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A Hydrophobic carbon dots (Glc-OCDs) derived from octadecylamine and glucose were successfully synthesized for the first time and then grafted onto the porous silica surface by the “Nano-on-Micro” strategy, which was served as a new stationary phase (Sil-Glc-OCDs) for reversed-phase liquid chromatography. The structure of this stationary phase was carefully verified by laser scanning confocal microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, elemental analysis, contact angle measurement, etc. Several analytes including seven polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, eight alkylbenzenes, eight phenols and seven sulfonamides can be well separated on this stationary phase. Better separation performance for certain analytes over commercial C18 column was obtained. Interestingly, this stationary phase exhibited excellent chromatographic selectivity in the separation of the isomers of tert‑butylbenzene, sec‑butylbenzene, isobutylbenzene and n-butylbenzene. In addition, this new Sil-Glc-OCDs column was also applied for detection of calycosin-7-glucoside, ononin, calycosin, formononetin, genistein and isorhamnetin in the extract of Radix Astragali, which were found that the concentration was 0.15 g/L, 0.088 g/L, 0.14 g/L, 0.086 g/L, 0.18 g/L and 0.29 g/L, respectively. We believe that this CDs-grafted silica materials are promising for chromatographic separation.

Introduction Vibration training refers to the introduction of vibration methods into the daily training of athletes for body stimulation. In this way, coaches improve athletes’ strength, flexibility, and balance. Athletes can use vibration to stimulate neuromuscular activation. This allows more active units to be concentrated in the muscular contraction. In this way, the athlete’s muscular strength can be increased. Objective This study aimed to analyze the relationship between vibration training and the balance ability of long jumpers. Methods This paper selects several long jumpers as research subjects. The effects of vibration exercises at different frequencies on athletes’ stability are discussed, employing experimental comparison. In this context, statistical calculations are performed on the experimental results. Results There was no difference in balance ability between the vibration and general training groups before training (P>0.05). The athletes in the vibration training group showed more significant improvement in balance after a training period than the general training group. There were significant differences in the data between the two groups (P0,05). Os atletas do grupo de treinamento de vibração mostraram uma melhora mais significativa no equilíbrio após um período de treinamento do que no grupo de treinamento geral. Houveram diferenças significativas nos dados entre os dois grupos (P0,05). Los atletas del grupo de entrenamiento con vibración mostraron una mejora significativa del equilibrio tras un periodo de entrenamiento que los del grupo de entrenamiento general. Hubo diferencias significativas en los datos entre los dos grupos (P

In the MOFs-based composites, the co-catalyst nanoparticles loads tend to agglomerate. In the self-assembly process of MOFs-based composites, the use of acid modulators solved the accumulation of AgI nanoparticles cocatalyst. The active sites of carboxyl groups and mesoporous structure brought by acid modulator provide more loading sites for AgI nanoparticles. The novel AgI/D-MIL-53(Fe) showed good adsorption and photocatalytic performance in the process of removing tetracycline pollutants. Compared to the degradation efficiency of the MIL-53(Fe) with 50.8%, it of AgI/MIL-53(Fe) increased to 85.1% and which further increased to 96.2% by AgI/D-MIL-53(Fe) based on the HCl modulator. On the one hand, it is beneficial for the mesoporous D-MIL-53(Fe) modulated by HCl modulator to disperse the AgI nanoparticles co-catalyst. On the other hand, AgI nanoparticles, as a photosensitive agent, adsorb visible light to generate photogenerated electrons and holes, and electrons rapidly transferred to the heterojunction bridge Ag0 and then captured by the holes from the D-MIL-53(Fe). The construction of AgI/D-MIL-53(Fe) Z-scheme heterojunction provided favorable conditions for the rapid separation and photogenerated electrons and holes. Finally, ·O2−, ·OH and h+ as the main active free radicals were driving forces. This study provided more possibilities and opportunities for the construction of mesoporous MOFs-based composites.

Exploring potential risk factors for OMA recurrence, thereby contributing to the individual management of the disease and improving the patients' prognosis.Data sources PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, and Wanfang data were searched systematically before October 2020. We computed the pooled odd ratios or the standard mean difference with their corresponding 95% confidence interval to investigate the impact of involved risk factors on endometrioma recurrence.The pooled findings of this meta-analysis demonstrated that endometrioma relapse was closely related to age at surgery [SMD (95% CI): - 0.28 (- - 0.38 to - 0.17), P 0.00001], CA125 level [SMD (95% CI): 0.51 (0.14-0.88), P = 0.007], cyst size [SMD (95% CI): 0.35 (0.08-0.62), P = 0.01], dysmenorrhea [OR (95% CI): 1.47 (1.07-2.02), P = 0.02], endometriosis-related surgery history [OR (95% CI): 2.60 (1.84-3.67), P 0.00001], pre-operative medication [OR (95% CI): 2.13 (1.41-3.22), P = 0.0003], rASRM score [SMD (95% CI): 0.33 (0.20-0.46), P 0.00001]. Furthermore, post-operative pregnancy was indicated a protective factor for preventing the OMA recurrence after surgery [OR (95% CI): 0.22 (0.09-0.56), P = 0.001] CONCLUSION: Age at surgery, CA125 level, cyst size, dysmenorrhea, endometriosis-related surgery history, pre-operative medication, rASRM score were risk factors for endometrioma relapse. In addition, post-operative pregnancy was a protective factor for preventing recurrence after surgery. However, the effect of bilateral involvement, combination with adenomyosis, or post-operative medication on endometrioma relapse need further investigations.

Objective The choice of the most appropriate therapeutic approach for a diagnosed papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) remains controversial. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of microwave ablation (MWA) for unifocal PTMC with a diameter of ≤0.6 cm. Methods A total of 63 consecutive patients with PTMC treated with MWA were studied retrospectively. MWA was performed using the hydrodissection technique and multidimensional fixed-needle principle. We analyzed the absorption of the MWA area and evaluated the prognosis over a follow-up period of 24 months. In addition, 83 patients with PTMC who underwent surgery were selected. The operating room characteristics and procedural complications of the two groups were compared. Results In the MWA group, the volume of nodules (p

Equitable human resource allocation can maximize the efficiency of resources and optimize business performance. Despite numerous methods that have been suggested for solving the allocation problem, most of the existing methods focus on a single resource or task, and neglect the effects of team composition in business performance. In this paper, we introduce team faultlines to the human resource allocation problem. We first analyze resource characteristics from a demographic perspective and business process, then utilize the information value to select key characteristics and determine the corresponding weight. Second, we qualitatively identify team faultlines based on the clustering results of human resources and quantitatively measure the strength and distance of team faultlines. Multi-layer perceptron is utilized to build the base and ensemble performance prediction model. The allocation model and flow are designed subsequently. The reasonableness and effectiveness are evaluated with a real-world scenario, and the results show that our human resource allocation method using team faultlines can allocate human resources with high performance and optimize the business process.

Objective To estimate the safety and feasibility of laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) in pregnant patients with acute abdomen. Methods Baseline characteristics, surgical results, and obstetric and neonatal outcomes were retrospectively compared between single and multiport procedures in patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery during pregnancy between 2017 and 2021. Results Fifty-four pregnant patients were included: 26 who underwent LESS (salpingectomy, 11 cases/cystectomy, 15 cases) and 28 who underwent conventional laparoscopic surgeries (salpingectomy, 12 cases/cystectomy, 16 cases) during pregnancy. One patient in the single-port group required additional ports. No patients converted to laparotomy. In patients undergoing salpingectomy, the single-port group showed lower 8- and 24-h postoperative pain scores, shorter hospital stays, and lower Self-rating Anxiety Scale scores prior to discharge versus conventional laparoscopy. One patient experienced postoperative vaginal bleeding and a missed abortion during follow-up. In patients receiving cystectomy, 8- and 24-h pain scores, postoperative hospital stay, and anxiety scores were lower in the single-port versus multiport group. Other outcomes were comparable between the groups. Conclusion The feasibility and efficacy of laparoscopic surgery during pregnancy is similar between single- or multiport routes, however, the single-port route may be associated with less postoperative pain, shorter hospital stay, and lower anxiety.

Photocatalysis is a promising technology that can convert solar energy into chemical energy. However, developing photocatalyst that could be put into the practical application remains a big challenge worldwide. In the recent years, an emerging type of core–shell/core–shell like composites, in which the metal or metal-containing nanoparticles (M/MC NPs) cores are encapsulated by the metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) shells, have attracted increasing attention in photocatalysis. These M/MC NP@MOF nanocomposites are believed to be one of the most effective and convenient ways to achieve property synergies of MOFs and M/MC NPs. Even though this field is currently in its infancy, the promising results obtained have validated the potential use of M/MC NP@MOF nanocomposites in practical applications. In this review, the fundamental mechanisms of photocatalysis were briefly introduced. The synthesis of M/MC NP@MOF nanocomposites and related photocatalytic applications (such as photocatalytic hydrogen generation and Cr(VI) reduction) are summarized and exemplified. Special emphasis is given to the synergistic effects between the MOFs shell and NPs core that result in an enhanced performance in heterogeneous photocatalysis. Finally, the unsolved problems of M/MC NP@MOF nanocatalysts are discussed and the future development prospects are proposed.

Dye wastewater is an universal problem that restricts sustainable development. Adsorption is an effective technique for water purification due to high efficiency, economic feasibility and operational ease. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as adsorbent has attracted great attention due to exceptionally high porosity, compositional and structural diversity, and highly tunable pore shape/size and surface functionality. This review focused on recent progress in different typological and structural MOFs as superior adsorbents for the efficient removal of toxic dyes. Optimized, modified, defective, compositive and derived MOFs could improve the adsorption performance of MOFs. In particular, some MOFs-based adsorbents with special structure were concerned. The interactions between dyes and MOFs-based materials are systematically summarized, including adsorption performance, kinetics, thermodynamics and mechanism. Finally, we propose our personal insights to the development of MOFs-based adsorbent better used for environmental pollution management.

Since the industrial revolution, the concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases especially CO2 released by human activity is increasing year by year, leading to a series of serious problems such as global warming and climate change. Finding a way to mitigate this dilemma is of crucial importance. Covalent triazine frameworks (CTFs), as a new class of porous materials, have gained considerable attention due to their attractive chemical and structural merits. They show great potential for various applications especially for CO2 capture. In this review, we aim to provide recent advances in using CTFs for CO2 capture. First, a brief background is provided including a summary statement on the current situation of the CO2 issue, a general overview of typical porous materials used in CO2 capture, and an introduction to CTFs. Second, synthetic reactions and methods related to CTFs are summarized and compared, and a short discussion of characterization methods is provided. Furthermore, CO2 capture performance including CO2 adsorption at low/high-pressure, gas selectivity, heat of CO2 adsorption, recyclability and CO2 capture of CTFs in a humid atmosphere is elucidated on the basis of CTF design. Then, strategies for enhancing the CO2 adsorption ability of CTFs based on pore engineering and surface functionalization are given. Finally, a perspective of CTFs for CO2 capture is presented.

As persulfate activator, Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and derivatives are widely concerned in degradation of emerging environmental pollutants by advanced oxygen technology dominated by sulfate radical () (SR-AOPs). However, the poor stability and low catalytic efficiency limit the performance of MOFs, requiring multiple strategies to further enhance their catalytic activity. The aim of this paper is to improve the catalytic activity of MOFs and their derivatives by physical and chemical enhancement strategies. Physical enhancement strategies mainly refer to the activation strategies including thermal activation, microwave activation and photoactivation. However, the physical enhancement strategies need energy consumption and require high stability of MOFs. As a substitute, chemical enhancement strategies are more widely used and represented by optimization, modification, composites and derivatives. In addition, the identification of reactive oxygen species, active site and electron distribution are important for distinguishing radical and non-radical pathways. Finally, as a new wastewater treatment technology exploration of unknown areas in SR-AOPs could better promote the technology development.

Researches on metal-organic framework (MOF) materials have gathered increasing interest in the field of photocatalysis due to their large surface area, well-ordered porous structure, and tunable organic bridging linker/metal clusters with a tailorable capacity to absorb light. The development of inexpensive, stable, efficient, and band-gap tunable MOF-based photocatalysts is still a great challenge. The selection of central metal ions and organic ligands is of great importance for the fabrication of MOFs with excellent photocatalytic properties. This review aimed to summarize the strategies of improving photocatalytic activity under light illumination, including optimization, modification, doping and imperfection, mainly in structure, light absorption, band gap and stability. In addition, the applications of various modified MOFs are also introduced. Finally, the future developments of MOFs are discussed.

In this work, 1-vinyl-3-octadecylimidazolium bromide ionic liquids ([C18VIm]Br) and their derived carbon dots (ImC18CDs) were prepared, [C18VIm]Br and ImC18CDs were grafted on the silica to obtain Sil-ImC18 and Sil-ImC18CDs, respectively, and they were also co-grafted on silica which named Sil-ImC18/CDs. Compared with Sil-ImC18 and Sil-ImC18CDs columns, Sil-ImC18/CDs column exhibited enhanced selectivity for separation of tetracyclic/tricyclic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) isomers, and butylbenzene isomers in reversed-phase liquid chromatography, which may be due to the synergistic effect between ImC18CDs and [C18VIm]Br, the π-π interaction between imidazolium and analytes, etc. Meanwhile, the retention behavior of Sil-ImC18/CDs was further evaluated and compared with the commercial C18 column using different classes of analytes, including standard test mixtures of Tanaka, Engelhardt, SRM869b, SRM870. The results demonstrated that co-grafted column exhibited superior separation performance. And this column was applied to determine the contents of calycosin-7-glucoside, ononin, calycosin and formononetin in the extract of Radix Astragali, which were found that the concentration was 0.25 mg mL−1, 0.15 mg mL−1, 0.13 mg mL−1 and 0.30 mg mL−1, respectively.

Endometrioma is the cystic lesion of ovaries originating from endometrial glands and stroma; it is identified in 17-44% of patients with endometriosis. Numerous existing studies have reported the association between endometrioma and infertility. However, an absolute cause-effect association requires further confirmation. Available evidence has suggested that ovarian reserve may be impaired by spatial occupation influences, local reaction or both, affecting the reproductive health of females. Given the increased focus on the pathophysiological mechanisms of endometrioma, surgical excision has commonly been considered to avoid further ovarian damage. However, the potential adverse effect of this surgery on the ovarian reserve has recently become a focal point. Whether or not surgical excision can facilitate subsequent conception in young females planning to be pregnant is controversial. As shown in the present review on the effects of endometrioma and its removal in females requiring assisted reproductive technology, prior surgery for endometrioma may not improve assisted fertility results and may further decrease the number of oocytes retrieved in the affected females. Subsequent studies are needed to ascertain the optimal management of infertility in the setting of endometriomas.

The use of nanoscale zero valent iron (nZVI) for in situ remediation of soil contamination caused by heavy metals and organic pollutants has drawn great concern, primarily owing to its potential for excellent activity, low cost and low toxicity. This reviews considers recent advances in our understanding of the role of nZVI and enhanced nZVI strategy in the remediation of heavy metals and persistent organic contaminants polluted soil. The performance, the migration and transformation of nZVI affected by the soil physical and chemical conditions are summarized. However, the addition of nZVI inevitably disturbs the soil ecosystem, thus the impacts of nZVI on soil organisms are discussed. In order to further investigate the remediation effect of nZVI, physical, chemical and biological method combination with nZVI was developed to enhance the performance of nZVI. From a high efficient and environmentally friendly perspective, biological method enhanced nZVI technology will be future research needs. Possible improvement of nZVI-based materials and potential areas for further applications in soil remediation are also proposed.

The engineering application of metal organic framework (MOFs) is closely related to physical properties such as crystal morphology, size, porosity, crystallinity, defectivity, topological structure and surface chemistry. The application of modulator has become one of the effective ways to achieve the objective. This review classifies modulator reasonably according to their functions, meanwhile, the influence of the modulator on the crystal structure was given sufficient attention. The carboxyl acid length of the modulator, the acidity and concentration of the modulator and the solvent effect are all the key factors affecting the coordination modulation, which has been paid attention in this review. Examples of the relationship between the modulator and the adsorptive, catalytic, fluorescence detection and photoelectric properties of MOFs are provided. The constraints in the application of modulated self-assembly of MOFs were discussed.

Lead (Pb) is one of the most toxic heavy metals that pose a direct threat to organisms and it can not been degraded through microbial activities or chemical reaction. Bioavaibility and eco-toxicity of Pb which mostly depend on Pb chemical speciation play an important role in the remediation of Pb-contaminated soils. Phosphate (P) amendments which could transfer Pb from unstable fraction to stable fraction are commonly used to immobilize Pb in soils and have been extensively studied by researchers during decades. Based on the previous study, it can be concluded that three principal mechanisms may be responsible for P-induced Pb immobilization: 1) the precipitation of Pb-phosphates, including direct precipitation, ion-exchange (or substitution) effect and liming effect; 2) the adsorption of Pb, including the direct adsorption and the adsorption of Pb to iron (hydr)oxides; 3) the rhizosphere effect, including acidification effect and mycorrhizae effect. In this review, these mechanisms have been completely discussed and the internal relationships among them were summarized to give a better understanding of P-induced Pb immobilization in soils and promote the development of P-based remediation technology.

Enzymes are promising candidates for removing environmental carbon nanotubes (CNTs). However, pristine CNTs are difficult to degrade by plant or animal enzymes, such as horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and lactoperoxidase (LPO), and functionalization is often needed for CNT biodegradation. By constructing 12 systems comprising two well-known CNT-degrading enzymes (HRP and LPO) with or without carboxylated or pristine single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs), we answer questions as to how functionalization changes the energetic properties and enzymatic conformations to facilitate the occurrence of SWCNT degradation and how these analysed enzymes respond to different carboxylated SWCNTs using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Significant conformational changes in the enzymes were found after the SWCNTs were carboxylated, and functionalization improved the structural stability of enzyme–substrate complexes. Numerous carboxylated SWCNTs induced a similar variation trend of global conformations for both HRP and LPO at the late stages, but their cavity volumes showed totally different change patterns with time. Our study provides a molecular-level understanding of functionalization's roles in SWCNT biodegradation and a molecular basis to develop more biocompatible and biodegradable CNTs.

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are one set of the most excellent supports for Pd nanoparticles (NPs). MOFs as the host mainly have the following advantages: (i) they provide size limits for highly dispersed Pd NPs; (ii) fixing Pd NPs is beneficial for separation and reuse, avoiding the loss of expensive metals; (iii) the MOFs skeleton is diversified and functionalized, which is beneficial to enhancing the interaction with Pd NPs and prolonging the service life of the catalyst. This review discusses the synthesis strategy of Pd@MOF, which provides guidance for the synthesis of similar materials. After that, the research advance of Pd@MOF in heterogeneous catalysis is comprehensively summarized, including C-C coupling reaction, benzyl alcohol oxidation reaction, simple olefin hydrogenation reaction, nitroaromatic compound reduction, tandem reaction, and the photocatalysis, with the emphasis in providing a comparison with the performance of other alternative Pd-containing catalysts. In the final section, this review presents the current challenges and which are the next goals in this field.

In the present study, Ag nanoparticles loaded on polydopamine coated magnetic biochar (MC-PDA-Ag) catalyst was prepared by in-situ reduction approach. The morphology, composition, and structure of MC-PDA-Ag were characterized by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Catalytic reduction tests confirmed that MC-PDA-Ag catalyst showed excellent catalytic performance on the model dyes (MB, RhB, and MO) in the presence of NaBH4. The reduction efficiency of MB exceeded 90% by MC-PDA-Ag even under different initial pH (3–11) and different NaNO3 concentrations (0–0.5 M) within 5 min, indicating that the MC-PDA-Ag catalyst has potential strong universal adaptability in dye wastewater treatment. Furthermore, no significant decrease in catalytic ability was observed after 5 recycles, and the catalyst could be separated by an external magnet, indicating that this as-prepared catalyst exhibited high reusability and easy separability. These results suggest that MC-PDA-Ag composite catalyst can be used as an efficient catalyst for the reduction of organic dyes, and shows great potential application in wastewater treatment.

As a newly emerging class of porous materials, covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have attracted much attention due to their intriguing structural merits (e.g., total organic backbone, tunable porosity and predictable structure). However, the insoluble and unprocessable features of bulk COF powder limit their applications. To overcome these limitations, considerable efforts have been devoted to exploring the fabrication of COF thin films with controllable architectures, which open the door for their novel applications. In this critical review, we aim to provide the recent advances in the fabrication of COF thin films not only supported on substrates but also as free-standing nanosheets via both bottom-up and top-down strategies. The bottom-up strategy involves solvothermal synthesis, interfacial polymerization, room temperature vapor-assisted conversion, and synthesis under continuous flow conditions; whereas, the top-down strategy involves solvent-assisted exfoliation, self-exfoliation, mechanical delamination, and chemical exfoliation. In addition, the applications of COF thin films including energy storage, semiconductor devices, membrane-separation, sensors, and drug delivery are summarized. Finally, to accelerate further research, a personal perspective covering their synthetic strategies, mechanisms and applications is presented.

Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) are widely used because of their unique advantages in recent years. At the same time, the influence of CNMs on the environment is becoming increasingly prominent. This review mainly introduces the research progress in the effects of fullerenes, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and graphene on microorganisms and their toxicity mechanisms. On this basis, we have analyzed beneficial and adverse effects of fullerenes, graphene, MWCNTs and SWCNTs to microorganisms, and discussed the similarities of the toxicity mechanisms of different CNMs on microorganisms. This review helps provide ideas on how to protect microorganisms from the impacts of carbon nanomaterials, and it will be conductive to providing a strong theoretical basis for better application of carbon nanomaterials. Keywords: Fullerene, MWCNTs, SWCNTs, Graphene, Microbial communities, Toxicity mechanism

All β-agonists are banned as feed additives for growth promotion in animals due to toxic effects on humans after consuming the β-agonist contaminated meats. Phenylethanolamine A (PA) is a newly emerged β-agonist. Thus there is a need to develop highly sensitive and specific analytical methods for the detection of PA in food samples. In this study, the monoclonal antibody (mAb) against PA was produced by hybridoma technology and used for the development of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).; Results: The IC50 values and limits of detection (LODs) of the ELISA using homogeneous combination of coating antigen/antibody for PA were 0.16 ng mL-1 and 0.011 ng mL-1 , respectively. The cross-reactive (CR) values of the assay with 14 structurally related β-agonists were lower than 0.59%. Swine liver and meat samples were spiked with PA at different content and analysed by ELISA. Acceptable recovery rates of 91.40-105.51% and intra-assay coefficients of variation of 1.56-9.92% (n = 3) were obtained. The ELISA for seven spiked samples was confirmed by LC-MS/MS with a high correlation coefficient of 0.9881.; Conclusion: The proposed mAb-based ELISA was highly sensitive and specific for PA and could be used as a quantitative/screening method for PA analysis in food samples. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.; © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

A sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on a newly prepared monoclonal antibody (mAb) for the determination of a β-adrenergic agonist brombuterol in swine meat, liver and feed samples was developed. The immunogen and coating antigen were synthesized by directly linking brombuterol to carrier proteins using the diazobenzidine method. Mice immunized with the brombuterol–bovine serum albumin (BSA) conjugate were utilized for mAb generation whereas brombuterol–ovalbumin (OVA) was used as the coating antigen for the development of ELISA. Two hybridoma clones (13D12C1 and 4D11C1) specifically secreting antibodies against brombuterol were successfully isolated. Under optimal conditions, the IC50 and LOD values of the ELISA for brombuterol based on the mAb secreted by the 13D12C1 clone were found to be 0.56 ng mL−1 and 0.047 ng mL−1, respectively. The ELISA displayed no cross-reactivity with structurally related β-agonists (ractopamine, salbutamol, phenylethanolamine A, phenylephrine and isoproterenol) and five other veterinary drugs, but showed 52.8% cross-reactivity with clenbuterol. Swine meat, liver and feed samples were spiked with different content of brombuterol and detected by ELISA. The recovery rates and the coefficients of variation of the intra-assay and inter-assay were found to be in the range of 87.3–107.5% and 3.5–11.6% (n = 3), and 85.7–116.0% and 4.1–12.7% (n = 3), respectively. Spiked samples were analyzed by ELISA and HPLC simultaneously. A good correlation between the two methods was obtained. The results demonstrated that the proposed ELISA was a feasible quantitative/screening method for brombuterol analysis in swine meat, liver and feed samples with the properties of high sensitivity, high sample throughput and low cost.

Objective Application of rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) for thyroid fine needle aspiration (FNA) is controversial. Therefore, ROSE has not been universally applied. This study aimed to evaluate the value of ROSE for ultrasound-guided thyroid FNA. Methods A total of 997 patients with 1103 suspicious thyroid nodules had ultrasound-guided FNA performed from January 2016 to February 2018. There were 513 nodules with ROSE and 590 nodules without ROSE. The cytological nondiagnostic rate, needle passes, and procedural times of thyroid FNA with or without ROSE were compared. The nondiagnostic rates of subsets of suspicious thyroid nodules were further compared. Results There was no significant effect of ROSE on the nondiagnostic rate of FNA. However, FNA with ROSE significantly reduced the numbers of sub-centimeter, mixed solid-cystic, macrocalcified, and hypervascular nodules. There was a significantly smaller number of needle passes and less procedural times with ROSE than without ROSE. There was no significant difference in the complication rate of FNA with and without ROSE. Conclusion ROSE for thyroid FNA reduces the number of needle passes and procedural times. ROSE has a higher clinical application value in subsets of thyroid nodules, which tend to be difficult to diagnose with FNA.

Myc proto-oncogene (MYC) is an oncoprotein that promotes proliferation and apoptosis. MYC mutations frequently disrupt the apoptotic processes during tumorigenesis. In the present study, the effects of the MYC point mutation T58A on the progression of a cellular tumor antigen p53 (p53)−/− human breast cancer cell line was analyzed, and the mechanism of p53-independent MYC-induced apoptosis was investigated. HCC1937 cells were transfected with mutant (T58A) or wild-type (WT) MYC using lentiviral vectors. The proliferation of transfected cells was evaluated by colony formation and MTT assays, and apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling assays. WT MYC was transfected into HCC1937 cells exhibiting p14/p21 silencing through lentivirus-mediated RNA interference. The expression levels of Bim were detected by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analyses. Mutant MYC proteins retained the ability to stimulate the proliferation of HCC1937 cells, although they were defective at promoting apoptosis due to a failure to induce the Bcl-2 homology 3 domain-only protein Bim. When p14 was silenced, the effects of mutant MYC on proliferation and apoptosis were weakened. When p21 was silenced, the effects of mutant MYC were strengthened. Breast cancer-derived T58A MYC mutations are unable to activate Bim due to their failure to regulate p14/p21. It was concluded that mutant MYC was more effective compared with WT MYC at promoting the progression of breast cancer.

HNO3-modified carbon black supported Ni-Au bimetallic nanocatalysts (HCB-Ni-Au) with different Ni/Au molar ratio were synthesized for hydrogenation of nitroaromatics. The synergistic effect between bimetallic nanoparticles and HCB, Ni and Au nanoparticles improved the catalytic efficiency. The reaction mechanism and pathway investigation exhibited that nitroaromatics were reduced by cleavage of N O bond and azo linkage ( N N ) and uptake of H from Ni H and Au H bonds. Density functional theory theoretical calculation showed 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) with higher free energy was easier to be catalyzed. The activation of enthalpy for MO was 65.7 kcal mol−1, which displayed the highest catalytic rate of 2.1055 min−1. Meanwhile, the reaction rate of 4-NP hydrogenation catalyzed by HCB-Ni6-Au1 reached 1.9617 min−1, which was 15 and 38 times higher than that of Ni and Au monometallic nanocatalyst, respectively. HCB-Ni6-Au1 with good structural stability could be well reused and applied in tap, distilled, river, and lake water samples.

Background Many studies have shown that patients with intermittent exotropia have different degrees of damage to their stereopsis function. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of different refractive status on stereopsis in children with intermittent exotropia(IXT). Methods We assessed 90 children of ages 4~ 16 years with intermittent exotropia at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University during the years 2016–2017. According to their refractive status, the patients were divided into hyperopia group(spherical equivalent > or = − 1.00 diopters), myopia group(spherical equivalent < or = − 1.00 diopters), emmetropia group (spherical equivalent diopter: within ±1.00DS) and anisometropia group(binocular equivalent spherical difference > or = 1.50 diopter). The distant stereopsis of the patient was checked by the synoptophore, and the near stereopsis of the patients was checked by the Titmus stereogram. Then, we compared the difference between distant stereopsis and near stereopsis in the four groups. Results (1)The retention rates of distant stereopsis in the hyperopia group, emmetropia group, myopia group and anisometropia group were 33.3, 45.2, 34.6, and 33.3%, respectively. There was no significant difference between the groups with different refractive status. (2)The retention rates of near stereopsis in the hyperopia group, emmetropia group, myopia group and anisometropia group were 66.7, 83.9, 80.8, and 55.6%, respectively. There were statistically significant differences between the emmetropia group and the anisometropia group (P = 0.030). (3)The retention rate of distant stereopsis in children with intermittent exotropia was 37.8%, and the retention rate of near stereopsis was 74.4%. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P = 0.019). Conclusions The damage to distant stereopsis in children with intermittent exotropia is more serious than that to near stereopsis. The damage to near stereopsis in children with intermittent exotropia and anisometropiais more serious.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the preoperative wearing time on the postoperative effect in children with partially accommodative esotropia. Sixty children with partially accommodative esotropia who visited our hospital were placed in full cycloplegic refraction by using 1% Atropine eye gel and then wore full hyperopic correction glasses. Children were divided into groups A and B according to the preoperative wearing time. The visual acuity, eye position, and results of the synoptophore and Titmus stereoacuity tests were recorded before and half a year after the surgery in each group, and appropriate statistical analyses were conducted. Half a year after the operation, 54 cases achieved orthotropia when wearing full hyperopic correction glasses. One case was overcorrected. Five cases were undercorrected. The results of the synoptophore and Titmus stereoacuity test showed that there was no significant difference between postoperative outcomes for patients who wore glasses for half a year and for 1 year before the operation. For children with partially accommodative esotropia, surgery should be used to correct the eye position after wearing full hyperopic correction glasses for half a year to improve the eye position and binocular vision as early as possible. If the operation cannot be completed after the patient wears full hyperopic correction glasses for half a year due to various subjective and objective factors, a good postoperative effect can be obtained if the patients receive surgery after wearing full hyperopic correction glasses for 1 year.

Bimetallic Fe/Cu nanoparticles were successfully stabilized by chitosan used for remediating hexavatlent chromium contaminated wasterwater. However, the over-loaded chitosan on the surface of Fe/Cu particles limited the Cr(VI) reduction due to the occupation of the surface reactive sites. Weighing the colloid stability and the reduction reactivity, the optimal dosage of chitosan is 2.0 wt% and the optimal Cu doping dosage is 3.0 wt%. SEM and TEM images showed that the chitosan-stabilized Fe/Cu bimetallic nanoparticles (CS-Fe/Cu nanoparticles) were uniformly dispersed, which had loose and porous surface. FTIR characterization showed that the binding sites of nZVI and chitosan. XRD demonstrated that the presence of copper and chitosan did not change the existence form of zero-valent iron. Most importantly, the contribution of chitosan and Cu in the removal mechanism was studied by the reduction experiments and the XPS analysis. On the one hand, chitosan could effectively combine with Cr(VI) due to chelation, on the other hand, Cu played an important role in the precipitation and coprecipitation phenomena. These findings indicate that CS-Fe/Cu has the potential to be a promising material for wastewater treatment.

The application of nanomaterials to contaminated river sediments could induce important changes in the speciation of heavy metals with potential impacts on ecosystem. Here, rhamnolipid (RL)-stabilized nanoscale zero-valent iron (RNZVI) was conducted to test its potential performance in changing the mobility and speciation of cadmium (Cd) in river sediments, with consideration of the influences of microbial community and organic carbon (OC). Compared to NZVI, RNZVI was more effective in transforming labile Cd to stable fraction with a maximum residual concentration increasing by 11.37 mg/kg after 42 days of incubation. Bacterial community structure was tracked using high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. Results indicated that the application of RNZVI changed the bacterial community structure and increased the relative abundance of Fe(III)-reducing bacteria, which could redistribute Fe combined Cd into a more stable Fe mineral phase. The contents of OC were gradually decreased and became stable, might resulting from OC bioavailability’s being stimulated by RNZVI through changing the bacterial community composition. This study indicates that abiotic process (i.e., from reaction with NZVI) and biotic process fueled by RNZVI lead to the immobilization of Cd in river sediments.

Immunoaffinity chromatography (IAC) for simultaneous determination of four fluoroquinolone antibiotics, e.g., norfloxacin (NOR), pefloxacin (PEF), lomefloxacin (LOM), and enrofloxacin (ENRO) from swine and chicken meat samples, was developed. The IAC column was constructed by covalently coupling polyclonal antibody (pAb) against NOR to cyanogen bromide (CNBr)-activated Sepharose 4B and packed into a common solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridge. It was found that IAC column was able to separately capture NOR, PEF, LOM, and ENRO with a maximum capacity of 200, 336, 352, and 421 ng, respectively. The extraction conditions including loading, washing, and eluting solutions were carefully optimized. Under optimal conditions, the extraction recoveries of the IAC column for NOR, PEF, LOM, and ENRO at two different contents were within 85.8–105.9 %. The IAC column was also applied to real sample extraction. Swine and chicken meat samples were collected and spiked with NOR, PEF, LOM, and ENRO at the content of 20 and 35 ng g−1, respectively. The spiked and unspiked samples were extracted by IAC column and measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). It was found that there was no detectable NOR, PEF, LOM, and ENRO in the blank samples, and the extraction recoveries of the IAC for NOR, PEF, LOM, and ENRO from the spiked samples were within 75.3–99.8 % with the relative standard deviation (RSD) of 4.3–12.1 %. The stability of the column was also tested. It was showed that after 30 times repeated usage, 65 % of the maximum capacity was still remained, indicating high reusability of the IAC column. The proposed IAC was proven to be an effectively selective extraction method for NOR, PEF, LOM, and ENRO from swine and chicken meat samples with the properties of high maximum capacity, extraction efficiency, and stability.

3-Amino-5-methylmorpholino-2-oxazolidinone (AMOZ) is the metabolite of furaltadone (FTD), one kind of nitrofuran antibiotics which have been banned as veterinary drugs due to the potential harmful effects on human health. AMOZ is stable in tissue matrices, and can be used as an indicator for illegal usage of FTD. In this study, a novel ultrasensitive competitive immunochromatographic assay (ICA) based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for direct detection of AMOZ in tissue and urine samples was developed. Monoclonal antibody (mAb) against AMOZ and Raman reporter 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (MBA) dual labelled colloidal GNPs (e.g. Ab-Au-MBA) was prepared, characterized and used as an immunoprobe. The specific Raman scattering intensity of MBA on the test line of the ICA strip was measured for quantitative determination of AMOZ. The assay was completed within 15 min. The values of IC50 and limit of detection (LOD) of the assay for AMOZ were 0.04 ng mL−1 and 0.28 pg mL−1, respectively. There was no cross-reactivity (CR) of the assay with other three nitrofurans and five compounds. The ICA strips could be used for 7 weeks without loss of activity. The tissue and urine samples were spiked with AMOZ and the recoveries of AMOZ were in range of 87.8–105.9% with the relative standard deviations (RSD) of 1.4–9.0% (n = 3). The results demonstrated that the proposed SERS-based ICA was able to directly detect AMOZ with high sensitivity, specificity, stability, precision and accuracy, and might be as a powerful method for the analysis of other analytes in different matrices.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), as a layered transition metal chalcogenide (TMC) material, has been widely employed in many fields, including electrode materials, photo(electro)chemical water splitting, transistors and biosensors and so on due to its unique electronic structure and physical/chemical properties. However, as a single semiconductor material, the large-scale application of MoS2 in many aspects is still limited, for example, the catalytic performance of semiconducting 2H-MoS2 is low due to the existence of a large number of inert basal planes; the high catalytic 1T-MoS2 cannot be prepared in large-scale. Considering these, a great deal of researches have been devoted to improve the electronic and catalytic activity of MoS2 (2H and 1T phase), such as activating 2H-MoS2 inert basal planes and applying the optimized technologies to directly prepare the desired 1T-MoS2, etc. In this review, two common phases of MoS2: 2H phase, 1T (1T’, i.e. distorted form of 1T-MoS2) phase are introduced in detail from the point of view of electronic structure. The catalytic activity sites of these phases are discussed. Based on the preparation methods of MoS2 that have been reported in the past, the basic principles of these methods and the recent developments of MoS2 preparation are also introduced briefly, and some new preparation techniques are also mentioned. In addition, the mechanism and strategies of transformation of 2H and 1T phase in MoS2 are described in detail. Most importantly, this review summarizes comprehensively the activation strategies of MoS2 inert basal planes, which is of great significance for improving the catalytic activity of MoS2 and further research on MoS2. In the end, we have a comprehensive summary of the current application of MoS2 and its future developments.