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Photoelectrocatalytic technology，which assists photocatalysis through an electric field， can effectively inhibit the recombination of photogenerated carriers and improve the removal rate of organic pollutants， exhibiting advantages of simplicity， efficiency， and ease of operation. Photoelectrode material is the key to photoelectrocatalytic technology. Compared with other traditional catalysts， bismuth-based semiconductors have a higher utilization rate of light due to their unique layered structure and suitable forbidden band width. The layered structure of the bismuth-based materials can induce an internal electric field in the layer， promote the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes， accelerate the transfer of carriers， and improve the photocatalytic performance. The preparation， characterization and performance of unary bismuth compounds， bismuth binary oxides compounds， bismuth oxyhalide compounds and oxyacid bismuth compounds were introduced， and the advantages of bismuth-based materials as photoelectrode materials were briefly described. The research on its degradation of organic pollutants was reviewed， the application of bismuth-based materials to photoelectrocatalysis for wastewater treatment was summarized.The development of new catalysts and how to promote the establishment of and evaluation system for the impact on the environment during the whole life cycle of catalysts were the key directions for subsequent research.

Photocatalytic technology is an effective way to solve the two major problems of environmental problems and energy crisis in today's human society. Semiconductor materials were favored in early research. However, a single semiconductor photocatalyst has disadvantages such as poor response to visible light and easy recombination of electron-hole pairs. Photocatalytic technology has low efficiency in the application of dye wastewater degradation. Therefore, researchers have conducted in-depth studies on the new composite nanomaterials as photocatalysts to degrade dye wastewater. The research progress and main results of three new composite nanomaterials of graphene, metal organic framework, and carbon quantum dots for photocatalytic degradation of pollutants in dye wastewater were introduced in this article. According to the idea of design and upgrading of composite nanomaterials, the preparation methods of some new composite nanomaterials were briefly described, and the degradation efficiency of target pollutants was analyzed. By summarizing the performance of different photocatalytic materials to degrade pollutants in water, the future development trend was prospected. The future development trend and research focus of new composite nanomaterials in the direction of photocatalysis are targeted treatment of wastewater and industrialization.

Nitric oxide (NO) may cause serious environmental problems, such as acid rain, haze weather, global warming and even death. Herein, a new low-cost, highly efficient and green method for the elimination of NO using zirconium nitride (ZrN) is reported for the first time, which does not produce any waste or any by-product. Relevant experimental parameters, such as reaction temperature and gas concentration, were investigated to explore the reaction mechanism. Interestingly, NO can be easily decomposed into nitrogen (N2) by ZrN powders at 600°C with ZrN simultaneously transformed into zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) gradually. The time for the complete conversion of NO into N2 was approximately 14 h over 0.5 g of ZrN at a NO concentration of 500 ppm. This green elimination process of NO demonstrated good atom economy and practical significance in mitigating environmental problems.

Zirconium phosphide (ZrP) powders were synthesized by elemental combination method via the direct reaction of zirconium powders with red phosphorus, and characterized by XRD, SEM, XPS, XRF, SAED and TEM measurements. The obtained ZrP powders were found to exhibit apparent activity in the ready eliminateion of nitric oxide (NO) via facile redox reactions, and the elimination dynamics was evaluated within the context of various important experimental parameters, such as reaction temperature and gas concentration. At a fixed amount of ZrP powders, an increasing amount of NO would be eliminated with increasing reaction temperature, and complete conversion of NO to N2 could be reached in the range of 700 to 800 °C. The addition of NH3 also facilitated NO elimination at a fixed reaction temperature. Furthermore, of the products of the elimination process, zirconia (ZrO2) powder is a kind of biocompatible material, red phosphorus can be used to produce safety matches, organophosphorous pesticide and phosphor bronze, and the produced N2 might be collected and used as a protective gas or be converted into liquid nitrogen for other purposes.

Background. An outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) epidemic occurred throughout China from December 2022 to January 2023, and the vast majority of those infected individuals were mild. The symptom characteristics of mildly infected individuals in this epidemic wave of the Omicron variant have not been well described. Methods. We conducted a nationwide survey of symptomatic characteristics of nonhospitalized individuals with mild Omicron infection through a WeChat app. Results. Respondents (68.6% female) were aged 18–87 years (42.6 ± 13.1 years), of whom 79.8% were diagnosed by SARS‐CoV‐2 PCR or antigen test. Of the 19 symptoms predefined in the questionnaire, an average of 7.8 symptoms was reported. The most common symptoms included cough (81.2%), fever (79.9%), fatigue (73.8%), muscle soreness (62.2%), headache (59.2%), and phlegm (55.1%). Painful swallowing was present in 38.3% of the participants and was one of the most severe symptoms perceived by the participants. Also, we found that young people were more likely to have symptoms such as fever, painful swallowing, and headache compared to the elderly population. 36.9% of respondents graded their symptoms as severe, and the severity of symptoms was higher in young people than in older adults, with fever, cough, painful swallowing, fatigue, and headache being the most severe. In addition, women experienced a significantly higher prevalence of symptoms than men, but there was no significant difference in the severity of most symptoms. The presence of comorbidities did not increase the incidence or severity of symptoms in those with mildly infected individuals. Conclusions. The symptom profile of mild COVID‐19 cases in the nationwide Omicron wave in China was markedly different from previous reports, featuring a high incidence of symptoms, multiple symptoms, and heavy symptoms. The symptoms of mild Omicron infection cases are not mild and are more pronounced in young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To explore the high risk factors affecting the prognosis of patients with cough variant asthma (CVA). Methods From the standardized follow-up database of patients with chronic cough, we retrieved the data of patients with CVA followed up for more than 5 years with complete clinical and prognostic data. According to the demand of medications, the patients were divided into low- and high-demand treatment groups for comparative analysis of the clinical characteristics and their correlation with the outcomes of the patients. Logistic regression was used to identify the risk factors associated with the prognosis of the patients, and the discriminant function was used to determine the cut-off values of the specific risk factors for predicting the patients' outcomes. Results We retrieved the data of 73 eligible patients from the database. Thirty-eight (52.1%) of the patients did not experience any treatment with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in 5 years (the median follow-up time) following a short-term treatment. The low- and high-demand treatment groups differed significantly in PD20, number of laryngopharyngeal signs and percentage of patients with laryngopharyngeal signs. PD20 and lymphoid follicle hyperplasia and congestion of the posterior pharyngeal wall showed significant correlations with the outcomes of the patients, and the former two factors were identified as risk factors by the logistic regression model. Discriminant function analysis showed that 74% of the patients were grouped correctly for the outcomes based on these two factors. Conclusion A substantial portion of CVA patients do not require further treatment in the next 5 years following a short-term treatment. The CVA patients are exposed to co-existing risks of over-treatment and inadequate treatment, and those with a high PD20 level and a low level of lymphoid follicle hyperplasia in the posterior pharyngeal wall have a low demand of further treatment.