Search

Saline-sodic stress restricts the absorption of zinc by rice, consequently impacting the photosynthesis process of rice plants. In this experiment, Landrace 9 was selected as the test material and the potting method was employed to investigate the influence of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) on zinc absorption and chlorophyll fluorescence in rice grown in saline-sodic land. The research findings demonstrate that the application of ZnO NPs proves to be more advantageous for the growth of rice in saline-sodic soil. Notably, the application of ZnO NPs significantly decreases the levels of Na+ and MDA in rice leaves in saline-sodic soil, while increasing the levels of K+ and Zn2+. Additionally, ZnO NPs enhances the content of chloroplast pigments, specific energy flux, quantum yield, and the performance of active PSII reaction center (PIABS) in rice leaves under saline-sodic stress. Furthermore, the relative variable fluorescence (WK and VJ) and quantum energy dissipation rate (φDo) of rice are also reduced. Therefore, the addition of ZnO NPs enhances the transfer of electrons and energy within the rice photosystem when subjected to saline-sodic stress. This promotes photosynthesis in rice plants growing in saline-sodic land, increasing their resistance to saline-sodic stress and ultimately facilitating their growth and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epoxides are one of the most important intermediates used in the production of valuable chemicals. Traditional preparation methods often rely on hazardous oxidants or extensive fossil fuel-powered thermal catalytic systems, resulting in significant waste production and CO2 emissions. Solar-driven photo(electro)chemistry is an emerging option for achieving the environmentally-friendly synthesis of epoxides. In this review, we firstly summarize the fundamental understanding of epoxidation reactions among various systems, including molecular catalysis, heterogeneous thermal catalysis and electrocatalysis. Then, we focus on the recent advances in the synthesis of epoxides achieved by photo(electro)chemical approaches. This review is concluded by the rational design of photoelectrochemical systems towards efficient epoxide synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immune therapy based on programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is widely used to treat human tumors. The current strategies to improve immune checkpoint blockade therapy fail in rescuing increased expression of PD-L1 in tumor issues. Here, we for the first time synthesized the metal—organic framework (MOF) nanocrystals of rare-earth element dysprosium (Dy) coordinated with tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin (TCPP), which show well-defined two-dimensional morphologies. The MOF nanocrystals of Dy-TCPP could apparently reduce PD-L1 expression in tumor cells both in vitro and in vivo, and therefore display effective tumor treatment through immune therapy without any immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs. Considering the sensitivity of TCPP ligand toward ultrasound, the prepared Dy-TCPP can also realize sonodynamic therapy (SDT) besides immune therapy. In addition, the Dy-TCPP nanocrystals can efficiently obtain T2-weight magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of tumor sites. Our study provides the Dy-TCPP nanocrystals as promising diagnostic MRI-guided platforms for the combined treatment on tumors with SDT and immune therapy. Moreover, this strategy succeeds in reducing the elevated expression of PD-L1 in tumor cells, which might serve as a novel avenue for tumor immunotherapy in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) still suffers from the bottleneck in electrocatalytic water splitting. Herein, in virtue of volcano plots drawn by theoretical calculation, the (001) facet was screened as the superb facet of orthorhombic CoSe2 for OER. Afterwards, CoSe2(001) nanosheets were synthesized and the exposure ratio of (001) facet is controllable with thermodynamics methods effectively. The single-facet CoSe2(001) delivered an overpotential as low as 240 mV at 10 mA·cm−2 in 1 M KOH, which outperformed the bulk (380 mV) as well as other CoSe2-base OER catalysts reported before. Especially, a shorter Co-Co path was observed in CoSe2(001) by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Further density functional theory (DFT) studies revealed that the reversible compression on the shorter Co-Co path could regulate the electronic structure of active sites during the OER process, and thus the energy barrier of the rate-determining step was reduced by 0.15 eV. This work could inspire more insights on the modification of electronic structure for OER electrocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to verify the effectiveness of electrolytic treatment on ships’ ballast water, experiments are carried out by a pilot system in laboratory. The raw seawater and seawater with different concentrations of different algae are simulated as ships’ ballast water. The algae in the raw seawater can be killed if it is treated by electrolysis with an initial residual chlorine concentration of 5 mg/L. If the seawater with one kind of algae (Nitzschia closterum, Dicrateria spp., or Pyramidomonnas sp.105cells/mL) is treated by electrolysis with an initial residual chlorine concentration of 5 mg/L, the alga can be sterilized. If the seawater with one kind of algae (Dunaliella sp., Platymonas or Chlorella spp.) is directly treated by electrolyzing with an initial residual chlorine concentration of 4 mg/L, the instant mortality changes with the concentration of different algae. However, after 72 hours, in all treated samples, there are no live algal cells found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]