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Purpose: To determine the hypnotic and sedative effects, and the mechanism of action of ChaihuLonggu-Muli Decoction (CLMD) in mice with insomnia. Methods: A mice model induced with insomnia using p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA), was established. The sedative and hypnotic effects of CLMD on mice were evaluated by animal behavioral tests. The animals were separated into four experimental groups: (1) control group, (2) PCPA group, (3) PCPA + 5 mg/kg CLMD group, and (4) CPA + 10 mg/kg CLMD group. The 5-HTR1A expression was determined by western blot. The expression levels of the neurotransmitters were assessed using commercial ELISA kits, while the histological changes in hypothalamic tissues were examined microscopically after staining with hematoxylin and eosin (H & E). Results: CLMD exerted a sedative effect on and ameliorated anxiety-like and stressful behaviors in mice with insomnia. Moreover, CLMD induced sleep and enhanced 5-HTR1A to modulate neurotransmitter secretion. The data also indicate that CLMD exerted a protective role by alleviating hypothalamic damage and regulating the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome associated with insomnia. Conclusion: These findings indicate that CLMD has sedative and hypnotic effects, and offers a new therapeutic modality for insomnia treatment.

The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is a classical Wnt pathway that regulates the stability and nuclear localization of β-catenin and plays an important role in adult heart development and cardiac tissue homeostasis. In recent years, an increasing number of researchers have implicated the dysregulation of this signaling pathway in a variety of cardiac diseases, such as myocardial infarction, arrhythmias, arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, diabetic cardiomyopathies, and myocardial hypertrophy. The morbidity and mortality of cardiac diseases are increasing, which brings great challenges to clinical treatment and seriously affects patient health. Thus, understanding the biological roles of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in these diseases may be essential for cardiac disease treatment and diagnosis to improve patient quality of life. In this review, we summarize current research on the roles of β-catenin in human cardiac diseases and potential inhibitors of Wnt/β-catenin, which may provide new strategies for cardiac disease therapies.

Additional file 4: Supplementary material 4. The details of multi-omics analysis.

Additional file 1. Fig. S1. Cellular uptake of the DOX or ZnO/DOX in the DOX-sensitive cancer cells and DOX-resistant MDR cancer cells after 1 h incubation, determined by flow cytometry. Mean fluorescence intensity of the flow cytometry data. Fig. S2. Confocal microscopic images of cellular internalization of the DOX or ZnO/DOX in the MDA-MB-231 and NCI/ADR-RES cells after 1 h incubation. Cell nuclei were stained by Hoechst. The scale bar is 100 μm. Fig. S3. Uptake of the DOX, ZnO/DOX, or ZnO + DOX mixture after 1 h incubation with the MDR cancer cells, determined by flow cytometry. MFI, mean fluorescence intensity. Fig. S4. Cytotoxicity of the DOX, ZnO NPs, and ZnO/DOX in DOX-sensitive cancer cells and DOX-resistant MDR cancer cells. Cell incubation time: 24 h. Fig. S5. Mitochondrial membrane potential after 1 h or 24 h treatments, determined by the JC-1 assay. The decrease in the JC-1 aggregate/monomer ratio indicates the mitochondrial depolarization. Confocal microscopic images of the JC-1 staining after 4 h treatments. The scale bar is 50 μm. Fig. S6. The C/EBP Homologous Protein levels after 24 h treatments, determined by a CHOP ELISA kit. Cell line: NCI/ADR-RES cells. Fig. S7. Drug penetration through the MDA-MB-231 and NCI/ADR-RES cell spheroids after 4 h incubation, determined by confocal microscopy. The scale bar is 200 μm. The right panel is the curves of the normalized mean fluorescence intensity vs the distance from the spheroid bottom to the top. Fig. S8. Synthetic scheme of the PEG-pp-PE.TLC chromatograms of the PEG-pp and PEG-pp-PE.1H NMR spectrum of the PEG-pp-PE. Fig. S9. Mean particle sizes of the ZnO/DPPG/PEG-pp-PE/DOX upon the incubation with HBSS or HBSS containing 10% FBS for 72 h. Particle sizes were measured by dynamic light scattering. Fig. S10. Digital photographs of the ZnO/DPPG/PEG-PE/DOX and ZnO/DPPG/PEG-pp-PE/DOX with the MMP2 incubation for 12 h. Particle sizes of the ZnO/DPPG/PEG-pp-PE/DOX with/without the MMP2 pretreatment, determined by dynamic light scattering. Fig. S11. Cellular uptake of the DOX-loaded ZnO-based NPs in the MDR cancer cells after 1 h incubation, determined by flow cytometry. MFI, mean fluorescence intensity. Confocal microscopic images of the cellular internalization of ZnO/DPPG/PEG-PE/DOX and ZnO/DPPG/PEG-pp-PE/DOX with or without the MMP2 pretreatment after 1 h incubation with the MES-SA/Dx5 cells. Cell nuclei were stained by Hoechst. The scale bar is 100 μm. Data were expressed as the mean ± SD, **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. Fig. S12. Morphology of the NCI/ADR-RES cell spheroids after treatments. The scale bar is 200 μm. Fig. S13. Cytotoxicity of the DOX-loaded ZnO-based NPs with/without the MMP2 pretreatment after 24 h incubation with the MDR cancer cells. Data were expressed as the mean ± SD, **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.

We discovered that vitiligo was associated with sexual dysfunction in clinical diagnosis and treatment; however, no further analysis had been performed due to a lack of data. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between vitiligo and sexual dysfunction. We searched six databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Science and Technology Journal, and Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform) for nearly 40 years. According to the search strategy, 91 relevant studies were retrieved, of which 4 were included in the analysis. The Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX) score (mean difference [MD] 4.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.78–7.13, p < 0.00001) was higher in the vitiligo group than in the control group. The Arabic version of the Female Sexual Function Index (AVFSFI) score (mean difference [MD] − 3.40, 95% confidence interval [CI] − 5.49 to −1.31, p = 0.001) was lower in the vitiligo group than in the control group. Patients with vitiligo were found to be at greater risk of sexual dysfunction. Moreover, the association between vitiligo and sexual dysfunction was stronger in women than in men.Key MessagesPatients with vitiligo were found to be at greater risk of sexual dysfunction.The association between vitiligo and sexual dysfunction was stronger in women than in men. Patients with vitiligo were found to be at greater risk of sexual dysfunction. The association between vitiligo and sexual dysfunction was stronger in women than in men.

Additional file 1: Table S1. Longitudinal of QoL scores using SF-36 and FACT-BMT at each time post-HSCT. Table S2. Stratified analysis of QoL between HID and MSD patients in GVHD and no-GVHD groups.Table S3.Stratified analysis of QoL between HID and MSD patients in CMV and no-CMV reactivation groups.

As a high-density solid-state hydrogen storage material, magnesium hydride (MgH2) is promising for hydrogen transportation and storage. Yet, its stable thermodynamics and sluggish kinetics are unfavorable for that required for commercial application. Herein, nickel/vanadium trioxide (Ni/V2O3) nanoparticles with heterostructures were successfully prepared via hydrogenating the NiV-based two-dimensional layered double hydroxide (NiV-LDH). MgH2 + 7 wt% Ni/V2O3 presented more superior hydrogen absorption and desorption performances than pure MgH2 and MgH2 + 7 wt% NiV-LDH. The initial discharging temperature of MgH2 was significantly reduced to 190 °C after adding 7 wt% Ni/V2O3, which was 22 and 128 °C lower than that of 7 wt% NiV-LDH modified MgH2 and additive-free MgH2, respectively. The completely dehydrogenated MgH2 + 7 wt% Ni/V2O3 charged 5.25 wt% H2 in 20 min at 125 °C, while the hydrogen absorption capacity of pure MgH2 only amounted to 4.82 wt% H2 at a higher temperature of 200 °C for a longer time of 60 min. Moreover, compared with MgH2 + 7 wt% NiV-LDH, MgH2 + 7 wt% Ni/V2O3 shows better cycling performance. The microstructure analysis indicated the heterostructural Ni/V2O3 nanoparticles were uniformly distributed. Mg2Ni/Mg2NiH4 and metallic V were formed in-situ during cycling, which synergistically tuned the hydrogen storage process in MgH2. Our work presents a facile interfacial engineering method to enhance the catalytic activity by constructing a heterostructure, which may provide the mentality of designing efficient catalysts for hydrogen storage. The authors appreciatively acknowledge the financial supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51801078).

Vaginal adhesions and stenosis are infrequent long-term sequelae following pediatric pelvic fractures. Patients may not present with signs and symptoms before menarche, leading to delayed diagnosis and treatment. We report an adolescent girl who presented with a post-abdominal trauma pelvic fracture and urethrovaginal fistula and subsequent severe vaginal adhesion, which resulted in infection and obstructive symptoms after menarche. Hysteroscopy-guided vaginal adhesion release using an epidural catheter and ultrasonography was performed, followed by vaginal dilation, to resolve obstructive symptoms. For girls with pelvic fractures, education on possible long-term sequelae is required, as is regular follow-up. Timely diagnosis and treatment are important, and hysteroscopic release of vaginal adhesion and postoperative regular vaginal dilation may be an effective treatment.

Vibrations in aircraft hydraulic pipeline system, due to multi-source excitation of high fluid pressure fluctuation and serious vibration environment of airframe, can cause the pipeline system vibration failures through overload in engineering field. Controlling the vibrations in hydraulic pipeline is a challenging work to ensure the flight safety of aircraft. The common vibration control technologies have been demonstrated to be effective in typical structures such as aerospace structures, shipbuilding structures, marine offshore structures, motor structures, etc. However, there are few research literatures on vibration control strategies of aircraft hydraulic pipeline. Combining with the development trend of aircraft hydraulic pipeline system and the requirement of vibration control technologies, this paper provides a detailed review on the current vibration control technologies in hydraulic pipeline system. A review of the general approaches following the passive and active control technologies are presented, which are including optimal layout technique of pipeline and clamps, constrained layer damping technique, vibration absorber technique, hydraulic hose technique, optimal pump structure technique, and active vibration control technique of pipeline system. Finally, some suggestions for the application of vibration control technologies in engineering field are given.

Fritillaria, a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, is classified into many medicinal species and contains numerous complex components. It is thus difficult to simultaneously detect multiple pesticide residues in different Fritillaria species. An easy, reliable, and widely applicable analytical method based on a modified Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe (QuEChERS) method coupled with LC-MS/MS was developed to solve these problems encountered during pesticide residue analysis in complex Fritillaria matrices. Ordered mesoporous carbon CMK-3 and a primary secondary amine (PSA) were used as efficient purification sorbents by optimization of the QuEChERS process. Systematic method validation was performed for four species of Fritillaria. The matrix effect of pesticides varied among different Fritillaria species, and matrix-matched standard solutions were thus employed for quantitative analysis. The mean recoveries of all pesticides ranged from 88.6% to 95.5%, with mean relative standard deviations (RSD) lower than 6% at spiked concentrations of 30, 120, and 240 μg kg−1. The limits of quantification (LOQ) for the developed method were in the range of 30–120 μg kg−1. This method was further used to analyze 47 Fritillaria samples from Zhejiang province, China, and seven pesticides were detected in 22 Fritillaria samples. These results demonstrate that the developed method is suitable for an accurate analysis of multiple pesticide residues in various Fritillaria.

ObjectiveTo investigate the changes of T helper 9 (Th9) cells, interleukin-9 (IL-9), and related transcription factors in previously untreated patients with chronic hepatitis C, as well as their association with clinical indices. MethodsA total of 29 previously untreated patients with chronic hepatitis C who attended Hainan Provincial People’s Hospital from December 2018 to July 2019 were enrolled, and 15 healthy individuals were enrolled as healthy controls. The patients with chronic hepatitis C received sofosbuvir/velpatasvir antiviral therapy for 12 weeks, and then plasma and peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated. Flow cytometry was used to measure the percentage of CD3+CD4+IL-9+ Th9 cells in PBMCs; ELISA was used to measure the plasma level of IL-9; quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure the relative mRNA expression of IL-9 and the transcription factors PU.1 and Foxo1 in PBMCs. The t-test or the paired t-test was used for comparison between two groups, and a Pearson correlation analysis was used to investigate correlation. ResultsCompared with the healthy controls, the previously untreated chronic hepatitis C patients had significantly lower percentage of peripheral Th9 cells (0.92%±0.14% vs 1.14%±0.21%, t=4.31, P＜0.001) and plasma IL-9 level (248.2±66.97 pg/ml vs 309.02±88.48 pg/ml, t=2.63, P=0.012). The previously untreated chronic hepatitis C patients had significantly lower relative mRNA expression of IL-9 and PU.1 than the healthy controls (t=20.67 and 23.21, both P＜0.001), while there was no significant difference in the relative mRNA expression of Foxo1 between the previously untreated chronic hepatitis C patients and the healthy controls (P＞0.05). In the previously untreated chronic hepatitis C patients, the percentage of peripheral Th9 cells, IL-9 level, and mRNA expression of IL-9 and PU.1 were negatively correlated with HCV RNA (r=-0.46, -0.38, -0.52, and -0.41, all P＜0.05), but they were not correlated with the level of alanine aminotransferase (all P＞0.05). Sofosbuvir/velpatasvir antiviral therapy achieved virologic response in 29 chronic hepatitis C patients, and the percentage of peripheral Th9 cells and the mRNA expression of PU.1 after antiviral therapy were significantly higher than those at baseline (t=2.20 and 6.52, both P＜0.05), while there were no significant changes in the plasma level of IL-9 and the relative mRNA expression of IL-9 from baseline to after treatment (both P＞0.05). ConclusionChronic hepatitis C virus infection may suppress the activation of Th9 cells, suggesting that Th9 cells might be involved in the chronicity of hepatitis C virus infection.

The Sichuan–Tibet Railway crosses through the largest maritime glacier region in China. A large number of moraines formed after the rapid glacial retreat caused by climate warming. Moraines could induce frequent geological hazards that seriously threatened the safe construction and operation of the railway. Accordingly, moraines in this maritime glacier region have become a new challenging research topic with respect to the formation of geological hazards. Using remote-sensing image interpretations, field investigations, and dating tests, moraines and their topographic information were systematically obtained. After analyzing the geometrical distribution characteristics of the moraine accumulations, the geometrical characteristics of three typical moraine accumulation forms were generalized into corresponding mathematical models. Consequently, a method to quickly and quantitatively estimate the moraine reserves is proposed. The moraine distribution is primarily affected by the elevation, slope, river–valley morphology, and climate conditions. Old moraines that formed in the Pleistocene epoch (the Guxiang and Baiyu glacial periods) are primarily distributed below 3,500 m above sea level, while most of the new moraines that formed in the Holocene epoch (Neoglaciation and Little Ice Age) are primarily distributed above 4,000 m above sea level. Both the new and old moraines are primarily distributed within a slope range of 10–30°. Furthermore, the main river–valley morphology has a significant impact on the distribution of the old moraines, which are primarily distributed in the Zhongba–Guxiang section of the river valley where the longitudinal slope is relatively gentle. The difference in glaciation is the main reason why the new moraines distributed on the south banks in the study area are different from those on the north banks and why those distributed upstream are different from those distributed downstream. In addition, moraines are the main source of glacial debris flows. According to the presented method, the loose moraine reserves can be accurately calculated by analyzing the position, consolidation, and supply capability of the new and old moraines in each debris flow gully. It is anticipated that the presented results can be used to better understand the formation mechanisms of glacier-related hazards and improve risk assessments.

The modeling of parallel-pipeline is a difficult work in engineer field duo to long distance complex pipelines. Vibration analysis of pipeline can become prohibitive due to high computational time associated with large number of degrees of freedom. Thus, the efficient model reduction technique to analyze the vibration characteristics of pipeline system is challenging for designers. The objective of this paper is to propose a reduced order modeling method of parallel-pipeline with multi-supports. Considering the constraint interface stiffness at the elastic support and the coupled fluid-structure pipeline system, a novel reduced order model is obtained by assembling the reduced substructure element. Modal analysis is performed for parallel-pipeline system, and the calculation results for reduced order model are compared with the full finite element model. The obtained results indicate that the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the reduced order model are consistent with full finite element model. Moreover, an interesting phenomenon is obtained that the fluid velocity in one of parallel-pipeline can decrease the natural frequencies of another pipeline. The proposed model can obtain sufficient calculation accuracy and higher calculation efficiency, which can provide insight and guidance for engineers in aircraft.

Additional file 1: Table S1. Summary information for studies about the associations of social isolation with all-cause mortality (from Jan 2015 to May 2021). Table S2. The missing percent of the variables in the cohort. Table S3. Associations of social isolation with cause-specific mortality using competing risk model (Fine-Gray’s model). Table S4. Associations of social isolation with all-cause and cause-specific mortality with additional adjustment for psychological factors† in the subgroup (n=19,947). Table S5. Associations of social isolation with all-cause and cause-specific mortality by sex (men, women) †. Table S6. Associations of social isolation with all-cause and cause-specific mortality by age group (< 60 years, ≥60 years) †. Table S7. Associations of social isolation with all-cause and cause-specific mortality by education group (≤ primary, ≥ middle school) †. Table S8. Associations of social isolation with all-cause and cause-specific mortality by health status (poor/very poor, good/very good) †. Table S9. Associations of face-to-face and non-face-to-face contact with all-cause mortality after mutual adjustment of 3 types of contact. Table S10. Associations of social isolation with all-cause mortality in original dataset (without excluding 244 death within first 2 years). Figure S1. Kaplan–Meier survival curve by four types of social isolation assessed at baseline examination (2003-2008) for all-cause mortality in 30,430 participants. Figure S2. Kaplan–Meier survival curve by four types of social isolation assessed at follow-up examination (2008-2012) for all-cause mortality in 18,104 participants.

Additional file 1: Supplementary Table 1. The four types of social isolation question and thescoring criteria for the composite social isolation score. Supplementary Table2. The Chinese version of four types of social isolation question and thescoring criteria for the composite social isolation score. Supplementary Table3. Associationof hearing loss with depressive symptoms (GDS-15 score ≥8). Supplementary Table4. Association of hearingloss with depressive symptoms after excluding participants with hearing aids (n=20).

Concrescence reveals a rare developmental anomaly in which two fully formed teeth are joined along the root surfaces by cementum, and generally occurs in maxillary molars, especially in a third molar and a supernumerary tooth. Very few cases have been reported about the concrescence of a third molar and a supernumerary fourth molar. Based on our available knowledge, this case report described a rare presentation in which concrescence is observed between a third molar and a supernumerary fourth molar in the mandible by diagnosing with cone-beam CT and histological examination.

High-precision relative position and attitude measurement is crucial for consensus control and collision avoidance in multi-CubeSat formation flying. However, the traditional relative navigation systems comprise many sensors and are not suitable for CubeSats due to large volume, complexity, and cost. In this paper, we propose a new approach, called Multi-CubeSat relative State determination by Array Signal detection (MUSAS). The approach utilizes the existing communication systems and antenna arrays on CubeSats without the need of extra components. In MUSAS, deputy vehicle (DV) CubeSats in a formation broadcast orthogonal spread spectrum signals simultaneously. Two chief vehicle (CV) CubeSats receive and separate the signals and extract the multiple-input multiple-output channel response of each DV CubeSat. Then, by utilizing the bi-directional spatial spectrum estimation, the angles-of-arrival and angles-of-departure of the propagation paths from each DV CubeSat to the CV CubeSats are estimated. Finally, the attitudes and positions of all DV CubeSats relative to the CV CubeSats are determined using the derived rotation matrices. We have theoretically proved the proposed MUSAS algorithm and performed extensive simulations to compare its performance with existing methods. Furthermore, we also developed the testbed of MUSAS and conducted field experiments. The simulation and experiment results have verified that, by exploiting the spread spectrum gain and antenna array gain, MUSAS can achieve high accuracy in relative state determination, even using small antenna arrays and low transmission power.

Purpose: Currently, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue specimens are the conventional material for gene testing for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. In our study, we aimed to develop a quick gene testing procedure using fresh core needle biopsy samples from NSCLC patients.Methods: In total, 77 fresh NSCLC samples obtained from core needle biopsy were evaluated by frozen section examination. If the NSCLC diagnosis and adequate tumor cell counts were confirmed by histopathology, the fresh tissues were used to extract DNA and subsequent gene testing by ARMS-PCR. Meanwhile, the paired FFPE core needle biopsy samples from 30 NSCLC patients also underwent gene testing.Results: In total, 77 fresh samples showed an EGFR mutation rate of 61.0%, higher than the levels in the Asian. Following a comparison of gene testing results with fresh tissues and paired FFPE tissues from the 30 patients, no significant difference in the DNA concentration extracted from fresh tissues and FFPE tissues was found. However, DNA purity was significantly higher in fresh tissues than that in FFPE tissues. Gene testing detected the same gene mutations in 93.3% of cases in fresh tissues and paired FFPE tissues. The gene testing procedure using fresh biopsy samples greatly shortens the waiting time of patients.Conclusion: The multi-gene mutation testing using fresh core needle biopsy samples from NSCLC patients is a reasonable, achievable, and quick approach. Fresh tissues may serve as a potential alternative to FFPE tissues for gene testing in NSCLC patients.

The plant U-box (PUB) gene family, one of the major ubiquitin ligase families in plants, plays important roles in multiple cellular processes including environmental stress responses and resistance. The function of U-box genes has been well characterized in Arabidopsis and other plants. However, little is known about the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) PUB genes. Here, 89 U-box proteins were identified from the chromosome-scale referenced genome of tea plant. According to the domain organization and phylogenetic analysis, the tea plant PUB family were classified into ten classes, named Class I to X, respectively. Using previously released stress-related RNA-seq data in tea plant, we identified 34 stress-inducible CsPUB genes. Specifically, eight CsPUB genes were expressed differentially under both anthracnose pathogen and drought stresses. Moreover, six of the eight CsPUBs were upregulated in response to these two stresses. Expression profiling performed by qRT-PCR was consistent with the RNA-seq analysis, and stress-related cis-acting elements were identified in the promoter regions of the six upregulated CsPUB genes. These results strongly implied the putative functions of U-box ligase genes in response to biotic and abiotic stresses in tea plant.

Ecosystem engineers are organisms that alter the distribution of resources in the environment by creating, modifying, maintaining and/or destroying the habitat. They can affect the structure and function of the whole ecosystem furthermore. Burrowing engineers are an important group in ecosystem engineers as they play a critical role in soil translocation and habitat creation in various types of environment.However, few researchers have systematically summarized and analyzed the studies of burrowing engineers. We reviewing the existing ecological studies of burrowing engineer about their interaction with habitat through five directions: (1) soil turnover; (2)changing soil physicochemical properties; (3) changing plant community structure; (4) providing limited resources for commensal animals;and/or (5) affecting animal communities. The Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) is a typical example of burrowing mammals, in part (5), we focus on the interspecific relationships among burrow commensal species of Chinese pangolin. The engineering effects vary with environmental gradient, literature indicates that burrowing engineer play a stronger role in habitat transformation in the tropical and subtropical areas.The most common experiment method is comparative measurements (include different spatial and temporal scale),manipulative experiment is relatively few. We found that most of the engineering effects had positive feedback to the local ecosystem, increased plant abundance and resilience, increased biodiversity and consequently improved ecosystem functioning. With the global background of dramatic climate change and biodiversity loss in recent decades, we recommend future studies should improving knowledge of long-term engineering effects on population scale and landscape scale, exploring ecological cascades through trophic and engineering pathways, to better understand the attribute of the burrowing behavior of engineers to restore ecosystems and habitat creation. The review is presented as an aid to systematically expound the engineering effect of burrowing animals in the ecosystem, and provided new ideas and advice for planning and implementing conservation management.

An integrated QuEChERS strategy was developed by combining the extraction and purification processes into a single step. All of the pretreatment procedures could be performed in one tube within 5 min with the aid of magnetic nanoparticles and careful optimization of the key parameters, including the dosages of the sorbents (magnetic nanoparticles, C18, and graphitized carbon black), dehydrating and salting out reagents. The optimal method was validated and compared with the conventional QuEChERS method, demonstrating its clear superiority in terms of operating procedure, sample pretreatment time, and reagent dosages while affording equivalent pesticide recoveries and matrix effects. Further application of this method was performed to analyze 127 pesticide residues in solanaceous vegetables (tomato, pepper, and eggplant), leafy vegetables (brassica campestris and cabbage), legumes (green beans and cowpea), melon-type vegetables (cucumber and towel gourd), and a root vegetable (water bamboo), with the mean recoveries of the pesticides in the individual vegetable samples ranging from 70.6 to 92.8%. The method LOQs for these pesticides ranged from 10 to 50 μg/kg depending on the matrix. These results fully confirmed its wide applicability and versatility for achieving robust, rapid, and high-throughput multi-pesticide residues analysis in vegetable samples. More importantly, the developed strategy provides a greener and more “QuEChERS” design concept, which could be applied to the analysis of numerous types of pesticide residues in various matrices.

The service performance and life of the aero-engine are directly affected by the blade machining accuracy. In the end milling of the flexible blade, the profile tolerance would usually be violated by the deflection errors induced by excessive static deformations under the action of milling force. In order to predict the blade deflection errors, this paper presents an iterative algorithm considering the coupling relationship between milling force and elastic deformation based on the milling finite element simulation model. Then a novel multipoint rod-shaped auxiliary support technology is proposed to suppress the blade deflection errors. Taking the influence of layout parameters on blade deflection errors into account, the layout of auxiliary support is optimized by a genetic algorithm. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, an auxiliary support mechanism is designed and manufactured, and the deflection errors suppression experiment is implemented. The measured results show that the prediction error of blade maximum deflection is 17.6%. Furthermore, the blade average deflection error on two measured curves reduces from 45.88 μm to 24.39 μm with the support of the designed mechanism. Thus, this auxiliary support mechanism and layout optimization method can achieve higher accuracy in blade milling.

By rationally introducing multi-interactions sites, supramolecular polymer networks (SPN-TDPG) has been successfully designed and constructed. SPN-TDPG gel shows aggregation-induced emission, meanw...

A novel mushroom-like electrochemical immunoassay for the ultrasensitive detection of histone acetyltransferase activity (HAT p300) has been established on account of the new composite graphene oxide (GO) nanolayer. The immunoassay involves immobilization of substrate peptide onto Au electrode, acetylation in lysine of substrate peptide, and the interaction between acetyl group of lysine and acetyl-antibody (AbAc) of the GO nanolayer. The GO nanolayer comprises large amounts of methylene blue molecules (MB), giving rise to large signal amplification. Only in the presence of HAT p300, an obvious electrochemical signal appears and the peak linear current is proportion to the HAT p300 concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 150 nM with a detection limit of 0.0036 nM. The great enhancement on sensitivity of the proposed mushroom-like immunosensor derives from both the constructed Faraday cage and the extended outer Helmholtz plane (OHP). Further, the immunosensor with excellent sensitivity and selectivity can be applied for the HAT p300 activity detection in Hela cell lysates, serum and urine, hinting an improved and splendid analytical performance. Briefly, this stable, simple and ultrasensitive electrochemical immunoassay has considerable promise for further applications in the HATs-interrelated epigenetic studies and drug development.

It is noteworthy that highly selective molecular recognition endows host-guest gels, especially hydrogel, with valuable properties. Therefore, in pure water, a supramolecular hydrogel (SH-α-CD) was constructed by using benzimidazolium-based positive charged guest molecule (J2) assembled with cyclodextrin (α-CD) through host-guest interaction, and accompanied an aggregation-induced emission (AIE). The self-assemble process of the hydrogel-based AIEgen was investigated using 1H NMR titration, 2D NOESY, XRD and SEM. In particular, the hydrogel-based AIEgen was investigated as a good candidate for fluorescent quenching and gel state destruction dual-channel recognizing negative charged dye molecule methyl orange (MO). The competitive inclusion interaction triggered the dissolution of aggregate, which induced the gel to transform into sol, with disappearance of the AIE of SH-α-CD. However, the addition of the competitive dye molecules methylene blue (MB) and xylenol orange (XO) only made the fluorescence quenching of hydrogel-based AIEgen. Meanwhile, the hydrogel-based AIEgen also exhibited an excellent thermal responsiveness under temperature transition. Such a performance is highly beneficial for potential applications in probe material for organic dye molecules.

s High crystalline Na2Ni[Fe(CN)6] particles are synthesized by a new electrostatic spray assisted coprecipitation method. Their structures and electrochemical properties are analyzed by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and galvanostatic cell cycling and so on. Given its highly stable structure, the optimized Na2Ni[Fe(CN)6] cathode shows impressive cycling performance with high retention capacity of 89% after 440 cycles at 1 C and excellent rate capability of 56 mAh g−1 at 25 C. In addition, the optimized Na2Ni[Fe(CN)6] cathode achieves superior low temperature performances with retains 87% capacity after 440 cycles at 0 °C and a stable capacity of 54 mAh g−1 can be delivered even at −25 °C after 440 cycles. Such a Na2Ni[Fe(CN)6] sample provides a promising cathode for sodium-ion batteries in large-scale storage systems.

Shape memory hydrogels with capacity of shape deformation after being triggered by physiological stimuli have potential to be used in biomedical fields. In this study, a body temperature and water-responsive shape memory hydrogel with excellent mechanical properties was prepared by crosslinking dopamine-terminated tetra-poly(ethylene glycol) (4-arm PEG) with an oxidation reaction. By adjusting the water content of hydrogels, the temperature/water responsivity and the mechanical properties could be well controlled. Under the synergistic effect of body temperature and water stimulation, the hydrogels can achieve fast shape recovery with a recovery time of 1 min 14 s, and a recovery ratio of 98.9%. Tensile tests reveal that the gel has good mechanical properties. The tensile fracture strength can reach the megapascal level ranging from 2.68 to 13.02 MPa, and the elongation at break can reach 2501%. The integration of body temperature and water-induced shape memory properties and mechanical properties will broaden the application of the 4-arm PEG hydrogel in the biomedical field.

Herein, a novel way to design and construct multi-functional spongy supramolecular polymer gels through an easy to make tripodal guest (TA) and a naphthalimide functionalized-pillar[5]arene host (AP5) has been developed. According to this approach, a novel pillar[5]arene-based supramolecular polymer gel (SHG) was constructed via multi-non-covalent interactions such as host-guest inclusion, C-Hπ, ππ and hydrogen bonds and so on. Interestingly, the SHG exhibits a spongy structure and strong aggregation induced emission (AIE). Furthermore, the SHG also exhibited multi-responsiveness toward outer stimuli such as heating-cooling, pH, competitive agents and mechanical. More importantly, the SHG xerogel shows separation properties for Fe3+, methyl orange, methylene blue and sudan I dyes. The separation rates of SHG xerogel for Fe3+ ions and organic dyes can reach up to 99.8%. Simultaneously, the SHG could ultrasensitively detect Fe3+ (LOD is 0.9 nM). In addition, a thin film based on SHG was also prepared, which was confirmed to be a convenient test kit for detecting Fe3+.

Manufacturing Service is an important part of PSS. However, production process in manufacturing service changes frequently, and this has greatly reduced the productivity and agility. Therefore, this paper proposes a message-driven workflow to fit the production process. The framework of message-driven manufacturing execution workflow includes: Manufacturing Execution Workflow module(MEW), Instant Messaging Server (IMS) and Instant Messaging Client (IMC). The function of MEW is mainly used to generate a request message for an operation event, which is generated in executing workflow transaction operations by a related role. The main function of IMS is to complete the message push mechanism. The IMC is used to receive the message transmitted by the instant message server, and users corresponding to the relevant role can process the message in workgroups. This paper proposes a mechanism for message-driven manufacturing execution workflow. This mechanism packages the tasks generated in the MEW through the custom Manufacturing Transaction Protocol (MTP) and Instant Messaging Protocol (IMP), and sends them to the process participants in the IMC to drive the execution of the entire process. On the one hand, the mechanism can integrate with ERP to improve the efficiency of business processing. On the other hand, as a workflow product, it can solve the business diversity or reconstruction problems that occur in enterprises.

Efficient detection of explosives (e.g. picric acid) and toxic compounds (e.g. cyanide) is an important task. Herein, we report a simple and efficient method for the selective and sensitive detection of picric acid (PA) and CN−via a novel guest competitive controlled aggregation-induced emission (AIE) method. First, a tripodal host compound (TG) based on a tris-naphthalimide derivative was designed and synthesized. The TG can self-assemble to a supramolecular system and show blue AIE. Then, we employed the TG-based supramolecular system as a novel supramolecular sensor (S-TG). Interestingly, S-TG could selectively detect PA through a competitive binding interaction, and the detection limit (LOD) of S-TG for PA is 1.19 × 10−8 M. In this process, the self-assembly of S-TG was destroyed and a TG and PA complex (TG–PA) was produced, meanwhile, the AIE of S-TG was quenched. More interestingly, TG–PA could act as a novel supramolecular sensor for the AIE fluorescent ‘turn-on’ detection of CN−, and the LOD of TG–PA for CN− is 7.45 × 10−7 M. Moreover, PA and CN− test kits were prepared by loading S-TG or TG–PA on silica gel plates. These test kits could conveniently and efficiently detect PA or CN− with high selectivity and sensitivity.

The manufacturing process plays an important role in the Product-Service Systems(PSS). As a significant part of manufacturing process, Manufacturing Execution System (MES) controls the whole manufacturing process. MES supporting access to service-oriented devices provides data basis for the information of manufacturing enterprises. Agent-based MES proposed in this paper supports the bidirectional transmission of device data, which solves the problem of complex integration of traditional devices and difficulty in manufacturing data interaction between various systems. The service of devices integration based agent technology provides functions such as device registration, device search, device control, and real-time data acquisition for MES, and uses message queues and industrial gateways to decouple device control and MES. As a bridge for data interaction between MES and devices, the service of devices integration is a possible basis for ensuring data interaction between devices and upper management systems. The framework was demonstrated through a real-time metrology workshop case in the coatings industry.

A novel supramolecular aggregation induced emission (AIE) π-gel (ONT) was constructed by using a functionalized trimesic amide (TCP) molecule assembled with a bis-pyridine functionalized naphthalene diimide (ND) molecule using a non-covalent interaction. The ONT showed strong AIE at 468 nm. Furthermore, the ONT could detect and adsorb ferric (Fe3+) or cupric (Cu2+) ions from water. Meanwhile, a thin film based on supramolecular AIE π-gel ONT was prepared, which could be used as a fluorescent security display material for detecting Fe3+ or Cu2+. Thus, the AIE π-gel ONT shows potential for practical applications in efficient multi-analyte detection and separation and as a fluorescent display material.

Prussian blue analogues are considered as the promising cathodes for sodium-ion batteries. Since the electrochemical properties are closely related to the morphology, the monodisperse copper hexacyanoferrate nanoflakes with highly crystalline are synthesized by a glycol-assisted coprecipitation method and a tentative synthetic mechanism is proposed to explain the formation of nanostructures. The structure and electrochemical properties are characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, FTIR spectra and galvanostatic cycle tests, respectively. Due to the novel architecture of copper hexacyanoferrate, a high electrochemical activity is obtained, resulting a high initial coulombic efficiency of 93%, a capacity retention of 73% at 1 C after 300 cycles and 51 mAh g −1 is maintained at high rate of 15 C at 25 °C.

For SMEs, intelligent manufacturing execution is an important part of perfecting PSS. the business requirements of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises vary greatly, and system development and maintenance are facing enormous challenges. However, the existing manufacturing execution system can not quickly respond to the requirements of business reconfiguration. Aiming at the current requirements of manufacturing execution system of SME, and with the development of enterprise in cloud manufacturing, this paper proposes a manufacturing cloud platform application research for small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises based on micro-service architecture. In this research we have introduced the design of platform’s micro-service architecture and the implementation of platform-based business system. It can solve the problems of business expansion and user requirement cannot be quickly respond caused by the huge application of traditional monolithic architecture. It provides an effective support for the development of business systems.

Herein, we report two novel approaches for highly sensitive detection and efficient adsorption of formaldehyde and 3-fluorobenzaldehyde by forming a water-soluble supramolecular polymer and an aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) hydrogel, respectively. The host compound DTA could highly selectively and sensitively detect formaldehyde by forming a water-soluble supramolecular polymer in pure water. The LOD of DTA for formaldehyde was 1.79 × 10−8 M. More importantly, DTA could also efficiently adsorb formaldehyde from its water solution, and the adsorption percentage was 98.41%. In addition, DTA could also selectively detect 3-fluorobenzaldehyde from its isomers by forming a supramolecular AIEE hydrogel. The LOD of DTA for 3-fluorobenzaldehyde was 8.87 × 10−9 M; this result reached an ultrasensitive level. These methods are novel and useful approaches for highly sensitive detection and adsorption of aldehydes, as well as new ways for the construction of water-soluble supramolecular polymer materials and hydrogels.

An efficient, highly sensitive and selective electrochemical sensor was developed for determination of fenitrothion in tap water, cropland water and canal water samples. The synthesized reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and molybdenum sulfide (MoS2)-Au were introduced using their synergetic enhancement effect to improve the sensor sensitivity. Zirconia (ZrO2) nanoparticles were electro-deposited onto modified gold electrode to selectively adsorb fenitrothion, which can be further captured by cyclic voltammetry or square wave voltammetry on the basis of its redox behavior of nitrobenzene group. The immobilization process was characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, illustrating the enhancement of RGO/MoS2-Au composite and the successful electro-deposition of ZrO2. Systematical method validation was performed including linearity, sensitivity, selectivity, reproducibility, regeneration and stability. The current is linearly correlated with the fenitrothion concentration from 5.0 to 600 ng mL−1 with the limit of detection of 2.2 ng mL−1. The developed electrochemical sensor displayed satisfactory performance in real water samples analysis.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic increased the burden on many healthcare systems and in the process, exposed the need for medical resources and physical space. While few studies discussed the efficient utilization of medical resources and physical space so far. Therefore, this study aimed to summarize experiences related to facilities used for centralized isolation for medical observation and treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic in China and to provide suggestions to further improve the management of confirmed cases, suspected cases, and close contacts. In China, three types of facilities for centralized isolation (Fangcang shelter hospitals, refitted non-designated hospitals, and quarantine hotels) underwent retrofitting for the treatment and isolation of confirmed and suspected cases. These facilities mitigated the immediate high demand for space. Moreover, in order to minimize infection risks in these facilities, regulators and governmental agencies implemented new designs, management measures, and precautionary measures to minimize infection risk. Other countries and regions could refer to China's experience in optimally allocating social resources in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a conclusion, government should allocate social resources and construct centralized isolation and quarantine facilities for an emergency response, health authorities should issue regulations for centralized isolation facilities and pay strict attention to the daily management of these facilities, a multidisciplinary administration team is required to support the daily operation of a centralized isolation facility, in-depth studies and international collaboration on the centralized isolation policy are encouraged.

Background: The worldwide surge in coronavirus cases has led to the COVID-19 testing demand surge. Rapid, accurate, and cost-effective COVID-19 screening tests working at a population level are in imperative demand globally. Methods: Based on the eye symptoms of COVID-19, we developed and tested a COVID-19 rapid prescreening model using the eye-region images captured in China and Spain with cellphone cameras. The convolutional neural networks (CNNs)-based model was trained on these eye images to complete binary classification task of identifying the COVID-19 cases. The performance was measured using area under receiver-operating-characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and F1. The application programming interface was open access. Findings: The multicenter study included 2436 pictures corresponding to 657 subjects (155 COVID-19 infection, 23.6%) in development dataset (train and validation) and 2138 pictures corresponding to 478 subjects (64 COVID-19 infections, 13.4%) in test dataset. The image-level performance of COVID-19 prescreening model in the China-Spain multicenter study achieved an AUC of 0.913 (95% CI, 0.898-0.927), with a sensitivity of 0.695 (95% CI, 0.643-0.748), a specificity of 0.904 (95% CI, 0.891 -0.919), an accuracy of 0.875(0.861-0.889), and a F1 of 0.611(0.568-0.655). Interpretation: The CNN-based model for COVID-19 rapid prescreening has reliable specificity and sensitivity. This system provides a low-cost, fully self-performed, non-invasive, real-time feedback solution for continuous surveillance and large-scale rapid prescreening for COVID-19. Funding: This project is supported by Aimomics (Shanghai) Intelligent

Water pollution is a major environmental issue, which mankind is facing in modern times. Pollutants (especially dyes, antibiotics and bacteria) released by human activity into wastewater are harmful to humans, animals and water bodies. Therefore, it is urgent to remove these pollutants from wastewater. Amongst conventional wastewater tertiary treatment techniques, there are adsorption and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) including photocatalysis. These two methodologies can have important benefit from the use of nanomaterials. Despite the plethora of reports about adsorption or photocatalysis for wastewater treatment, there are still some issues in this field, i.e.: (1) In photocatalysis, one of the most common photocatalysts, titanium dioxide (TiO2), has been widely used to degrade organic pollutants in water, but it has the limitation to be operated by ultraviolet (UV) light and, therefore, by means of a non-sustainable and high associated cost methodology. (2) Most of the literature presented one material to remove only one kind of pollutant at a time. However, as we all know, wastewater is a complex matrix comprising several species. (3) Most researchers have used only one technique, e.g. adsorption or photocatalysis, to treat wastewater. However, adsorption or photocatalysis has its own limitations, which may be overcome by their combined use. Only few researchers combined adsorption and photocatalysis for wastewater treatment and this field is still in its infancy. (4) Few research reports deal with nanocomposites simultaneously possessing antibacterial activity and the ability to remove organic pollutants of different chemical composition and properties, such as dyes and antibiotics. (5) After wastewater treatment, the recovery and the reuse of the photocatalytic materials used as slurry photocatalysts are generally problematic. The aim of this thesis is to tackle some of these issues by developing new multifunctional nanocomposites capable of removing different kinds of pollutants – namely dyes, antibiotics and bacteria – from wastewater through a sustainable and cost-effective treatment. Moreover, the new nanocomposites will have to be easy to recover and reusable. In this context, different kinds of polymer-based magnetic nanocomposites comprising a core of Fe3O4/poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-methacrylic acid) (Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)) microspheres were prepared. To reach this aim, the different kinds of nanomaterials to be combined in the composites were synthesized and thoroughly studied. The first material is silver-titanium dioxide nanoparticles (Ag-TiO2 NPs), which were prepared by synthesizing Ag NPs on the surface of commercial TiO2 P25 via a photochemical reduction method. Compared with TiO2 P25, the prepared Ag-TiO2 NPs showed enhanced visible light photocatalytic degradation of the two antibiotics ciprofloxacin (CIP) and norfloxacin (NFX). Besides, the visible light photocatalytic mechanism of Ag-TiO2 NPs underlying the photodegradation of CIP was studied. Moreover, recycling experiments of Ag-TiO2 NPs demonstrated that Ag-TiO2 NPs could be reused. Last but not least, Ag-TiO2 NPs displayed an excellent ability to inhibit the growth of Escherichia coli (E. coli). Subsequently, Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA) microspheres were prepared and characterized according to a previously published procedure. After the single components were obtained, studied and characterized, a large part of the thesis was devoted to the preparation of the Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)/Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites, which showed excellent adsorption, photocatalytic and antibacterial activities. The new multifunctional nanocomposites could not only adsorb dyes like basic fuchsin (BF), but also degrade antibiotics like CIP and NFX under visible light irradiation. More importantly, the nanocomposites could adsorb and degrade the pollutants mixture (BF and CIP) in water under visible light irradiation and showed good antibacterial activity towards E. coli. Due to the superparamagnetic properties of Fe3O4 NPs, the nanocomposites could be easily reused. Finally, another material, polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer-grafted Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA) nanocomposite, was prepared by combining the previously prepared Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA) microspheres with dendrimers. The obtained nanocomposites showed excellent adsorption activities towards differently charged dyes. In particular, thanks to the carboxylic groups on MAA in the Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA) microspheres, the nanocomposites could adsorb positively charged dyes (e.g. BF), while, thanks to the amino groups on PAMAM dendrimers, also negatively charged dyes such as methyl orange (MO) could be adsorbed. Due to the superparamagnetic properties of the Fe3O4 NPs, the nanocomposites could be easily reused. In conclusion, these multifunctional nanocomposites in this thesis work overcame some current limitations, which hinder the use of nanomaterials in wastewater treatment applications, thereby providing an ecologically promising and effective method for reducing water pollution.:Declaration of primary authorship iii Acknowledgments v Abstract vii Kurzfassung ix List of figures xvii List of tables xxiii Nomenclature xxv Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 Motivation 1 1.2 Challenges 1 1.3 Aim of the thesis 2 1.4 Outline of the thesis 3 Chapter 2: Fundamentals 5 2.1 Pollutants in wastewater 5 2.2 Adsorption technique for wastewater treatment 6 2.2.1 Activated carbon 7 2.2.2 Zeolites 7 2.2.3 Polymers 8 2.3 Photocatalysis 11 2.3.1 History of TiO2 in photocatalysis 12 2.3.2 TiO2 crystalline phases 12 2.3.3 TiO2 photocatalytic mechanism under UV light irradiation 13 2.3.4 Parameters influencing the photocatalytic efficiency of TiO2 16 2.4 Development of visible light-responsive TiO2 photocatalysts 19 2.4.1 Non-metal doping 20 2.4.2 Metal doping 20 2.4.3 Dye sensitization 21 2.4.4 Coupled semiconductors 22 Chapter 3: Materials and experimental methods 23 3.1 Materials 23 3.2 Protocols 27 3.2.1 Preparation of Ag-TiO2 NPs 27 3.2.2 Preparation of Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)/Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites 27 3.2.3 Preparation of PAMAM dendrimer-grafted Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA) nanocomposites 28 3.3 Characterization methods 29 3.3.1 High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) 30 3.3.2 Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy 30 3.3.3 X-ray powder Diffraction (XRD) 30 3.3.4 UV-Vis Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS) 30 3.3.5 Fluorometer 31 3.3.6 Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis 31 3.3.7 Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) 31 3.3.8 Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) 31 3.4 Photocatalytic activity measurements 31 3.4.1 Visible light photocatalytic activity of TiO2 P25 and Ag-TiO2 NPs 32 3.4.2 Visible light photocatalytic investigations of Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)/Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites 33 3.5 Adsorption capacity measurements 34 3.5.1 Adsorption capacity of Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)/Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites 34 3.5.2 Adsorption capacity of PAMAM dendrimer-grafted Fe3O4/ P(NIPAM-co-MAA) nanocomposites 35 3.6 Antibacterial activity tests 37 3.6.1 Ag-TiO2 NPs antibacterial activity investigations 38 3.6.2 Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)/Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites antibacterial activity investigations 38 Chapter 4: Ag-TiO2 NPs 41 4.1 Characterization of Ag-TiO2 NPs 42 4.2 Photocatalytic activity of Ag-TiO2 NPs 47 4.2.1 Assessment of the photocatalytic activity of Ag-TiO2 NPs 47 4.2.2 Reusability of Ag-TiO2 NPs 50 4.2.3 Photocatalytic mechanism of Ag-TiO2 NPs 51 4.3 Antibacterial properties of Ag-TiO2 NPs 53 4.4 Summary 54 Chapter 5: Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)/Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites 57 5.1 Characterization of Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)/Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites 58 5.2 Adsorption of dyes by Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)/Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites 64 5.3 Degradation of antibiotics by Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)/Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites 68 5.4 Reusability of Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)/Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites 72 5.5 Antibacterial activity of Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)/Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites 74 5.6 Adsorption and degradation of a mixture of pollutants by Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MA A)/Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites 75 5.6.1 Adsorption and degradation of BF by Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)/Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites 75 5.6.2 Adsorption and degradation of CIP by Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)/Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites 78 5.6.3 Adsorption and degradation of a mixture of BF and CIP by Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA)/Ag-TiO2 nanocomposites 80 5.7 Summary 86 Chapter 6: PAMAM dendrimer-grafted Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA) nanocomposites 89 6.1 Characterization of PAMAM dendrimer-grafted Fe3O4/P(NIPAM-co-MAA) nanocomposites 89 6.2 Adsorption capacity of different nanocomposites towards dyes 95 6.2.1 Adsorption of positively charged dye BF by different nanocomposites 96 6.2.2 Adsorption of negatively charged dye MO by different nanocomposites 97 6.2.3 Adsorption of BF and MO by G51P0.8 and G51P0.5 nanocomposites 98 6.2.4 Adsorption kinetics and isotherm of G51P1 nanocomposites 101 6.3 Reusability 105 6.4 Summary 106 Chapter 7: Conclusions and outlook 109 7.1 Conclusions 109 7.2 Outlook 111 Appendix 113 A1 Calibration curves 113 A2 Assessment of the photocatalytic activity of Ag-TiO2 NPs 114 References 117 Scientific output 141 Curriculum vitae 143

A simple, accurate, and high-throughput analytical method was developed to detect 123 pesticide residues in Chinese medicinal herb Paeoniae Radix Alba (PRA) by introducing nano-MgO as a highly efficient purification material based on quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) design concept. Various PRA samples were extracted using 8 mL 0.5% acetic acid-acetonitrile solution and purified by a dispersive solid-phase extraction method with 30 mg nano-MgO, 40 mg primary secondary amine (PSA), and 40 mg octadecylsilane (C18) as the cleanup adsorbents, followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). 70.7% of pesticides showed a weak matrix effect after the purification process, indicating that this method can give the precise quantitative analysis of trace pesticides residue. The method was systematically validated under optimal conditions in five different kinds of PRA samples; good linearity was observed in the concentration range of 0.5–250 μg/L or 1–250 μg/L. Pesticide recovery in each sample spiked at concentrations of 20, 50, and 200 μg/kg ranged from 98.0% to 111% and the mean relative standard deviation ranged from 2.72% to 5.70%. Furthermore, the method comparison with the traditional QuEChERS method suggested the feasibility, advantages, and potential application prospect of the present method for the multi-pesticide residue analysis in various PRA samples.

Objectives: Based on the electronic medical record data, this paper analyzes the law of TCM treatment of low back pain, and provides reference for TCM treatment of low back pain. Technology or Method: The whole process records of 360 patients with low back pain from January 1, 2015 to August 27, 2019 were obtained from the highly structured electronic medical record system of Mianyang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and 337 prescription records were selected from them. Data mining technology was used to explore and analyze the law of prescription medication using the Apriori algorithm. RESULTS: Among the 337 prescriptions, a total of 257 herbs were involved, and the top 5 herbs were licorice root, Ligusticum Chuanxiong, twotoothed achyranthes root, eucommia bark, and Poria Cocos. In the four nature of drugs, the main warm, calm; In the five flavors, to sweet, pungent, bitter; In terms of channel tropism, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, stomach and heart are the main factors. Clinical or Biological Impact: In the treatment of lumbago, TCM focuses on dispelling wind and dampness, invigorating spleen and replenishing qi, promoting blood circulation for removing blood stasis, and always aims to “strengthen the kidney and strengthen the spleen”. The combination of drugs with strong correlation provides a reliable basis for the use of drugs for clinical syndrome differentiation. The conclusions obtained still need clinical testing, but it can provide some reference value for clinical practitioners to further explore.

With global climate change, plants are frequently being exposed to various stresses, such as pathogen attack, drought, and extreme temperatures. Transcription factors (TFs) play crucial roles in numerous plant biological processes; however, the functions of many tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) TFs that regulate plant responses to multiple stresses are largely unknown. Here, using an RNA-seq approach, we identified SlNAP1, a NAC TF-encoding gene, which was strongly induced by various stresses. By generating SlNAP1 transgenic lines and evaluating their responses to biotic and abiotic stresses in tomato, we found that SlNAP1-overexpressing plants showed significantly enhanced defense against two widespread bacterial diseases, leaf speck disease, caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst) DC3000, and root-borne bacterial wilt disease, caused by Ralstonia solanacearum. In addition, SlNAP1 overexpression dramatically improved drought tolerance in tomato. Although the SlNAP1-overexpressing plants were shorter than the wild-type plants during the early vegetative stage, eventually, their fruit yield increased by 10.7%. Analysis of different hormone contents revealed a reduced level of physiologically active gibberellins (GAs) and an increased level of salicylic acid (SA) and abscisic acid (ABA) in the SlNAP1-overexpressing plants. Moreover, EMSAs and ChIP-qPCR assays showed that SlNAP1 directly activated the transcription of multiple genes involved in GA deactivation and both SA and ABA biosynthesis. Our findings reveal that SlNAP1 is a positive regulator of the tomato defense response against multiple stresses and thus may be a potential breeding target for improving crop yield and stress resistance.