Catalytic Hydrodeoxygenation of Mixed Plastic Wastes into Sustainable Naphthenes.

The chemical upcycling of plastic wastes by converting them into valuable fuels and chemicals represents a sustainable approach as opposed to landfilling and incineration. However, it encounters challenges in dealing with mixed plastic wastes due to their complex composition and sorting/cleaning costs. Here, we present a one-pot hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) method for converting mixed plastic wastes containing poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), polycarbonate (PC), and poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO) into sustainable naphthenes under mild reaction conditions.

Quantum-Confined Tunable Ferromagnetism on the Surface of a Van der Waals Antiferromagnet NaCrTe.

The surface of three-dimensional materials provides an ideal and versatile platform to explore quantum-confined physics. Here, we systematically investigate the electronic structure of Na-intercalated CrTe, a van der Waals antiferromagnet, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and calculations. The measured band structure deviates from the calculation of bulk NaCrTe but agrees with that of ferromagnetic monolayer CrTe.

Titration of Sedentary Behavior With Varying Physical Activity Levels Reduces Mortality in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes.

Context: Both physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) exert an important impact on type 2 diabetes, but it remains unclear regarding how the maximum impact on improving mortality by an optimized proportion of the two lifestyles can be achieved.

Objective: To explore the impacts of PA/SB combinations on mortality in patients with diabetes.

Methods: Patients with type 2 diabetes samplings were collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey dataset.

Hydrodeoxygenation of Oxygen-Containing Aromatic Plastic Wastes into Cycloalkanes and Aromatics.

Chemical recycling and upcycling offer promising approaches for the management of plastic wastes. Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) is one of the appealing ways for conversion of oxygen-containing plastic wastes, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polycarbonate (PC), polyphenyl ether (PPO), and polyether ether ketone (PEEK), into cyclic alkanes and aromatics in high yields under mild reaction conditions. The challenge lies in achieving C-O activation while preserving C-C bonds.

Electroactive biocake layer-driven advanced removal of dissolved organic matter at membrane interface of anaerobic electrochemical membrane bioreactor.

The bio-cake layer is one of the most negative effects during water and wastewater filtration, but its potential behoof of biodegradation is poorly understood. In this study, we activated and reconstructed the bio-cake by using the carbon nanotube membrane (25 cm area, 17 LMH flux) as the anode in an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR), and investigated its positive role in advanced removal of dissolved organic matter from up-flow anaerobic sludge bed unit (3 L/d) when treating synthetic municipal wastewater. At the anodic membrane interface, the enhanced biodegradation was proved to dominate the DOM reduction (contribution >40%), controlling the effluent COD as low as 19.

Hydrodeoxygenation of Oxygen-Containing Aromatic Plastic Wastes to Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers.

To address the global plastic pollution issues and the challenges of hydrogen storage and transportation, we report a system, based on the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of oxygen-containing aromatic plastic wastes, from which organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) can be derived. We developed a catalytic system comprised of Ru-ReO /SiO +HZSM-5 for direct HDO of polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyphenylene oxide (PPO), and their mixtures, to cycloalkanes as LOHCs, with high yields up to 99 %, under mild reaction conditions. The theoretical hydrogen storage capacity reaches ca.

APP/PS1 Gene-Environmental Cadmium Interaction Aggravates the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease in Mice via the Blood-Brain Barrier, Amyloid-β, and Inflammation.

Background: There is limited information about gene-environment interaction on the occurrence and the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: To explore the effect of environmental low-dose cadmium (Cd) exposure on the progress of Alzheimer's disease and the underlining mechanism.

Methods: We administered 1 mg/L, 10 mg/L cadmium chloride (treated groups), and water (control group) to C57BL/6J and APP/PS1 mice through drinking water, from one week before mating, until the offspring were sacrificed at 6 months of age.

Sewage sludge application stimulated soil NO emissions with a low heavy metal pollution risk in Eucalyptus plantations.

Sewage sludge (SS) has been extensively used as an alternative fertilizer in forest plantations, which are beneficial in supplying timbers and mitigating climate change. However, whether the extra nitrogen (N) applied by SS would enhance the soil nitrous oxide (NO) emission, an important greenhouse gas, in forest plantations have not been well understood. The objective of this study is to evaluate the ecological effects of SS application on soils, by investigating the soil NO emission and the toxicity of the potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in soil.

TGF-β1 promotes SCD1 expression via the PI3K-Akt-mTOR-SREBP1 signaling pathway in lung fibroblasts.

Background: Lung fibroblast activation is associated with airway remodeling during asthma progression. Stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) plays an important role in the response of fibroblasts to growth factors. This study aimed to explore the effects of SCD1 on fibroblast activation induced by transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and the role of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase-AKT serine-threonine protein kinase-mechanistic target of rapamycin (PI3K-Akt-mTOR) pathway on the regulation of SCD1 expression in airway remodeling.

Development of Multiplexed Bead-Based Immunoassays for Profiling Soluble Cytokines and CD163 Using Mass Cytometry.

Bead-based immunoassays are multiparametric analysis allowing for the simultaneous quantification of a large number of biomarkers within a single sample. Mass cytometry is an emerging cytometric technique that offers a high multiplexing capacity in a high-throughput setting but has not yet been applied to bead-based assays. In this study, we developed a multiplex bead-based immunoassay of cytokines and CD163 designed for mass cytometry (MC).

Strategies for understanding the role of cellular heterogeneity in the pathogenesis of lung cancer: a cell model for chronic exposure to cigarette smoke extract.

Background: Human tumors are highly heterogeneous at the cellular, molecular, genetic and functional levels. Tumor heterogeneity has tremendous impact on cancer progression and treatment responses. However, the mechanisms for tumor heterogeneity have been poorly understood due to the lack of experimental models.

Population Aging and Its Impact on Human Wellbeing in China.

Population aging is getting enlarged in the upcoming decades. Meanwhile, old-aged longevity and dependency are getting large due to improvement in life expectancy. In literature, it is claimed that old-aged dependency affects the wellbeing of society.

CBX4 Regulates Long-Form Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin-mediated Airway Inflammation through SUMOylation in House Dust Mite-induced Asthma.

Thymic stromal lymphopoietin presents in two distinct isoforms: short-form (sfTSLP) and long-form (lfTSLP). lfTSLP promotes inflammation, whereas sfTSLP inhibits inflammation, in allergic asthma. However, little is known about the regulation of lfTSLP and sfTSLP during allergic attack in the asthma airway epithelium.

Short isoform thymic stromal lymphopoietin reduces inflammation and aerobic glycolysis of asthmatic airway epithelium by antagonizing long isoform thymic stromal lymphopoietin.

Background: Up-regulation of aerobic glycolysis has been reported as a characterization of asthma and facilitates airway inflammation. We has been previously reported that short isoform thymic stromal lymphopoietin (sTSLP) could reduce inflammation in asthmatic airway epithelial cells. Here we wanted to investigate whether the inhibition of sTSLP on asthma is related to aerobic glycolysis.

Avasimibe Alleviates Disruption of the Airway Epithelial Barrier by Suppressing the Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathway.

Avasimibe (Ava) is an acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase 1 (ACAT1) specific inhibitor and an established medicine for atherosclerosis, owing to its excellent and safe anti-inflammation effects in humans. However, its efficacy in asthma has not yet been reported. We first administered varying concentrations of avasimibe to house dust mite (HDM)-induced asthmatic mice; results showed that 20 mg/kg avasimibe most significantly reduced IL-4 and IL-5 production in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and total IgE in serum, and the avasimibe treatment also exhibited lower mucus secretion, decreased goblet and basal cells but increased ciliated cells compared to the HDM group.

Biotinylated Lipid-Coated NaLnF Nanoparticles: Demonstrating the Use of Lanthanide Nanoparticle-Based Reporters in Suspension and Imaging Mass Cytometry.

Lanthanide nanoparticles (LnNPs) have the potential to be used as high-sensitivity mass tag reporters in mass cytometry immunoassays. For this application, however, the LnNPs must be made colloidally stable in aqueous buffers, demonstrate minimal non-specific binding to cells, and have functional groups to attach antibodies or other targeting agents. One possible approach to address these requirements is by using lipid coating to modify the surface of the LnNPs.

Response of methanogenic granules enhanced by magnetite to ammonia stress.

Excessive ammonia has an inhibitory effect on anaerobic granular sludge (AnGS) when treating industrial wastewater with high concentration of ammonia and organic matters. The addition of conductive materials has been widely reported to improve the AnGS activity, which has the potential to alleviate the ammonia inhibition. In this study, the addition of magnetite was carried out to enhance the activity of AnGS in UASB reactor, then the response of AnGS to different ammonia levels was investigated.

Magnetic Topological Insulator Heterostructures: A Review.

Topological insulators (TIs) provide intriguing prospects for the future of spintronics due to their large spin-orbit coupling and dissipationless, counter-propagating conduction channels in the surface state. The combination of topological properties and magnetic order can lead to new quantum states including the quantum anomalous Hall effect that was first experimentally realized in Cr-doped (Bi,Sb) Te films. Since magnetic doping can introduce detrimental effects, requiring very low operational temperatures, alternative approaches are explored.

A Silica Coating Approach to Enhance Bioconjugation on Metal-Encoded Polystyrene Microbeads for Bead-Based Assays in Mass Cytometry.

Bead-based assays in flow cytometry are multiplexed analytical techniques that allow rapid and simultaneous detection and quantification of a large number of analytes from small volumes of samples. The development of corresponding bead-based assays in mass cytometry (MC) is highly desirable since it could increase the number of analytes detected in a single assay. The microbeads for these assays have to be labeled with metal isotopes for MC detection.

Kerr effect anomaly in magnetic topological insulator superlattices.

We report the magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) study of magnetic topological insulator superlattice films with alternating transition-metal and rare-earth doping. We observe an unexpected hump in the MOKE hysteresis loops upon magnetization reversal at low temperatures, reminiscent of the topological Hall effect (THE) reported in transport measurements. The THE is commonly associated with the existence of magnetic skyrmions, i.

Role of magnetite in methanogenic degradation of different substances.

For better understanding the role of magnetite in methanation of different substrates, two up-flow anaerobic sludge bed reactors (RM with magnetite; RS with silica) were built using acetate (stage I), propionate + butyrate (stage II), and sucrose (stage III) as the substrates, respectively. RM reactor showed better COD removal efficiency and adaptability to different substrate impacts. More extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) were produced for anaerobic sludge granulation, and the sludge in RM had better intensity, hydrophobicity and electroactivity compared with those in RS.

Exchange Bias in Magnetic Topological Insulator Superlattices.

Magnetic doping and proximity coupling can open a band gap in a topological insulator (TI) and give rise to dissipationless quantum conduction phenomena. Here, by combining these two approaches, we demonstrate a novel TI superlattice structure that is alternately doped with transition and rare earth elements. An unexpected exchange bias effect is unambiguously confirmed in the superlattice with a large exchange bias field using magneto-transport and magneto-optical techniques.