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Numerous species within the genus Caragana have high ecological and medicinal value. In this genus, however, species identification based on morphological characteristics is quite complicated; this issue can be resolved by analyzing the complete plastid genomes. We obtained the chloroplast genomes of two species using lllumina sequencing technology: Caragana arborescens and Caragana opulens, with lengths of 129,473 bp and 132,815 bp, respectively. The absence of inverted repeat sequences in the two species allowed them to be ascribed to the inverted repeat-lacking clade (IRLC). They comprise a total of 111 distinct genes (4 rRNA, 31 tRNA, and 76 protein-coding genes). In addition, 16 genes containing introns were identified in two genomes, the majority of which contained a single intron. C. arborescens and C. opulens were found to contain 129 and 229 repeats, as well as 277 and 265 simple repeats, respectively. The codon usage bias analysis revealed that the two Caragana species exhibit similar codon usage patterns. rpoC2-rps2, accD-cemA, rps18-clpP, rpoA-rpl36, and rpl2-rpl23 were identified as the five regions most likely to be mutated based on analysis of nucleotide diversity (Pi). Analysis of sequence divergence revealed that certain intergenic regions (matK-rbcL, psbM-petN, atpA-psbI, petA-psbL, psbE-petL, and rps7-rps12) are highly variable. Phylogenetic analysis showed that C. arborescens and C. opulens were related and clustered together as the other four Caragana species. And the genus Astragalus and Caragana were relatively closely related. These results provide a foundation for future phylogenetic research and the development of molecular markers for Caragana plants.

The understanding of soliton dynamics promotes the development of ultrafast laser technology. High-energy pure-quartic solitons (PQSs) have gradually become a hotspot in recent years. Herein, we numerically study the influence of gain bandwidth, saturation power, small-signal gain, and output coupler on PQSs dynamic in passively mode-locked fiber lasers. The results present that the above four parameters can affect PQS dynamics. Pulsating PQSs occur as alter other three parameters when taken gain bandwidth as 50 nm. Meanwhile, PQSs show an evolution from pulsating to erupting and then to splitting as altered other three parameters when taken gain bandwidth as 10 nm, which can be attributed to the existence of spectral filtering effect and intra-cavity fourth-order dispersion. These findings provide new insights into PQSs dynamics in passively mode-locked fiber lasers.

Microwave-absorbing materials with wide bandwidth and high absorptivity are increasingly playing an important role in over-the-air (OTA) testing. In this work, a kind of pyramid absorbing material was prepared using flame-retardant absorbers as the filler. In addition, a coating was used to further improve the flame-retardant properties of the microwave-absorbing material. To obtain excellent microwave absorption performance (MWAP), a high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS) was adopted to design structural materials. Here, the total height, the base height, the decapitation height of the pyramid tip, the distance between the pyramids, and other parameters were analyzed; then, the actual processing and molding were realized. The MWAP of -30 dB was achieved at 2.7-18 GHz, and the MWAP of -10 dB was also met at 2-18 GHz. In particular, the study also investigated the MWAP of large angle, which can meet the MWAP of -10 dB at 2-18 GHz and MWAP of -30 dB at 4-18 GHz. Most importantly, the absorption mechanism of the pyramid structure was explored. The influence of the tip was proved by the distribution of the electromagnetic field in the pyramid. It can be regarded as a multilayer microwave-absorbing material due to the impedance gradient of the pyramid, which can provide an effective research idea and method for future engineering applications.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) encapsulated in tumor-derived exosomes are becoming ideal biomarkers for the early diagnosis and prognosis of lung cancer. However, the accuracy and sensitivity are often hampered by the extraction process of exosomal miRNA using traditional methods. Herein, this study developed a fluorogenic quantitative detection method for exosomal miRNA using the fluorescence quenching properties of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanosheets and the enzyme-assisted signal amplification properties of duplex-specific nuclease (DSN). First, a fluorescently-labeled nucleic acid probe was used to hybridize the target miRNA to form a DNA/RNA hybrid structure. Under the action of the DSN, the DNA single strand in the DNA/RNA hybrid strand was selectively digested into smaller oligonucleotide fragments. At the same time, the released miRNA target triggers the next reaction cycle, so as to achieve signal amplification. Then, MoS2 was used to selectively quench the fluorescence of the undigested probe leaving the fluorescent signal of the fluorescently-labeled probe fragments. The fluorometric signals for miRNA-21 had a maximum excitation/emission wavelength of 488/518 nm. Most importantly, the biosensor was then applied for the accurate quantitative detection of miRNA-21 in exosome lysates extracted from human plasma and this method was able to successfully distinguish lung cancer patients from healthy people. This biosensor provides a simple, rapid, and a highly specific quantitative method for exosomal miRNA and has promising potential to be used in the early diagnosis of lung cancer.

As electromagnetic absorbers with wide absorption bandwidth are highly pursued in the cutting-edge electronic and telecommunication industries, the traditional dielectric or magnetic bulky absorbers remain concerns of extending the effective absorption bandwidth. In this work, a dual-principle strategy has been proposed to make a better understanding of the impact of utilizing conductive absorption fillers coupled with implementing artificial structures design on the absorption performance. In the comparison based on the microscopic studies, the carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-based absorbers are confined to narrow operating bandwidth and relatively fixed response frequency range, which can not fulfill the ever-growing demands in the application. With subsequent macroscopic structure design based on the CNTs-based dielectric fillers, the artificial patterns show much more broadened absorption bandwidth, covering the majority of C-band, the whole X-band, and Ku-band, due to the tailored electromagnetic parameters and more reflections and scatterings. The results suggest that the combination of developing microscopic powder/bulky absorbers and macroscopic configuration design will fundamentally extend the effective operating bandwidth of microwave.

The aim of this study is to establish a new method with high sensitivity, accuracy, and stability for the determination of human IgG and then expand it to analyze severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific IgM and IgG, which is of great significance for the screening and diagnosis of COVID-19. In this study, the magnetic Fe3O4 nanospheres coupled with mouse antihuman IgG (Ab1IgG) were used as an immune capture probe (Fe3O4@Ab1IgG) to capture and separate the target, and rabbit antihuman IgG (Ab2IgG) coupled with highly luminescent quantum dot nanobeads (QBs) as a fluorescence detection probe (QBs@Ab2IgG) was used to realize high sensitivity detection. After the formation of a sandwich immunocomplex, the fluorescence intensity of the precipitate after magnetic separation was measured at the excitation wavelength of 370 nm. Under optimal conditions, a wide linear range varying from 0.005 to 40 ng·mL–1 was obtained for the detection of human IgG with a lower limit of detection at 4 pg·mL–1 (S/N = 3). The recoveries of intra- and interassays were 90.0–101.9 and 96.0–106.6%, respectively, and the relative standard deviations were 6.3–10.2 and 2.6–10.5%, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed method was successfully demonstrated to detect human IgG in serum samples, and the detection results were not statistically different (P > 0.05) from commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. This method is sensitive, fast, and accurate, which could be expanded to detect the specific IgM and IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.

Iron, copper oxides composite particles (Fe/Cu oxides CPs) were produced using rapid, single-step, green and sustainable pathway from biomolecules of pine needle extract and were adopted as a poten...

Pure-quartic solitons (PQSs) are gradually becoming a hotspot in recent years due to their potential advantage to achieve high energy. Meanwhile, the fundamental research of PQSs is still in the fancy stage, and exploring soliton dynamics can promote the development of PQSs. Herein, we comprehensively and numerically investigate the impact of saturation power, small-signal gain, and output coupler on PQS dynamics in passively mode-locked fiber lasers. The result indicates that altering the above parameters makes PQSs exhibit pulsating or creeping dynamics similar to traditional solitons. Moreover, introducing an intra-cavity filter combined with intra-cavity large fourth-order dispersion makes PQSs go through stationary, pulsating to erupting. That is, the intra-cavity filter changes PQS dynamics. These findings provide new insights into PQS dynamics in fiber lasers.

In order to provide new pretreatment damage morphology for TBM rock breaking, the author used a ten-thousand-watt laser beam to perform cutting experiments on granite. Different laser power and cutting speed were set, and the cutting depth, width, rock removal and mass ratio were measured, calculated and analyzed. The experimental results showed that the laser power increased, the depth of cut, width and rock removal increased, and the mass ratio decreased; the cutting speed increased, the depth of cut, width and rock removal decreased, and the mass ratio increased. Under this experimental condition, the cutting effect is better when the laser power is 12kW and the cutting speed is 6mm/s.

With polyacrylonitrile nanofibers mat (PAN NFsM) as a template, molecularly imprinted resin/polydopamine nanofibers mat (MIR/PDA NFsM) was synthesized for the extraction of sulfonamides (SAs) in water. The specific surface area and pore volume were increased obviously due to the functionalization of MIR. The adsorption efficiencies of MIR/PDA NFsM under optimized conditions for SAs were 92.3–99.3%. Possible adsorption mechanisms of imprinting recognition and hydrogen bond interactions were also put forward. Compared with MIR particles, the MIR/PDA NFsM exhibited much superior adsorption performance. Particularly, the outstanding mass transfer efficiency of MIR/PDA NFsM was much higher than the other reported adsorbents for SAs. Finally, a new method based on the solid-phase extraction (SPE) of MIR/PDA NFsM was successfully developed for the detection of five SAs in environmental water with HPLC–MS/MS and applied to the analysis of actual samples. Under the selected conditions, the enrichment factors of MIR/PDA NFsM of SCP, SMT, SMZ, SMR, and SMX were between 23.0 and 25.0. Low detection limits (0.26–0.76 ng L−1), broad linear range (1.0 ng L−1 to 10.0 μg L−1), and satisfactory recoveries (82.8–115.6%) and precisions (RSDs

Research has shown that passively mode-locked fiber lasers produce chaotic output, which has caught the attention of physicists, chemists, and bio-scientists owing to their wide bandwidth, good random characteristics, and strong anti-interference. In passively mode-locked fiber lasers, soliton pulsations and soliton explosions with period bifurcation characteristics have been demonstrated to be effective paths to chaos as far as 20 years ago. However, due to the lack of real-time spectrum measurement techniques, the earlier research investigated their theoretical aspect. In recent years, the rise of the dispersive Fourier transform technique has activated an upsurge of experimental research. The present work first discussed the theoretical model of passively mode-locked fiber lasers, the computational analysis method of soliton dynamics, and the related theory of the dispersive Fourier transform technique. In addition, we presented and evaluated the progress of the theoretical and experimental research on soliton pulsations as well as on soliton explosions in passively mode-locked fiber lasers. Finally, we proposed the future research directions of the soliton pulsations and soliton explosions that offer great promise for scientific discoveries.

Tumor progression includes the obtainment of progenitor and stem cell-like features and the gradual loss of a differentiated phenotype. Stemness was defined as the potential for differentiation and self-renewal from the cell of origin. Previous studies have confirmed the effective application of stemness in a number of malignancies. However, the mechanisms underlying the growth and maintenance of multiple myeloma (MM) stem cells remain unclear. We calculated the stemness index for samples of MM by utilizing a novel one-class logistic regression (OCLR) machine learning algorithm and found that mRNA expression-based stemness index (mRNAsi) was an independent prognostic factor of MM. Based on the same cutoff value, mRNAsi could stratify MM patients into low and high groups with different outcomes. We identified 127 stemness-related signatures using weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and differential expression analysis. Functional annotation and pathway enrichment analysis indicated that these genes were mainly involved in the cell cycle, cell differentiation, and DNA replication and repair. Using the molecular complex detection (MCODE) algorithm, we identified 34 pivotal signatures. Meanwhile, we conducted unsupervised clustering and classified the MM cohorts into three MM stemness (MMS) clusters with distinct prognoses. Samples in MMS-cluster3 possessed the highest stemness fractions and the worst prognosis. Additionally, we applied the ESTIMATE algorithm to infer differential immune infiltration among the three MMS clusters. The immune core and stromal score were significantly lower in MMS-cluster3 than in the other clusters, supporting the negative relation between stemness and anticancer immunity. Finally, we proposed a prognostic nomogram that allows for individualized assessment of the 3- and 5-year overall survival (OS) probabilities among patients with MM. Our study comprehensively assessed the MM stemness index based on large cohorts and built a 34-gene based classifier for predicting prognosis and potential strategies for stemness treatment.

Objective To determine the relationship between serum soluble programmed death molecule-1 (sPD-1) levels and the development of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods Blood samples were obtained from 87 patients with RA (58 with ILD and 29 without ILD) and 45 healthy controls. Serum sPD-1 was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The pulmonary interstitial disease score was completed by a pulmonary physician and a radiologist through chest high-resolution computed tomography. Patients with RA-ILD were tested for lung function [e.g., forced vital capacity (FVC%), diffusing capacity of lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO%)]. Associations between ILD and various markers, including sPD-1 and confounding factors, were investigated by logistic regression analysis. Diagnostic values of sPD-1 for the presence of ILD were investigated using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Results Serum sPD-1 levels were higher in RA patients with ILD than in RA patients without ILD and healthy controls (185.1 ± 109.0 pg/ml vs. 119.1 ± 77.5 pg/ml vs. 52.1 ± 21.7 pg/ml, P < 0.05). Serum sPD-1 levels were positively correlated with RF titer (P = 0.02, r = 0.249), anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody status (P = 0.02, r = 0.243), and serum IgG levels (P < 0.001, r = 0.368), negatively associated with FVC% (P = 0.02, r = − 0.344), forced expiratory volume (FEV1%) (P = 0.01, r = − 0.354), total lung capacity % (P = 0.046, r = − 0.302), and was independently associated with the presence of ILD in RA patients by multivariate logistic regression analysis. The sensitivity and specificity of sPD-1 levels for the detection of ILD in RA patients were 58.6% and 75.9%, respectively. The area under the curve was 0.689. Conclusion Serum sPD-1 levels were increased in RA patients with ILD. Increased sPD-1 may be a valuable biomarker to predict the presence of ILD in patients with RA.

Summary Background Volume restoration is no more a fresh theory for midfacial rejuvenation. However, lack of knowledge regarding the natural ageing process of fat compartments often leads to an insufficient or excessive clinical result. The aim of this study is to reveal the age-related changes in midfacial fat compartments and the correlation between midfacial grooves and the related fat compartments. Methods This study included 60 Asian females in defined age-based categories. The thickness of the infraorbital fat compartment, the nasolabial fat compartment, and the cheek fat compartments were measured using computed tomography (CT) images. Analysis of correlations between midfacial grooves and the related fat compartments was performed using the SPSS software. Results A tendency of thickening in the infraorbital fat and nasolabial fat compartments with age was observed. The superficial layer of cheek fat compartments was found to be thinner, and a similar tendency was observed in the medial part of deep medial cheek fat. However, it was thicker in the lateral part of deep medial cheek fat. There was a negative correlation between the fat thickness of deep medial cheek fat and both the severity of tear trough deformity and the nasolabial fold. A positive correlation between the lower third of the nasolabial fat compartment and the severity of the nasolabial fold was found as well. Conclusion Different midfacial fat compartments tended to undergo selective hypertrophy or atrophy with ageing. The findings of this study suggested that augmentation of the deflated fat compartment and liposuction of the hypertrophic fat compartment can provide a more natural effect in facial rejuvenation.

To investigate the potential role of stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α)/CXCR4/CXCR7 axis in adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs), quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was employed to screen the effective small interfering RNA against CXCR4 and CXCR7 in ADSCs. The messenger RNA (mRNA) and proteins abundances of AKT (p-AKT), ERK (p-ERK), JNK (p-JNK), and p38 (p-p38) in different groups were identified by qRT-PCR, western blot, and immunofluorescence staining method. Meanwhile, cell migration and cell proliferation with SDF-1 treated were examined by a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and transwell permeable assay, respectively. Moreover, the interaction between CXCR4 and CXCR7 was examined by a GST pull-down assay. CXCR4 small interfering RNA3 (siRNA3) and CXCR7 siRNA3 have been proved to the most effective tools for knockdown CXCR4 and CXCR7 expressions. mRNA abundance of JNK and p38 could be affected by SDF-1α/CXCR4/CXCR7 axis. However, western blot analysis of p-AKT, p-ERK, p-JNK, and p-p38 in CXCR43-treated ADSCs was significantly higher than that in the control group. Moreover, the immunofluorescence staining analysis revealed that the expressions of p-ATK and p-JNK proteins were significantly higher in NC- and SDF-1-treated subgroups than that in the CXCR4 and CXCR7 groups. p-ATK and p-JNK proteins in CXCR4 group were similar to that in CXCR7 group. Cell migration analysis of CXCR4-treated ADSCs suggested that knockdown CXCR4 could effectively promote cell migration (p < .05). Moreover, CXCR4 could interact with CXCR7. The results in this study could provide a better understanding of SDF-1α/CXCR4/CXCR7 axis during ADSCs development.

The presence of Cr(VI) in the water/wastewater has serious environmental hazards due to its high toxicity. Ultrafiltration membranes are widely used in water/wastewater treatment due to their low cost and simple operation. However, conventional ultrafiltration membrane has low rejection of ions which limits its application for Cr(VI) removal. In terms of this, the CNT/PVDF/stainless steel mesh conductive ultrafiltration membrane was developed via nonsolvent induced phase separation (NIPS) method in this study. The properties of the membranes were characterized and the mechanism for the removal of Cr(VI) under different operational conditions was investigated. The results showed that the new generate membrane has good electrical conductivity and high mechanical strength. The conductive ultrafiltration membrane can realise the efficient removal of Cr(VI) under the application of voltage. It was found that the electrostatic repulsion between CrO42−/HCrO4− and negatively charged membrane plays a main role in Cr(VI) removal in the absence of electrolyte while electrochemical reduction plays an important role in Cr(VI) removal in the presence of electrolyte. Moreover, the removal efficiency of Cr(VI) was positively correlated with the ionic strength and residence time. The acidic condition was favorable for the removal of Cr(VI) when lower cell potentials (1 V, 3 V) were applied to the membrane and the neutral condition was beneficial for the removal of Cr(VI) removal when the applied cell potential increased to 5 V. Increase of the residence time by adjusting membrane operational pressure can further enhance the Cr(VI) removal. The highest removal of Cr(VI) (95.2%) was achieved under the best operation conditions (5 V, pH 7, 100 mM Na2SO4, 3.4 s residence time). It was demonstrated that the conductive membrane offers a promising way of Cr(VI) removal in the electrochemical filtration system.

DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) is a useful biomarker for lung cancer in early clinical diagnosis. A rapid magnetic chemiluminescence immunoassay (MCLIA) for DNMT1 in human serum has been developed. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-second-Ab was used to labeled polyclonal antibodies of anti-DNMT1. DNMT1 in sample integrates with specific immunomagnetic beads and can constitute a supersandwiched immunoreaction. In magnetic field, nonspecific materials can be separated. After luminescent substrate luminol-H2O2-BIP was added, the relative light unit (RLU) of HRP was detected and was discovered to be directly proportional to the content of DNMT1 in sample. The correlative variables involved in the MCLIA value were optimized and the methodological evaluation was carried out. After optimization, in the range of 0.5–128 ng/mL, the linear regression equation was y = 0.5014x + 1.769 (x was logCDNMT1, y was relative luminescence units (RLU)/RLU0), and the limit of detection was 0.01 ng/mL. The RSD of intra- and inter-assays were 15.8%–16.9% and 14.3%–18.1%, respectively. The recovery was from 70.0% to 106.2%. Furthermore, paralleled with purchasable enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits, MCLEIA had lower detection limit, wider linear range and shorter detection time. Therefore, the MCLEIA established in this study could be used for the sensitive detection of DNMT1 in serum sample.

The occurrence of many diseases is closely related to the high expression of DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1). However, most studies are focused on the detection of DNMT1 activity, a few are concerned with the detection of DNMT1 content. In this study, we developed a simple and highly sensitive chemiluminescence (CL) assay for the detection of DNMT1 content. In this method, anti-DNMT1 monoclonal antibody was coated on a polystyrene microplate to capture DNMT1. Then anti-DNMT1 polyclonal antibody and goat anti-rabbit immunoglobulin G with horseradish peroxidase (IgG-HRP) were respectively added to combine with captured DNMT1 to form a sandwich structure. Finally, the HRP could catalyze CL substrate and achieve CL signal response. Based on this novel sensitive strategy, the recovery percents were in the ranges from 71.5% to 91.0%. The precision of intra-assays and inter-assays were 5.45%-11.29% and 7.03%-11.25%, respectively. The method was successfully applied for the determination of DNMT1 in human serum. The detection results of serum samples showed that the proposed assay had a high correlation with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Compared with the ELISA kit (limit of detection = 0.1 ng/mL), the method has a lower limit of detection of 0.042 ng/mL. Therefore, our method has the potential for the detection of DNMT1 content in clinical diagnosis.

Membrane fouling is indispensable in all membrane systems and remains one major problem to large scale application. In view of this, an in-situ method of fouling control is desperately needed to sustain membrane technologies. The objective of this study is to develop electrically conductive PANI membranes with stimuli-response properties and to solve fouling under applied potential. Electrically conductive polyaniline membranes were prepared by non-solvent induced phase separation method. Exfoliated graphite and DBSA were incorporated into membrane to form PANI membranes with different electrical conductivities. The results showed that the conductivity of Memb-PAMPSA was improved by two orders of magnitude by the incorporation of EG, and further enhanced by twenty times using a long chain acid DBSA as a secondary dopant. Compared to Memb-PAMPSA whose effective contact angle did not change between 0 and 30 V measurements, the significant dynamic contact angle change of Memb-PAMPSA-EG and Memb-PAMPSA-EG/DBSA gave a quantitative indication of the electrical tuneability of these membranes. All the membranes showed fouling removal ability under applied electrical potential and the fouling removal behaviour was closely related to the membrane conductivity. The results of this study open the pathway for the development of electrically responsive membranes for in situ control of fouling in membrane filtration systems.

The establishment of a highly sensitive and efficient platform for detecting circulating miRNA in serum is important for disease diagnosis and prognosis. To this end, a self-assembled horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-based polymer (poly-HRP) dual signal amplification strategy, via skillful combination of functionalized magnetic nanoparticles as the capture nanoprobes and the poly-HRP as signal amplification probes, has been developed for highl-sensitive and accurate detection of circulating miR-142-3p in human serum. Just by mixing building blocks together at one time, the poly-HRP used for dual signal amplification can be engineered by only one-step assembly. As the poly-HRP can be directly prepared ahead, avoiding chain amplification reaction in the detection process, the assay can be rapidly accomplished in about one hour. The measured limit-of-detection (LOD) is down to 100 fM. Standard miR-142-3p spiked in human serum is measured with ideal recovery rates ranging from 97.46% to 115.90%. More importantly, this method was validated to be applicable to direct detection of miR-142-3p in serums, and the results suggested that the miR-142-3p levels of serum samples obtained from T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia children (n = 25) are significantly higher than those from healthy control groups (n = 25) (P

Fouling is unavoidable in all membrane systems, limiting their practical implementation. In view of this, an in-situ method of fouling control is desperately needed to sustain membrane technologies. In this study, electrically conductive polyaniline (PANI) membranes were prepared by non-solvent induced phase separation approach. The fabricated conductive membrane with a pure water flux of 15.5 L/m2 h bar was used in an electrofiltration cell in which the effect of applied voltage on fouling mitigation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) was evaluated. It was found that the application of external voltage alleviated the BSA fouling on membrane as indicated by the decreased flux decline rate. The antifouling performance of the membrane performed better with the increase of voltage from 0 to 1 V. The calculations based on XDLVO theory suggested that imposing an external voltage increased the surface potential of the membrane and thus improved the electrostatic repulsive force between foulants and membrane, which resulted in the fouling layer much looser, confirmed by scanning electron microscopy images, and thus reduced the hydraulic resistance. It is believed that this simple and feasible strategy for fabrication of conductive membranes has a potential for practical applications in membrane fouling mitigation.