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A heterogeneous catalytic ozonation/membrane filtration (HCOMF) system was fabricated by integrating a flat-plate polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane module along with a slurry catalytic ozonation reactor. The performance and catalytic activity of HCOMF was evaluated for degradation of model wastewater containing bisphenol A (BPA) and humid acid (HA) under different permeation flux in long-term continuous experiments. The membrane fouling was investigated by trans-membranous pressure (TMP), membrane filtration resistance, scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), and fluorescence spectra. The results showed that HCOMF system exhibited an excellent and stable catalytic activity in long-term continuous experiments owning to integration of 3D MnO2 hollow microsphere ozone-catalysis with flat-plate membrane filtration. The TMP of HCOMF system didn’t increase significantly, and the membrane resistance Rp and Rc declined from 4% and 16% to 1% and 4%, respectively, thus, the membrane fouling of HCOMF system was mitigated compared to MF system. The mitigation of membrane fouling in HCOMF system was attributed to the increase of hydrophilicity of membrane surface and change of HA fractions.

Hierarchical porous sludge-derived activated carbon coated on macroporous silicon carbide (SiC) foams substrate has been facilely fabricated via a simple one-step strategy by utilizing sludge as carbon source, and jointly using zinc chloride and hexadecanol as pore forming agents. The sludge-derived carbon has been confirmed to be hierarchical macro-meso-microporous structure based on detailed characterization by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectra and nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurement. The adsorption tests showed that the hierarchical porous sludge-derived activated carbon fabricated by one-step pore-forming (zinc chloride and hexadecanol microemulsion mixture) possesses excellent adsorption capacity (259.9mgg-1, breakthrough time reach 90min and saturation end-time up to 140min) of methyl mercaptan (CH3SH). The excellent adsorption performance can be attributed to the macroporous SiC foam skeleton and the mesopores channel formed by nonionic surfactant hexadecanol micelles, as well as the micropores activated by ZnCl2 as odor capture sites. The proposed pore-forming strategy paves an avenue for the sludge disposal and even the development of bio-derived materials.

Billiards is one of the most fashionable indoor sports around the world. The choice of billiard cues is important for players to win a game. Up to now, the evaluation on the performance of billiard cue almost merely depends on the experience of the famous players, which is subjective and controversial. Aiming at both the objective evaluation and the testing method on the performance of billiard cue, a set of experimental device was designed to measure the dynamic behaviors of both the cue and the ball. Based on theoretical considerations, a force-transferring coefficient is proposed to quantitatively and objectively evaluate the performance of a cue in the efficiency of hitting balls. Both experiments and numerical simulations indicate that those cues with moderate stiffness exhibit the most advantageous force-transferring performance, better than the softer and the harder cues. Moreover, further numerical simulation results indicate that the force-transferring performance of the cue can be enhanced by reducing the anisotropy of the shaft material. For the spinning-ball skills, the rotational velocity of the ball is derived and can be calculated from the ball's translational velocity measured by the device. Experiments showed that a softer tip could make a larger rotating velocity of the ball compared to the harder tip. It is expected that the present work will facilitate the objective and quantitative characterization of the performance of billiard cues, so as to assist players in evaluating and selecting billiard cues. It also offers a technical suggestion for selecting proper row material of cues in order to improve cues’ performance.

Elevated Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA load is common in lymphomas. However, it remains unclear whether the disparity in viral load and its prognostic value in lymphomas are correlated with EBER status. In this retrospective multicenter study, we collected the data of pretreatment whole blood EBV DNA (pre-EBV DNA) and EBER status and evaluated their disparity and prognostic values in lymphomas. A total of 454 lymphoma patients from December 2014 to August 2020 were retrospectively retrieved. Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Bonferroni's adjustment were used to explore the disparity of EBV DNA and EBER status in lymphomas. Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic analysis and MaxStat analysis were used to determine optimal cut-off points of pre-EBV DNA load. Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were established for the estimation of prognostic factors. The positive rate of EBV-DNA in NKTL patients was higher than that in DLBCL, FL, and HL patients, and the median positive pre-EBV copy number of NKTL was also higher than that of FL and DLBCL. EBV-DNA could clearly distinguish the prognosis of DLBCL, NKTL, HL and PTCL, and the integration of EBER status and EBV DNA could differentiate the prognosis of HL patients. Multivariable results revealed that pre-EBV DNA load had an effect on the prognosis of NKTL, FL and DLBCL. The status of pre-EBV DNA and EBER were disparate. Whole blood pre-EBV DNA predicted the prognosis of lymphomas, and the integration of EBV and EBER status could differentiate the prognosis of HL Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

For most materials, the sign of Poisson's ratio does not change under tension and compression, i.e., it is positive or negative at the same time. However, this paper reports the design of a novel metamaterial consisting of rods and ropes whose cells have a total of four load-bearing modes. These load-bearing modes will switch with each other upon changing the external loading mode, causing them to exhibit a variety of peculiar properties. For example, a positive Poisson's ratio under tension and a negative Poisson's ratio under compression were achieved along the vertical direction. Secondly, the ratio of the tensile elastic modulus to the compressive elastic modulus of this material could be adjusted over a wide range of 0.1– 40, which depended on the stiffness of the rope and the angle of the rod. Theoretical and numerical analyses showed that the stiffness matrix of the designed metamaterial was asymmetric, which breaks the classical model in which the stiffness matrix of conventional materials is symmetric. The use of thin rods instead of ropes is also discussed, and a simplified analysis method is given. This material is expected to have applications in many fields, such as wave modulation, biomedical devices, etc.

Improving the performance of cement-based product using agricultural waste is one of the major challenges for developing sustainable construction materials, and rice husk ash from the recycling of rice husk, could be a great candidate to partially replace cement from this perspective. This study explored the hydration kinetics of cement-based materials (w/b ratio of 0.5) that incorporated with combustion treated rice husk ash (CRHA) through isothermal calorimeter test with the adoption of Krstulovic and Dabic model, while the mechanical and water absorption properties were also examined. Silica fume (SF) severed as SCM reference, and the dosage of the two additives ranged between 5% and 20% (by weight). The microstructure of the binary binding system was investigated with the aid of X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Thermogravimetry analysis /Differential thermogravimetry (TG/DTG), Mercury injection porosimeter (MIP) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). It was found that both CRHA and SF additions accelerated the hydration process, reflecting by the increased reaction rate constants (KNG and KI) correspondingly in nucleation and crystal growth process (NG) and in interaction at phase boundaries reaction process (I), while KD in diffusion process (D) remained stable. The strength enhancement effect of blending CRHA started to show at early age of 3 d on mortars, and the compressive strength of CRHA blended mortars all exceeded that of SF blended mortars with the same replacement ratio at 28 d. Meanwhile, the permeability was declined for samples containing increased dosages of CRHA (15–20%). The superior properties from the addition of CRHA were mainly attributed to the significant consumption of Ca(OH)2 and the pore structure refinement arised from CRHA. Furthermore, the connection between hydration heat release and water absorption at different temperatures was assessed to confirm the beneficial role of using increased dosages of CRHA in thermal cracking control.

The compression–torsion coupling metamaterials constructed by cells based on chiral mechanism of inclined rods with weak transverse constraints, display superior compression–torsion properties among the metamaterials reported previously. Aiming at metamaterials of this type, a general representative cell is extracted to reveal the relationship between the load and the deformation with considering the compression–torsion coupling effect. The stiffness matrix of the chiral 3D cell is derived based on Euler beam theory and applying dummy-load method, which is expressed as functions of the geometry parameters of cell structures and the mechanical properties of base material. The analytical predictions show good agreement with the numerical simulations. Results show that there exist optimal inclined angles of the rods corresponding to the maximal shear stiffness and the maximal compression–torsion coupling stiffness, respectively, which are both determined by the ratio of circular loop diameter to inclined rod length. This work provides guidelines for the design and analysis of compression–torsion coupling metamaterials, and opens a new avenue for theoretically analyzing the deformation coupling problem.

For this study, lithium-ion pouch cells undergo quasi-static and dynamic tests and are analyzed by interdisciplinary characterization methods. These methods reveal different behaviors of the cells under mechanical-electrochemical coupled failure. The study demonstrates that the inertia effect of a cell's multilayer structure dominates the failure under dynamic loading rather than the strain rate effect of the cell's components. This finding unlocks the underlying mechanism of localized fractures near the impacted surface and counterintuitive premature failures with less critical force under dynamic loading conditions. In addition to instant failure with inflection points in force/voltage curves, this study observes an interesting delayed failure behavior without evident short-term signs in both dynamic and quasi-static tests with different mechanisms. This challenges the validity of using macroscopic inflection points in mechanical tests as indicators for failure prediction and could explain the postponed spontaneous combustion of a cell after mechanical abuse accidents. The cell's capacity and internal resistance after dynamic and quasi-static tests are also assessed. Finally, an experimental evaluation outline is proposed for lithium-ion cells under mechanical abuse. This work sheds light on the understanding of dynamic failure mechanisms and safety evaluation methods for lithium-ion cells.

A 1,1'-bi-2-naphthol (BINOL)-aldehyde-based polymer has been synthesized that exhibits enantioselective fluorescent enhancement toward prolinol. It is found that the polymer shows greatly amplified enantioselectivity over the parent small-molecule sensor under the same conditions. This is attributed to the photoinduced electron transfer processes between the BINOL units in the polymer chain as well as the different steric environment provided by the polymer.

MWCNTs/Fe 3 O 4 magnetic composites, combined adsorption and catalytic ozonation behavior, were synthesized by a hydrothermal process. The synthesized MWCNTs/Fe 3 O 4 composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), element analysis and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area. The adsorption performance and catalytic activity of MWCNTs/Fe 3 O 4 for BPA removal in aqueous solution were evaluated. The results showed that the synthesized MWCNTs/Fe 3 O 4 exhibited an excellent adsorption ability and catalytic ozonation activity owning to its large specific surface areas, hollow tube channels and abundant surface oxygen-containing groups, leading to high adsorption for BPA and O 3 , high retention and utilization of O 3 molecules on the composites. In addition, the catalytic ozonation performance of MWCNTs/Fe 3 O 4 could be improved by increasing surface oxygen-containing groups to accelerate O 3 decomposition, thus producing more OH radicals. Moreover, BPA removal efficiency could be improved by increasing dose of catalyst, pH value and the concentration of humic acid (HA). The fluorescence spectra and OH radicals measurement displayed that HA could greatly increase OH radicals via inducing more surface oxygen-containing groups on the catalyst, thus, promoting BPA removal. Furthermore, MWCNTs/Fe 3 O 4 showed the great stability and durability during several reaction recycles.

Unilateral sulfate attack of cementitious materials containing 40% slag with different water to binder ratios was investigated. The results showed that the degradation of slag blended cement pastes was nearly from the corners of paste surface with cracking and spallings, water-to-binder(w/b) ratio made a significant sense to the damage that low w/b ratio led to little weight loss, less cracking and spalling damage and vice versa. Microstructural experimental results demonstrated that in the three different stages of sulfate attack, degradation of pastes was primarily associated with the migration behavior and bonding configuration of aluminum, in the early ages Al was mostly present in C-(A)-S-H, and thus, the damage of pastes hardly appeared while at later ones Al had been largely transferred from C-(A)-S-H into AFt, leading to expansive damage.

Auxetic materials exhibit many superior properties but drawback in low stiffness owe to the substantial porosity. Some narrow-ribs enhanced auxetic honeycombs have been designed for improving the in-plane stiffness. For these narrow-ribs enhanced auxetic structures, local buckling likely appears as the reinforcing walls are designed in low thickness for superior auxeticy. In this paper, a novel narrow-ribs enhanced auxetic honeycomb is designed by embedding rhombus into each cell of the normal re-entrant hexagonal honeycomb (NRHH). Analytical model is built to investigate the elastic behaviors of the new proposed honeycomb under uniaxial compression, in which the incremental method is firstly introduced for post-local-buckling analysis. Numerical simulations are carried out to verify the analytical results. It is interesting that bilinear elastic characteristic is found for the stress-strain and transverse strain-longitudinal strain curves of the new proposed honeycomb on account of the local buckling. Parameters studies are performed and the new proposed honeycomb is proved to exhibit superior mechanical properties compared to other narrow-ribs enhanced honeycombs. Significantly, the incremental method brought forward in the present paper for the local buckling analysis can be popularized to other honeycombs enhanced with narrow-ribs. Thus, the bilinear elastic characteristic is a general feature for these honeycombs.

The objective of the study was to investigate the correlation and consistency between nasopharyngoscopy (NP) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in locating the obstruction planes in obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) patients with different pathogenetic conditions. Anatomical examination of the upper airway was performed in OSAHS patients [including 32 mild cases (MI), 31 moderate cases (MO), and 30 severe cases (SE)] by NP and MRI. The differences between the three groups were analyzed to compare the correlation and consistency between the two examination methods. There were statistically significant differences in the collapse degree, cross-sectional area, left–right diameter, and anteroposterior diameter of the soft palate region, retroglossal region, and post-epiglottic region, as well as in the total thickness of the posterior epiglottic lateral wall. There was a positive correlation between the collapse degree and the cross-sectional area in Group MI, while a negative correlation was found in Group MO. There was a statistically significant difference in the kappa value of the posterior epiglottic obstruction plane of Group SE between the examination methods (kappa = 0.39, p = 0.007). Nasopharyngoscopy and MRI can depict soft tissue compliance and anatomical features of the upper airway in OSAHS patients, though they lack good correlation and consistency in locating the obstruction plane.

The noise performance of a fiber-optic acoustic-emission (AE) sensor system is often limited by the laser intensity noise and the laser frequency noise. Here, we report a novel low-cost, high-performance noise reduction method for fiber-optic AE sensor system based on a $\pi$ -phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating. This method uses a reference channel built by an all-fiber Michelson interferometer formed by a $3\times3$ fiber-optic coupler and two Faraday mirrors. The reference channel has two outputs whose spectra are two sinusoidal fringes with a relative phase shift of $2\pi$ /3. A novel signal processing method is developed to extract both the laser intensity noise and the laser frequency noise from the outputs of the reference channel, which are subsequently removed from the output of the sensing channel. The results show that, for an AE sensor system using a distributed-feedback semiconductor laser as the laser source, this method achieves a noise reduction ratio of more than 20 dB. The reference channel possesses a broad operating spectral width and has the potential to be used in a multiplexed AE sensor system.

Although 3,3'-diformylBINOL (S)-1 shows little change in its fluorescence when treated with primary amines, its fluorescence can be greatly enhanced by using functional secondary amines including β- and γ-amino alcohols and 1,2- and 1,3-bis(secondary amine) compounds. It has been demonstrated that the functional secondary amines react with (S)-1 to convert the conjugated aldehyde groups to unconjugated oxazolidines or aminals to turn on the fluorescence.

The out-of-plane dynamic behavior of circular-celled honeycombs is studied by both numerical simulations and theoretical analysis. The influences of the internal pressure, the crushing velocity and the cell-wall thickness on the honeycombs’ deformation modes and mechanical characteristics are investigated. The results show that the honeycomb block without pressure inside collapses in Diamond mode, while the deformation mode turns into Petal mode and then Coin mode with the increase of internal pressure. The critical internal pressure for the transformation between deformation modes increases with the crushing velocity but decreases with the cell-wall thickness. The honeycombs’ plateau stress under Diamond mode is the highest and then decreases with the internal pressure under Petal mode. Once Coin mode appears in the honeycomb, the honeycomb's plateau stress hardly depends on the internal pressure. Besides, it is shown that the honeycombs’ plateau stress increases with both the wall thickness and the crushing velocity. In view of the fact that Coin mode is unique for circular-celled honeycombs with high internal pressure, an analytical model is built to deduce the plateau stress of circular-celled honeycombs deformed with Coin mode. The analytical predictions are in good agreement with the numerical simulation results.

Activation of persulfate (PS) was conducted to oxidize methyl mercaptan (CH 3 SH) with in-situ generated ferrous ions from zero valent iron (ZVI) to generate sulfate free radicals (SO 4 − ) with high redox potential. The elimination of CH 3 SH by S 2 O 8 2− activated with ZVI was investigated through dynamic experiments. The effects of pH, inlet velocity, dosages of S 2 O 8 2− and molar ratio of S 2 O 8 2− /ZVI in the ZVI-S 2 O 8 2− system were examined. It is found that the complete CH 3 SH elimination can be achieved within the first 600 s in ZVI-S 2 O 8 2− system under optimal condition. The role of SO 4 − and OH in CH 3 SH elimination was determined and the mechanism of CH 3 SH elimination by ZVI-S 2 O 8 2− system was also examined through the identification of oxidation products and the mass balance of sulfur. In order to demonstrate the advantages of ZVI-S 2 O 8 2− system activated with in-situ generated ferrous ions from zero valent iron, the comparison experiment was conducted among using heat-S 2 O 8 2− system, Fe 2+ -S 2 O 8 2− system, and ZVI-S 2 O 8 2− system.

Three-dimensional (3D) MnO2 porous hollow microspheres (δ- and α- MnO2 PHMSs), with high adsorption and catalytic ozonation performance, were synthesized by a self-template (MnCO3 microspheres) process at room temperature. The synthesized MnO2 PHMSs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area. The results showed that PHMSs exhibit the excellent adsorption ability and catalytic activity owning to their hollow spherical structure, mesoporous shell and well-defined interior voids, leading to the strong adsorption for bisphenol A (BPA) and the retention of O3 molecules on catalyst. Moreover, the catalytic performance of α-MnO2 PHMSs was better than that of δ-MnO2 PHMSs which was attributed to the richer lattice oxygen of α-MnO2 PHMSs to accelerate O3 decomposition by producing more reactive oxidative species. The degradation efficiency of BPA using 3D α-MnO2 PHMSs was more than 90% in the presence of ozone within 30 min reaction time. The probe tests for reactive oxidative species (ROSs) displayed that BPA degradation by catalytic ozonation is dominated by O2− and OH in our present study. Furthermore, the organic compounds as intermediates of the degradation process were identified by LC/MS.

The RXR agonist (triphenyltin, TPT) and the RXR antagonist (UVI3003) both show teratogenicity and, unexpectedly, induce similar malformations in Xenopus tropicalis embryos. In the present study, we exposed X. tropicalis embryos to UVI3003 in seven specific developmental windows and identified changes in gene expression. We further measured the ability of UVI3003 to activate Xenopus RXRα (xRXRα) and PPARγ (xPPARγ) in vitro and in vivo. We found that UVI3003 activated xPPARγ either in Cos7 cells (in vitro) or Xenopus embryos (in vivo). UVI3003 did not significantly activate human or mouse PPARγ in vitro; therefore, the activation of Xenopus PPARγ by UVI3003 is novel. The ability of UVI3003 to activate xPPARγ explains why UVI3003 and TPT yield similar phenotypes in Xenopus embryos. Our results indicate that activating PPARγ leads to teratogenic effects in Xenopus embryos. More generally, we infer that chemicals known to specifically modulate mammalian nuclear hormone receptors cannot be assumed to have the same activity in non-mammalian species, such as Xenopus. Rather they must be tested for activity and specificity on receptors of the species in question to avoid making inappropriate conclusions.

In the present work, a new design of honeycomb is proposed by embedding the rhombic configuration into the normal re-entrant hexagonal honeycomb (NRHH), in order to enhance the honeycomb’s in-plane mechanical properties. Both theoretical analysis and numerical simulations are employed to calculate the in-plane mechanical properties of the new honeycomb under uniaxial compression, including Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio and critical buckling strength. The results show that the new honeycomb can maintain auxetic performance, while both the in-plane Young’s modulus and the critical buckling strength are significantly improved compared to the NRHH. Comparisons between the present design and other exiting enhanced periodic topologies are also carried out. With respect to them, the present design features superior performances. For these outstanding properties, this layout may provide a new concept for the optimization and design of auxetic materials.

Microplastic is an emerging contaminant affecting freshwater and marine ecosystem across the globe. In the present study, the filter feeding tadpoles of Xenopus tropicalis were exposed to polystyrene microspheres (1 and 10 μm) for 48 h. Microspheres were observed in gills and digestive tract of tadpoles within 1 h after exposure as well as in feces 6 h after exposure. The accumulation of microspheres in the tadpoles were concentration dependent (Univariate ANOVA, p 0.001), but no time dependent accumulation of microspheres was observed in tadpoles 48 h after exposure (Univariate ANOVA, p 0.05). After the exposed tadpoles were transferred to clean water, the number of microspheres in the tadpoles decreased dramatically after 1 d and continued to decrease gradually afterwards. The absorbed polystyrene particles in unfed tadpoles was significantly higher than those in the fed tadpoles at 12 and 24 h after exposure. After transfer to clean water, the fed tadpoles showed a significant decrease in the amount of absorbed polystyrene particles, while the unfed tadpoles showed no significant change in the amount of absorbed polystyrene particles. Our results suggested that microspheres were likely to be ingested and egested relatively fast by tadpoles. Our results indicated that aquatic vertebrate organisms might ingest more microplastics if the abundance of microplastics continues to increase while the available food becomes less.

An amino-acid based Schiff base (S)-2 is prepared from the condensation of (S)-3,3′-diformyl BINOL (BINOL = 1,1′-bi-2-naphthol) with l -valine in the presence of tetrabutylammonium hydroxide in methanol. This compound is found to exhibit off-on-off fluorescence response toward Zn2+. The spectroscopic studies reveal that (S)-2 reacts with 1 equiv Zn2+ to form a dimeric [2+2] complex with greatly enhanced fluorescence. Excess amount of Zn2+ might cause dissociation of this dimeric complex to give significantly reduced fluorescence.

Microplastic fibers (MFs) pollute aquatic habitats globally via sewage release, stormwater runoff, or atmospheric deposition. Of the synthetic MFs, polyester (PES) and polypropylene (PP) are the most common. Field studies show that fish ingest large quantities of MFs. However, few laboratory studies have addressed host responses, particularly at the organ and tissue levels. Adult Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes), a laboratory model fish, were exposed to aqueous concentrations of PES or PP MFs (10,000 MFs/L) for 21 days. Medaka egested 1,367 ± 819 PES MFs (0.1 ± 0.04 mg) and 157 ± 105 PP MFs (1.4 ± 0.06 mg) per 24 hrs, with PP egestion increasing over time. Exposure did not result in changes in body condition, gonadosomatic- or hepatosomatic indices. PES exposure resulted in no reproductive changes, but females exposed to PP MFs produced more eggs over time. MF exposure did not affect embryonic mortality, development, or hatching. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of gills revealed denuding of epithelium on arches, fusion of primary lamellae, and increased mucus. Histologic sections revealed aneurysms in secondary lamellae, epithelial lifting, and swellings of inner opercular membrane that altered morphology of rostral most gill lamellae. SEM and histochemical analyses showed increased mucous cells and secretions on epithelium of foregut; however, overt abrasions with sloughing of cells were absent. For these reasons, increased focus at the tissue and cell levels proved necessary to appreciate toxicity associated with MFs.

Developing cost-effective approaches for fabricating porous carbon (PC) based catalysts with favourable oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance is highly significant for fuel-cell devices. Herein, we reported a precursor controlled, molten salt-templated approach to prepare ultrafine CoO nanoparticles embedded nitrogen-doped PC materials with high surface area (1236 m2 g−1) and large pore volume (0.68 cm3 g−1). This method is simple and feasible, which produce CoO nanoparticles that were uniformly distributed on carbon skeleton with diameters in the range of 5–10 nm. The unexpected collapse of porous structures and agglomeration of metal nanoparticles were suppressed in the synthetic process. The as-made sample not only showed efficient catalytic activity towards ORR in alkaline media with a half wave potential (E1/2) of 0.85 V (vs. RHE), but also exhibited better stability and stronger resistance to methanol than Pt/C.

Dietary fibers with high water-binding capacity (WBC), swelling capacity (SC) and fermentability regulate food intake and intestinal microbiota. However, dietary fibers with such properties are generally rare or expensive. We evaluated SC, WBC, fermentability and bacterial shifts during in vitro fermentations of guar gum (GG), xanthan gum (XG) and the combined gum (CG) of XG and GG. SC and WBC were enhanced by the combination of GG and XG. Fermentation of CG showed similar Short chain fatty acids production and lower molecular weight compared with GG. Analyzing of fermentation kinetics by logistic-exponential model, initial fractional rate of degradation of CG were remarkable higher than GG. Microbiota analysis revealed that GG enriched Fusobacterium, Bacteriodes and Prevotella_9, and CG lead to promotion of Sphaerochaeta, Prevotella_9, Bacteroides and Christensenellaceae_R-7_group. These data suggest that combination of XG to GG changed hydration and fermentation characteristics of GG, and CG resulted in promotion of beneficial microbiota.

Searching for green, recyclable and highly efficient catalyst for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from CO2 is of great importance because it is profitable for reducing the greenhouse effects and meets the principles of green chemistry. Herein, a series of cellulose nanocrystals, either the pristine or modified ones (TEMPO oxidized and Co(III)salen immobilized), were explored as catalysts for cycloaddition of epoxides and carbon dioxide. The impact of surface properties on the performance of the as-made catalysts was investigated. Co(III)-salen grafted cellulose nanocrystals was proven to be the most effective catalyst in this study, which could afford excellent yield up to 99 % after 24 h even under low CO2 pressures of 0.1 MPa. They can be easily recovered and reused for at least 4 times, demonstrating their excellent stability. We found that the surface functional groups such as enriched sulfate or carboxylic groups could also account for the enhanced catalytic activity. This work highlights the applications of green and sustainable nanoparticles in a cycloaddition reaction and offers a sustainable solution in industrial catalysis related to CO2 conversions.

Struts with different thermal expansion coefficients are employed to design novel 3D chiral metamaterials, which interestingly show twist deformation under both temperature variation and uniaxial load. Analytical expressions on the twist angle of the proposed metamaterials are established to relate with geometry of cell structure and material properties of struts, showing good agreement with numerical simulations. Both theoretical analysis and numerical simulations suggest that the tensile-torsion and thermal-torsion coupling effects of the metamaterials can be tuned by tailoring cells’ geometric configuration and material selection. It is shown that the inclined rods’ angle and the rods’ stiffness play important roles in both the thermal-torsion and tensile-torsion coupling effects. Based on that, the conditions corresponding to maximum tensile-torsion and thermal-torsion coupling effects were determined, respectively. Besides, the thermal-torsion coupling effect is also proportional to the rods’ thermal expansion coefficients. Moreover, it is shown that the two coupling effects are strongly correlated to each other. The contour maps of the twist angle of the metamaterial are obtained under simultaneous temperature change and uniaxial load. The proposed metamaterial is expected to find applications in sensors, actuators and wave convertors, especially in environments of alternating temperature changes.

Deoxynivalenol (DON), a common mycotoxin, usually induces oxidative stress and intestinal injury of humans and animals. This study aims to investigate the protective effect of Gly-Pro-Ala (GPA) peptide, isolated from fish skin gelatin hydrolysate fraction 3 (FGSHF3), on alleviating the toxicity and oxidative stress induced by DON in the mice and IPEC-J2 cells. DON treatment decreases average daily gain and feeds intake, which causes enlargement of the liver and spleen. FGSHF3 (200 mg/kg) and GPA (200 mg/kg) treatment significantly increase average daily gain and inhibits enlargement of the liver and spleen. Furthermore, FGSHF3 and GPA treatment significantly alleviates intestinal injury and maintains tight junction in mice and IPEC-J2 cells. FGSHF3 and GPA treatment significantly inhibits ROS and MDA production and enhances antioxidant enzyme activity, such as CAT, SOD-1, GCLM, GCLC, and GSH-PX. Furthermore, FGSHF3 and GPA treatment promote Nrf2 migration from the cytoplasm to the nucleus, resulting in exerting antioxidant effects. And its effects are abolished after Nrf2 is knockdown by siRNA. Overall, our results suggest GPA peptide may be a promising candidate for the alleviation of DON-induced toxicity in humans and animals.

Intentional or incidental thermal changes inevitably occur during the lifecycle of plastics. High temperatures accelerate the aging of plastics and promote their fragmentation to microplastics (MPs). However, there is little information available on the release of MPs after fires. In this study, an atomic force microscope combined with nanoscale infrared analysis was used to demonstrate the physicochemical properties of polypropylene (PP) plastics under simulated fire scenarios. Results showed that the chemical composition and relative stiffness of heat-treated plastic surfaces changed, significantly enhancing the generation of MPs under external forces; over (2.1 ± 0.2) × 105 items/kg abundance of MPs released from PP which were burned at 250 °C in air and trampled by a person. The leaching of antimony (Sb) from MPs in different solutions first increased and then decreased with increasing temperature, reaching a maximum at 250 °C. Higher concentrations of humic acid (10 vs 1 mg/L) caused a greater release of Sb. Furthermore, the tap water leachates of PP burned at 250 °C had the greatest effect on the growth and photosynthetic activity of Microcystis aeruginosa. Our results suggest fires as a potential source of MPs and calls for increased focus on burning plastics in future research.

This study evaluates the feasibility of partially replacing Portland cement in concrete with bottom ash (BA) from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI). The challenge with this ash lies in its susceptibility to react expansively in alkaline conditions, leading to cracking when used in conventional high-slump concrete. This expansive behavior was confirmed to be the result of the dissolution of the ash’s aluminum metal content and consequent formation of hydrogen gas. The aim of this study was to explore the suitability of BA as a cementitious additive in zero-slump dry-cast concrete instead. The premise was that dry-cast could better diffuse the generated gas and avoid internal pressure build-up. Results from isothermal calorimetry and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) clearly correlate enhancements in early-age cement hydration and pozzolanic reactivity. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images revealed voids channels and larger aggregation formation in the BA applied concrete paste. Dry-cast concrete containing 20% BA replacement of cement exhibited higher strengths than ordinary Portland cement (OPC) reference samples at every test age up to 90 days, with the ultimate strength of BA concrete being 18% higher than that of OPC concrete. The addition of BA also improved resistance to freeze–thaw damage. The study found that MSWI-BA can impart enhancements to dry-cast concrete, qualifying it as a potentially suitable supplementary cementitious material. Use of this otherwise landfilled ash as raw feedstock in concrete-making demonstrates a greener approach to building – scoring favorably in environmental performance for being relevant to resource conservation, landfill diversion, and waste-recycling.

Tandem catalysis can carry out the sequential coupling of multiple reactions in one operation, which is promising for sulfur-containing volatile organic compounds (S-VOCs) control. Herein, a tandem catalyst (CuO/VO-MnO2) consisting of well-dispersed CuO shell and oxygen vacancy-rich (VO) hollow-structured MnO2 core exhibited superior adsorption and catalytic performance under the mild condition for the elimination of CH3SH. The optimum 5CuO/VO-MnO2 can reach a significant improvement in CH3SH elimination of ∼99 % conversion over bare CuO/ pristine MnO2 at 25 ℃ under a GHSV of 60,000 mL h−1 g−1, and an almost 4-fold enhanced catalytic activity of the individual O3 with ∼99 % utilization of the applied O3 in the feed gas. The underlying tandem catalytic mechanism was in-depth identified by XPS, in situ DRIFTs and high-level computational study. The secret to the superior performance of CuO/VO-MnO2 lies in that CH3SH was preferentially chemisorbed on multivalent CuO (Cu(I)/Cu(II)), then deeply oxidized into final product of SO42−/CO32− via the catalytic ozonation by multivalent CuO and oxygen vacancies of neighbouring VO-MnO2. Attributed to the efficient electron replenishing interaction and cycling of active oxygen vacancies at the tandem reactive site of CuO/VO-MnO2 interface ( Mn(IV) + Cu(II) + 2Olatt → Mn(II)/Mn(III) + VO + Cu(I) + O2), its lifetime can extend to 300 min with limited loss of activity. These findings thus open up a way to address current multiple challenges in S-VOCs control using a single hierarchical core-shell structure with tandem catalysis.

Two BINOL-based trifluoromethyl aryl ketones 3 and 4 show greatly enhanced fluorescence at 375 nm accompanied by a decrease at 500 nm when treated with aliphatic 1,2-diamines, especially ethylenediamine, in organic solvents. Under the same conditions, other monoamines and diamines caused much smaller or no fluorescence response. Thus, both 3 and 4 can be used as highly selective ratiometric fluorescence sensors for ethylenediamine. Compound 3, the BINOL hydroxyl groups of which are protected, exhibits greater fluorescence enhancement than the corresponding unprotected compound 4. UV and NMR spectroscopic studies have been conducted to probe the mechanism of the sensor–substrate reaction.

Dentin dysplasia type I (DDI) is an autosomal-dominant genetic disorder resulting from dentin defects. The molecular basis of DDI remains unclear. DDI exhibits unique characteristics with phenotypes featuring obliteration of pulp chambers and diminutive root, thus providing a useful model for understanding the genetics of tooth formation. Using a large Chinese family with 14 DDI patients, we mapped the gene locus responsible for DDI to 3p26.1-3p24.3 and further identified a missense mutation, c.353C>A (p.P118Q) in the SSUH2 gene on 3p26.1, which co-segregated with DDI. We showed that SSUH2 (p.P118Q) perturbed the structure and significantly reduced levels of mutant (MT) protein and mRNA compared with wild-type SSUH2. Furthermore, MT P141Q knock-in mice (+/- and -/-) had a unique partial obliteration of the pulp cavity and upregulation or downregulation of six major genes involved in odontogenesis: Dspp, Dmp1, Runx2, Pax9, Bmp2, and Dlx2. The phenotype of missing teeth was determined in zebrafish with morpholino gene knockdowns and rescued by injection of normal human mRNA. Taken together, our observations demonstrate that SSUH2 disrupts dental formation and that this novel gene, together with other odontogenesis genes, is involved in tooth development.

The immobilization of a photocatalyst on a proper support is pivotal for practical environmental applications. In this work, the plasmonic Ag-AgI with photoinduced self-stability was successfully immobilized on mesoporous Al2O3 by a wet impregnation-precipitation and in-situ photoreduction method. The immobilized Ag-AgI/Al2O3 was applied for photocatalytic removal of ppm-leveled NO under illumination of indoor LED tubes, which could obtain 100% NO removal in minutes at optimized conditions. The large dispersion of Ag-AgI on mesoporous Al2O3 was firmly enough to overwhelm the continuous air flowing, and the enlarged surface area of Ag-AgI could efficiently enhance NO removal efficiency than pure Ag-AgI powder. Most importantly, the plasmonic Ag-AgI/Al2O3 was stable in activity and can be used repeatedly without deactivation. On the basis of reactive species trapping and reaction intermediate monitoring, the responsible reactive species of photogenerated OH, O2−, H2O2 and h+ were confirmed and the possible reaction mechanism of photocatalytic NO oxidation by Ag-AgI/Al2O3 was revealed. The present work could provide new perspectives for promoting large-scale environmental applications of supported plasma photocatalysts.

Copy number variations (CNVs) can cause many genetic disorders and the structure analysis of unknown CNVs is important for clinical diagnosis. The human α-globin gene cluster lies close to the telomere of the short arm on chromosome 16. Copy number variations of this region produce excessive or insufficient α-globin chains which imbalances the β-globin chains, resulting in thalassemia. However, these CNVs usually cannot be precisely defined by traditional methods. Here, we designed a technique strategy and applied it to identify two CNVs involving the α-globin gene cluster causing thalassemia in two Chinese families. A novel 282 kb duplication (αααα(282)) was identified in family A and a novel 235 kb deletion (--(235)) in family B. Proband A is a coinheritance of β(CD41-42) and αααα(282) and showed severe β-thalassemia intermedia phenotype. Proband B is a compound heterozygote of --(235)/α(CS)α genotype and was diagnosed with hemoglobin H disease. The clinical phenotypic features of the CNVs carriers were described, together with a complete picture of molecular structure of these rearrangements. Two CNVs are novel rearrangements in α-globin clusters and the αααα(282) is the first to identify the exact insert position of a duplication region from the telomere on chromosome 16. In a conclusion, successful identification and characterization of these two novel CNVs not only demonstrates the precision and effectiveness of our strategy in analyzing the structure of unknown CNVs, but also extended the spectrum of thalassemia and provide new examples for studying genomic recombination.

The crushing response of the pressurized cylindrical tubes under low-speed axial crushing is investigated by both numerical simulations and theoretical analysis. The internal pressure inside the tubes varies in a wide range from 0% to 80% of the tube׳s yield pressure. Numerical simulations with lower internal pressure are verified by the experiments reported in literatures. It is shown that under axial crushing the tubes with lower internal pressure deform into the mixture of symmetric mode and unsymmetrical mode. With the increase of internal pressure, the tube’s deformation under axial crushing is dominated by the symmetric mode. The total load-carrying capacity of the pressurized structure increases with the internal pressure. However, the load-carrying capacity of the tube wall itself decreases with the increase of internal pressure once the pressure is greater than 13% of the yield pressure. This behavior is very different from the foam-filled tubes, for which the load-carrying capacity of the tube wall is enhanced by the filler inside. Based on the symmetric fold׳s evolution process observed from numerical simulations, an analytical model is proposed to establish the expression of the tube wall׳s load-carrying capacity in relation to the internal pressure and the tube׳s size. It is shown that the tube wall׳s load-carrying capacity under higher internal pressure decreases with the internal pressure, while it increases with the cross-sectional area of the tube. By combining the analytical predictions obtained in the present paper under symmetric mode and that under non-symmetric mode reported in literature, the critical internal pressure for the transformation between the two deformation modes is estimated. All the analytical predictions are found to be in good agreements with the numerical simulation results.