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Electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOPs) have shown great promise for treating industrial wastewater contaminated with phenolic compounds. However, the presence of chloride in the wastewater leads to the production of undesirable chlorinated organic and inorganic byproducts, limiting the application of EAOPs. To address this challenge, we investigated the potential of incorporating Fe(II) and Fe(III) into the EAOPs with a boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode under near-neutral conditions. Our findings revealed that both Fe(II) and Fe(III) facilitated the generation of high-valent iron-oxo species (Fe(IV) and Fe(V)) in the anodic compartment, thereby reducing the oxidation contribution of reactive chlorine species. Remarkably, the addition of 1000 μM Fe(II) under high chloride conditions resulted in over a 2.8-fold increase in the oxidation rate of 50 μM phenolic contaminants at pH 6.5. Furthermore, 1000 μM Fe(II) contributed to a reduction of more than 66% in the formation of chlorinated byproducts, consequently enhancing the biodegradability of the treated water. Additionally, transitioning from batch mode to continuous flow mode further amplified the positive effects of Fe(II) on the EAOPs. Overall, this study presents a modified electrochemical approach that simultaneously enhanced the degradation of phenolic contaminants and improved the biodegradability of wastewater with high chloride concentrations., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Xiaohong Guan reports financial support was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China. Xiaohong Guan reports financial support was provided by Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality. Xiaohong Guan reports financial support was provided by Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities. If there are other authors, they 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 © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Humans can easily perform various types of hugs in human contact and affection experience. With the prevalence of robots in social applications, they would be expected to possess the capability of hugs as humans do. However, it is still not an easy task for robots, considering the complex force and spatial constraints of robot hugs. In this work, we propose the HUG taxonomy, which distinguishes between different hugging patterns based on human demonstrations and prior knowledge. In this taxonomy, hugs are arranged according to (1) hugging tightness, (2) hugging style, and (3) bilateral coordination, resulting in 16 different hug types. We then further study the hug type preference of humans in different scenarios and roles. Furthermore, we propose a rule-based classification system to validate the potential of this taxonomy in human-robot hugs based on a humanoid robot with an E-skin of contact sensation. The HUG taxonomy could provide human hugging behavior information in advance, facilitating the action control of humanoid robots. We believe the results of our work can benefit future studies on human-robot hugging interactions., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

A fluorosulfate ion (FSO 3 - ) is a hydrolysis product of sulfuryl fluoride (SO 2 F 2 ), which is widely used to fumigate buildings, soil, construction materials, and postharvest commodities, and is a potent greenhouse gas. It is a potential marker for biological exposure to SO 2 F 2 and for monitoring the progress of reactions used to scrub SO 2 F 2 from fumigation vent gases. Here, we report a simple and inexpensive potentiometric method for determining FSO 3 - using a commercial nitrate-selective electrode and discuss its application. The method is suitable for solutions between 0.0025 mM and 660 mM FSO 3 - at initial pH between 5 and 9. Halide interference depends on its molar ratio to FSO 3 - and follows the sequence, F - < Cl - < Br - ≪ I - . Halide interference can be eliminated by adding silver sulfate. Interference by bicarbonate can be eliminated by H 2 SO 4 pretreatment, and interference by phosphate or pyrophosphate by MgSO 4 addition. Sulfate does not interfere, as it does in ion chromatography. Satisfactory method detection limits for FSO 3 - in spiked aqueous extracts of 11 fruits were obtained. The method accurately quantified the yield of FSO 3 - relative to that of F - in base hydrolysis of SO 2 F 2 . This study demonstrates that the developed method is highly selective, convenient, and sensitive and thus can be of great value in practice., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

The demand for milk has increased globally, accompanied by an increase in waste milk. Here, we provide an artificial humification technology to recycle waste milk into an agricultural nano-fertilizer. We use KOH-activated persulfate to convert waste milk into fulvic-like acid and humic-like acid. We mix the product with attapulgite to obtain a slow-release nano fulvic-like acid fertilizer. We apply this nano-fertilizer to chickweeds growing in pots, resulting in improved yield and root elongation. These results indicate that waste milk could be recycled for agricultural purposes, however, this nano-fertilizer needs to be tested further in field experiments., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Due to the frequent occurrence of piracy incidents, normal trade, and transportation activities have been hindered. This paper uses the Piracy and Armed Robbery dataset in the Global Integrated Shipping Information System to analyze the types and evolutionary characteristics of shipping risk caused by piracy and the piracy behavior patterns in different seas. This study found that there are three regions with high incidence of piracy in the world, and their gathering centers change dynamically over time. Piracy incidents can be divided into four categories based on the quantitative assessment of shipping risk caused by piracy. Shipping risk caused by piracy shows different evolution characteristics in different seas, affected by factors such as the evolution of national political situations and anti-piracy measures. Based on the qualitative assessment of the shipping risk caused by piracy, the piracy corpus reflects the diverse patterns of piracy in different seas. In the process of pirate attacks, the diversity is mainly manifested in violence and selectivity. In the consequences of pirate attacks, the targets that pirates pay attention to vary significantly in different seas. This research will help to strengthen the dynamic monitoring of shipping risk caused by piracy, and further contribute to the research on maritime transport safety., Competing Interests: 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., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Interaction of antibiotics with metal ions in aquatic environments, commonly occurring to form complexes, may affect the migration, transformation and reactivity of residual antibiotics. This study demonstrates the photolysis of Fe(III) by UV irradiation at pH 3.5, as an advanced oxidation process, to produce •OH for the abatement of a common broad-spectrum antibiotic compound, tetracycline (TET). The dimethylamino (-N(CH 3 ) 2 ) and hydroxyl (-OH) groups of TET were determined as the binding sites for the complexation with Fe(III) via a series of novel characterization approaches. The complexation stoichiometry of Fe(III)-TET complexation, including the complexation ratio, constants and percentages, was determined via a complexometric titration based on the UV differential spectroscopy. The complexation constant was determined to be 21,240 ± 1745 L·mol -1 under the designed conditions. Complexation of TET with Fe(III) enhanced its degradation in the UV/Fe(III) process, through the promotion of the •OH generation by inhibiting hydrolysis-precipitation process of Fe(III) and enhancing Fe(III)/Fe(II) cycle and the acceleration of mass transfer between •OH and TET. This finding provides new insights into the role of complexation in the fate of residual antibiotics in the UV/Fe(III) process. The reduced overall ecotoxicity during the TET abatement, evaluated by the toxicity variation through ECOSAR program, provides the UV/Fe(III) process with a theoretical feasibility for water decontamination in actual applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they do not have any commercial interest or personal relationships that could have appeared to affect the work reported in this study., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Peracetic acid (PAA) may be used in drinking water treatment for pre-oxidation and mussel control at the intake. PAA may exert a downstream chlorine demand, but full details of this reaction have not been reported. There are three possible mechanisms of this demand: (1) PAA may react directly with chlorine; (2) PAA exists in equilibrium with hydrogen peroxide, which is known to react with chlorine; and (3) as H 2 O 2 reacts with chlorine, PAA will hydrolyze to form more H 2 O 2 to re-establish PAA/H 2 O 2 equilibrium, thereby serving as an indirect reservoir of chlorine demand. While the H 2 O 2 reaction with chlorine is well known, the other mechanisms of possible PAA-induced chlorine demand have not previously been investigated. The observed molar stoichiometric ratio of PAA to free chlorine (n) for the presumed direct PAA + free chlorine reaction was determined to be approximately 2, and the corresponding observed reaction rate coefficients at pH 6, 7, 8, and 9 were 2.76, 3.14, 1.61, 10.1 M -n ·s -1 , respectively (at 25 °C). With these estimated values, a kinetic model was built to predict the chlorine demand by PAA. The results suggest that chlorine demand from PAA is likely to be negligible over the course of several days (e.g., < 20% chlorine loss) for most conditions except for high pH (e.g., >8) and high PAA:Cl 2 molar ratios (e.g., >2:1)., 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 © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

UV/Cl and UV/H 2 O 2 are advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) used for drinking water treatment and water reuse. This work explored the hypothesis that UV/Cl becomes more competitive to UV/H 2 O 2 at neutral-to-high pH as the concentration of total organic carbon (TOC) increases. Lab experiments and kinetic modelling were used to compare initial pseudo first-order contaminant decay rate coefficients between the AOPs at various pH and TOC conditions. The relative effect of increasing TOC concentrations on UV/Cl vs. UV/H 2 O 2 depended on the pH, contaminant, and organic matter reactivity towards radicals. For example, while the reaction rate coefficients during both AOPs generally decreased with increasing TOC, the UV/Cl reaction rate coefficients for the solely •OH-reactive sucralose decreased 41-138% less than the UV/H 2 O 2 coefficients as the TOC concentration was increased from 0 to 5 mg-C L -1 . However, UV/Cl was more affected than UV/H 2 O 2 when targeting caffeine (a contaminant reactive to chlorine radicals). The data were used to define TOC-pH conditions for which either AOP would be more energy-efficient, under a set of standard conditions. The results suggest that UV/Cl may be competitive to UV/H 2 O 2 under a wider range of treatment scenarios than has been conventionally thought based on tests in pure water., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Ron Hofmann reports financial support was provided by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Ron Hofmann reports financial support was provided by Ontario Graduate Scholarship., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

To reduce the structural deterioration of mass concrete structures from temperature cracks, and lower energy consumption caused by the traditional mass concrete hydration heat cooling process, this paper reports the preparation of concrete temperature-controlled phase change aggregate (PCA) by a vacuum compaction method using light and high-strength black ceramite and No. 58 fully refined paraffin wax as phase change material (PCM), and the encapsulation technology of the aggregate by using superfine cement and epoxy resin. Further, through laboratory tests, the cylinder compressive strength, thermal stability and mixing breakage rate of the encapsulated PCA were tested, and the differences in mechanical properties such as compressive strength, flexural strength and splitting tensile strength between phase change aggregate concrete (PCAC) and ordinary concrete were studied. A test method was designed to test the heat storage effect of PCA, and the temperature control effect of PCAC was analyzed based on the law of conservation of energy. The research conclusions are as follows: (1) Both superfine cement and epoxy resin shells increase the strength of the aggregate, with the epoxy resin increasing it more than the superfine cement. The thermal stabilization of the PCA is good after encapsulation of superfine cement and epoxy resin. However, PCA encapsulated in superfine cement is more easily crushed than that encapsulated in epoxy resin. (2) Under the condition of water bath heating and semi-insulation, when the water bath temperature reaches 85 °C, the temperature difference between the PCA and the common stone aggregate can be up to 6 °C. Based on the law of energy conservation, the test results will be converted to mass concrete with the same volume of aggregate mixture;, the difference of PCAC and ordinary concrete temperature can be up to 10 °C, so the temperature control effect is significant. (3) The mechanical properties of PCAC with 100% aggregate replacement rate compared to ordinary concrete are reduced to varying degrees, and the performance decline of the epoxy-encapsulated PCA is smaller than that encapsulated with superfine cement; in an actual project, it is possible to improve the concrete grade to make up for this defect.

Nerve guidance conduits (NGCs) have become a promising alternative for peripheral nerve regeneration; however, the outcome of nerve regeneration and functional recovery is greatly affected by the physical, chemical, and electrical properties of NGCs. In this study, a conductive multiscale filled NGC (MF-NGC) consisting of electrospun poly(lactide-co-caprolactone) (PCL)/collagen nanofibers as the sheath, reduced graphene oxide /PCL microfibers as the backbone, and PCL microfibers as the internal structure for peripheral nerve regeneration is developed. The printed MF-NGCs presented good permeability, mechanical stability, and electrical conductivity, which further promoted the elongation and growth of Schwann cells and neurite outgrowth of PC12 neuronal cells. Animal studies using a rat sciatic nerve injury model reveal that the MF-NGCs promote neovascularization and M2 transition through the rapid recruitment of vascular cells and macrophages. Histological and functional assessments of the regenerated nerves confirm that the conductive MF-NGCs significantly enhance peripheral nerve regeneration, as indicated by improved axon myelination, muscle weight increase, and sciatic nerve function index. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using 3D-printed conductive MF-NGCs with hierarchically oriented fibers as functional conduits that can significantly enhance peripheral nerve regeneration., (© 2023 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to use the neural network to distinguish optic edema (ODE), and optic atrophy from normal fundus images and try to use visualization to explain the artificial intelligence methods., Methods: Three hundred and sixty-seven images of ODE, 206 images of optic atrophy, and 231 images of normal fundus were used, which were provided by two hospitals. A set of image preprocessing and data enhancement methods were created and a variety of different neural network models, such as VGG16, VGG19, Inception V3, and 50-layer Deep Residual Learning (ResNet50) were used. The accuracy, recall, F1-score, and ROC curve under different networks were analyzed to evaluate the performance of models. Besides, CAM (class activation mapping) was utilized to find the focus of neural network and visualization of neural network with feature fusion., Results: Our image preprocessing and data enhancement method significantly improved the accuracy of model performance by about 10%. Among the networks, VGG16 had the best effect, as the accuracy of ODE, optic atrophy and normal fundus were 98, 90, and 95%, respectively. The macro-average and micro-average of VGG16 both reached 0.98. From CAM we can clearly find out that the focus area of the network is near the optic cup. From feature fusion images, we can find out the difference between the three types fundus images., Conclusion: Through image preprocessing, data enhancement, and neural network training, we applied artificial intelligence to identify ophthalmic diseases, acquired the focus area through CAM, and identified the difference between the three ophthalmic diseases through neural network middle layers visualization. With the help of assistant diagnosis, ophthalmologists can evaluate cases more precisely and more clearly.

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting offers a potentially powerful new approach to reverse engineering human pathophysiology to address the problem of developing more biomimetic experimental systems. Human tissues and organs are multiscale and multi-material structures. The greatest challenge for organ printing is the complexity of the structural elements, from the shape of the macroscopic structure to the details of the nanostructure. A highly bionic tissue-organ model requires the use of multiple printing processes. Some printers with multiple nozzles and multiple processes are currently reported. However, the bulk volume, which is inconvenient to move, and the high cost of these printing systems limits the expansion of their applications. Scientists urgently need a multifunctional miniaturized 3D bioprinter. In this study, a portable multifunctional 3D bioprinting system was built based on a modular design and a custom written operating application. Using this platform, constructs with detailed surface structures, hollow structures, and multiscale complex tissue analogs were successfully printed using commercial polymers and a series of hydrogel-based inks. With further development, this portable, modular, low-cost, and easy-to-use Bluetooth-enabled 3D printer promises exciting opportunities for resource-constrained application scenarios, not only in biomedical engineering but also in the education field, and may be used in space experiments., Competing Interests: No conflicts of interest were reported by all authors., (Copyright: © 2022 Xu et al.)

As a major extracellular matrix component within the skin, collagen has been widely used to engineer human skin tissues. However, most collagen is extracted from animals. Here, we introduced recombinant human type III collagen (rhCol3) as a bioactive component to formulate bioinks for the bioprinting of a full-thickness human skin equivalent. Human dermal fibroblasts were encapsulated in the gelatin methacryloyl-rhCol3 composite bioinks and printed on a transwell to form the dermis layer, on which human epidermal keratinocytes were seeded to perform an air-liquid interface culture for 6 weeks. After optimizing the bioink formulation and bioprinting process, we investigated the effect of rhCol3 on skin tissue formation. The results suggest that a higher concentration of rhCol3 would enhance the growth of both cells, resulting in a more confluent (~100%) spreading of the epidermal keratinocytes at an early stage (3 days), compared to the rhCol3-free counterpart. Moreover, in an in vivo experiment, adding rhCol3 in the hydrogel formulation would contribute to the skin wound healing process. Taken together, we conclude that rhCol3 could act as a functional bioink component to promote basic skin cellular processes for skin tissue engineering., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2022 Yang et al.)

Intimal hyperplasia and restenosis caused by excessive proliferation of smooth muscle cells (SMC) are the main factors for the failure of stent implantation. Drug-eluting stents carried with antiproliferative drugs have emerged as a successful approach to alleviate early neointimal development. However, these agents have been reported to have an undesirable effect on re-endothelialization. In this study, we proposed an integrated bioresorbable stent coated with dipyridamole (DP)-loaded poly(D,L-lactide) (PDLLA) nanofibers. Three-dimensional (3D) bioresorbable stents were fabricated by printing on a rotation mandrel using polycaprolactone (PCL), and the stents were further coated with PDLLA/DP nanofibers. The in vitro degradation and drug release evaluation illustrated the potential for long-term release of DP. Stents coated with PDLLA/DP nanofibers showed excellent hemocompatibility. The cell viability, proliferation, and morphology analysis results revealed that stents coated with PDLLA/DP nanofibers could prevent the proliferation of SMC and have no adverse effects on endothelial cells. The in vivo implantation of stents coated with PDLLA/DP nanofibers showed initial patency and continuous endothelialization and alleviated neointimal formation. The attractive in vitro and in vivo performance indicated its potential for restenosis prevention and endothelialization., Competing Interests: No conflict of interest was reported by all authors., (Copyright: © 2022 Wang, et al.)

The study presented a Monte Carlo simulation of light transport in eight commonly used filtered facepiece respirators (FFRs) to assess the efficacy of UV at 254 nm for the inactivation of SARS-CoV-2. The results showed different fluence rates across the thickness of the eight different FFRs, implying that some FFR models may be more treatable than others, with the following order being (from most to least treatable): models 1512, 9105s, 1805, 9210, 1870+, 8210, 8110s and 1860, for single side illumination. The model predictions did not coincide well with some previously reported experimental data on virus inactivation when applied to FFR surfaces. The simulations predicted that FFRs should experience higher log reductions (>>6-log) than those observed experimentally (often limited to ~5-log). Possible explanations are virus shielding by aggregation or soiling, and a lack of the Monte Carlo simulations considering near-field scattering effects that can create small, localized regions of low UV photon probability on the surface of the fiber material. If the latter is the main cause in limiting practical UV viral decontamination, improvement might be achieved by exposing the FFR to UV isotropically from all directions, such as by varying the UV source to the FFR surface angle during treatment., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The binding between dissolved organic matter (DOM) and micro-pollutants (MPs) results in significant impacts on their migration, transformation and degradation. However, the role of the DOM/MP binding on their oxidative transformation remains poorly studied. The binding of MPs by DOM, in combination with DOM's roles as a photosensitizer and/or a competitor for free radicals, needs to be considered in the context of understanding the DOM's impacts on the oxidative degradation of MPs. This study aims to explore this aspect of DOM/MP interactions based on the quantitation of humic acid (HA) and tetracycline (TET) complexation and its role in TET removal. This study also compared the degradation of free TET versus that bound in HA-TET complexes in different oxidation processes. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) data show that the carboxyl and phenolic hydroxyl groups in HA are the main binding sites of TET, while nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis shows the binding of TET engages its -N(CH 3 ) 2 groups, and two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2D-COS) data show that the carboxyl groups in DOM are sensitive than phenolic groups in the binding of TET. The difference between the degradation rates (Δk obs ) of the free and bound TET decreased with the increase of ionic strength using sodium nitrate, but increased with the introduction of Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ due to the formation of TET-Ca 2+ /Mg 2+ complexes. Quenching experiments showed that the free radicals (•OH and •SO 4 - ), PMS oxidant and UV light were the main contributors to the TET degradation in UV/PS, UV/PMS and UV/H 2 O 2 processes, respectively. In-situ fluorescence time scanning and differential absorbance spectra showed that free TET was preferentially oxidized over the bound TET in all the tested treatments except UV/PS. These results provide new insights into the role of DOM/MP complexation in the degradation of MPs in natural and engineered systems., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Cell alignment plays an essential role in cytoskeleton reorganization, extracellular matrix remodeling, and biomechanical properties regulation of tissues such as vascular tissues, cardiac muscles, and tendons. Based on the natural-oriented features of cells in native tissues, various biomimetic scaffolds have been reported with the introduction of well-arranged ultrafine fibers to induce cell alignment. However, it is still a challenge to fabricate scaffolds with suitable mechanical properties, biomimetic microenvironment, and ability to promote cell alignment. In this paper, we propose an integrated 3D printing system to fabricate multi-scale hierarchical scaffolds combined with meso-, micro-, and nano-fibrous filaments, in which the meso-, micro-, and nano-fibers fabricated via fused deposition modeling, melt electrospining writing, and solution electrospining can provide structural support, promote cell alignment, and create a biomimetic microenvironment to facilitate cell function, respectively. The plasma surface modification was performed improve the surface wettability of the scaffolds by measuring the contact angle. The obtained in vitro biological results validate the ability of multi-scale hierarchical scaffolds to enhance cell adhesion and proliferation, and promote cell alignment with the guidance of the aligned microfibers produced via melt electrospining writing in hierarchical scaffolds., (© 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

Degradation kinetics, by-products identification and pathways of a model naphthenic acid, cyclohexanecarboxylic acid (CHA), by the UV/Chlorine process were investigated in this study. Mathematical modeling indicated that the initial CHA decay rate increased rapidly with the chlorine dose when the chlorine dose was lower than 45 mg/L and decreased with further chlorine dose increases. Increasing the chlorine dose from 400 to 800 mg/L resulted in a steady increase in the total removal of CHA after 60 min of UV photolysis. By dividing the 700 mg/L chlorine dose into five separated doses (140 mg/L each) added at 10 min intervals, the total CHA removal increased from 72% to 91%. This implies that the ideal condition of the UV/Chlorine process in degrading CHA is to add chlorine continuously at a constant rate to compensate any chlorine consumption to reduce the radical scavenging effect. It was found that the CHA decay was mainly attributed to the hydroxyl radical (OH) attack and the reactive chlorine species (RCS) contribution was relatively small. Various by-products, including the mono-chlorinated and di-chlorinated by-products, were identified and the reaction pathway for CHA degradation during UV/Chlorine treatment was proposed., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study presents numerical simulations of UVC light propagation through seven different filtered face respirators (FFR) to determine their suitability for Ultraviolet germicidal inactivation (UVGI). UV propagation was modeled using the FullMonte program for two external light illuminations. The optical properties of the dominant three layers were determined using the inverse adding doubling method. The resulting fluence rate volume histograms and the lowest fluence rate recorded in the modeled volume, sometimes in the nW cm -2 , provide feedback on a respirator's suitability for UVGI and the required exposure time for a given light source. While UVGI can present an economical approach to extend an FFR's useable lifetime, it requires careful optimization of the illumination setup and selection of appropriate respirators., (©2020 The Authors. Journal of Biophotonics published by WILEY-VCH GmbH.)

Despite progress in engineering both vascularized tissues and oriented tissues, the fabrication of 3D vascularized oriented tissues remains a challenge due to an inability to successfully integrate vascular and anisotropic structures that can support mass transfer and guide cell alignment, respectively. More importantly, there is a lack of an effective approach to guiding the scaffold design bearing both structural features. Here, an approach is presented to optimize the bifurcated channels within an anisotropic scaffold based on oxygen transport simulation and biological experiments. The oxygen transport simulation is performed using the experimentally measured effective oxygen diffusion coefficient and hydraulic permeability of the anisotropic scaffolds, which are also seeded with muscle precursor cells and cultured in a custom-made perfusion bioreactor. Symmetric bifurcation model is used as fractal unit to design the channel network based on biomimetic principles. The bifurcation level of channel network is further optimized based on the oxygen transport simulation, which is then validated by DNA quantification assay and pimonidazole immunostaining. This study provides a practical guide to optimizing bifurcated channels in anisotropic scaffolds for oriented tissue engineering., (© 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

There is an urgent clinical for small diameter vascular grafts (SDVGs) for use in the treatment of coronary artery disease. Moreover, biodegradable SDVGs are drawing increasing attention because they have the potential to restore vascular function with the degradation of vascular graft and tissue regeneration. In this study, we designed triple-layered SDVGs to mimic the native arterial structure, with each layer contributing its unique porosity to the porous structure. We evaluated triple-layered SDVGs in a sheep carotid arterial replacement model. After implantation for 12 months, two grafts were patent and indicated the feasibility of using grafts in large animals. Nevertheless, it was determined that both grafts formed aneurysms at the proximal end. The prevention of such aneurysms remains a challenge for future investigation., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None declared., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Though natural reducing agents have been demonstrated as desirable catalysts for environmental remediation, the mechanism of catalytic activation of persulfate (PS) by bisulfite (S(IV)) remains unclear. In this study, an emerging contaminant bisphenol AF (BPAF) was employed as the target compound to examine the activation and degradation mechanism in PS/S(IV) system. Sulfate radical (SO 4 •-) was evidenced as the dominant radical accounting for BPAF degradation via quantitative analysis, while hydroxyl radical (•OH) and singlet oxygen ( 1 O 2 ) were minor contributors. Superoxide radical (O 2 •-) was identified as an intermediate radical in promoting BPAF removal through quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance analysis. Tests in oxygen-rich and oxygen-deficient systems were conducted and the results were contrasted to elucidate the important role of oxygen in BPAF degradation and SO 4 •--formation. In addition, the effect of Dissolved Oxygen (DO) was simulated using two separate kinetic models. Decomposition mechanism of BPAF was afterwards clarified via the density-functional theory calculations using Fukui index to predict the vulnerable sites and the intermediate products. This study provides a mechanistic understanding of the activation of PS/S(IV) system on the BPAF removal, especially the critical role of DO and O 2 •- in SO 4 •- generation., Competing Interests: Declaration of Interest Statement The authors declare that they do not have any commercial interest or personal relationships that could have appeared to affect the work reported in this study., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The hydroxyl radical ( • OH) scavenging capacity is a useful parameter for the design and operation of an advanced oxidation process (AOP) in water treatment. The scavenging capacity may change with time, and it would be useful to continuously measure this change to be able to optimize AOP doses. In this study, we first reviewed current methods for scavenging capacity measurement to identify strengths and weaknesses of each method. This information helped guide the design of an external calibration method to allow straightforward laboratory and field measurement of • OH scavenging capacity. The method used low-pressure UV/H 2 O 2 as the • OH generation system, methylene blue (MB) as the probe compound, and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) as the standard. By monitoring, offline, the color decay of MB in a series of IPA solutions with different scavenging capacity, a calibration curve was established between the color decay rate and the scavenging capacity. The measured color decay in real water samples can then be used with this external calibration to estimate their scavenging capacity. Work was undertaken to ensure that the process would be robust under a wide range of water quality conditions. Parallel tests using this method compared with the benchmark methods confirmed its robustness and accuracy.

Emerging evidence and clinical case reports have observed a risk of cytotoxic effects of triptolide in patients. We aimed to investigate the triptolide-induced toxicity in mouse inner ear stem cells. The utricular sensory epithelium from adult BALB/C6 mice was used for the isolation of inner ear stem cells. Sphere formation assay was applied to examine the stemness of the cells. Cell count kit-8 and Bromodeoxyuridine assays were employed to detect the cell proliferation ability. Cell apoptosis was measured with Annexin V-FITC & propidium iodide Apoptosis kit. The relative expression levels of gamma H2A histone family member X (γH2AX), tumor suppressor p53-binding protein 1 (53BP1) and optic atrophy 1 (OPA-1) were measured by Western Blot. Mitochondrial function was analyzed by the MitoGreen green-fluorescent mitochondrial dye kit. Triptolide significantly inhibited the cell viability and proliferation and suppressed the capability of sphere formation. Furthermore, triptolide induced apoptosis as indicated by increased expression of DNA damage repair markers γH2AX and 53BP1. Moreover, triptolide influenced the function of mitochondria by inducing the cleavage of OPA-1. Our work clarifies the toxicity of triptolide in mouse inner ear stem cells, which provides clues of the toxicology mechanism for future studies and basis for clinical use., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Drinking water treatment using UV/H 2 O 2 advanced oxidation typically results in residual H 2 O 2 that requires quenching to minimize its interference with downstream processes. Chemical quenching using chlorine or bisulfite are options, but there is some uncertainty in the literature about the kinetics of the bisulfite reaction, with some reports quoting the reaction as fast, and others as slow. Part of the contradictory information may be due to interference in H 2 O 2 analysis by bisulfite. An analytical method was developed to avoid this interference, in which monochloramine first selectively quenched bisulfite, and then H 2 O 2 was measured spectrometrically using titanium(IV) oxysulfate for color development. The confirmatory experiments suggested that the bisulfite reaction with H 2 O 2 is actually relatively slow, with a half-life in the order of hours to days depending on the pH and the reagent concentrations. As a result, within the typical pH range of drinking water treatment (e.g., 6-9), chlorine is preferred over bisulfite as the H 2 O 2 quenching agent on the basis of reaction kinetics. However, a decrease in pH will lead to an increase in the bisulfite-H 2 O 2 reaction rate along with a decrease in the Cl 2 -H 2 O 2 reaction rate, such that at pH < 5.7 bisulfite is the faster reagent. Both bisulfite and chlorine were observed to react with H 2 O 2 following a stoichiometric ratio of 1:1 in the natural water matrix tested., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The photolysis of chlorine by UV light leads to the formation of the hydroxyl radicals (OH) as well as reactive chlorine species (RCS) that can be effective as advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for water treatment. Much of the research to date has been done at laboratory- or bench-scale. This study reports results from a model that demonstrates that the relative effectiveness of the UV/Cl 2 AOP compared to the more traditional UV/H 2 O 2 AOP is a function of optical path length. As such, the relative effectiveness of the two treatment options evaluated at small scale may not reflect the relative performance at full-scale, making results previously obtained at small-scale potentially less scalable. This study therefore compares the performance of UV/Cl 2 to UV/H 2 O 2 at a full-scale water treatment plant, using sucralose and caffeine as spiked surrogates for contaminants that are reactive solely to OH radicals, and to both OH and RCS, respectively. pH was varied between 6.5 and 8.0. The results demonstrated that when using a medium pressure UV lamp, UV/Cl 2 might lead to approximately twice the production of OH radicals as UV/H 2 O 2 at pH 6.5 when using the same molar oxidant concentration, but adding chlorine to the UV reactor at pH 8.0 had a negligible impact on OH radical concentration in comparison to UV alone. The study also confirmed previous small-scale results that RCS can be a major contributor to UV/Cl 2 treatment for compounds such as caffeine that are susceptible to RCS, with UV/Cl 2 effective at both pH 6.5 and 8.0 for such compounds. Disinfection byproducts were monitored, with adsorbable organohalide (AOX) formation increasing by approximately 10 μg-Cl/L due to chlorine photolysis, but only at pH 6.5 and not at pH 8.0. This implies that UV/Cl 2 might increase AOX mostly due to reaction between OH and organic precursors to make them more reactive with chlorine, and not due to RCS. The formation of specific DBPs of current or emerging regulatory interest was minimal under all conditions, except for chlorate. Chlorate yields were in the order of 6-18% of the photolysed chlorine., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Distinct naphthenic acid (NA) species were isolated from oil sands process water (OSPW) into 20 fractions via silver-ion solid phase extraction, prior to treatment using potassium ferrate(VI). Untreated and treated fractions F1-F20 were characterized using ultra performance liquid chromatography traveling-wave ion mobility time-of-flight mass spectrometry to identify classical NAs (aliphatic O 2 -NAs mainly found in fractions F1-F4), aromatic NAs (aromatic O 2 -NAs in F6-F9), oxidized NAs (O 3 -, O 4 -, and O 5 -NAs in F14-F17), and sulfur-containing NAs (F16-F19). The Fe(VI) oxidation reactivity of individual NA species was studied with minimized confounding effects from the complicated OSPW matrix. Aliphatic and aromatic O 2 -NAs were found to have different reactivity towards Fe(VI) oxidation, with removals ranging from <50% up to 90% at 200 mg/L ferrate dose. The O 3 -NAs and O 4 -NAs from raw OSPW were recalcitrant species with slight degradation under Fe(VI) oxidation conditions. The Fe(VI) oxidation of O 2 -NAs generated new O 3 -NAs as byproducts or intermediate byproducts which finally resulted in more oxygen-rich O x -NAs as the final byproducts depending on the Fe(VI) doses. Besides the obtained knowledge on chemical reactivity, current methodology (i.e., treatment of Ag-ion fractions of OSPW versus raw OSPW) could be applied to evaluate other treatment approaches as well as toxicity of distinct NA species for environmental applications., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Owing to the complexity of naphthenic acids (NAs) in oil sands process water (OSPW), previous ozone-treatment studies mainly investigated the removal of classical NAs (aliphatic O 2 -NAs) and the understanding of ozonation reactivity of other NA species has been limited. This work utilized a silver-ion solid phase extraction (SPE) approach to separate individual NA species into 20 fractions before subsequent ozone treatment. The ozonation reactivity of aromatic and oxidized NA species in isolated fractions was studied for the first time. Untreated and ozone-treated SPE fractions were characterized using ultra performance liquid chromatography ion mobility time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The removals of aliphatic O 2 -NAs (Fraction 3), aromatic O 2 -NAs (Fraction 8), O 3 -NAs (Fraction 11), and O 4 -NAs (Fraction 17) with an applied ozone dosage of 16.8 mg L -1 were 97.2%, 94.7%, 59.4% and 44.7%, respectively. The results showed that aromatic and oxidized NAs with larger carbon number were favorably removed during ozonation treatment. Comparison of the ozone utilization efficiency for different NA species indicated that the degradation of oxidized NAs consumed more ozone in molar ratio than the degradation of classical and aromatic NAs. The reactivity of oxidized NAs was lower than that of classical NAs because the former consumed more ozone in molar ratio during reactions. Knowing the reactivity of different NA species is crucial for the design of ozonation systems targeting species with high toxicity. Moreover, the utilization of silver-ion SPE pre-separation approach has been demonstrated for future studies investigating the degradation mechanism of distinct NA species under other treatment conditions., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study aims to assess the effectiveness of endoscopic tympanoplasty without mastoidectomy in the management of active mucosal chronic otitis media (COM) patients with mastoid and tympanic antrum lesions., Methods: It is a prospective controlled study where 42 patients with active mucosal COM with mastoid and tympanic antrum lesions or normal aeration were recruited from the outpatient clinic of the otology department, Eye Ear Nose and Throat Hospital of Fudan University. All patients underwent endoscopic tympanoplasty without mastoidectomy by using the underlay technique with tragal cartilage graft with one side-perichondrium. The follow-up period was at least 3 months and results were evaluated in terms of graft uptake, ear dryness and hearing improvement., Results: Statistics showed no significant difference in graft uptake between the mastoid and tympanic antrum lesions group (90.5%) and the normal aeration group (95.2%). There was no significant difference in ear dryness between the mastoid and tympanic antrum lesions group (95.2%) and the normal aeration group (100%). Hearing improvement was comparable in the 2 groups., Conclusion: Regardless of the occurrence of soft density shadows in temporal bone showed by high-resolution computerized tomography in the mastoid and tympanic antrum, mastoidectomy is an unnecessary procedure for dealing with active mucosal COM without cholesteatoma. Therefore, this study shows that endoscopic tympanoplasty without mastoidectomy may be applied to active mucosal COM without cholesteatoma., (© 2019 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

The classical, oxidized, and heteroatomic naphthenic acids (NAs) species were monitored in the oil sands process water (OSPW) and groundwater from the active oil sands operation area, using solid phase extraction sample preparation and high resolution mass spectrometry analysis. Groundwater samples include Pleistocene channel aquifer groundwater (PLCA) and oil sands basal aquifer groundwater (OSBA) from different depth of underground. The concentrations of O x -NAs decreased from OSPW to PLCA, and then increased from PLCA to OSBA, which is deeper than PLCA. The NAs in PLCA mainly comprised of O x -NAs and N-NAs and the percentage of S-NAs was negligible. Results revealed relative abundances of individual NA species in total NAs varies among different water layers and the potential environmental impacts are expected to be variable. Principal component analysis results of O 2 -NAs or O 4 -NAs could be used for differentiation of water types. O 2 -NAs with n = 12-16 and |Z| = 4-6, and O 4 -NAs with n = 14-20 and |Z| = 6-8, were identified as marker compounds that could serve as surrogates of the larger complex NA mixture for source differentiation. This work utilized a combination of sample preparation, instrumental analysis, and statistical analysis methods to obtain knowledge of the occurrence, composition, and transfer of NAs in the groundwater of the Alberta oil sands operation area., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

BACKGROUND Kanamycin and subsequent furosemide administration was applied to the healthy guinea pigs to induce deafness. MATERIAL AND METHODS Of the deafened guinea pigs, 10 were further infused with anti-infection procedures (Group B) and the other 10 animals did not undergo anti-infection procedures (Group C). In Group B, the deafened animals were able to restore cochlear and middle ear functions following the anti-infection procedure. In Group C, all animals developed cochlear and middle ear infections. RESULTS Compared to the healthy guinea pigs, hair cells and spiral ganglion neurons (SGN) of deafened animals (in Group B and Group C) were severely damaged. SGN density of deafened animals was significantly lower than that of healthy control animals in all ear turns except the basal turn. There was no significant difference between Group B and Group C in SGN density. The average optical density value of neurofilaments of deafened animals was also significantly decreased after the ototoxic drug administration. Notably, the density of the neurons in the cochlear nucleus region (CNR) of the brainstem were not significantly different between the healthy control guinea pigs and deafened animals. CONCLUSIONS Mimic cochlear implant surgery-induced cochlear infection caused no significant damage to the auditory pathway in ototoxic drug-induced deafened guinea pigs.

This work reports the monitoring and assessment of naphthenic acids (NAs) in oil sands process-affected water (OSPW), Pleistocene channel aquifer groundwater (PLCA), and oil sands basal aquifer groundwater (OSBA) from an active oil sands development in Alberta, Canada, using ultra performance liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-TOF-MS) analysis with internal standard (ISTD) and external standard (ESTD) calibration methods and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) for compositional analysis. PLCA was collected at 45-51 m depth and OSBA was collected at 67-144 m depth. Results of O x -NA concentrations follow an order as OSPW > OSBA > PLCA, indicating that occurrences of NAs in OSBA were likely related to natural bitumen deposits instead of OSPW. Liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) was applied to avoid the matrix effect for the ESTD method. Reduced LLE efficiency accounted for the divergence of the ISTD and ESTD calibrated results for oxidized NAs. Principle component analysis results of O 2 and O 4 species could be employed for differentiation of water types, while classical NAs with C13-15 and Z (-4)-(-6) and aromatic O 2 -NAs with C16-18 and Z (-14)-(-16) could be measured as marker compounds to characterize water sources and potential temporal variations of samples, respectively. FTICR-MS results revealed that compositions of NA species varied greatly among OSPW, PLCA, and OSBA, because of NA transfer and transformation processes. This work contributed to the understanding of the concentration and composition of NAs in various types of water, and provided a useful combination of analytical and statistical tools for monitoring studies, in support of future safe discharge of treated OSPW., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This work investigated the oxidative transformation of the organic species in oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) and ultra-performance liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-TOF-MS) in both negative and positive electrospray ionization (ESI) modes. This is the first time to apply FTICR-MS to investigate species transformation in OSPW treatments by ferrate (VI), UV/H 2 O 2 , and molecular ozone, and also this is the first preliminary study to use positive ESI to investigate organic species in addition to naphthenic acids (NAs) in these treatment processes. The oxidation processes with potassium ferrate (VI), UV/H 2 O 2 , and ozone transformed the distribution profiles of O x , O x S y , and O x N y organic fractions (i.e., species containing oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen, with x, y specifying the oxygen number and sulfur/nitrogen number, respectively), with O x S y distribution profiles showing the most sensitive responses to the oxidation extent and can be used as a signature fraction to evaluate the oxidation effectiveness. Negative mode UPLC-TOF-MS confirmed the transformation pattern of O x species observed with FTICR-MS, but positive mode UPLC-TOF-MS results showed severe discrepancies with FTICR-MS results and should be subjected for future further investigation, regarding the relatively low mass resolution of UPLC-TOF-MS. The investigation of the transformation patterns of different organic species using two ionization modes was a preliminary study to enhance the understanding of the efficiency, selectivity, and mechanism of different oxidation processes in OSPW remediation for both NAs and non-NA species., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The efficiency of three different oxidation processes, UV/H2O2 oxidation, ferrate(VI) oxidation, and ozonation with and without hydroxyl radical (OH) scavenger tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) on the removal of organic compounds from oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) was investigated and compared. The removal of aromatics and naphthenic acids (NAs) was explored by synchronous fluorescence spectra (SFS), ion mobility spectra (IMS), proton and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H and (13)C NMR), and ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC TOF-MS). UV/H2O2 oxidation occurred through radical reaction and photolysis, transforming one-ring, two-ring, and three-ring fluorescing aromatics simultaneously and achieving 42.4% of classical NAs removal at 2.0 mM H2O2 and 950 mJ/cm(2) UV dose provided with medium pressure mercury lamp. Ferrate(VI) oxidation exhibited high selectivity, preferentially removing two-ring and three-ring fluorescing aromatics, sulfur-containing NAs (NAs + S), and NAs with high carbon and high hydrogen deficiency. At 2.0 mM Fe(VI), 46.7% of classical NAs was removed. Ozonation achieved almost complete removal of fluorescing aromatics, NAs + S, and classical NAs (NAs with two oxygen atoms) at the dose of 2.0 mM O3. Both molecular ozone reaction and OH reaction were important pathways in transforming the organics in OSPW as supported by ozonation performance with and without TBA. (1)H NMR analyses further confirmed the removal of aromatics and NAs both qualitatively and quantitatively. All the three oxidation processes reduced the acute toxicity towards Vibrio fischeri and on goldfish primary kidney macrophages (PKMs), with ozonation being the most efficient., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This paper investigates the oxidation of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) by potassium ferrate(VI). Due to the selectivity of ferrate(VI) oxidation, two-ring and three-ring fluorescing aromatics were preferentially removed at doses <100 mg/L Fe(VI), and one-ring aromatics were removed only at doses ≥100 mg/L Fe(VI). Ferrate(VI) oxidation achieved 64.0% and 78.4% removal of naphthenic acids (NAs) at the dose of 200 mg/L and 400 mg/L Fe(VI) respectively, and NAs with high carbon number and ring number were removed preferentially. (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR) spectra indicated that the oxidation of fluorescing aromatics resulted in the opening of some aromatic rings. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis detected signals of organic radical intermediates, indicating that one-electron transfer is one of the probable mechanisms in the oxidation of NAs. The inhibition effect of OSPW on Vibrio fischeri and the toxicity effect on goldfish primary kidney macrophages (PKMs) were both reduced after ferrate(VI) oxidation. The fluorescing aromatics in OSPW were proposed to be an important contributor to this acute toxicity. Degradation of model compounds with ferrate(VI) was also investigated and the results confirmed our findings in OSPW study.

This study investigated the application of polyaluminum chloride (PACl) for the treatment of the oil sands process-affected water (OSPW). These coagulants are commonly used in water treatment with the most effective species reported to be Al13. PACl with 83.6% Al13 was synthesized using the slow base titration method and compared with a commercially available PACl in terms of aluminum species distribution, coagulation/flocculation (CF) performance, floc morphology, and contaminant removal. Both coagulants were effective in removing suspended solids, achieving over 96% turbidity removal at all applied coagulant doses (0.5-3.0 mM Al). The removal efficiencies of metals varied among different metals depending on their pKa values with metal cations having pKa values (Fe, Al, Ga, and Ti) below OSPW pH of 6.9-8.1 (dose dependent) being removed by more than 90%, while cations with higher pKa values (K, Na, Ca, Mg and Ni) had removals of less than 40%. Naphthenic acids were not removed due to their low molecular weights, negative charges, and hydrophilic characteristics at the OSPW pH. At the highest applied coagulant dose of 3.0 mM Al, the synthetic PACl reduced Vibrio fischeri inhibition effect to 43.3 ± 3.0% from 49.5 ± 0.4% in raw OSPW. In contrast, no reduction of toxicity was found for OSPW treated with the commercial PACl. Based on water quality and floc analyses, the dominant CF mechanism for particle removal during OSPW treatment was considered to be enmeshment in the precipitates (i.e., sweep flocculation). Overall, the CF using synthesized PACl can be a valuable pretreatment process for OSPW to create wastewater that is more easily treated by downstream processes., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A simple metal-free method for the synthesis of 3-aryloxindoles via Brønsted acid catalyzed aromatic C-H functionalization of electron-rich arenes with 3-diazooxindoles is developed. In the presence of a catalytic amount of TfOH, a series of 3-aryloxindoles are synthesized as single regioisomers in good to excellent yields. This transformation is proposed to proceed through acid-catalyzed protonation of 3-diazooxindoles into diazonium ions followed by Friedel-Crafts-type alkylation of arenes.

Efficient Rh(II)-catalyzed three-component reactions of 3-diazooxindoles and formaldehyde with either anilines or water were developed to give a series of substituted 3-amino-3-hydroxymethyloxindoles or 3-hydroxy-3-hydroxymethyloxindoles in good to excellent yields. In this atom- and step-economic transformation, Rh2(OAc)4-catalyzed decomposition of 3-diazooxindoles with anilines or water forms the corresponding active ammonium or oxonium ylides. Electrophilic trapping of the resulting ammonium ylides or oxonium ylides by formaldehyde in the form of formalin efficiently produces the title compounds in one step.