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The construction of a heterogeneous nanocatalyst with outstanding catalytic performance via an environmentally benign and cost-effective synthetic category has long been one of the challenges in nanotechnology. Herein, we synthesized highly efficient and low-cost mesoporous morphology-dependent CuO/CeO2 -Rods and CuO/CeO2 -Cubes catalysts by employing a green and multifunctional polyphenolic compound (tannic acid) as the stabilizer and chelating agent for 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) reduction reaction. The CuO/CeO2 -Rods exhibited excellent performance, of which the activity was 3.2 times higher than that of CuO/CeO2 -Cubes. This can be connected with the higher density of oxygen vacancy on CeO2 -Rods (110) than CeO2 -Cubes (100), the oxygen vacancy favors anchoring CuO species on the CeO2 support, which promotes the strong interaction between finely dispersed CuO and CeO2 -Rods at the interfacial positions and facilitates the electron transfer from BH4- to 4-NP. The synergistic catalytic mechanism illustrated that 4-NP molecules preferentially adsorbed on the CeO2 , while H2 from BH4- dissociated over CuO to form highly active H* species, contributing to achieving efficient hydrogenation of 4-NP. This study is expected to shed light on designing and synthesizing cost-effective and high-performance nanocatalysts through a greener synthetic method for the areas of catalysis, nanomaterial science and engineering, and chemical synthesis.

Fiber microactuators are interesting in wide variety of emerging fields, including artificial muscles, biosensors, and wearable devices. In the present study, a robust, fast‐responsive, and humidity‐induced silk fiber microactuator is developed by integrating force‐reeling and yarn‐spinning techniques. The shape gradient, together with hierarchical rough surface, allows these silk fiber microactuators to respond rapidly to humidity. The silk fiber microactuator can reach maximum rotation speed of 6179.3° s−1 in 4.8 s. Such a response speed (1030 rotations per minute) is comparable with the most advanced microactuators. Moreover, this microactuator generates 2.1 W kg−1 of average actuation power, which is twice higher than fiber actuators constructed by cocoon silks. The actuating powers of silk fiber microactuators can be precisely programmed by controlling the number of fibers used. Lastly, theory predicts the observed performance merits of silk fiber microactuators toward inspiring the rational design of water‐induced microactuators., A new kind of robust and fast‐responsive silk microactuators, by integrating experimental and theoretical designs, are presented. These microactuators feature an ultrafast response speed for humidity change with performance that can compare with the most advanced microactuator systems.

Aim TM81 (or Tang-Min-Ling-Wan) is a Chinese medicine. Previous studies suggested that this medicine is effective for treating type 2 diabetes. This controlled trial evaluated the safety and effectiveness of TM81 in the treatment of type 2 diabetic patients. Methods This study was a large-scale controlled clinical trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of TM81 on type 2 diabetes. After a 2-week run-in period, 480 overweight type 2 early-stage diabetic patients [35–65 years old, HbA1c ≥ 7.0%, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) 7.0–13.9 mM or 2 h plasma glucose (PG) > 11.1 mM, body mass index (BMI) ≥ 24 kg/m2] were enrolled. These patients were divided into a TM81 group and placebo group in a 3 : 1 ratio. The subjects received 6 g TM81 or placebo, three times daily for 12 weeks. Results After treatment, the HbA1c decrease was 1.02% in the TM81 group versus 0.47% in the placebo group. The FPG decreased 0.8 ± 0.1 mM in the TM81 group versus an increase of 0.2 ± 0.2 mM in the placebo group. The PG decreased 2.7 ± 0.3 mM in the TM81 group versus a decrease of 0.9 ± 0.4 mM in the placebo group (all p