Ultrafast Water Purification by Template-Free Nanoconfined Catalysts Derived from Municipal Sludge.

Nanoconfinement at the interface of heterogeneous Fenton-like catalysts offers promising avenues for advancing oxidation processes in water purification. Herein, we introduce a template-free strategy for synthesizing nanoconfined catalysts from municipal sludge (S-NCCs), specifically engineered to optimize reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and utilization for rapid pollutant degradation. Using selective hydrofluoric acid corrosion, we create an architecture that confines atomically dispersed Fe centers within a micro-mesoporous carbon matrix in situ.

Experimental study on CO huff and puff in the Daqing Fuyu tight oil reservoir with online NMR.

Tight oil is a typical unconventional resource, and enhancing its recovery rate remains a challenge in current development efforts. In this study targeting the Daqing Fuyu tight oil reservoir, we combine a high-temperature and high-pressure long core physical simulation apparatus and a high-temperature and high-pressure online Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) testing system to conduct indoor simulation experiments on CO huff and puff in long cores. The results indicate that in the process, it is primarily the oil from micro-pores that is initially mobilized, but further along mobilization of fluids from a portion of sub-micro-pores and nanopores is enhanced, with an efficiency ranging from 25 to 33 %.

Impact of mandatory environmental information disclosure on the capital cost: Evidence from listed companies in China.

Mandatory environmental information disclosure is characterized by formal environmental regulation and that the content of the disclosure promotes public participation and oversight in the environmental field. This paper studies the impact of mandatory environmental information disclosure (EID) enforcement in China on corporate capital cost using a difference-in-difference model. The results indicate that mandatory EID increases debt capital cost, but has no significant impact on equity capital cost, which differs from mainstream research that suggest EID can reduce capital cost.

Enhancing the Electrochemical Energy Storage of Metal-Organic Frameworks: Linker Engineering and Size Optimization.

The electric conductivity and charge transport efficiency of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) dictate the effective utilization of built-in redox centers and electrochemical redox kinetics and therefore electrochemical performance. Reticular chemistry and the tunable microcosmic shape of MOFs allow for improving their electric conductivity and charge transfer efficiency. Herein, we synthesized two Ni-MOFs (Ni-tdc-bpy and Ni-tdc-bpe) by the solvothermal reaction of Ni ions with 2,5-thiophenedicarboxylic acid (Htdc) in the presence of conjugated 4,4'-bipyridyl (bpy) and 1,2-di(4-pyridyl)ethylene (bpe) coligands, respectively.

Advances in tumor immunotherapy targeting macrophages.

Introduction: In recent years, immunotherapy has shown significant therapeutic potential in patients with advanced tumors. However, only a small number of individuals benefit, mainly due to the tumor microenvironment (TME), which provides conditions for the development of tumors. Macrophages in TME, known as tumor-associated macrophages (TAM), are mainly divided into M1 anti-tumor and M2 pro-tumor phenotypes, which play a regulatory role in various stages of tumorigenesis, promote tumorigenesis and metastasis, and cause immunotherapy resistance.

Everyone is searching for it and those who acquired it enjoy better mental health: a latent profile analysis of Chinese adolescents' meaning in life.

Objective: One factor associated with rising rates of depression and anxiety among youth is a lack of meaning in life (MIL). The importance of living a meaningful and purposeful life cannot be overstressed, especially for adolescents who are in a critical life stage and have recently experienced a 3-year-long global health crisis, namely the COVID-19 pandemic. Although previous studies have examined adolescents' MIL, the majority of them adopted a variable-centered approach.

Intermolecular Forces-Oriented Growth of MOF-on-MOF Heterostructures.

Well-controlled conjugation of distinct metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with dissimilar components and structures into a multi-component MOF system is important for the design of myriad materials with structural complexity, integrated properties, and desired applications. Herein, we developed an interesting integration strategy that relies on intermolecular force, and which can overcome the difference in lattice parameters. The strategy uses the pre-formed MOF matrixes as seeds to direct the self-assembly of secondary MOF particles for the construction of hybrid MOFs.

Tanshinone I inhibits the functions of T lymphocytes and exerts therapeutic effects on delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction via blocking STATs signaling pathways.

Delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactions are a kind of chronic inflammatory diseases initiated by antigens and antigen-specific T cells. Currently, the therapy of DTH reactions is limited by the poor curative effects and serious adverse reactions of existing agents. In this study, we investigated the regulatory effects of tanshinone Ⅰ, a natural compound isolated from Salvia miltiorrhiza, on the functions of multiple immune cells and its therapeutic effects on DNFB-induced DTH reaction, and then explored its immunosuppressive mechanisms.

Baricitinib inhibits the activation of innate immune cells and exerts therapeutic effects on acute peritonitis and systemic inflammatory response syndrome.

Timely treatment of acute inflammatory diseases induced by bacteria or fungi is essential to prevent infectious damage. Baricitinib is an inhibitor of Janus kinases (JAKs) which was approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis, atoptic dermatitis, and alopecia areata. It is also known that JAKs play important roles in innate immunity and inflammatory response.

Enhancing photothermal therapy of tumors with image-guided thermal control of gene-expressing bacteria.

Bacteria-mediated tumor therapy has showed promising potential for cancer therapy. However, the efficacy of bacterial monotherapy treatment which can express and release therapeutic proteins in tumors has been found to be unsatisfactory. To date, synergistic therapy has emerged as a promising approach to achieve stronger therapeutic outcomes compared to bacterial monotherapy.

Chemical-Assisted CO Water-Alternating-Gas Injection for Enhanced Sweep Efficiency in CO-EOR.

CO-enhanced oil recovery (CO-EOR) is a crucial method for CO utilization and sequestration, representing an important zero-carbon or even negative-carbon emission reduction technology. However, the low viscosity of CO and reservoir heterogeneity often result in early gas breakthrough, significantly reducing CO utilization and sequestration efficiency. A water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection is a technique for mitigating gas breakthrough and viscous fingering in CO-EOR.

Ozone modification of waxy rice starch nanocrystals: Effects on the multi-scale structural and surface properties.

The rich active hydroxyl groups on starch nanocrystals (SNC) surface limits its dispersion and stability in the aqueous phase. To address this issue, ozone modification for 0 (SNC), 0.5 (SNC-1), 1 (SNC-2), 1.

Advances in the application of gas vesicles in medical imaging and disease treatment.

The gas vesicle (GV) is like a hollow nanoparticle consisting of an internal gas and a protein shell, which mainly consists of hydrophobic gas vesicle protein A (GvpA) and GvpC attached to the surface. GVs, first discovered in cyanobacteria, are mainly produced by photosynthetic bacteria (PSB) and halophilic archaea. After being modified and engineered, GVs can be utilized as contrast agents, delivery carriers, and immunological boosters for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment with good results due to their tiny size, strong stability and non-toxicity advantages.

A Heterogeneous Viscosity Flow Model for Liquid Transport through Nanopores Considering Pore Size and Wettability.

The confinement effect in micro- and nanopores gives rise to distinct flow characteristics in fluids. Clarifying the fluid migration pattern in confined space is crucial for understanding and explaining the abnormal flow phenomena in unconventional reservoirs. In this study, flow characteristics of water and oil in alumina nanochannels were investigated with diameters ranging from 21 nm to 120 nm, and a heterogeneous viscosity flow model considering boundary fluid was proposed.

RH20, a phase-separated RNA helicase protein, facilitates plant resistance to viruses.

RNA silencing, a conserved gene regulatory mechanism, is critical for host resistance to viruses. Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) is an important mechanism in regulating various biological processes. Emerging studies suggest RNA helicases play important roles in microRNA (miRNA) production through LLPS.

Progression in low-intensity ultrasound-induced tumor radiosensitization.

Background: Radiotherapy (RT) is a widely utilized tumor treatment approach, while a significant obstacle in this treatment modality is the radioresistance exhibited by tumor cells. To enhance the effectiveness of RT, scientists have explored radiosensitization approaches, including the use of radiosensitizers and physical stimuli. Nevertheless, several approaches have exhibited disappointing results including adverse effects and limited efficacy.

Unraveling distinct effects between CuO and PtCu alloy sites in Pt-Cu bimetallic catalysts for CO oxidation at different temperatures.

In situ exploration of the dynamic structure evolution of catalysts plays a key role in revealing reaction mechanisms and designing efficient catalysts. In this work, PtCu/MgO catalysts, synthesized via the co-impregnation method, outperforms monometallic Pt/MgO and Cu/MgO. Utilizing quasi/in-situ characterization techniques, it is discovered that there is an obvious structural evolution over PtCu/MgO from PtCuO oxide cluster to PtCu alloy with surface CuO species under different redox and CO oxidation reaction conditions.

The potential of vascular normalization for sensitization to radiotherapy.

Radiotherapy causes apoptosis mainly through direct or indirect damage to DNA via ionizing radiation, leading to DNA strand breaks. However, the efficacy of radiotherapy is attenuated in malignant tumor microenvironment (TME), such as hypoxia. Tumor vasculature, due to the imbalance of various angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors, leads to irregular morphology of tumor neovasculature, disordered arrangement of endothelial cells, and too little peripheral coverage.

Effects of O, S, and P in transition-metal compounds on the adsorption and catalytic ability of sulfur cathodes in lithium-sulfur batteries.

Transition-metal compounds (TMCs) have recently become promising candidates as lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery cathode materials because they have unique adsorption and catalytic properties. However, the relationship between the anionic species and performance has not been sufficiently revealed. Herein, using FeCoNiX (X = O, S, and P) compounds as examples, we systematically studied the effects of the anion composition of FeCoNiX compounds on the adsorption and catalytic abilities of sulfur cathodes in Li-S batteries.