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A hydrothermal earbon was prepared from waste turmeric residue, and its physicochemical structure was characterized by EPMA, FTIR, XRD and BET. The effects of hydrothermal carbon dosage, pH value, adsorption time and coexisting anions on Br removal from drinking water were studied by static adsorption method. The results showed that after adsorption for 60 min, the adsorption capacity of hydrothermal carbon to 5 mg/L Br was 5.51 mg/g, the removal rate was 55.12%, under the conditions of 25 °C, pH = 7 and 0.5 g/L of the dosage of hydrothermal carbon. The adsorption of Br by hydrothermal carbon fitted to Freundlich isothermal adsorption model, and its adsorption process could be better described by pseudo-second-order kinetic model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ischaemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is the damage that occurs when blood flow is restored to a tissue or organ after a period of ischaemia. Postconditioning is a therapeutic strategy aimed at reducing the tissue damage caused by IRI. Postconditioning in rodents is a useful tool to investigate the potential mechanisms of postconditioning. Currently, there is no convenient approach for postconditioning rodents., Methods: Rats were subjected to a balloon postconditioning procedure. A balloon was used to control the flow in the vessel. This allowed for easy and precise manipulation of perfusion. Evans blue and triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) double staining were used to determine the infarct size. Apoptosis in the myocardium was visualised and quantified by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL). Western blotting was performed to assess the expression of key apoptotic proteins, i.e. , B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2 Associated X (Bax), and cleaved caspase-3., Results: The balloon control approach to postconditioning provided accurate control of coronary blood flow and simplified the postconditioning manipulation. Infarct size reduction was observed in IRI rats after post-conditioning. There was a decrease in cardiac apoptosis in IRI rats after conditioning, as detected by TUNEL staining. IRI rats showed increased Bcl-2 levels and decreased Bax and cleaved caspase-3 levels in the myocardium., Conclusions: Postconditioning was successfully applied in rats using this novel approach. Postconditioning with this approach reduced infarct size and apoptosis in the area at risk., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.)

Purpose: This randomised clinical pilot study evaluated the effect of the mid-luteal additional single dose of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a) on the clinical outcome of the females subjected to artificial cycle frozen-thawed embryo transfer (AC-FET)., Methods: A total of 129 females were randomised into two groups (70 in the control group and 59 in the intervention group). Both groups received standard luteal support. The intervention group was given an extra dose of 0.1 mg GnRH-a in the luteal phase. The live birth rate served as the primary endpoint. The secondary endpoints were the positivity of pregnancy tests, the clinical pregnancy rate, the miscarriage rate, the implantation rate, and the multiple pregnancy rate., Results: There were more positive pregnancy tests, clinical pregnancies, live births, and twinning pregnancies, and fewer miscarriages observed in the intervention arm compared to the controls, though no statistical significance was concluded. No difference was found in the number of macrosomia in the two groups. There was no congenital abnormality newborn., Conclusion: Overall, the difference of 12.1 percentage points in the live births rate (40.7% vs 28.6%) between the two groups, however, is statistically insignificant. the improvement of the pregnancy outcome supports the non-inferiority of GnRH-a added during the luteal phase in AC-FET. Larger-scale clinical trials are required to further establish the positive benefits., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Liu, Huang, Chen, Wen, Lei, Guo and Tang.)

Efficient, sustainable, and integrated energy systems require the development of novel multifunctional materials to simultaneously achieve solar energy harvesting and charge storage. Bi-based oxysalt aurivillius phase materials are potential candidates due to their typical photovoltaic effect and their pseudo-capacitance charge storage behavior. Herein, we synthesized nano-Bi 2 MoO 6 as a material for both solar energy harvesting and charge storage due to its suitable band gap for absorption of visible light and its well-defined faradaic redox reaction from Bi metal to Bi 3+ . The irradiation of visible light significantly affected the electrochemical processes and the dynamics of the Bi 2 MoO 6 electrode. The photo-induced self-catalytic redox mechanism was carefully explored by adding sacrificial agents in photocatalysis reaction. In accordance with the rule of energy matching, the photo-generated holes oxidized the Bi metal to Bi 3+ , and the corresponding peak current increased by 79.5% at a scanning rate of 50 mV s -1 . More importantly, the peak current retention rate remained higher than 92.5% during the entire 200 cycles. The photo-generated electrons facilitated a decrease of 184 mV in the overpotential of the reduction process. Furthermore, the irradiation of visible light also accelerated the ionic diffusion of the electrolyte. These investigations provide a unique perspective for the design and development of new multifunctional materials to synergistically realize solar energy harvesting and charge storage., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)