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Lysosomal polarity is considered a key indicator of lysosomal function due to its significant impact on membrane fluidity and enzymatic reactions in lysosomes. Monitoring lysosomal polarity can gain insight into the related physiological and pathological processes and develop new diagnostic methods. However, current fluorescent probes with lysosomal polarity response suffer from narrow linear range, photobleaching and complicated preparation. Herein, a ratiometric fluorescent probe (r-bCDs) for intracellular lysosomal polarity imaging is designed and constructed by amide bond assembly of polarity-sensitive red fluorescent carbon dots (rCDs) and referenced blue fluorescent carbon dots (bCDs). r-bCDs show a much wider linear range of polarity response (orientation polarizability Δf from 0.020 to 0.315) than other probes, and the interference of uneven distribution and instrument factors can be effectively eliminated by ratiometric fluorescent sensing. Imaging of intracellular lysosomal polarity with r-bCDs is implemented to observe the polarity variation caused by the change of cell state and the difference between cancer cells and normal cells. This work provides a promising tool for studying the related physiological and pathological processes and developing new diagnostic methods.

Intestinal barrier dysfunction and intestinal inflammation interact in the progression of Crohn's disease (CD). A recent study indicated that Epac‐2 protected the intestinal barrier and had anti‐inflammatory effects. The present study examined the function of Epac‐2 in CD‐like colitis. Interleukin‐10 gene knockout (Il‐10 −/−) mice exhibit significant spontaneous enteritis and were used as the CD model. These mice were treated with Epac‐2 agonists (Me‐cAMP) or Epac‐2 antagonists (HJC‐0350) or were fed normally (control), and colitis and intestinal barrier structure and function were compared. A Caco‐2 and RAW 264.7 cell co‐culture system were used to analyse the effects of Epac‐2 on the cross‐talk between intestinal epithelial cells and inflammatory cells. Epac‐2 activation significantly ameliorated colitis in mice, which was indicated by reductions in the colitis inflammation score, the expression of inflammatory factors and intestinal permeability. Epac‐2 activation also decreased Caco‐2 cell permeability in an LPS‐induced cell co‐culture system. Epac‐2 activation significantly suppressed nuclear factor (NF)‐κB/mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling in vivo and in vitro. Epac‐2 may be a therapeutic target for CD based on its anti‐inflammatory functions and protective effects on the intestinal barrier.

Point-of-care testing (POCT) with the advantages of simplicity, rapidity, portability, and low-cost is of great importance to improve healthcare, especially in resource-limited settings and home healthcare settings. Moreover, it is a great challenge to quantitative POCT of multiplexed biomarkers within a single accessible assay but provides enhanced diagnostic accuracy and improved diagnostic efficiency. Herein, a smartphone optical device has been designed for POCT of glucose and cholesterol in metabolic syndrome patients using a ratiometric fluorescent sensor. The sensing system of Ag NPs/UiO-66-NH2 and o-phenylenediamine presents a dual-emission response to H2O2 (the main product of glucose and cholesterol catalyzed by glucose oxidase and cholesterol oxidase) on account of the inner filter effect, resulting in an increase in the response of the fluorescence intensity ratio (F555 nm/F425 nm) accompanied by a distinguishable color transition from blue to yellow green. After compositing probes with a flexible substrate, the obtained test strip can be integrated with a smartphone-based portable platform to read RGB values for accurate testing of glucose and cholesterol with both detection limits of 10 μmol L-1, which are hundreds of times lower than their concentrations in human serum. With the advantages of low-cost, ease of operation, and broad adaptability, this smartphone optical device holds great potential for portable detection of numerous targets in personalized healthcare and clinical diagnosis.

The reaction behaviour and mechanism of carbon and mould fluxes during the heating process were deeply considered through TG-FTIR, XRD, DSC, and SEM techniques. The results showed that: there were ...

Discrimination of glycoproteins and cell types is a significant but difficult issue. Herein, we presented a novel fluorescence sensor array for the detection and identification of glycoproteins and cancer cells based on the specific affinity between boronic acid-containing carbon dots (BA-CDs) and cis-diol residues of polysaccharides. The differential binding affinity of three BA-CDs to various glycoproteins resulted in a different fluorescence turn-on signal pattern caused by aggregation-enhanced emission (AEE), along with negligible response from other proteins. Therefore, BA-CDs encompassing sensing elements and signal indicator into one can enable a fast and accurate discrimination of glycoproteins with simple and easy operation. Seven glycoproteins could be well discriminated at a very low concentration of 10 nmol/L. The discriminating capability of glycoproteins is not sacrificed in both human urine and serum. Notably, different glycoprotein compositions of cancer cells provide more recognizable features for identification of cancer cells, comparing to the total protein. Five cell types could be identified in 15 min at a low concentration of 1000 cells/mL. This method is fast, accurate, and easy operation, and has a potential application in cancer diagnosis.

Intensively farmed crops used to experience numerous environmental stresses. Among these, shade and drought significantly influence the morpho-physiological and biochemical attributes of plants. However, the interactive effect of shade and drought on the growth and development of soybean under dense cropping systems has not been reported yet. This study investigated the interactive effect of PEG-induced osmotic stress and shade on soybean seedlings. The soybean cultivar viz., C-103 was subjected to PEG-induced osmotic stress from polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG-6000) under shading and non-shading conditions. PEG-induced osmotic stress significantly reduced the relative water contents, morphological parameters, carbohydrates and chlorophyll contents under both light environments. A significant increase was observed in osmoprotectants, reactive oxygen species and antioxidant enzymes in soybean seedlings. Henceforth, the findings revealed that, seedlings grown under non-shading conditions produced more malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide contents as compared to the shade-treated plants when subjected to PEG-induced osmotic stress. Likewise, the shaded plants accumulated more sugars and proline than non-shaded ones under drought stress. Moreover, it was found that non-shaded grown plants were more sensitive to PEG-induced osmotic stress than those exposed to shading conditions, which suggested that shade could boost the protective mechanisms against osmotic stress or at least would not exaggerate the adverse effects of PEG-induced osmotic stress in soybean seedlings.

This study assessed the effect and potential molecular mechanism of tanshinone IIA on fracture healing. Mice model with fracture were established. Digital radiographic photographic system was used to detect callus formation after treatment with tanshinone II A (Tan IIA) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining analyzed ALP activity. Osteoblast proliferation was also measured. Western blot and Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) measured osteogenic markers expression. Compared with control group, Tan IIA treatment could increase callus formation, stimulate osteoblast proliferation, osteogenic proteins and genes expression, and activate mTORC1 signaling pathway. However, Tan IIA’s effects were significantly inhibited after rapamycin treatment. Tan IIA regulates osteoblast differentiation by mTORC1 signaling and promotes intramembranous ossification in the process of callus formation, which accelerates bone healing.

Recently, stretchable and wearable health monitoring equipment has greatly improved human’s daily life, which sets higher demands for portable power source in stretchability, sustainability, and biocompatibility. In this work, we proposed a stretchable triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) based on stretchable poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)/porous carbon hybrid for oxyhemoglobin saturation (SpO2) monitoring. To combine advantages of carbon material for its high conductivity and organic electrode for its high stretchability, we spin-coated a solution of PEDOT:PSS/porous carbon onto a plasma-treated pre-stretched Ecoflex film to fabricate a stretchable electrode with rough surface. Due to its roughness and high potential difference with the dielectric material, the stretchable-electrode-based TENG exhibited better performance compared to the pristine TENG based on carbon or PEDOT:PSS material. The output voltage and current reached up to 51.5 V and 13.2 µA as the carbon concentration increased. More importantly, the performance further increased under large strain (100%) which is suitable for wearable systems. Finally, the device demonstrated its application potential for powering a flexible blood oxygen monitor. This simple and cost-effective method can enhance the stretchability and stability of organic/inorganic electrode-based TENG, which paves the development of high-performance stretchable TENG.

A new isocoumarin, penicimarin N (1), along with five known compounds (2-6), were isolated from the mangrove-derived fungus Penicillium sp. TGM112. The structure of 1 was elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic data analysis, and the absolute configuration of 1 was determined by comparison of their circular dichroism (CD) spectra with the literature. The structures of known compounds were determined by comparison with the literature data. All the isolated compounds were examined for their antioxidant and α-glucosidase activities. Compound 1 showed strong antioxidant activity with the IC50 value of 1.0 mM, and 1 also exhibited moderate inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase with the IC50 value of 620 μM.

Speciation analysis of arsenic in blood is essential for identifying and quantifying the exposure of arsenic and studying the metabolism and toxicity of arsenic. Herein, a novel pretreatment device is rationally designed and used for speciation analysis of arsenic in whole blood by ion chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (IC-ICP-MS). The sample centrifuge tubes containing blood, reagents, and a magnetic stir bar are placed on the fidget spinner of the pretreatment device. When flicking the fidget spinner rotation with the finger, the magnetic stir bar in the tube rotates in three dimensions under the magnetic field, thereby assisting dispersive extraction of arsenic species by the mixing of blood with reagents. Afterward, the arsenic extract is separated in situ from the blood matrix using an ultrasonic spray sheet covered with a filter and ultrafiltration membrane, which is directly used for subsequent IC-ICP-MS analysis. For 100 μL of blood, the whole pretreatment operation can be completed within 10 min. With As(III), As(V), MMA, and DMA in blood as analytes, the use of the present pretreatment device will hardly lead to the loss and transformation of arsenic species, and the extraction efficiency of the total arsenic is more than 96%. When the pretreatment device is coupled to IC-ICP-MS, the detection limits of four arsenic species in whole blood are 0.017-0.023 μg L-1, and precisions are within 2.3-4.2%. This pretreatment device provides a simple, fast, efficient, and low-cost tool for extraction and separation of arsenic species in whole blood, opening a new idea for the pretreatment of complex samples.

3-Pentanol is a potential alternative fuel or a green fuel additive for modern engines. The H-abstraction reactions from 3-pentanol by H, CH3, HO2, and OH radicals are significant in the 3-pentanol oxidation process. However, corresponding rate constants are forced to rely on either analogy from sec-butanol or estimation from alkanes due to a lack of direct experimental and theoretical study. In this work, stationary points on the potential energy surfaces (PESs) were calculated with the high-level DLPNO-CCSD(T)/CBS(T-Q)//M06-2X/cc-pVTZ method, which is further used to benchmark against the CBS-QB3 method. Then, the high-pressure limit rate constants for target reactions, over a broad range of temperature (400-2000 K), were calculated with the phase-space theory and conventional transition state theory. A comparison was made between the calculated rate constants and the values available in Carbonnier et al. [ Proc. Combust. Inst. 2019, 37(1), 477-484]. The rate constants for the above H-abstraction reactions in the Carbonnier model were updated with the calculated results, followed by a modification based on the computed results of 3-pentanol + HO2 to obtain the revised model. Validation against the shock tube (ST) and the jet-stirred reactor (JSR) measurements from the literature proved the revised model an optimal one. Furthermore, using an ST, ignition delay times (IDTs) for the 3-pentanol/air mixtures were measured spanning a temperature range of 920-1450 K, pressures of 6, 10, and 20 bar, and equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5. Generally, IDTs decrease with increasing temperature and reflected shock pressure. Improved predictions to present experimental data were obtained by using the revised model as compared with the Carbonnier model. Finally, sensitivity analysis was conducted using the revised model to gain an in-depth comprehension of the 3-pentanol autoignition.

Tumor exosomes with molecular marker-proteins inherited from their parent cells have emerged as a promising liquid biopsy biomarker for cancer diagnosis. However, facile, robust, and sensitive detection of exosomal proteins remains challenging. Therefore, a nanozyme sensor array is constructed by using aptamer-modified C3N4 nanosheets (Apt/C3N4 NSs) together with a solvent-mediated signal amplification strategy for ratiometric fluorescence detection of exosomal proteins. Three aptamers specific to exosomal proteins are selected to construct Apt/C3N4 NSs for high specific recognition of exosomal proteins. The adsorption of aptamers enhances the catalytic activity of C3N4 NSs as a nanozyme for oxidation of o-phenylenediamine (oPD) to 2,3-diaminophenazine (DAP). In the presence of target exosomes, the strong affinity between aptamer and exosome leads to the disintegration of Apt/C3N4 NSs, resulting in a decrease of catalytic activity, thereby reducing the production of DAP. The ratiometric fluorescence signal based on a photoinduced electron transfer (PET) effect between DAP and C3N4 NSs is dependent on the concentration of DAP generated, thus achieving highly facile and robust detection of exosomal proteins. Remarkably, the addition of organic solvent-1,4-dioxane can sensitize the luminescence of DAP without affecting the intrinsic fluorescence of C3N4 NSs, achieving the amplification of the aptamer-exosome recognition events. The detection limit for exosome is 2.5 × 103 particles/mL. In addition, the accurate identification of cancer can be achieved by machine learning algorithms to analyze the difference of exosomal proteins from different patients' blood. We hope that this facile, robust, sensitive, and versatile nanozyme sensor array would become a promising tool in the field of cancer diagnosis.

Autoignition characteristics of a four-component surrogate fuel(M2) were investigated in a heated rapid compression machine over a wide range of conditions. The near-term light surrogate M2 developed for marine diesel fuel was formulated in our previous study containing 17.3% n-hexadecane, 5.93% 2,2,4,4,6,8,8-heptamethylnonane, 30% decalin and 46.77% 1-methylnaphthalene by mole fraction. Ignition delay times (IDTs) of gas-phase M2/N2/O2 mixture were measured at pressures of 7, 10, 15 and 20 bar over the temperature range from 675 K to 914 K for the equivalence ratios (ER) of 0.5, 1 and 1.5. NTC behaviours within the temperature of 730–850 K and two-stage ignition phenomena were observed. The effects of operating conditions such as pressure, equivalence ratio and oxygen content were systematically studied, and correlations of total IDTs and first-stage IDTs were performed to further quantitatively reveal the IDTs dependence on the above parameters. Reasonable modifications were made to a literature mechanism to improve its predicting quality. The simulation results using the modified model could satisfactorily reproduce the IDTs under the test conditions, and the model is also able to capture the ignition delay dependence on pressure and fuel/oxygen content. A brute force sensitivity analysis at the low temperature (680 K) and the NTC temperature (780 K) was carried out to identify the key reactions that govern the ignition event of surrogate M2.

Methanol is an attractive oxygenate increasingly used as primary fuel for dual-fuel combustion technology yielding beneficial thermal-efficiency and emissions in modern engines. As such, it is significant to fundamentally understand the autoignition behavior of methanol/diesel mixtures. This study measured the ignition delay times (IDTs) of methanol/diesel blends with different mixing ratios (30%, 50%, 70% methanol by mol.) on a heated shock tube and a heated rapid compression machine at temperatures of 650−1450 K, pressures of 6−20 bar, and equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0. The typical two-stage ignition characteristics with the negative temperature coefficient response were observed for dual-fuel mixtures. In general, both the total and first-stage IDTs decrease with the increment of pressure and equivalence ratio as well as diesel proportion in mixtures. The simulation results performed with a published detailed mechanism in conjunction with a tri-component diesel surrogate demonstrate generally good agreement with the experimental data at all test conditions. Moreover, a crossover of IDTs occurs at a higher temperature (~1500 K) for varying equivalence ratios, and experiment and simulation both exhibit a non-linear mixing effect of methanol addition on diesel ignition. Interestingly, simulation results clearly suggest a crossover (~940 K) for mixtures with varying methanol content at an intermediate-temperature, where the IDT of the mixture with a lower methanol ratio becomes longer as the temperature is higher than that of the crossover. Furthermore, brute-force sensitivity analyses assisted with reaction path analysis were conducted to gain deeper insights into the autoignition chemistry of dual-fuel mixtures, especially for the chemical interaction between both fuels during the low-temperature oxidation process. It is found that methanol hardly generates •OH, whereas •OH is mainly produced by the low-temperature reaction pathways of diesel. Thus, •OH is the bridge for both fuels during the ignition process. At the high methanol ratio, the H-abstraction of diesel is mainly via •HO2 while CH3OH consumes a large percentage of •OH. Consequently, the competition between methanol and diesel for •OH radicals inhibits the overall reactivity of reaction network. In addition, the original data reported here lay a foundation for the development and validation of more accurate and robust dual-fuel kinetic schemes.

ZnO nanorod arrays (NRAs) were fabricated on polyester fabrics (PFs) by a two-step method and modified with Ag by magnetron sputtering. The photogenerated charge transport properties of the Ag/ZnO nanorod heterojunctions were studied by a self-made Kelvin probe system and a surface photovoltage (SPV) test system. The measured work functions (WFs) of the deposited Ag and ZnO nanorod are 4.67 and 5.56 eV, respectively. The SPV spectra indicate that the direction of the inner electric field is from the Ag layer to the inner of the ZnO nanorod. The enhancement of light absorption by the local surface plasma resonance (LSPR) effect of Ag/ZnO NRA was observed by Raman microspectroscopy and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the Ag/ZnO NRA-functionalized PFs was evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RB) solution under visible light. The full photo-oxidation of RB and the outperforming ZnO NRA-coated PFs demonstrate that the enhanced photocatalytic performance of Ag/ZnO NRA-coated PFs results from the cooperation of the inner electric field of the Ag/ZnO nanorod heterojunction and Ag LSPR.

Hydrothermal liquefaction of the third-generation biomass represented by microalgae can produce biocrude. However, the directly obtained biocrude has a high heteroatom content and a low higher heating value (HHV), which cannot meet the standards of biofuel. In this work, water-insoluble biocrude which was directly gained from microalgae hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) was upgraded under four kinds of solvents (i.e., methanol, ethanol, acetone, and H₂O) and one type of catalyst (H₂O + Ru/C) at 240–400 °C for 1 h. The results show that the HHV and C and H contents of upgraded bio-oil increased and the O/C ratio decreased significantly after solvent upgrading. The highest upgraded bio-oil yield appeared in the case of ethanol upgrading and reached the maximum value of 82.8 wt % at 360 °C. The upgraded bio-oil yield of acetone upgrading increased from 45.8 to 68.2 wt % as the temperature increased within 240–400 °C. Also, esterification reactions between alcohol and acid in the supercritical system remarkably reduced the content of carboxyl-containing organic matter.

The nickel-doped bis [3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl] amine (BTPA) derived membrane has a microporous coordinated network that has high potential to be an ideal separation barrier for methanol-toluene azeotropic mixtures via the pervaporation process. Ni-BTPA membranes were modified by employing a nickel dopant over amine groups in mole ratios (mol/mol) that ranged from 0.125 to 0.50. The incorporation of different amounts of nickel dopant into flexible amine-rich organosilica precursors of BTPA increased the rigidity and resulted in a porous structure with a large specific surface area (increased from 2.36 up to 282 m2 g-1) and a high pore volume (from 0.024 up to 0.184 cm3 g-1). Methanol-toluene separation performance by the nickel-doped BTPA (Ni-BTPA) membranes was increased with increases in the nickel concentration. Ni-BTPA 0.50 showed separation performance that was superior to other types of membranes, along with a high-level of flux at 2.8 kg m-2 h-1 and a separation factor higher than 900 in a 10 wt % methanol feed solution at 50 °C. These results suggest that the balance between the microporosity induced by amine-nickel coordination and an excessive amount of nickel-ion facilitates high levels of flux and separation of methanol.

The ignition delay times (IDTs) of n-alcohol/diesel blends were measured in a heated shock tube (ST) and a heated rapid compression machine (RCM). Three sets of blends were formulated to investigate the effect of n-alcohol (the volume ratio of n-alcohol/diesel being 20%/80% for four blends), cetane number (CN = 43, the volume ratio of n-alcohol/diesel being 20%/80% ethanol/diesel, 20.5%/79.5% n-propanol/diesel, 23.5%/76.6% n-butanol/diesel, 25.8%/74.2% n-pentanol/diesel), and oxygen content (mass fraction of oxygen wO2 = 6.65%, the volume ratio of n-alcohol/diesel being 20%/80% ethanol/diesel, 25.6%/74.4% n-propanol/diesel, 31.4%/68.6% n-butanol/diesel, 37.2%/62.8% n-pentanol/diesel) on the autoignition characteristics. In the RCM temperature region, the IDTs decrease with increasing n-alcohol chain length from ethanol to n-pentanol for all three sets of blends, while those in the ST temperature region show indiscernible variations. Interestingly, the intersection of IDTs for ethanol/diesel blend with other n-alcohol/diesel blends is observed when the temperature is below ~700 K. A recently-released detailed mechanism from the CRECK modeling group was used to predict the experimental results. The simulations show relatively good agreement with high-temperature (HT) ignition data, while the mechanism pronouncedly overpredicts the reactivity of blends at low-to-intermediate temperatures. Sensitivity analyses at three temperatures of 675 K, 800 K, and 1300 K were conducted to identify the dominant reactions during the autoignition of 20% n-alcohol/80% diesel blends and to kinetically elaborate and discuss the discrepancies between simulations and experiments. At the end, a preliminary mechanism tune-up was carried out grounded on the sensitivity analyses. The improved mechanism regains its predictive ability for IDTs of 20% n-butanol/80% diesel blend at RCM temperatures, while fails to precisely simulate the remaining three blends.

Exosomes are expected to be used as cancer biomarkers because they carry a variety of cancer-related proteins inherited from parental cells. However, it is still challenging to develop a sensitive, robust, and high-throughput technique for simultaneous detection of exosomal proteins. Herein, three aptamers specific to cancer-associated proteins (CD63, EpCAM, and HER2) are selected to connect gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as core with three different elements (Y, Eu, and Tb) doped up-conversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) as satellites, thereby forming three nanosatellite assemblies. The presence of exosomes causes specific aptamers to recognize surface proteins and release the corresponding UCNPs, which can be simultaneously detected by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). It is worth noting that rare earth elements are scarcely present in living systems, which minimize the background for ICP-MS detection and exclude potential interferences from the coexisting species. Using this method, we are able to simultaneously detect three exosomal proteins within 40 min, and the limit of detection for exosome is 4.7 × 103 particles/mL. The exosomes from seven different cell lines (L-02, HepG2, GES-1, MGC803, AGS, HeLa, and MCF-7) can be distinguished with 100% accuracy by linear discriminant analysis. In addition, this analytical strategy is successfully used to detect exosomes in clinical samples to distinguish stomach cancer patients from healthy individuals. These results suggest that this sensitive and high-throughput analytical strategy based on ICP-MS has the potential to play an important role in the detection of multiple exosomal proteins and the identification of early cancer.

The miniaturized optical emission spectrometry (OES) devices based on various microplasma excitation sources provide reliable tools for on-site analysis of heavy metal pollution, while the development of convenient and efficient sample introduction approaches is essential to improve their performances for field analysis. Herein, a small activated carbon electrode tip is employed as solid support to preconcentrate heavy metals in water and subsequently served as an inner electrode of the coaxial dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) to generate microplasma. In this case, heavy metal analytes in water are first adsorbed on the surface of the activated carbon electrode tip via a simple liquid-solid phase transformation during the sample loading process, and then, fast released to produce OES during the DBD microplasma excitation process. The corresponding OES signals are synchronously recorded by a charge-coupled device (CCD) spectrometer for quantitative analysis. This activated carbon electrode tip provides a new tool for sample introduction into the DBD microplasma and facilitates "insert-and-go" in subsequent DBD-OES analysis. With a multiplexed activated carbon electrode tip array, a batch of water samples (50 mL) can be loaded in parallel within 5 min. After drying the activated carbon electrode tips for 5 min, the DBD-OES analysis is maintained at a rate of 6 s per sample. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limits of 0.03 and 0.6 μg L-1 are obtained for Cd and Pb, respectively. The accuracy and practicability of the present DBD-OES system have been verified by measuring several certified reference materials and real water samples. This analytical strategy not only simplifies the sample pretreatment steps but also significantly improves the sensitivity of the DBD-OES system for heavy metal detection. By virtue of the advantages of high sensitivity, fast analysis speed, simple operation, low cost, and favorable portability, the upgraded DBD-OES system provides a more powerful tool for on-site analysis of heavy metal pollution.

Graphical abstract, Fully inactivating SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing coronavirus disease 2019, is of key importance for interrupting virus transmission but is currently performed by using biologically or environmentally hazardous disinfectants. Herein, we report an eco-friendly and efficient electrochemical strategy for inactivating the SARS-CoV-2 using in-situ formed nickel oxide hydroxide as anode catalyst and sodium carbonate as electrolyte. At a voltage of 5 V, the SARS-CoV-2 viruses can be rapidly inactivated with disinfection efficiency reaching 95% in only 30 s and 99.99% in 5 min. Mass spectrometry analysis and theoretical calculations indicate that the reactive oxygen species generated on the anode can oxidize the peptide chains and induce cleavage of the peptide backbone of the receptor binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein, and thereby disables the virus. This strategy provides a sustainable and highly efficient approach for the disinfection of the SARS-CoV-2 viruliferous aerosols and wastewater.

Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid that plays an important role in glucose homeostasis. However, it remains unknown whether the plasma concentration of taurine affects the risk of later gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) development. We recruited 398 singleton-pregnancy women and followed up them during the course of pregnancy. We measured the plasma concentrations of taurine based on blood samples collected at nine-week gestation on average and obtained the data regarding both mothers and their infants from medical records. There was a significant increment in the mean value of HOMA-β across the tertiles of plasma taurine in multiparous women rather than in primiparous women. After adjustment for confounders, an increase of plasma taurine was nominally and significantly associated with a decrease risk of GDM; moreover, women with plasma taurine concentrations in the lowest tertile and in the second tertile had a higher risk of GDM than did those with plasma taurine in the top tertile in multiparous women other than primiparous women. Plasma taurine level seems to be associated with insulin secretion in early pregnancy and be more closely associated with β-cell function and the risk of GDM development in multiparas in comparison to primiparas.

The low-temperature hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol is of great significance for the recycling of this greenhouse gas to valuable products, however, it remains a great challenge due to the trade-off between catalytic activity and selectivity. Here, we report that CO2 can dissociate at sulfur vacancies in MoS2 nanosheets to yield surface-bound CO and O at room temperature, thus enabling a highly efficient low-temperature hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol. Multiple in situ spectroscopic and microscopic characterizations combined with theoretical calculations demonstrated that in-plane sulfur vacancies drive the selective hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol by inhibiting deep hydrogenolysis to methane, whereas edge vacancies facilitate excessive hydrogenation to methane. At 180 °C, the catalyst achieved a 94.3% methanol selectivity at a CO2 conversion of 12.5% over the in-plane sulfur vacancy-rich MoS2 nanosheets, which notably surpasses those of previously reported catalysts. This catalyst exhibited high stability for over 3,000 hours without any deactivation, rendering it a promising candidate for industrial application. The catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol is a crucial reaction for the recycling of this greenhouse gas, although the selection and related performance of commercial catalysts is still limited. Now, the authors introduce sulfur vacancy-rich MoS2 nanosheets as a superior catalyst for this process, rivalling the commercial benchmark system.

The trifluoromethyl group represents one of the most functional and widely used fluoroalkyl groups in drug design and screening, while the drug candidates containing chiral trifluoromethyl-bearing carbons are still few due to the lack of efficient methods for the asymmetric introduction of trifluoromethyl group into organic molecules. Herein, we described a nickel-catalyzed asymmetric trifluoroalkylation of aryl iodides, for the first time, by utilizing reductive cross-coupling in enantioselective fluoroalkylation. This novel method has demonstrated high efficiency, mild conditions, and excellent functional group tolerance, especially for substrates containing diverse pharmaceutical and bioactive molecules moieties. This strategy provided an efficient and facile way for diversity-oriented synthesis of chiral trifluoromethylated alkanes.

Lipid droplets (LDs) are intracellular lipid-rich organelles, which not only serve as neutral lipid reservoirs but also involve in many physiological processes and are associated with a variety of metabolic diseases and cancers. Long-term tracking of the state and behavior of LDs is of great significance but challenging. The difficulty is largely due to the lack of low cytotoxicity, high photobleaching resistance, and long intracellular retention probes that are capable of long-term tracking LDs. Herein, we report the discovery of two amphiphilic LD-targeting carbon nanoparticles (CNPs, i.e., CPDs and CDs) prepared by one-step room-temperature and hydrothermal methods. Their high lipid-water partition coefficient (log P > 2.13) and strong positive solvatochromism property ensure the quality of LD imaging. Especially, CDs exhibit favorable biocompatibility (2 mg mL-1, cell viability >90%), excellent photostability (after continuous laser irradiation on a confocal microscope for 2 h, relative FL intensity >85%), and superior intracellular retention ability, thereby enabling long-term tracking of LDs in hepatocytes for up to six passages. Based on the excellent long-term tracking ability, CDs are successfully applied to observe autophagy in a typical catabolic process and to evaluate the effect of a commonly used lipid-lowering drug atorvastatin on hepatocyte lipid uptake.

BACKGROUND Transgender individuals often require gender-affirming interventions, such as endogenous sex hormone inhibition or gender-affirming hormone therapy (HT), while there is discordance between their body and gender identity. However, a recent study found that the incidence of cardiovascular events is higher in transgender patients receiving cross-sex HT. The aim of this study was to investigate the metabolic effects of an altered sex hormone profile. METHODS This retrospective study, conducted in a referral center in Northern Taiwan, analyzed metabolic changes over time in 65 trans masculine and 45 trans feminine persons. The transgender individuals were examined at 4 time points: before the gender affirming HT, as well as 3, 6, and 12 months following treatment. RESULTS Compared with baseline measurements, the trans masculine patients showed significant increases in body mass index (BMI) (22.6 ± 0.3 vs 23.3 ± 0.4 kg/m2; p < 0.001; t = 3M), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (124.3 ± 3.7 vs 131.3 ± 3.9 mg/dL; p = 0.03; t = 12M), creatinine (0.75 ± 0.01 vs 0.83 ± 0.14 mg/dL; p < 0.001; t = 12M), and hemoglobin (13.5 ± 0.7 vs 15.2 ± 0.2 g/dL; p < 0.001; t = 12M), as well as decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (57 ± 2.1 vs 51 ± 2.0 mg/dL; p < 0.001; t = 12M). The trans feminine patients had reduced low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (104.2 ± 3.2 vs 100.8 ± 3.5 mg/dL; p = 0.05; t = 3M), hemoglobin (14.0 ± 0.1 vs 13.5 ± 0.1 g/dL; p = 0.008; t = 12M), and creatinine (0.82 ± 0.01 vs 0.79 ± 0.14 mg/dL; p < 0.001; t = 3M) compared with baseline data. In addition, most of these metabolic effects persisted during the follow-up period. CONCLUSION This observational, retrospective study revealed that gender-affirming HT increased the relative cardiovascular risk in trans masculine individuals.

Thanks to their excellent corrosion resistance, superior mechanical properties and good biocompatibility, titanium (Ti) and Ti alloys are extensively applied in biomedical fields. Pitting corrosion is a critical consideration for the reliability of Ti and Ti alloys used in the human body. Therefore, this article focuses on the pitting corrosion of Ti and Ti alloys, which introduces the growth stages of pitting corrosion and its main influencing factors. Three stages, i.e. (1) breakdown of passive film, (2) metastable pitting, and (3) propagation of pitting, are roughly divided to introduce the pitting corrosion. As reviewed, corrosive environment, applied potential, temperature and alloy compositions are the main factors affecting the pitting corrosion of Ti and Ti alloys. Moreover, the pitting corrosion of different types Ti alloys are also reviewed to correlate the types of Ti alloys and the main factors of pitting corrosion. Roughly speaking, β-type Ti alloys have the best pitting corrosion resistance among the three types of Ti alloys.

Informal landfill is a common waste treatment method employed in rural areas of China, and phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are one of the typical pollutants in landfill leachate. However, there is no corresponding theoretical basis for whether microbial treatment technology can be used to reduce environmental risk of PAEs in informal landfills. Thus, a typical informal landfill site in northern China was selected and approximately 1,133,023 effective sequences were obtained from 21 samples collected from three layers (different deposit depths) of the landfill. This research explored the correlation between PAEs and the composition and distribution of microbial community in specific environments of informal landfill sites. Here we found that dis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), di-n-octyl phthalate (DOP), and diethyl phthalate (DEP) were positively and significantly correlated with Bhargavaea, Planococcus, Virgibacillus, and Oceanobacillus, respectively. The redundancy analysis demonstrated that moisture content, pH, NO2−-N, and SUVA254 among the seven physicochemical factors (pH, TN, NO3−-N,NO2−-N,NH4+-N, SUVA254, and moisture content) significantly affected bacterial communities. The research conclusion can provide theoretical basis for the degradation technology of PAEs by microorganism and research basis for the treatment of informal landfill sites.

Lignin as a byproduct can be obtained from agricultural wastes and biorefinery. In this study, we sought to develop Escherichia coli-based whole-cell biocatalysis for converting lignin-derived isoe...

The volatilization problem of mold fluxes extremely affects their physicochemical properties and then the quality of steel shells and casting process. Therefore, in this paper, the qualitative and quantitative analysis of volatiles in the most commonly used CaO–SiO2–CaF2–Na2O slag was conducted with thermogravimetric analyzer–mass spectroscopy (TG–MS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM–EDS) and FactSage, followed by giving the mechanism of fluorine volatiles in mold fluxes during the actual casting process. The results showed that the fluorine volatiles were formed when the temperature was higher than 1000 °C. The species of fluorine volatiles were SiF4 and NaF. Moreover, the total volatiles content of fluorine for sample B with Na2O was 9.41%, being much larger than that of 1.53% for sample C without Na2O. For sample B, the content of NaF was much larger than that of SiF4. It was because of the reaction between Na2O and CaF2. SiF4 with a low boiling point of − 65 °C could pass through the slag layer and enter air directly. However, when NaF passed through the sinter layer or powder slag layer, NaF would convert into liquid or solid state, reenter molten slag and continuously repeat this process due to their high melting point of 993 °C.

Bacterial or virus co-infections with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been reported in many studies, however, the knowledge on Aspergillus co-infection among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was limited. This literature review aims to explore and describe the updated information about COVID-19 associated with pulmonary aspergillosis. We found that Aspergillus spp. can cause co-infections in patients with COVID-19, especially in severe/critical illness. The incidence of IPA in COVID-19 ranged from 19.6% to 33.3%. Acute respiratory distress syndrome requiring mechanical ventilation was the common complications, and the overall mortality was high, which could be up to 64.7% (n = 22) in the pooled analysis of 34 reported cases. The conventional risk factors of invasive aspergillosis were not common among these specific populations. Fungus culture and galactomannan test, especially from respiratory specimens could help early diagnosis. Aspergillus fumigatus was the most common species causing co-infection in COVID-19 patients, followed by Aspergillus flavus. Although voriconazole is the recommended anti-Aspergillus agent and also the most commonly used antifungal agent, aspergillosis caused by azole-resistant Aspergillus is also possible. Additionally, voriconazole should be used carefully in the concern of complicated drug-drug interaction and enhancing cardiovascular toxicity on anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents. Finally, this review suggests that clinicians should keep alerting the possible occurrence of pulmonary aspergillosis in severe/critical COVID-19 patients, and aggressively microbiologic study in addition to SARS-CoV-2 via respiratory specimens should be indicated.

Protocadherin 10 (PCDH10) is identified as a tumor suppressor in multiple cancers. The molecular mechanisms that mediate the functions of PCDH10 have yet to be fully elucidated. Here, we demonstrated that ectopic expression of PCDH10 in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells induced cell cycle retardation and increased apoptosis through regulation of the p53/p21/Rb axis and Bcl-2 expression. Overexpression of PCDH10 reversed the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process with morphological changes and EMT marker alterations. Mechanistic study revealed that PCDH10 inhibited AKT/GSK3β signaling pathway which in turn reduced β-catenin activity and thus attenuated Snail and Twist1 expression. Furthermore, PCDH10 inhibited the stemness of CRC cells, including spheroid formation and stem cell markers. A proteomics approach revealed that PCDH10 could interact with EGFR, which was further verified by co-immunoprecipitation. Moreover, restoration of PCDH10 expression reduced EGFR phosphorylation. Accordingly, our work proposes a novel pathway by which PCDH10 directly engages in the negative regulation of EGFR/AKT/β-catenin signaling pathway, resulting in tumor suppression.