Analysis of reaction pathways and catalytic sites on metal-free porous biochar for persulfate activation process.

To develop a metal-free biochar with high and inherent catalytic activity towards refractory and highly toxic contaminants in advanced oxidation processes, it is necessary to explore its reaction pathways and responsible catalytic sites. Herein, a metal-free biochar derived from corn cob (CCBC) was prepared and used for reaction pathway analysis during peroxydisulfate (PDS) activation. The pyrolysis temperature played an important role for regulating the biochar structure and properties, and CCBC obtained at 800 °C showed the best adsorption capacity and catalytic activity towards five typical organic pollutants, including 2, 4-dichlorophenol, Tetracycline hydrochloride, Ciprofloxacin, Methyl orange and Rhodamine B, due to its richer pore and defect structure.

Noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B carriers with sound touch elastography: study of surgical pathology specimens.

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of sound touch elastography (STE) for staging liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients using pathological stage of surgical specimens as the reference standard.

Method: 239 CHB patients were included. Liver stiffness measurements (LSMs) on STE and Supersonic shear imaging (SSI), gamma glutamyl transferase-to-platelet ratio (GPR), aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) and four-factor Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index were obtained.

Synthesis of remote fluoroalkylated alkenes by a palladium-catalyzed relay Heck-type reaction.

Herein, we report a palladium-catalyzed relay Heck-type reaction of fluoroalkyl bromide and terminal alkenes. The reaction involves fluoroalkylation of alkenes and migration of double bonds via a 1,5-hydrogen atom transfer strategy. Through this method, a series of remote fluoroalkylated alkenes was obtained under mild conditions.

In-situ self-assembly construction of hollow tubular g-CN isotype heterojunction for enhanced visible-light photocatalysis: Experiments and theories.

A highly reactive hollow tubular g-CN isotype heterojunction (SCN-CN) was designed to enhance visible light absorption and manipulate the directed transfer of electrons and holes. The results of UV-vis DRS, XPS valence band and DFT theoretical calculations indicated S doping increases the visible-light absorption capacity and changed the ba nd gap structure of g-CN (CN), resulting in the transfer of electrons from the CN to the SCN and holes from the SCN to the CN under visible light. In addition, the tubular structure of the SCN-CN facilitated the transfer of electrons in the longitudinal direction, which reduced charge carrier recombination.

Visible light-activated self-powered photoelectrochemical aptasensor for ultrasensitive chloramphenicol detection based on DFT-proved Z-scheme AgCrO/g-CN/graphene oxide.

A visible light self-powered photoelectrochemical (PEC) aptasensor based on silver chromate particles, graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets and graphene oxide sheets (AgCrO/g-CN/GO) for the ultrasensitive detection of chloramphenicol (CAP) was reported in this work. g-CN was considered to be the fundamental photoelectric material because of its great oxidation ability of photogenerated hole as well as excellent biocompatibility and low toxicity. However, the narrow light absorption range and rapid carrier recombination rate limit the application of pure g-CN.

Two-Dimensional GeTe: Air Stability and Photocatalytic Performance for Hydrogen Evolution.

As a key method to convert solar into chemical energy, photocatalytic water decomposition has garnered attention. Moreover, the development of graphene and graphene-like two-dimensional (2D) materials has brought fresh vitality in the field of photocatalysis. Here, we prepared two to four layers of GeTe nanosheets by ultrasonic-assisted liquid-phase exfoliation in argon and air, which we referred to as Ar-GeTe and O-GeTe, respectively.

Varicose vein on right tibia, post-traumatic varicose ulcer, and bone exposure: A case report.

Varicose ulcer, a severe symptom of chronic venous insufficiency, may be refractory to treatment when accompanied by bone exposure. The lack of a blood supply and fresh granulation tissue on the exposed bone can result in a protracted healing time. A 59-year-old man suffered from varicose veins for 10 years, a varicose ulcer for 1 year, and an exposed right tibia for 40 days after using traditional Chinese medicinal plasters.

Au/CeO/g-CN heterostructures: Designing a self-powered aptasensor for ultrasensitive detection of Microcystin-LR by density functional theory.

Quantum-sized cerium dioxide (CeO) show high catalytic capability as well as strong light absorption ability owing to its redox couple Ce/Ce and abundant oxygen vacancies, which making it a potential material for designing superior photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensors. However, it has scarcely been applied in the field of PEC sensing, because its wide band gap and aggregation effect can restrict the photoelectric conversion efficiency. Herein, we address these two obstacles by coupling CeO quantum dots (QDs) with graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) and Au nanoparticles (NPs).

The characteristics of lymphocytes in patients positive for anti-MDA5 antibodies in interstitial lung disease.

Objective: The aim was to investigate the characteristics of blood lymphocytes in patients positive for anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 antibodies (anti-MDA5+) in interstitial lung disease.

Methods: Thirty-eight anti-MDA5+ patients with interstitial lung disease were admitted to our hospital, and the lymphocyte count, lymphocyte subtypes and lung high-resolution CT were recorded. Some of the cases were examined by bone marrow aspiration.

Comparative assessment of L. genotypes for phytoavoidation of nitrate, cadmium and lead in multi-pollutant field.

Information is needed for comparative assessment and agronomic practices for phytoavoidation in multi-pollutant field. A field study was conducted to explore 97 L. genotypes with permissible limit of contaminants growing in a severely Cd, moderately nitrate and slightly Pb multi-polluted field.

Fava bean intercropping with Sedum alfredii inoculated with endophytes enhances phytoremediation of cadmium and lead co-contaminated field.

Phytoremediation coupled with agro-production is considered a sustainable strategy for remediation of trace element contaminated fields without interrupting crop production. In this study hyperaccumulator Sedum alfredii was intercropped with a leguminous plant fava bean (Vicia fava) in cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) co-contaminated field to evaluate the effects of intercropping on growth performance and accumulations of trace elements in plants with plant growth promoting endophyte (PGPE) consortium application. The results showed, compared with monoculture, intercropping coupled with inoculation application promoted biomass as well as Cd and Pb concentrations in individual parts of both plants, thus increasing the removal efficiencies of trace elements (4.

Removal of Sb(III) by sulfidated nanoscale zerovalent iron: The mechanism and impact of environmental conditions.

Pollution of Sb(III) in water has caused great concern in recent years. Nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) can detoxify Sb(III) polluted water, but the rapid passivation and low adsorption capacity limit its practical application. Hence, this study provides a new and efficient nanotechnology to remove Sb(III) using the sulfidated nanoscale zero-valent iron (S-nZVI).

Extracellular electron transfer leading to the biological mediated production of reduced graphene oxide.

To explore a green, low-cost, and efficient strategy to synthesis reduced graphene oxide (RGO), the process and mechanism of the graphene oxide (GO) reduction by a model electrochemically active bacteria (EAB), Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA, were studied. In this work, up to 1.0 mg mL of GO was reduced by G.

A highly hydrophilic benzenesulfonic-grafted graphene oxide-based hybrid membrane for ethanol dehydration.

A new type of hybrid membrane was prepared by blending sodium alginate (SA) with benzenesulfonic-grafted graphene oxide (BS@GO), which showed higher hydrophilicity and more defects or edges than GO to create channels for the transfer of water molecules. BS@GO was synthesized by reacting aryl diazonium salts with graphene oxide (GO). The BS@GO sheets were aligned parallelly to the membrane surface and affected the interactions between the SA chains.

Acellular pericardium: A naturally hierarchical, osteoconductive, and osteoinductive biomaterial for guided bone regeneration.

There is great demand for an improved barrier membrane with osteogenic potential for guided bone regeneration (GBR). Natural acellular porcine pericardium (APP) is increasingly used in regenerative medicine as a kind of common extracellular matrix materials. This study aimed to investigate its potential application in GBR, especially its osteoconductive and osteoinductive properties.

Evaluating upper limb function after stroke using the free-living accelerometer data.

Accelerometer devices are becoming efficient tools in clinical studies for automatically measuring the activities of daily living. Such data provides a time series describing activity level at every second and displays a subject's activity pattern throughout a day. However, the analysis of such data is very challenging due to the large number of observations produced each second and the variability among subjects.

Covalent organic framework photocatalysts: structures and applications.

In the light of increasing energy demand and environmental pollution, it is urgently required to find a clean and renewable energy source. In these years, photocatalysis that uses solar energy for either fuel production, such as hydrogen evolution and hydrocarbon production, or environmental pollutant degradation, has shown great potential to achieve this goal. Among the various photocatalysts, covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are very attractive due to their excellent structural regularity, robust framework, inherent porosity and good activity.

SOX9 interacts with FOXC1 to activate MYC and regulate CDK7 inhibitor sensitivity in triple-negative breast cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is particularly sensitive to cyclin-dependent kinase 7 inhibitor, THZ1, compared to hormone receptor (HR)+ breast cancer, but our data found that different TNBC cell lines had a wide range of IC values of THZ1, suggesting a possible heterogeneity in sensitivity to THZ1 in TNBC. To seek potential biomarkers of THZ1 sensitivity, we re-analyzed the mRNAs profile in breast cancer cells treated with THZ1 from the previous study and demonstrated that elevated expression of SOX9 was significantly associated with the sensitivity of THZ1 in TNBC. We also verified that SOX9 expression promoted cell proliferation, migration, stemness, and predicted poor prognosis.

Exposure to pyrimethanil induces developmental toxicity and cardiotoxicity in zebrafish.

Pyrimethanil is a broad-spectrum fungicide commonly used in the prevention and treatment of Botrytis cinerea. However, little information is available in the literature to show the toxicity of Pyrimethanil to cardiac development. In this study, we used an experimental animal model to explore the developmental and cardiac toxicity of Pyrimethanil in aquatic vertebrates; we exposed zebrafish embryos to Pyrimethanil at concentrations of 2, 4, and 6 mg/L from 5.