Clinical application of targeted next-generation sequencing utilizing bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in thoracic surgery ICU patients with suspected pulmonary infections.

Aims: The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS) in identifying pathogens from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in thoracic surgery ICU patients, offering additional diagnostic methods for clinical practice.

Methods And Results: We collected clinical data from patients with suspected pulmonary infections in the thoracic surgery ICU of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University. A total of 50 patients were enrolled in this study.

Optimization and analysis of rib working resistance in push-the-bit rotary steerable drilling system.

The rib working resistance of push-the-bit rotary steerable drilling system seriously affects its dynamic performance. For example, the backing pressure problem caused by steps in the well wall during the working process of CNOOC Welleader static push-the-bit rotary steerable drilling tool is discussed in this paper. Based on the structure and working principle of CNOOC Welleader system, a corresponding theoretical model of force analysis is established, and an optimal design method to reduce the backing pressure problem is proposed in combination with numerical simulation and experimental research.

Leveraging the One Health concept for arsenic sustainability.

Arsenic (As) is a naturally occurring chemical element widely distributed in the Earth's crust. Human activities have significantly altered As presence in the environment, posing significant threats to the biota as well as human health. The environmental fates and adverse outcomes of As of various species have been extensively studied in the past few decades.

Construction of 2D/2D ZnInS/NbCT (MXene) hybrid with hole transport highway and active facet exposure boost photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

In this study, leveraging the tunable surface groups of MXene, the two-dimensional (2D) NbCT with OH terminal (NC) was synthesized. 2D ZnInS (ZIS) nanosheets were prepared with the aid of sodium citrate, enhancing the exposure ratio of active (110) facet. On this basis, 2D/2D ZnInS/NbCT heterojunctions were fabricated to improve photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance.

Fe-Co Co-Doped 1D@2D Carbon-Based Composite as an Efficient Catalyst for Zn-Air Batteries.

A Fe-Co dual-metal co-doped N containing the carbon composite (FeCo-HNC) was prepared by adjusting the ratio of iron to cobalt as well as the pyrolysis temperature with the assistance of functionalized silica template. FeCo-HNC, which was formed with 1D carbon nanotubes and 2D carbon nanosheets including a rich mesoporous structure, exhibited outstanding oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalytic activities. The ORR half-wave potential is 0.

Threats of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl pollutants to susceptible populations.

Environmental exposure to per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has raised significant global health concerns due to potential hazards in healthy adults. However, the impact of PFAS on susceptible populations, including pregnant individuals, newborns, the older people, and those with underlying health conditions, has been overlooked. These susceptible groups often have physiological changes that make them less resilient to the same exposures.

Enhanced Sensitivity of A549 Cells to Doxorubicin with WS and WSe Nanosheets via the Induction of Autophagy.

The excellent physicochemical properties of two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides (2D TMDCs) such as WS and WSe provide potential benefits for biomedical applications, such as drug delivery, photothermal therapy, and bioimaging. WS and WSe have recently been used as chemosensitizers; however, the detailed molecular basis underlying WS- and WSe-induced sensitization remains elusive. Our recent findings showed that 2D TMDCs with different thicknesses and different element compositions induced autophagy in normal human bronchial epithelial cells and mouse alveolar macrophages at sublethal concentrations.

Modulating the toxicity of engineered nanoparticles by controlling protein corona formation: Recent advances and future prospects.

With the rapid development and widespread application of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs), understanding the fundamental interactions between ENPs and biological systems is essential to assess and predict the fate of ENPs in vivo. When ENPs are exposed to complex physiological environments, biomolecules quickly and inevitably adsorb to ENPs to form a biomolecule corona, such as a protein corona (PC). The formed PC has a significant effect on the physicochemical properties of ENPs and gives them a brand new identity in the biological environment, which determines the subsequent ENP-cell/tissue/organ interactions.

Fe, N, S co-doped carbon network derived from acetate-modified Fe-ZIF-8 for oxygen reduction reaction.

In this work, potassium acetate (KAc) was added during the synthesis of a Zn-Fe based metal-organic framework (Fe-ZIF-8) to increase the fixed amount of Fe while simultaneously enhancing the number of pores. Electrospinning was utilized to embed KAc-modified Fe-ZIF-8 (Fe-ZIF-8-Ac) into the polyacrylonitrile nanofiber mesh, to obtain a network composite (Fe@NC-Ac) with hierarchical porous structure. Fe@NC-Ac was co-pyrolyzed with thiourea, resulting in Fe, N, S co-doped carbon electrocatalyst.

An Effective Strategy to Synthesize Well-Designed Activated Carbon Derived from Coal-Based Carbon Dots via Oxidation before Activation with a Low KOH Content as Supercapacitor Electrodes.

The development of coal-based activated carbon for supercapacitors provides a robust and effective approach toward the clean and efficient use of coal, and it also offers high-quality and low-cost raw materials for energy storage devices. However, the one-step activation method for preparing coal-based activated carbon has problems, such as difficulty in introducing surface-functional groups and high KOH dosage. In our work, activated carbon was prepared through an effective strategy of oxidation and KOH activation with a low KOH content by employing coal-based carbon dots as raw material.

Perturbation of autophagy pathways in murine alveolar macrophage by 2D TMDCs is chalcogen-dependent.

Increasing risks of incidental and occupational exposures to two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (2D TMDCs) due to their broad application in various areas raised their public health concerns. While the composition-dependent cytotoxicity of 2D TMDCs has been well-recognized, how the outer chalcogenide atoms and inner transition metal atoms differentially contribute to their perturbation on cell homeostasis at non-lethal doses remains to be identified. In the present work, we compared the autophagy induction and related mechanisms in response to WS, NbS, WSe and NbSe nanosheets exposures in MH-S murine alveolar macrophages.

Nanoplastic Exposure at Environmental Concentrations Disrupts Hepatic Lipid Metabolism through Oxidative Stress Induction and Endoplasmic Reticulum Homeostasis Perturbation.

In this study, we investigated the mechanism underlying the perturbation of hepatic lipid metabolism in response to micro/nanoplastic (MP/NP) exposure at environmentally relevant concentrations. Polystyrene (PS) MPs/NPs with different sizes (0.1, 0.

Enhanced hydroxyl radical generation for micropollutant degradation in the InO/Vis-LED process through the addition of periodate.

Periodate (PI) as an oxidant has been extensively studied for organic foulants removal in advanced oxidation processes. Here PI was introduced into InO/Vis-LED process to enhance the formation of ·OH for promoting the degradation of organic foulants. Results showed that the addition of PI would significantly promote the removal of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in the InO/Vis-LED process (from 9.

The overlooked role of Cr(VI) in micropollutant degradation under solar light irradiation.

Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is ubiquitous in natural environments, whereas its role in the transformation of coexisting contaminants may have been overlooked. In this work, it was reported for the first time that the irradiation of Cr(VI) by solar light (solar light/Cr(VI) system) could effectively degrade various micropollutants with different structures. The removal efficiency of selected micropollutants was increased by 13.

Implementing comprehensive machine learning models of multispecies toxicity assessment to improve regulation of organic compounds.

Machine learning has made significant progress in assessing the risk associated with hazardous chemicals. However, most models were constructed by randomly selecting one algorithm and one toxicity endpoint towards single species, which may cause biased regulation of chemicals. In the present study, we implemented comprehensive prediction models involving multiple advanced machine learning and end-to-end deep learning to assess the aquatic toxicity of chemicals.

Environmental ammonia analysis based on exclusive nitrification by nitrifying biofilm screened from natural bioresource.

Biofilm-based biological nitrification is widely used for ammonia removal, while hasn't been explored for ammonia analysis. The stumbling block is the coexist of nitrifying and heterotrophic microbes in real environment resulting in non-specific sensing. Herein, an exclusive ammonia sensing nitrifying biofilm was screened from natural bioresource, and a bioreaction-detection system for the on-line analysis of environmental ammonia based on biological nitrification was reported.

In situ and self-adaptive BOD bioreaction sensing system based on environmentally domesticated microbial populations.

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is a water quality parameter of vital importance. Rapid BOD analysis methods have emerged to simplify the five-day BOD (BOD) measurement protocol. However, their universal implementations are restricted by the tricky environmental matrix (including environmental microbes, contaminants, ionic compositions, etc.

Transformation, Absorption and Toxicological Mechanisms of Silver Nanoparticles in the Gastrointestinal Tract Following Oral Exposure.

Oral exposure is known as the primary way for silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), which are commonly used as food additives or antibacterial agents in commercial products, to enter the human body. Although the health risk of AgNPs has been a concern and extensively researched over the past few decades, there are still numerous knowledge gaps that need to be filled to disclose what AgNPs experience in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and how they cause oral toxicity. In order to gain more insight into the fate of AgNPs in the GIT, the main gastrointestinal transformation of AgNPs, including aggregation/disaggregation, oxidative dissolution, chlorination, sulfuration, and corona formation, is first described.

A zwitterionic solution for smart ionic liquids to evade cytotoxicity.

By linking the cation and anion motifs of ionic liquids (ILs), zwitterionic liquids (ZILs) exhibit at least 146-2740 and 112-1550 folds less cytotoxicity in human gastric and colon cells than those of the structurally related ILs. Computer simulation shows that ZIL molecules hardly penetrate the cell membranes in contrast to ILs. These findings reveal a novel mechanism for ZILs to evade cytotoxicity, establishing a structure-based design principle for the next generation of sustainable ZILs.

S-Scheme and Schottky Junction Synchronous Regulation Boost Hierarchical CdS@NbO/NbC (MXene) Heterojunction for Photocatalytic H Production.

Photocatalytic water cracking hydrogen (H) production is a promising clean energy production technology. Therefore, a ternary CdS@NbO/NbC (MXene) heterojunction with hierarchical structure was designed to promote photocatalytic H evolution. When NaS/NaSO and lactic acid were used as sacrificial agents, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) rates of the optimized photocatalyst were 1501.

The role of crystallinity of palladium nanocrystals in ROS generation and cytotoxicity induction.

Palladium (Pd) nanocrystals with different crystalline forms exhibit distinct enzyme-like activities in generating reactive oxygen species (ROS). How such crystallinity-dependent catalytic activity regulates potential cytotoxicity remains to be elucidated. In the present work, Pd nanocrystals with four different crystalline forms were synthesized, and the underlying mechanisms involved in ROS-mediated cytotoxicity were systematically revealed.