Publications by authors named "Kean Wang"

Thyroid hormone receptors (THRs), a crucial nuclear receptor protein family, primarily consist of two categories: receptors and receptors. Among them, THR is the primary subtype of thyroid hormone that confers benefits to the liver. In the last two decades, there have been efforts to develop THR agonists that selectively yield beneficial effects on the liver, such as lowering triglycerides and cholesterol, while reducing adverse effects on the heart, muscle, and bone.

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Energy-efficient separation of light alkanes from alkenes is considered as one of the most important separations of the chemical industry today due to the high energy penalty associated with the applied conventional cryogenic technologies. This study introduces fluorine-doped activated carbon adsorbents, where elemental fluorine incorporation into the carbon matrix plays a unique role in achieving high ethane selectivity. This enhanced selectivity arises from specific interactions between surface-doped fluorine atoms and ethane molecules, coupled with porosity modulation.

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The use of nanomaterials to improve plant immunity for sustainable agriculture is gaining increasing attention; yet, the mechanisms involved remain unclear. In contrast to metal-based counterparts, carbon-based nanomaterials do not release components. Determining how these carbon-based nanomaterials strengthen the resistance of plants to diseases is essential as well as whether shape influences this process.

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Iodide ions from radioactive iodine isotopes are common contaminants present in nuclear wastewater from nuclear power plants which are considered hazardous contaminants to be released in water sources even at low concentrations due to their association with metabolic disorders, therefore its removal from the nuclear wastewater effluents is necessary. Chitosan beads are natural and cost-efficient adsorbents that have been used for ion removal from wastewater. However, issues of poor selectivity persist in achieving high-efficiency iodide ion removal.

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Article Synopsis
  • Methyl formate (MF) is a key chemical compound used in various applications and its electrosynthesis is gaining popularity due to its environmental benefits.
  • This study introduces a new electrosynthesis method for MF using a halide-containing methanol solution, revealing a specific reaction mechanism involving aldehyde and methoxy bromide.
  • The process boasts high efficiency, consistently achieving around 60% faradaic efficiency for MF production and 100% efficiency for hydrogen gas generation, making it superior to other synthesis methods.
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  • The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide is crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but improvements in efficiency are needed, especially in the anodic oxygen evolution reaction.
  • A new bifunctional catalyst, CuS/TiO, has been developed that efficiently conducts both methanol oxidation and carbon dioxide reduction, enhancing the production of formate.
  • This catalyst achieved a remarkable total Faradaic efficiency of approximately 170%, with 70% from cathodic carbon dioxide reduction and nearly 100% from anodic methanol oxidation.
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  • A new, efficient metal-free N-doped carbon electrocatalyst was created using a one-pot pyrolysis method from a lone Zn(II)-MOF with a combination of azolate and terephthalate ligands.
  • The electrocatalyst showed impressive performance with an onset potential of 0.88 V (RHE) in a 0.1 M KOH solution and 0.79 V (RHE) in a 0.5 M HSO solution.
  • This work highlights the catalyst as one of the top-performing metal-free options for the acidic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).
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Mn-N-C materials have received increasing interest in recent years because of their low Fenton reactivity and ORR activity comparable to those of their Fe-N-C and Co-N-C counterparts. In this contribution, an atomically dispersed Mn-N-C electrocatalyst with a prominent oxygen reduction performance was constructed by employing a cationic Cd-MOF as a precursor that can facilely and accurately introduce MnO anions through anion exchange. The best-performing Mn-N-C catalyst displays a 0.

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Melatonin is an important and widespread plant hormone. However, the underlying physiological and molecular mechanisms of melatonin as a secondary messenger in improving cold tolerance by selenium are limited. This study investigated the effects of selenite on the cold stress of cucumber seedlings.

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This paper reviewed the recent progress on a number of important natural/biomass materials (fibers, leaves, woods, nutshells, algae, and sands, etc.) for the separation of oily water mixture/emulsions. Experiments were conducted with desert pristine sand samples, which were collected, sieved, characterized and tested for the separation of two surfactant-stabilized oil in water (O/W) emulsions in a simple cross-flow sand bed filter under the simulated natural gravity.

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Long-term continuous cropping is a common practice in facility vegetable production, which has an adverse effect on cucumber yield and quality. Soil fungi are of great significance for creating a normal soil ecological environment. However, the impact of continuous cropping on cucumber quality and soil fungal community has yet to be understood.

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Reasonable application of microbial agents can significantly improve soil environment and increase the yield and quality of vegetables. In this study, we examined the effects of different forms of microbial agents on the growth and quality of L. ssp.

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Strong US-China collaboration on health and medicine is a crucial element of the global effort against COVID-19. We review the history of health collaboration and exchanges between the public and private sectors in the USA and China, including the long-lasting collaboration between governmental public health agencies of the two countries. Academic and scientific exchanges should be reinvigorated and the increasing valuable role of non-profit foundations acknowledged.

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Cadmium (Cd) pollution in plastic shed soils has become increasingly severe, posing a great threat to human health and social stability. Phytoremediation of cadmium pollution is an environmentally friendly and inexpensive remediation method. In this study, maize (Zea mays L.

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Shandong is one of the main areas for protected vegetable cultivation in China. A total of 88.5% of the facility soil samples had a pH between 7.

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Hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticle-reinforced chitosan composites are biocompatible and biodegradable structural materials that are used as biomaterials in tissue engineering. However, in order for these materials to function effectively as intended, e.g.

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China is the epicenter of the global tobacco epidemic. China grows more tobacco, produces more cigarettes, makes more profits from tobacco and has more smokers than any other nation in the world. Approximately one million smokers in China die annually from diseases caused by smoking, and this estimate is expected to reach over two million by 2020.

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The currently applied disinfection methods during water treatment provide effective solutions to kill pathogens, but also generate harmful byproducts, which are required to be treated with additional efforts. In this work, an alternative and safer water disinfection system consisting of silver nanoparticle/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (Ag/MWNTs) coated on a polyacrylonitrile (PAN) hollow fiber membrane, Ag/MWNTs/PAN, has been developed. Silver nanoparticles of controlled sizes were coated on polyethylene glycol-grafted MWNTs.

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We report the synthesis and activation of colloidal carbon nanospheres (CNS) for adsorption of Ag(I) ions from aqueous solutions. CNS (400-500 nm in diameter) was synthesized via simple hydrothermal treatment of glucose solution. The surface of nonporous CNS after being activated by NaOH was enriched with -OH and -COO(-) functional groups.

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Despite unique and useful properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) such as high strength and a low synthesis cost, their weak antimicrobial property hampers their use as an antimicrobial material. Herein, we demonstrate that the immobilization of nisin, a natural and inexpensive antimicrobial peptide, with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG(1000)) as a linker significantly enhanced the antimicrobial and anti-biofilm properties of MWNTs. The MWNT-nisin composite showed up to 7-fold higher antimicrobial property than pristine MWNTs against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the incorporation of three types of hydrophilic nanofillers (natural and synthetic layered silicate and octaammonium POSS) into polyamide-6 using a solution-mixing method.
  • Characterization techniques like X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy showed that these nanocomposites had increased surface hydrophilicity and free energy, influenced by the type of nanofiller and how well it was dispersed.
  • Exfoliated layered silicates improved hydrophilicity more than aggregated ones, while aggregated POSS also significantly enhanced water spreading on the surfaces, highlighting the importance of interfacial interactions.
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Hybrid films of a layered silicate and an amphiphilic alkylammonium (hexadecyltrimethylammonium) cation have been prepared by Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) method and transferred onto a polyamide surface by dip coating. This is the first time that stable LB hybrid monolayer and multilayer films have been formed on rough polymeric surfaces. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and water contact angle measurements.

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Objective: To assess the effectiveness of complementary food supplements with protein and multi-micronutrients on hemoglobin and anemia in infants and young children.

Methods: In 5 poor counties of Gansu, 984 children aged 6-12 months were enrolled and divided into two groups. In addition to the usual home-made complementary food, all the children were fed one sachet of either Formula I or Formula II supplements each day.

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On the basis of experimental breakthrough curves of lead ion adsorption on ETS-10 particles in a fixed-bed column, we simulated the breakthrough curves using the two-phase homogeneous diffusion model (TPHDM). Three important model parameters, namely the external mass-transfer coefficient (k(f)), effective intercrystal diffusivity (D(e)), and axial dispersion coefficient (D(L)), were optimally found to be 8.33x10(-5) m/s, 2.

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The rapidly expanding use of chitomaterials in biomedical applications demands accurate and precise analytical methods to determine physico-chemical characteristics, especially the acetyl content of the sample. The analytical methods available for the determination of the acetyl content of the biomaterials are quite different in efficiency, accuracy and precision. Out of 22 analytical methods reviewed, XRD, DSC, FTIR (KBr pellet), solid state (13)C CP/MAS NMR, and acid hydrolysis-HPLC and the spectrophotometry assay using phosphoric acid as solvent (PUV) were selected in this study.

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