Search

In kinematic navigation and positioning, abnormal observations and kinematic model disturbances are one of the key factors affecting the stability and reliability of positioning performance. Generally, robust adaptive filtering algorithm is used to reduce the influence of them on positioning results. However, it is difficult to accurately identify and separate the influence of abnormal observations and kinematic model disturbances on positioning results, especially in the application of kinematic Precise Point Positioning (PPP). This has always been a key factor limiting the performance of conventional robust adaptive filtering algorithms. To address this problem, this paper proposes a two-step robust adaptive filtering algorithm, which includes two filtering steps: without considering the kinematic model information, the first step of filtering only detects the abnormal observations. Based on the filtering results of the first step, the second step makes further detection on the kinematic model disturbances and conducts adaptive processing. Theoretical analysis and experiment results indicate that the two-step robust adaptive filtering algorithm can further enhance the robustness of the filtering against the influence of abnormal observations and kinematic model disturbances on the positioning results. Ultimately, improvement of the stability and reliability of kinematic PPP is significant.

Recently, localized surface plasmon resonances (SPRs) of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely used to construct plasmonic nanohybrids for heterogeneous photocatalysis. For example, the combination of plasmonic Au NPs and TiO2 provides pure TiO2 visible-light activity. The SPR effect induces an electric field and consequently enhances light scattering and absorption, favoring the transfer of photon energy to hot carriers for catalytic reactions. Numerous approaches have been dedicated to the improvement of SPR absorption in photocatalysts. Here, we have designed a core@shell-satellite nanohybrid catalyst whereby an Ag NP core, as a plasmonic resonator featuring unique dual functions of strong scattering and near-field enhancement, is encapsulated by SiO2 and TiO2 layers in sequence, with Au NPs on the outer surface, Ag@SiO2@TiO2-Au, for efficient plasmonic photocatalysis. By varying the size and number of Ag NP cores, the Au SPR can be tailored over the visible and near-infrared spectral region to reabsorb the scattered photons. In the presence of the Ag core, the incident light is efficiently confined in the reaction suspension by undergoing multiple scattering, thus leading to an increase of the optical path to the photocatalysis. Moreover, using numerical analysis and experimental verifications, we demonstrate that the Ag core also induces a strong near-field enhancement at the Au-TiO2 interface via SPR coupling with Au. Consequently, the activity of the TiO2-Au plasmonic photocatalyst is significantly enhanced, resulting in a high H2 production rate under visible light. Thus, the design of a single structural unit with strong scattering and field enhancement, induced by a plasmonic resonator, is a highly effective strategy to boost photocatalytic activity.

The bifunctional efficient electrocatalysts for both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are in urgent need for the advanced overall water splitting (OWS) device. Restricted by the thermodynamic limitations of the catalytic active center for OER and the reaction kinetics limitations induced by the structure of the electrocatalysts, the development of OWS catalysts requires more effort. Herein, a porous carbon-based bimetal electrocatalyst of Mo0.84Ni0.16-Mo2C@NC nanosphere is prepared by hydrothermal treatment of PMo12@PVP@Zn/Ni-ZIF which is synthesized via one-pot self-assembled hydrothermal method. Our study confirms that the Mo-Ni alloy and Mo2C nanoparticles homogeneously distribute in nitrogen-rich carbon-based materials. Furthermore, the porous structure exposes rich active sites and increases the effective specific area for redox reactions. The obtained Mo0.84Ni0.16-Mo2C@NC catalyst requires low overpotentials of 151 and 285 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA cm−2 towards the water reduction and oxidation in 1 M KOH solution, respectively, and possesses good catalytic stability for one day. This work introduces an advanced method for the synthesis of the bimetal electrocatalyst.

The South Qinling block, a segment of the Yangtze craton involved in the Qinling–Dabie orogen, is critical for understanding the tectonic evolution of eastern China. However, the tectonic setting of the South Qinling block and the northern margin of the Yangtze block during middle Neoproterozoic time has long been the subject of debate, with two distinctly different models (continental rift or volcanic arc) proposed. Here, a comprehensive study of zircon U–Pb geochronology and geochemistry has been carried out on the Chengwan granitic pluton from the Suizao terrane in the South Qinling block. The granites are monzogranite and syenogranite in lithology, and are mainly composed of potash feldspar, quartz, plagioclase and biotite. This suite has long been regarded as a Palaeozoic magmatic pluton, but zircon U–Pb ages of 809 ± 9 Ma and 816 ± 4 Ma are obtained in this study. The granites are metaluminous to strongly peraluminous with high alkali contents, and exhibit highly fractionated features, including high SiO2, low Zr/Hf ratios, rare earth element tetrad effects and enrichment of K and Rb. They show Hf–Nd isotopic decoupling, which may be genetically related to their petrogenetic process. Based on the geochemical features and the positive εHf(t) values of the zircons, it is indicated that the granites may have been derived from partial melting of juvenile tonalitic rocks by biotite breakdown under fluid-absent conditions. The Chengwan granite geochemically belongs to the A2-subtype granites, suggesting that it might have formed in a post-orogenic tectonic setting. The highly fractionated A-type granite in this study may represent extensional collapse shortly after the collisional events in the South Qinling block, and thus indicate a tectonic regime switch, from compression to extension, as early as middle Neoproterozoic time. Integrating our new data with documented magmatic, metamorphic and sedimentary events during middle Neoproterozoic time in the region may support a continental rift model, and argues against arc models.

At high pressures, simple metals such as potassium have a rich phase diagram including an insulating electride phase in which electrons have a localized, anionic character. Measurements in the liquid phase have shown a transition between two states, but experimental challenges have prevented detailed thermodynamic measurements. Using potassium as an example, we present numerical evidence that the liquid–liquid transition is a continuous transformation from free electron to electride behaviour. We show that the transformation manifests in anomalous diffusivity, thermal expansion, speed of sound, coordination number, reflectivity and heat capacity across a wide range of pressures. The abnormalities stem from a significant change in the local electronic and ionic structure. Although primarily a pressure-induced phenomenon, there is also a thermal expansion anomaly. By establishing the electride nature of the high-pressure liquid phase, we resolve the long-standing mystery of how a liquid can be denser than a close-packed solid. Our work is relevant for high-pressure thermodynamic properties of all alkali metal liquids. Alkali metals at high pressures have a liquid–liquid transition that is difficult to study in detail. Numerical calculations now suggest that the higher-pressure state is an electride liquid, in which electrons behave like localized anions.

The integration of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) with Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) has been actively researched and widely applied as it can provide reliable positioning information continuously. In recent years, Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology achieves rapid development and Micro Electro Mechanical Systems and Inertial Measurement Unit (MEMS-IMU) has aroused wide concern due to its excellent properties in some cases. However, the observations from MEMS-IMU are easy to be influenced by motion state and location environment because of its manufacturing process. It is not easy to judge whether gross errors are in the state model or the observation model by the widely adopted robust filter based on innovation. In this contribution, we present an improved robust filter with a double state model on the basis of the chi-square distribution of the square of the Mahalanobis distance. The vehicle motion model acts as the external constraint information and can be adopted to construct robust statistic with the results from INS mechanization. And then a robust factor was determined to adjust the observation noise covariance matrix. To evaluate the performance of this method, the simulation test and the field test based on locomotive platform of Nottingham Geospatial Institute (NGI) were carried out. According to the results, in the simulation test, the position improvements are 33%, 30% in the north and east directions; in the real test, the loosely and tightly coupled was adopted and the position accuracy can be improved by about 50–60% in the horizontal direction and the improvement of the pitch and the roll accuracy was lower than the azimuth accuracy due to poor observability and experimental scene which is of the characteristics of small elevation change. Therefore, the proposed robust filter could diminish the effect of the gross error from MEMS-IMU and enhance the integrated system.

To enhance the forecasting accuracy for PM2.5 concentrations, a novel decomposition-ensemble approach with denoising strategy is proposed in this study. This novel approach is an improved approach under the effective “denoising, decomposition, and ensemble” framework, especially for nonlinear and nonstationary features of PM2.5 concentration data. In our proposed approach, wavelet denoising approach, as a noise elimination tool, is applied to remove the noise from the original data. Then, variational mode decomposition (VMD) is implemented to decompose the denoised data for producing the components. Next, kernel extreme learning machine (KELM) as a popular machine learning algorithm is employed to forecast all extracted components individually. Finally, these forecasted results are aggregated into an ensemble result as the final forecasting. With hourly PM2.5 concentration data in Xi’an as sample data, the empirical results demonstrate that our proposed hybrid approach significantly performs better than all benchmarks (including single forecasting techniques and similar approaches with other decomposition) in terms of the accuracy. Consequently, the robustness results also indicate that our proposed hybrid approach can be recommended as a promising forecasting tool for capturing and exploring the complicated time series data.

Fluorescent supramolecular nucleoside-based organogels or hydrogels have attracted increasing attention owing to their tunable stability, drug delivery, tissue engineering, and inherent biocompatibility for applications in designing sensors. As the temperature of a constant TPE-Octa-dU gelator at MGC as low as 0.2 wt% was increased with gel to sol transition, a progressive decrease in the fluorescence intensity was observed. 1H NMR study in ethanol-d6/H2O revealed the existence of intermolecular hydrogen-bond interaction between uridine nucleobase and triazole moieties. Based on these experiments, thus organogels induced by hydrogen bonding can promote an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) of TPE moiety. Thermoreversible gelation properties have been investigated systematically, including AIE-shapemorphing architecture owing to their unique solid-liquid interface and easy processability. At the same line, the related TPE-EdU derivative which was synthesized from 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine does not deliver organogels or hydrogels, and under similar circumstances TPE moiety of TPE-EdU does not efficiently exhibit AIE phenomenon either.

Bacillus cereus strain Bc-cm103 shows nematicidal activity and, therefore, has been used as a biological control agent to control the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita. However, it remains unknown whether volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by B. cereus strain Bc-cm103 are effective in biocontrol against M. incognita. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the activity of Bc-cm103 VOCs against M. incognita. The B. cereus strain Bc-cm103 significantly repelled the second-stage juveniles (J2s) of M. incognita. In vitro evaluation of VOCs produced by the fermentation of Bc-cm103 in a three-compartment Petri dish revealed the mortality rates of M. incognita J2s as 90.8% at 24 h and 97.2% at 48 h. Additionally, evaluation of the ability of Bc-cm103 VOCs to suppress M. incognita infection in a double-layered pot test showed that root galls on cucumber roots decreased by 46.1%. Furthermore, 21 VOCs were identified from strain Bc-cm103 by solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, including alkanes, alkenes, esters, and sulfides. Among them, dimethyl disulfide (30.63%) and S-methyl ester butanethioic acid (30.29%) were reported to have strong nematicidal activity. Together, these results suggest that B. cereus strain Bc-cm103 exhibits fumigation activity against M. incognita.

In order to solve two issues of chlorine-resistant bacteria (CRB) and disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in tap water after the chlorine-containing treatment process, an innovative core–sheath nanostru...

Rhodamine B (RhB) is considered as a potential source of water pollution because it is harmful to the environment and humans, and thus, it should be removed from the water system. Hydrogels derived...

The decontamination of radioactive TcO4- from nuclear wastes is becoming increasingly crucial for spent nuclear fuel reprocessing and environmental remediation. In this work, a series of ionic liquid-immobilized silica-based adsorbents (SVIL-Cn, n = 1, 4, 8) were newly synthesized using the radiation-induced grafting of 4-vinylbenzyl chloride onto silanized silica and subsequent functionalization with 1-methylimidazole, 1-butylimidazole, or 1-octylimidazole. The synthesis conditions such as the solvent, absorbed dose, and monomer concentration were investigated in detail, and the resulting adsorbents were characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, SEM, and TGA. In batch experiments, the adsorbents exhibited a high ReO4- (a nonradioactive surrogate of TcO4-) removal efficiency over a wide pH range (3 ~ 8), and SVIL-C1 showed a maximum adsorption capacity of 70.62 mg g-1 towards ReO4-. In addition, their adsorption performance barely changed after 800 kGy radiation. The column experiments for treating simulated radioactive wastewater showed that the SVIL-Cn adsorbents could selectively separate TcO4-/ReO4- from a variety of fission products, and they could be recycled four times with negligible capacity loss. Lastly, XPS and FT-IR analysis confirmed that the adsorption proceeded via an ion-exchange mechanism. The results showed that these adsorbents are suitable for the efficient removal of TcO4-/ReO4- from radioactive wastewater with complex compositions.

A series of novel biodegradable copolyesters named poly(butylene 3-methyl adipate co-terephthalate) (PBAmT) were synthesized from the monomers of 3-methyl adipic acid (AAm), 1,4-butanediol (BDO), and terephthalic acid (TPA) through a process of esterification and polycondensation. 1H NMR analysis shows that they are random copolymers whose composition can be well controlled by the feed ratio of monomers. From the results of DSC and XRD, the introduction of methyl group successfully destroys the crystallizability of the PBAm chains, thus making it become a relative soft segment compared to PBA, while these random PBAmT copolymers constructed by soft segment PBAm and rigid segment PBT change from semi-crystalline polymers to nearly amorphous polymers as the feed ratio of Am increases. Especially, mechanical tests reveal that the copolymers show outstanding elasticity and rebound resilience with excellent strength. These thermoplastic copolyester elastomers with good performance by simply introduction of branched methyl group on polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) copolymer chains may well explore the potential application of biodegradable PBAT-based material.

A series of alkyl gallates was synthesized by reacting gallic acid with the corresponding alcohols. Their structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic data, including NMR and MS. The antifungal activities of these compounds against plant pathogenic fungi in vitro and in vivo were assessed.

The selective elimination of radioactive TcO4− from radioactive waste is becoming increasingly critical for environmental security. In this work, a series of novel adsorbents (Si-IL-X, X = NO3, Cl, BF4, NTf2) modified with ionic liquids containing different anions (X) were synthesized via radiation grafting of 1-vinyl-3-ethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate onto silanized silica and subsequent anion replacement. The surface and structural properties of the prepared adsorbents were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, TGA, XPS, and SEM-EDS. Subsequently, their adsorption properties for ReO4− (a nonradioactive surrogate of TcO4−) were studied in detail via batch and column experiments. The batch experiments indicated that the Si-IL-X showed high ReO4− removal efficiency over a broad pH range of 3–10, and their maximum adsorption capacities were in the range of 147.93–289.02 mg g−1 against ReO4−. It was found that the adsorption ability of Si-IL-X was related to the anion structure of the ionic liquid, and the order was Si-IL-NO3 > Si-IL-Cl > Si-IL-BF4 > Si-IL-NTf2, which was mainly determined by the hydrophilicity and ionic radius of the anions. Besides, their adsorption capacities barely decreased after electron beam radiation of 800 kGy. In column experiments, the adsorbents exhibited excellent selectivity and could capture ReO4− efficiently from simulated radioactive wastewater containing a large number of coexisting ions. In addition, the XPS and FT-IR spectroscopic analyses indicated that adsorption was carried out by an ion-exchange process. The results suggested that Si-IL-X showed excellent application prospect for efficient capture of TcO4− from Hanford waste and other common acidic radioactive wastes.

A silver-catalyzed cascade cyclization reaction of isocyanides with sulfoxonium ylides has been developed for the first time. This reaction provides a new and efficient method for the construction of highly functionalized 3-aminofurans and 4-aminoquinolines from readily available starting materials in a single step.

Nano-copper has proven that it has an excellent contribution to the friction-reduction, anti-wear and extreme pressure properties of lubricant, as the lubricating oil additive. However, there are few studies on the application of nano-copper in full formulated lubricating oils. The suspension stability and tribological properties of LCKD-320# lubricating oil with nano-copper of varying concentrations were investigated. The results demonstrated that the nano-copper was synthesized via the liquid-phase reduction method with the average particle size of 128 nm. The additions of Tween80 and Span80 were 2 wt% of nano-copper, respectively, which can maintain a most suitable dispersity and stability. When the addition of nano-copper was 0.3 wt%, the friction coefficient under the load of 20 N and the wear scar area (S) were decreased by 25% and 54.4%, respectively, and the maximum non-seizure loads (PB) was increased by 33% as compared with original LCKD-320# lubricating oil. Testing results showed that the LCKD-320# lubricating oil with or without nano-copper both were conformed to the national lubricant standards. The present work will extend the application of nano-copper additive and introduce a new approach to lubricity for the coal mine machinery in future technological areas.

Developing high performance catalysts for the low temperature CO2 reforming with methane (CRM) reaction is a challenge due to the occurrences of metal sintering and carbon deposition. In this study, we synthesized CeO2 modified Ni@SiO2 catalysts with excellent properties of sintering-resistance and low carbon deposition for high performance low temperature CRM. The Ni@SiO2-CeO2 catalysts displayed a size effect from tiny Ni nanoparticles to enhance CRM performance and a confinement effect from silica encapsulation to limit Ni sintering and exhibited oxygen storage capacity from ceria to reduce carbon deposition. Performance and characterization results revealed that the Ni@SiO2-CeO2-W catalyst with smaller ceria size exhibited higher performance and lower carbon deposition than the Ni@SiO2-CeO2-E catalyst with bigger ceria size, because the smaller ceria nanoparticles activated more CO2. This work provided a simple strategy to deposit small sized ceria on the Ni@SiO2 catalyst surface for the performance enhancement of low temperature CRM.

The crossed molecular beam reactions of the methylidyne radical (CH; X2 Π) with 1,3-butadiene (CH2 CHCHCH2 ; X1 Ag ) along with their (partially) deuterated counterparts were performed at collision energies of 20.8 kJ mol-1 under single collision conditions. Combining our laboratory data with ab initio calculations, we reveal that the methylidyne radical may add barrierlessly to the terminal carbon atom and/or carbon-carbon double bond of 1,3-butadiene, leading to doublet C5 H7 intermediates with life times longer than the rotation periods. These collision complexes undergo non-statistical unimolecular decomposition through hydrogen atom emission yielding the cyclic cis- and trans-3-vinyl-cyclopropene products with reaction exoergicities of 119±42 kJ mol-1 . Since this reaction is barrierless, exoergic, and all transition states are located below the energy of the separated reactants, these cyclic C5 H6 products are predicted to be accessed even in low-temperature environments, such as in hydrocarbon-rich atmospheres of planets and cold molecular clouds such as TMC-1.

Nickel dichalcogenides have received extensive attention as promising noble-metal-free nanocatalysts for a hydrogen evolution reaction. Nonetheless, their catalytic performance is restricted by the sluggish reaction kinetics, limited exposed active sites, and poor conductivity. In this work, we report on an effective strategy to solve those problems by using an as-designed new porous-C/Ni2SeS nanocatalyst with the Ni2SeS nanostubs anchored on with porous-carbon skeletons process. On the basis of three advantages, as the enhancement of the intrinsic activity using the ternary sulfoselenide, increased number of exposed active sites due to the 3D hollow substrate, and increased conductivity caused by porous-carbon skeletons, the resulting porous-C/Ni2SeS requires an overpotential of only 121 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm–2 with a Tafel slope of 78 mV dec–1 for hydrogen evolution in acidic media and a good long-term stability. Density functional theory calculations also show that the Gibbs free energy of hydrogen adsorption of the Ni2SeS was −0.23 eV, which not only is close to the ideal value (0 eV) and Pt reference (−0.09 eV) but also is lower than those of NiS2 and NiSe2; large electrical states exist in the vicinity of the Fermi level, which further improves its electrocatalytic performance. This work provides new insights into the rational design of ternary dichalcogenides and hollow structure materials for practical applications in HER catalysis and energy fields.

Quaternary ammonium salt type cotton linter (QCL) was synthesized by radiation grafting of dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) onto cotton linter and subsequent quaternization. Batch and column adsorption experiments were used to evaluate the adsorption behaviors of the QCL for phosphate. The adsorption kinetics of QCL for phosphate were well obeyed pseudo-second-order mode. The adsorption isotherms were well fitted by Langmuir, Temkin, and Dubinin-Radushkevich model. Column experiments showed that the breakthrough curves were dependent on the inlet concentration and flow rate but independent on space velocity. Moreover the QCL can be effectively regenerated for further repeated use at least 10 cycles. And QCL exhibited good selective adsorption for phosphate. Such high adsorption and desorption efficiency of QCL made it employing for phosphate adsorption in practical application.

The effect of electronic coupling on electron transfer (ET) rates has been considered minor and often ignored compared to the effect of driving force (ΔG°) between similarly structured donor and ac...

Background Puccinellia tenuiflora, a forage grass, is considered a model halophyte given its strong tolerance for multiple stress conditions and its close genetic relationship with cereals. This halophyte has enormous values for improving our understanding of salinity tolerance mechanisms. The genetic information of P. tenuiflora also is a potential resource that can be used for improving the salinity tolerance of cereals. Results Here, we sequenced and assembled the P. tenuiflora genome (2n = 14) through the combined strategy of Illumina, PacBio, and 10× genomic technique. We generated 43.2× PacBio long reads, 123.87× 10× genomic reads, and 312.6× Illumina reads. Finally, we assembled 2638 scaffolds with a total size of 1.107 Gb, contig N50 of 117 kb, and scaffold N50 of 950 kb. We predicted 39,725 protein-coding genes, and identified 692 tRNAs, 68 rRNAs, 702 snRNAs, 1376 microRNAs, and 691 Mb transposable elements. Conclusions We deposited the genome sequence in NCBI and the Genome Warehouse in National Genomics Data Center. Our work may improve current understanding of plant salinity tolerance, and provides extensive genetic resources necessary for improving the salinity and drought tolerance of cereals.

Snow depth on the interior of Tibetan Plateau (TP) in state-of-the-art reanalysis products is almost an order of magnitude higher than observed. This huge bias stems primarily from excessive snowfall, but inappropriate process representation of shallow snow also causes excessive snow depth and snow cover. This study investigated the issue with respect to the parameterization of fresh snow albedo. The characteristics of TP snowfall were investigated using ground truth data. Snow in the interior of the TP is usually only some centimeters in depth. The albedo of fresh snow depends on snow depth, and is frequently less than 0.4. Such low albedo values contrast with the high values (~0.8) used in the existing snow schemes of land surface models. The SNICAR radiative transfer model can reproduce the observations that fresh shallow snow has a low albedo value, based on which a fresh snow albedo scheme was derived in this study. Finally, the impact of the fresh snow albedo on snow ablation was examined at 45 meteorological stations on TP using the land surface model Noah-MP which incorporated the new scheme. Allowing albedo to change with snow depth can produce quite realistic snow depths compared with observations. In contrast, the typically assumed fresh snow albedo of 0.82 leads to too large snow depths in the snow ablation period averaged across 45 stations. The shallow snow transparency impact on snow ablation is therefore particularly important in the TP interior, where snow is rather thin and radiation is strong.

The preparation of tetragonal zirconia nanopowders by sol–gel method using zirconium oxychloride as raw material, ammonia water and sodium hydroxide solution as precipitant, and calcium oxide or magnesium oxide powders as stabilizing agents is described. After suction filtration, drying, and calcination, tetragonal zirconia nanopowders with different particle size and tetragonal phase content were obtained. The particle size and phase composition of the powders are characterized by using a laser particle size analyzer and an X-ray diffractometer, and the tetragonal phase content and grain size are calculated from the crystal plane formula and Scherrer formula. The analysis of the relationship between the tetragonal phase content and the particle size of the zirconia nanopowders stabilized by calcium oxide and magnesium oxide at room temperature reveals the inhibitory effect of the stabilizing agents on the growth of zirconia grains. The stabilized zirconia nanopowder is finer than unstabilized zirconia nanopowder, and the particle distribution is more uniform in the former. The stabilizing effect of calcium oxide is superior to that of magnesium oxide; the critical transformation size of the zirconia grains stabilized by calcium oxide is the largest, and that of unstabilized zirconia is the smallest. The critical transformation size of calcium oxide-stabilized, magnesium oxide-stabilized, and unstabilized zirconia nanopowders is 18–22.6 nm, 24–28 nm, and 26–33.6 nm, respectively. Under the same calcination condition, the calcium oxide-stabilized zirconia nanopowder retains the highest tetragonal phase content at room temperature.

Developing facile and cost-effective methods for silver recovery is of great importance for resource and environmental sustainability. A novel cost-effective and eco-friendly l-cysteine functionalized cellulose microsphere (Cys resin) was prepared by radiation method. Batch adsorption experiments demonstrated the Cys resin showed higher selectivity for Ag(I) ion over other competing ions in the simulated solution. Its batch adsorption capacity was 66.67 mg g−1 obtained from Langmuir model. Fixed bed column experiments demonstrated its scale up application in wastewater treatment with column adsorption capacity of 41.23 mg g−1 obtained from Thomas model. Furthermore, it was found that as-prepared Cys resin was consist of the mixture of zwitterion form and neutral form with ratio of 77/23. The interaction mechanism between Ag(I) and Cys resin in different forms was another research focus. Experimental results, XPS analysis and DFT calculation revealed the adsorption mechanism between Ag(I) and Cys resin was inner-sphere complexation and reduction. Zwitterion form was bound to Ag(I) via carboxylate ion, whereas neutral form were identified as the main form to coordinate with Ag(I) via multi electron-rich atoms. This work paves a way for developing cost-effective and sustainable silver adsorbents and providing new insight into the interaction mechanism between Cys resin and silver.

A unified low-temperature reaction mechanism on the formation of acenes, phenacenes, and helicenes-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are distinct via the linear, zigzag, and ortho-condensed arrangements of fused benzene rings-is revealed. This mechanism is mediated through a barrierless, vinylacetylene mediated gas-phase chemistry utilizing tetracene, [4]phenacene, and [4]helicene as benchmarks contesting established ideas that molecular mass growth processes to PAHs transpire at elevated temperatures. This mechanism opens up an isomer-selective route to aromatic structures involving submerged reaction barriers, resonantly stabilized free-radical intermediates, and systematic ring annulation potentially yielding molecular wires along with racemic mixtures of helicenes in deep space. Connecting helicene templates to the Origins of Life ultimately changes our hypothesis on interstellar carbon chemistry.

To overcome the strikes from the tremendous noise of pseudorange and the integer ambiguity of carrier phase observation, we developed a novel dual-domain filtering method that integrates the traditional observation- and an innovative position- domain filtering method. The novel method employed the conventional Hatch's smoother to improve the precision of pseudorange at the observation-domain filtering part. At the position- domain filtering part, the proposed method constructs an accurate dynamical model for KF (Kalman filter) or ARKF (adaptive-robust KF) that relies on the TDCP (time differential carrier phase) velocity measurement technology. To assess the effectiveness of the novel method, we compared it with other methods under various system integration by measured data from IGS (International GNSS Service) MGEX (Multi-GNSS Experiment) and dynamic data collected at CUMT (China University of Mining and Technology). The static numerical experiments obtained from IGS datasets show that the ARKF improves the precision of 60/84 and 55/84 situations' directions compared with the LS method based on OP (original pseudorange) and SP (smoothed pseudorange), respectively, and Hatch's smother improves the precision of all situations' directions. The experiment results prove that both types of observation- and position- domain filtering methods can improve positioning precision. Also, the novel dual-domain filtering improved the precision of 80/84 situations' directions compared with the LS method. Moreover, the dynamic experiment shows that the novel method can improve all of the situations' directions except the N (North) direction provided by KF base on SP under GC and U (Upon) direction provided by LS base on SP under GR. The average of improved accuracy is 0.212m, 0.346m, and 0.588m at the E (East), N, U direction and its corresponding average percentage of improved accuracy is 30.2%, 60.2%, and 26.7%, respectively, which proves the novel dual-domain filtering method provided the best performance among the tested algorithms.

A novel rhodium-catalyzed homodimerization–cyclization reaction of two vinyl isocyanides has been developed for the first time. In this reaction, the highly reactive 1,4-diazabutatriene intermediates generated by the homodimerization of two vinyl isocyanides could undergo a novel type of intramolecular tandem cyclization and provides a new and highly efficient method for the construction of 2-(isoquinolin-1-yl)oxazoles by formation of three new bonds and two rings from readily available acyclic starting materials in a single step.

Silicon carbide nanocrystals have been widely researched and applied in bio-imaging, drug delivery, dental implants and relative fields. However, the challenges in the synthesis technology of silicon carbide nanocrystals are still restricting their practical applications. Therefore, we investigated the fabrication of photoluminescent (PL) silicon carbide quantum dots (SiC QDs) through ionic liquid-based microemulsions combined with a radiation technique. The high steady blue PL SiC QDs were obtained with the largest quantum yield of 12.39% and an indirect energy gap of about 5.14 eV. Radiation doses and silane coupling agent concentrations had almost no effect on the size and PL properties of SiC QDs, but strongly affected their quantum yields and lifetimes. The droplet size of ionic liquid-based microemulsions showed great potential applications in regulating the size and PL properties of SiC QDs. Through this work, one simple, high-rate, clean, scalable strategy has been provided for synthesizing PL SiC QDs, which is meaningful to promote the practical applications of SiC QDs in the future.

The first KI-catalyzed direct acyloxylation of indolin-3-ones with carboxylic acids has been developed using 30% aq. H2O2 as a green oxidant at room temperature. Through this strategy, various C2-acyloxy indolin-3-ones were obtained in up to 96% yield. Moreover, the C2-acyloxy indolin-3-ones can serve as versatile intermediates for the synthesis of nucleophilic 2-monoarylated indolin-3-ones and 3-ylidene indoles.

The tricyclic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) 3H-cyclopenta[a]naphthalene (C13H10), 1H-cyclopenta[b]naphthalene (C13H10) and 1H-cyclopenta[a]naphthalene (C13H10) along with their indene-based bicyclic isomers (E)-5-(but-1-en-3-yn-1-yl)-1H-indene, (E)-6-(but-1-en-3-yn-1-yl)-1H-indene, 5-(but-3-ene-1-yn-1-yl)-1H-in-dene, and 6-(but-3-ene-1-yn-1-yl)-1H-indene were formed via a "directed synthesis" in a high-temperature chemical micro reactor at the temperature of 1300 ± 10 K through the reactions of the 5- and 6-indenyl radicals (C9H7˙) with vinylacetylene (C4H4). The isomer distributions were probed utilizing tunable vacuum ultraviolet light by recording the photoionization efficiency curves at mass-to-charge of m/z = 166 (C13H10) and 167 (13CC12H10) of the products in a supersonic molecular beam. The underlying reaction mechanisms involve the initial formation of van-der-Waals complexes followed by addition of the 5- and 6-indenyl radicals to vinylacetylene via submerged barriers, followed by isomerization (hydrogen shifts, ring closures), and termination via atomic hydrogen elimination accompanied by aromatization. All the barriers involved in the formation of 3H-cyclopenta[a]naphthalene, 1H-cyclopenta[b]naphthalene and 1H-cyclopenta[a]naphthalene are submerged with respect to the reactants indicating that the mechanisms are in fact barrierless, potentially forming PAHs via the hydrogen abstraction - vinylacetylene addition (HAVA) pathway in the cold molecular clouds such as Taurus Molecular Cloud-1 (TMC-1) at temperatures as low as 10 K.

Using eddy-covariance turbulence measurements over a Tibetan glacier, we present a description of scalar turbulence characteristics in the stable boundary layer. Interesting behaviours are demonstrated in terms of temperature–humidity de-correlation and dissimilarity. That is, a lack of perfect correlation occurs between the two scalars (i.e., correlation coefficients

George Town is a significant World Heritage Site in the Straits of Malacca. This paper examined the evolution of urban morphology in George Town within geography, politics, economy, and culture in a horizontal dimension and layer upon layer in a vertical dimension. In this study, to ensure the objectives are achieved, qualitative methods will be applied including several approaches such as literature review, interpretation of archives chronologically, maps study, census returns, trade directories, photographs and postcards, and urban master plan study. The research is based on the analysis of urban construction, land use, economic development, and municipal policies. First, study the urban morphology in a specific period, and construct the inner layer structure in each period. Second, an analogy is drawn among the evolution of the urban morphology by time-scale, this section focusses on the historical conjunctures and events related to the urban construction. An important contribution can be made to the conservation and management of urban built heritage in George Town, on the one hand, explaining the evolution of urban morphology by examining George Town's physical and spatial environment, and in turn, on the other hand, understanding about the physical and spatial environment by examining the urban morphology. Keywords: Malaysia, George Town, Pulau Pinang, Colonial port city, Urban morphology

Organic compound has enormous potential to serve as a new electrode material in Li-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to their low cost, flexibility and sustainability of naturally abundant elements. Unfortunately, their intrinsic high solubility and low electrical conductivity limit the large-scale application in LIBs. To conquer these pivotal issues, we firstly synthesize a novel organic molecule grafted graphene anode material tetrahydroxybenzoquinone ‒ graphene oxide (THBQ-GO) and the composite is confirmed through Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) etc. analyses. The optimized THBQ-GO electrode shows high electronic conductivity, low solubility and superior electrochemical capability. It delivers a storage capacity of 1075.9 mAh g−1 at 0.05 A g−1 and retains 88.9% over 100 cycles, manifesting good cycling stability. When cycling at 1.0 A g−1, it still presents 359.4 mAh g−1 over 2000 cycles. Then, the electrochemical mechanisms for the high capability of the optimized THBQ-GO electrode are discussed in detail through ex-situ FT-IR and XPS analyses. This work provides a new perspective to design an organic molecule grafted graphene material for advanced LIBs with high-power properties.

An “endotoxin-free” E. coli-based cell-free protein synthesis system has been reported to produce therapeutic proteins rapidly and on-demand. However, preparation of the most complex CFPS reagent – the cell extract – remains time-consuming and labor-intensive because of the relatively slow growth kinetics of the endotoxin-free ClearColiTMBL21(DE3) strain. Here we report a streamlined procedure for preparing E. coli cell extract from ClearColi™ using auto-induction media. In this work, the term auto-induction describes cell culture media which eliminates the need for manual induction of protein expression. Culturing Clearcoli™ cells in autoinduction media significantly reduces the hands-on time required during extract preparation, and the resulting “endotoxin-free” cell extract maintained the same cell-free protein synthesis capability as extract produced with traditional induction as demonstrated by the high-yield expression of crisantaspase, an FDA approved leukemia therapeutic. It is anticipated that this work will lower the barrier for researchers to enter the field and use this technology as the method to produce endotoxin-free E. coli-based extract for CFPS. Keywords: Auto-induction, Autoinduction, Cell-free protein synthesis, CFPS, Endotoxin-free, Crisantaspase, Clearcoli

Reference crop evapotranspiration (ET0) is an important indicator for precise regulation of crop water content, irrigation forecast formulation, and regional water resources management. The Hargreaves model (HG) is currently recognized as the simplest and most effective ET0 estimation model. To further improve the prediction accuracy of the HG model, this study is based on the data of 98 meteorological stations in southwest China (1961&ndash, 2019), using artificial bee colony (ABC), differential evolution (DE) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithms to calibrate the HG model globally. The standard ET0 value was calculated by FAO-56 Penman&ndash, Monteith (PM) model. We compare the calculation accuracy of 3 calibrated HG models and 4 empirical models commonly used (Hargreaves, Priestley&ndash, Taylor, Imark&ndash, Allen and Jensen&ndash, Hais). The main outcomes demonstrated that on a daily scale, the calibrated HG models (R2 range 0.74&ndash, 0.98) are more accurate than 4 empirical models (R2 range 0.55&ndash, 0.84), and ET0-PSO-HG has the best accuracy, followed by ET0-ABC-HG and ET0-DE-HG, with average R2 of 0.83, 0.82 and 0.80, average RRMSE of 0.23 mm/d, 0.25 mm/d and 0.26 mm/d, average MAE of 0.52 mm/d, 0.53 mm/d and 0.57 mm/d, and average GPI of 0.17, 0.05, and 0.04, respectively, on a monthly scale, ET0-PSO-HG also has the highest accuracy, followed by ET0-ABC-HG and ET0-DE-HG, with median R2 of 0.96, 0.95 and 0.94, median RRMSE of 0.16 mm/d, 0.17 mm/d and 0.18 mm/d respectively, median MAE of 0.46 mm/d, 0.50 mm/d, and 0.55 mm/d, median GPI of 1.12, 0.44 and 0.34, respectively. The calibrated HG models (relative error of less than 10.31%) are also better than the four empirical models (relative error greater than 16.60%). Overall, the PSO-HG model has the most accurate ET0 estimation on daily and monthly scales, and it can be suggested as the preferred model to predict ET0 in humid regions in southwest China regions.

9 pags., 5 figs., 4 tabs., Development of efficient peptide-based immunotherapy for shrimp allergy relies on the identification of the dominant T-cell epitopes of its major allergen, tropomyosin. In this study, immunoinformatic tools, T-cell proliferation, cytokine release, IgG/IgE binding, and degranulation assays were used to identify and characterize the T-cell epitopes in Lit v 1 in comparison with previously validated B-cell epitopes. The results showed that of the six in silico predicted T-cell epitopes only one (T2: VQESLLKANIQLVEK, 60-74) promoted T-cell proliferation, the release of IL-2, and upregulated secretion of Th2-associated cytokines in the absence of IgG/IgE binding and degranulation activities. These findings support T2 as a candidate for the development of an efficient peptide-based vaccine for the immunotherapy for shrimp-allergic patients., This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 31,771,892) and by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Spanish AEI grant PID2019-103845RB-C21).

Timely myocardial reperfusion salvages ischemic myocardium from infarction, whereas reperfusion itself induces cardiomyocyte death, which is called myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) injury. Herein, β-carboline derivative 17c was designed and synthesized with obvious myocardial protective activity for the first time. Pretreatment of 17c effectively protected the cardiomyocyte H9c2 cells from H2O2-induced lactate dehydrogenase leakage and restored the endogenous antioxidants, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). Besides, 17c effectively protected the mitochondria through decreasing the reactive oxygen species overproduction and enhancing the mitochondrial membrane potential. As a result, 17c significantly reduced the necrosis of cardiomyocytes in H2O2-induced oxidative stress, which was more potent than polydatin. In MI/R injury rats, 17c pretreatment obviously increased the levels of SOD and GSH-Px and inhibited the apoptosis of cardiomyocytes. Through this way, the size of myocardial infarction was significantly reduced after MI/R injury in vivo, better than that of polydatin, suggesting that 17c is a promising cardioprotectant for the prevention of MI/R injury.

International audience; This work reports an experimental and kinetic modelling investigation on flow reactor pyrolysis and jet-stirred reactor oxidation of o-xylene. The flow reactor pyrolysis experiments were conducted over 1050-1600 K at 0.04 and 1.0 atm. Key products related to fuel decomposition such as o-xylyl radical, o-xylylene, benzocyclobutene and styrene, as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), were detected by using synchrotron vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry. The jet-stirred reactor oxidation experiments were performed at 10 atm, 800-1200 K, a residence time of 0.5 s and equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0. Speciation were conducted by using gas chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. A kinetic model of o-xylene was developed from our previous models of aromatic fuels and validated against both present data and experimental data in literature. Styrene is observed as the dominant product in the pyrolysis of oxylene and it is mainly produced from the isomerization of o-xylylene directly or via benzocyclobutene as an intermediate species. C9 PAHs (indenyl, indene and indane), phenanthrene and its methyl derivatives were observed as the abundantly produced bicyclic and tricyclic PAHs. The main formation pathways of bicyclic and tricyclic PAHs are found to be different at low and atmospheric pressures, depending on the major precursors produced. Particularly, the self-combination reactions of o-xylyl and the addition reaction of o-xylyl with benzyl and subsequent stepwise H-loss/cyclization reactions are found to be the main sources of methylphenanthrene and dimethylphenanthrene. In the JSR oxidation of o-xylene, toluene and benzene were observed as the abundantly produced aromatic products, while o-methylbenzaldehyde was among the most abundantly produced oxygenated aromatics. Modelling analysis reveals that o-xylyl radical is also the dominant fuel consumption product. Its consumption mainly proceeds through the oxidation by HO2 and finally produces omethylbenzaldehyde. Further decomposition reactions of o-methylbenzaldehyde contribute to the formation of other major oxygenated aromatics such as cresol and benzofuran. Indene and naphthalene were also observed in the oxidation of o-xylene, which are mainly produced from the stepwise Hloss/cyclization reaction sequence of o-methylethylbenzene and decomposition of dibenzofuran, respectively.

A novel copper-catalyzed [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of alkynes with nitrile oxides generated in situ from the coupling reaction of copper carbene and nitroso radical has been developed. The thr...

Because of its versatile coordination modes and strong coordination ability, the mercaptoacetic acid substituted 1,2,4-triazole 2-{[5-(pyridin-2-yl)-4H-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl]sulfanyl}acetic acid (H2L) was synthesized and characterized. Treatment of H2L with cobalt and nickel acetate afforded the dinuclear complexes {μ-3-[(carboxylatomethyl)sulfanyl]-5-(pyridin-2-yl)-4H-1,2,4-triazol-4-ido-κ2 N 1,N 5:N 2,O}bis[aqua(methanol-κO)cobalt(II)] methanol disolvate, [Co2(C9H6N4O2S)2(CH3OH)2(H2O)2]·2CH3OH (1), and {μ-3-[(carboxylatomethyl)sulfanyl]-5-(pyridin-2-yl)-4H-1,2,4-triazol-4-ido-κ2 N 1,N 5:N 2,O}bis[diaquanickel(II)] methanol disolvate dihydrate, [Ni2(C9H6N4O2S)2(H2O)4]·2CH3OH·2H2O (2), respectively. Complex 1 crystallized in the monoclinic space group P21/c, while 2 crystallized in the tetragonal space group I41/a. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies revealed that H2L is doubly deprotonated and acts as a tetradentate bridging ligand in complexes 1 and 2. For both of the obtained complexes, extensive hydrogen-bond interactions contribute to the formation of their three-dimensional supermolecular structures. Hirshfeld surface analysis was used to illustrate the intermolecular interactions. Additionally, the urease inhibitory activities of 1, 2 and H2L were investigated against jack bean urease, where the two complexes revealed strong urease inhibition activities.

Cell-free protein synthesis has emerged as a promising platform for the production of therapeutic proteins due to its inherently open reaction environment, flexible reaction conditions and rapid protein synthesis capabilities. In recent years, lyophilized cell-free systems have widened the application space of cell-free technology by improving reagent stability outside of cold-chain storage. Current embodiments of the system, however, demonstrate poor stability at elevated temperatures. Lyoprotectants have long been recognized for the ability to preserve the activity of biological molecules during drying processes, but the application of this technology to lyophilized cell-free systems has been limited and has failed to address the negative effects that such lyoprotectants may have on cell-free systems. Here, several lyoprotected, lyophilized cell-free protein synthesis systems are demonstrated using antiplasticized sugar glasses as lyoprotectants, showing significant improvement over standard lyophilized systems or trehalose-preserved systems. Furthermore, we demonstrate for the first time, preservation and therapeutic expression, specifically of FDA-approved crisantaspase, from a truly single-pot lyophilized, endotoxin-free, cell-free protein synthesis system, exemplifying the potential for on-site therapeutic synthesis.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) represent the link between resonance-stabilized free radicals and carbonaceous nanoparticles generated in incomplete combustion processes and in circumstellar envelopes of carbon rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. Although these PAHs resemble building blocks of complex carbonaceous nanostructures, their fundamental formation mechanisms have remained elusive. By exploring these reaction mechanisms of the phenyl radical with biphenyl/naphthalene theoretically and experimentally, we provide compelling evidence on a novel phenyl-addition/dehydrocyclization (PAC) pathway leading to prototype PAHs: triphenylene and fluoranthene. PAC operates efficiently at high temperatures leading through rapid molecular mass growth processes to complex aromatic structures, which are difficult to synthesize by traditional pathways such as hydrogen-abstraction/acetylene-addition. The elucidation of the fundamental reactions leading to PAHs is necessary to facilitate an understanding of the origin and evolution of the molecular universe and of carbon in our galaxy.

Considering severe threat of bisphenol A (BPA) to environment and human health, it is urgent to develop a convenient and specific method for accurately detecting BPA. An efficient photoelectrochemical (PEC) aptasensor for determining BPA in water is constructed using Bi microspheres/carbon nitride (Bi/CN) heterojunction as a PEC material. The promoting effect of Bi on the enhanced PEC performance of Bi/CN heterojunction is initiated by two unique effects: the construction of heterojunction (heterojunction effect) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect. For heterojunction effect, a metal-semiconductor heterojunction of Bi/CN is constructed, which increases the light absorption of CN, generates more electron-hole pairs and accelerates the separation of carriers. Simultaneously, as a plasmonic metal, Bi microspheres accelerate charge transfer generated from the heterojunction. This function of Bi is of high benefit to suppress the electron-hole recombination, leading to an enhanced PEC performance. Benefiting from enhanced PEC performance of the heterojunction, a sensitive PEC aptasensor for detecting BPA is realized. This work demonstrates that the Bi/CN heterojunction amplified photoelectric conversion strategy can be used as an efficient method for Bi-based materials to significantly enhance the PEC performance and also provides more opportunities for application of Bi-based materials in PEC field.

To probe Fe isotopic signatures of the Quaternary Red Clay (QRC) in subtropical southeastern China, two QRC profiles located in southern Anhui Province, Southeast China, were studied. The whole profiles were generally in a narrow range in δ 56 Fe of −0.040 ± 0.061‰—0.117 ± 0.048‰. The Yellow-brown Earth (YBE) and Uniform Red Clay (URC) of the upper profiles were similar in δ 56 Fe to the Xiashu Loess along the Yangtze River, Southeast China, and the loess, paleosols and Tertiary red clay in the Chinese Loess Plateaus, Northwest China, as well as the baseline of terrestrial igneous rocks. The slight variation of δ 56 Fe from the YBE to the URC suggests that the chemical weathering and rubification on the aerobic surface did not fractionate Fe isotopes significantly. The Reticulate Red Clay (RRC) underlying the YBE and URC fluctuated in δ 56 Fe to some extent. The white veins separated from the lower RRC were depleted of Fe oxides and heavier in Fe isotopes, and the red veins, on the contrary, were isotopically lighter in Fe. δ 56 Fe of the white veins, 0.345 ± 0.053‰ on average, was significantly higher than the bulk samples, 0.033 ± 0.044‰ on average, and the red veins, −0.021 ± 0.046‰ on average. This suggests that the reticulate textures of the RRC were formed by the reductive removal/re-precipitation of Fe due to the cyclical changes of redoxic conditions. Fe isotopic composition of the QRC was dominantly controlled by the redoxic mobility of Fe, rather than the degree of weathering. δ 56 Fe of the profiles was not correlated with the paleoclimatic events, and thus cannot be used as a paleoclimatic proxy. The fractionation of Fe isotopes in the lower RRC, however, indicated the occurrence of over-humid paleoclimate with alternations between drought and wetness in Southern China during the Pleistocene.

The triafulvene molecule (c-C4 H4 )-the simplest representative of the fulvene family-has been synthesized for the first time in the gas phase through the reaction of the methylidyne radical (CH) with methylacetylene (CH3 CCH) and allene (H2 CCCH2 ) under single-collision conditions. The experimental and computational data suggest triafulvene is formed by the barrierless cycloaddition of the methylidyne radical to the π-electron density of either C3 H4 isomer followed by unimolecular decomposition through elimination of atomic hydrogen from the CH3 or CH2 groups of the reactants. The dipole moment of triafulvene of 1.90 D suggests that this molecule could represent a critical tracer of microwave-inactive allene in cold molecular clouds, thus defining constraints on the largely elusive hydrocarbon chemistry in low-temperature interstellar environments, such as that of the Taurus Molecular Cloud 1 (TMC-1).

In the development of CO2 capture and utilization, the physical and transport properties of the binary systems are significant, because these can affect the gas absorption and desorption processes. Thus, we report the densities and viscosities of two binary systems: 2-ethoxyethanol (ECS) + water (H2O) and ECS + dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), with various compositions at temperatures from (298.15 to 318.15) K. On the basis of these data, excess molar volumes ( $$V_{\text{m}}^{\text{E}}$$ ) and viscosity deviations (Δη) were calculated. The $$V_{\text{m}}^{\text{E}}$$ values of the two binary mixtures are negative and decrease with increasing temperatures; Δη values are positive at all compositions and decrease with increasing temperatures. The $$V_{\text{m}}^{\text{E}}$$ and Δη values were fitted with the Redlich–Kister equation. The physico-chemical properties of the two binary systems, including activation enthalpy and entropy, were calculated from the kinematic viscosity. In addition, various spectral results offer evidence for the formation of weak interactions between ECS and DMSO or H2O.

Based on 1186 published studies, the first national-scale assessment of cadmium (Cd) contamination in agricultural soils across China was conducted. Cd concentrations, temporal and spatial variations, and ecological and health risks resulted from Cd exposure were analyzed. A small part of sampling sites with Cd concentration surpass the screening value and the control value (GB15618-2018), respectively. Soil Cd concentrations in South China were higher than other regions. Ecological risks resulting from Cd contamination were low. Soil Cd concentrations accumulated gradually from 1981 to 2016. Cd mainly came from anthropogenic activities, such as mining, smelting, sewage irrigation, and fertilization. Linear correlations were observed between application amounts of fertilizers and Cd concentrations in soil, indicating that the application of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and compound fertilizers is an important contributor of Cd in soils. This study details the overall Cd contamination status of agricultural soils in China, thus can provide insights for policymakers regarding contamination prevention measures.

We report herein our serendipitous discovery of the rapid and straightforward accesses to unprecedented diverse complex molecular structures from readily available starting materials. Catalyzed by 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene under mild conditions, o-(1-(acyloxy)propargyl)benzaldehydes 1 underwent efficient and selective dimerization reactions to produce novel complex bisether-bridged tricyclic products 3 and 4. The reactions proceeded most probably through dimerizations between 3-methylene-3H-isochromene intermediate and its zwitterionic resonance structures which were generated from a concerted 6-π electrocyclic ring closure reaction from the initially formed (2-formylphenyl)allene intermediates derived directly from o-(1-(acyloxy)propargyl)benzaldehydes. Treatment of the resulting product simply with NaOEt in ethanol and aqueous HCl, respectively, enabled further development of complex molecular diversities.