immunosuppression in a murine model of sepsis induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). NIH mice were randomly divided into four groups: control group, sham group, CLP group, and CLP+HSYA group. HSYA (120 mg/kg) was intravenously injected into experimental mice at 12 h before CLP, concurrent with CLP and 12 h after CLP. The levels of circulating inflammatory cytokines, the apoptosis of CD4 + and CD8 + T lymphocytes, and protein expression of cytochrome C (Cytc), Bax, Bcl-2, cleaved caspase-9, and cleaved caspase-3 were examined. Plasma levels of IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-alpha as well as the apoptosis of CD4 + T lymphocytes were increased compared with sham group. These changes were accompanied by increases of pro-apoptotic proteins including Cytc, Bax, cleaved caspase-9, and cleaved caspase-3 and decreases of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 in CD4 + T lymphocytes from mice undergoing CLP. In contrast, we fail to observe significant effect of HSYA on the apoptosis of CD8 + T lymphocytes in CLP-treated group. Of note, HSYA treatment reversed all above changes observed in CD4 + T lymphocytes, and significantly increased the ratio of CD4 + :CD8 + T lymphocytes in CLP-treated mice. In conclusion, HSYA was an effective therapeutic agent in ameliorating sepsis-induced apoptosis of CD4 + T lymphocytes probably through its anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects.

Platelet count to spleen diameter ratio (PSR) was studied extensively as a noninvasive method of diagnosis for varices. The present study aimed to systematically assess the performance of PSR in the diagnosis of varices. PubMed, EMBASE, and article references were searched. The summary receiver operating characteristic curves (AUSROCs), sensitivities, specificities, positive and negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio were calculated. The heterogeneity, quality, and publication bias of studies were evaluated. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed. A total of 49 papers were included. The AUSROCs of PSR for any varices and high-risk varices were 0.8719 and 0.8132, respectively. The summary sensitivities of PSR for any varices and high-risk varices were 0.84 and 0.78, respectively. The summary specificities of PSR for any varices and high-risk varices were 0.78 and 0.67, respectively. The AUSROC of PSR for any varices at the threshold of 909 was 0.8867. The AUSROC of PSR for any varices in viral liver cirrhosis was 0.8675. The overall quality of studies was moderate. Significant heterogeneity and publication bias existed in the study. In conclusion, PSR can be used to identify varices in liver cirrhosis. PSR had a high sensitivity in viral liver cirrhosis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

This work described a novel method for the synthesis of high-ferromagnetism nanoparticles (Fe3O4/CNTs) to efficiently remove Cr(VI) from aqueous solution. The Fe3O4/carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were prepared by in situ reduction with post-oxidation method by using cheap and environmentally friendly precursor under mild condition. Magnetic hysteresis loops revealed that Fe3O4/CNTs had superior saturation magnetization (152 emu/g), enabling the highly efficient recovery of Fe3O4/CNTs from aqueous solution by magnetic separation at low magnetic field gradients. FTIR, Raman, XPS, and TEM observations were employed to characterize the physical-chemical properties of Fe3O4/CNTs, demonstrating that CNTs were successfully coated with iron oxide matrix. The adsorption equilibrium of Cr(VI) on Fe3O4/CNTs was reached within 30 min. Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm were chosen to analyze the equilibrium data. The results indicated that Langmuir model can well describe the equilibrium data with the maximum adsorption capacity of 47.98 mg/g at room temperature and 83.54 mg/g at 353 K. The adsorption capacity of Fe3O4/CNTs for Cr(VI) was greatly improved as compared to raw CNTs and other similar adsorbents reported. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model provided the best description of Cr(VI) adsorption on Fe3O4/CNTs. Most importantly, possible synthesis mechanism and Cr(VI) removal mechanism were explored. The results suggest that large amounts of Cr(VI) were adsorbed on Fe3O4/CNTs surface by substituting the surface position of -OH and then reducing it to Cr(OH)3 and Cr2O3.

ArfGAP With Coiled-Coil, Ankyrin Repeat And PH Domains 4 (ACAP4) is an ADP-ribosylation factor 6 (ARF6) GTPase-activating protein essential for EGF-elicited cell migration. However, how ACAP4 regulates membrane dynamics and curvature in response to EGF stimulation is unknown. Here, we show that phosphorylation of the N-terminal region of ACAP4, named the Bin, Amphiphysin, and RSV161/167 (BAR) domain, at Tyr34 is necessary for EGF-elicited membrane remodeling. Domain structure analysis demonstrates that the BAR domain regulates membrane curvature. EGF stimulation of cells causes phosphorylation of ACAP4 at Tyr34, which subsequently promotes ACAP4 homodimer curvature. The phospho-mimicking mutant of ACAP4 demonstrates lipid-binding activity and tubulation in vitro, and ARF6 enrichment at the membrane is associated with ruffles of EGF-stimulated cells. Expression of the phospho-mimicking ACAP4 mutant promotes ARF6-dependent cell migration. Thus, the results present a previously undefined mechanism by which EGF-elicited phosphorylation of the BAR domain controls ACAP4 molecular plasticity and plasma membrane dynamics during cell migration.

Background: Lignin materials are abundant and among the most important potential sources for biofuel production. Development of an efficient lignin degradation process has considerable potential for the production of a variety of chemicals, including bioethanol. However, lignin degradation using current methods is inefficient. Given their immense environmental adaptability and biochemical versatility, bacterial could be used as a valuable tool for the rapid degradation of lignin. Kraft lignin (KL) is a polymer by-product of the pulp and paper industry resulting from alkaline sulfide treatment of lignocellulose, and it has been widely used for lignin-related studies., Results: Beta-proteobacterium Cupriavidus basilensis B-8 isolated from erosive bamboo slips displayed substantial KL degradation capability. With initial concentrations of 0.5-6 g L-1, at least 31.3% KL could be degraded in 7 days. The maximum degradation rate was 44.4% at the initial concentration of 2 g L-1. The optimum pH and temperature for KL degradation were 7.0 and 30°C, respectively. Manganese peroxidase (MnP) and laccase (Lac) demonstrated their greatest level of activity, 1685.3 U L-1 and 815.6 U L-1, at the third and fourth days, respectively. Many small molecule intermediates were formed during the process of KL degradation, as determined using GC-MS analysis. In order to perform metabolic reconstruction of lignin degradation in this bacterium, a draft genome sequence for C. basilensis B-8 was generated. Genomic analysis focused on the catabolic potential of this bacterium against several lignin-derived compounds. These analyses together with sequence comparisons predicted the existence of three major metabolic pathways: β-ketoadipate, phenol degradation, and gentisate pathways., Conclusion: These results confirmed the capability of C. basilensis B-8 to promote KL degradation. Whole genomic sequencing and systematic analysis of the C. basilensis B-8 genome identified degradation steps and intermediates from this bacterial-mediated KL degradation method. Our findings provide a theoretical basis for research into the mechanisms of lignin degradation as well as a practical basis for biofuel production using lignin materials.

A hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] reducing bacterial strain was isolated from chromium-containing slag. It was identified as Pannonibacter phragmitetus based on physiological, biochemical characteristics and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. This bacterium displayed great Cr(VI) reduction capability. The Cr(VI) could be completely removed in 24 h under anaerobic condition when the initial concentration was 1,917 mg L(-1), with the maximum reduction rate of 562.8 mg L(-1) h(-1). The Cr(VI) reduction rate increased with the increase of Cr(VI) concentration. P. phragmitetus was able to use many carbon sources such as lactose, fructose, glucose, pyruvate, citrate, formate, lactate, NADPH and NADH as electron donors, among which the lactate had the greatest power to promote the reduction process. Zn(2+), Cd(2+) and Ni(2+) inhibited, while Cu(2+), Pb(2+), Mn(2+) and Co(2+) stimulated the reduction. The optimum pH and temperature for reduction were 9.0 and 30 °C, respectively. The results indicated that this strain had great potential for application in the bioremediation of chromate-polluted soil and water systems.