Zn-Doped MnCO3/CS Composite Photocatalyst for Visible-Light-Driven Decomposition of Organic Pollutants.

Zn-doped MnCO3/carbon sphere (Zn-doped MnCO3/CS) composites were synthesized using a simple hydrothermal procedure. Among various samples (ZM-50, ZM-05, and ZMC-0), the ternary Zn-doped MnCO3/CS (ZMC-2) catalyst demonstrated excellent visible light-induced photocatalytic activity. This improvement comes from the Zn addition and the conductive CS, which facilitate electron movement and charge transport. The catalyst exhibited efficient degradation of methylene blue (MB) over a wide pH range, achieving a removal efficiency of 99.6% under visible light. Radical trapping experiments suggested that •OH and •O2- played essential roles in the mechanism of organic pollutant degradation. Moreover, the catalyst maintained good degradation performance after five cycles. This study offers valuable perspectives into the fabrication of carbon-based composites with promising photocatalytic activity.

Development and application of a multi-task oriented deep learning model for quantifying drivers of air pollutant variations: A case study in Taiyuan, China.

Quantitative assessment of the drivers behind the variation of six criteria pollutants, namely fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM10), and carbon monoxide (CO), in the warming climate will be critical for subsequent decision-making. Here, a novel hybrid model of multi-task oriented CNN-BiLSTM-Attention was proposed and performed in Taiyuan during 2015-2020 to synchronously and quickly quantify the impact of anthropogenic and meteorological factors on the six criteria pollutants variations. Empirical results revealed the residential and transportation sectors distinctly decreased SO2 by 25 % and 22 % and CO by 12 % and 10 %. Gradual downward trends for PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 were mainly ascribed to the stringent measures implemented in transportation and power sectors as part of the Blue Sky Defense War, which were further reinforced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, temperature-dependent adverse meteorological effects (27 %) and anthropogenic intervention (12 %) jointly increased O3 by 39 %. The O3-driven pollution events may be inevitable or even become more prominent under climate warming. The industrial (5 %) and transportation sectors (6 %) were mainly responsible for the anthropogenic-driven increase of O3 and precursor NO2, respectively. Synergistic reduction of precursors (VOCs and NOx) from industrial and transportation sectors requires coordination with climate actions to mitigate the temperature-dependent O3-driven pollution, thereby improving regional air quality. Meanwhile, the proposed model is expected to be applied flexibly in various regions to quantify the drivers of the pollutant variations in a warming climate, with the potential to offer valuable insights for improving regional air quality in near future.

Identification of immunosenescence of unconventional T cells in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Accumulation of senescent cells is a recognized feature in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but their specific types and prognostic implications remain under investigation. This study aimed to delineate senescent cell types and their senescent patterns in HCC using publicly available bulk and single-cell mRNA sequencing data. Through gene expression and gene set enrichment analysis, we identified distinct senescent patterns within HCC samples. Notably, unconventional T cells, specifically natural killer T cells and γδT cells, were found to be the predominant senescent cell types. These cells exhibited enriched pathways related to DNA damage, senescence and the negative regulation of lymphocyte activation. Furthermore, we observed upregulation of the mTOR signaling pathway, which correlated positively with the expression of senescence-associated genes. This suggests a potential regulatory role for mTOR in the senescence of HCC. Strikingly, patients with elevated expression of senescence markers, including p16INK4A, p21, and GLB1, demonstrated significantly reduced overall survival rates. Our findings indicate that immunosenescence in unconventional T cells may play a role in HCC progression. The potential therapeutic implications of targeting the mTOR pathway or eliminating senescent unconventional T cells warrant further exploration to improve HCC patient outcomes.

Construction of a mitophagy-related prognostic signature for predicting prognosis and tumor microenvironment in lung adenocarcinoma.

Background: Mitophagy is the selective degradation of mitochondria by autophagy. It becomes increasingly clear that mitophagy pathways are important for cancer cells to adapt to their high-energy needs. However, which genes associated with mitophagy could be used to prognosis cancer is unknown. Methods: We created a clinical prognostic model using mitophagy-related genes (MRGs) in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients for the first time, and we employed bioinformatics methods to search for biomarkers that affect the progression and prognosis of LUAD. Transcriptome data for LUAD were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, and additional expression data from LUAD patients were sourced from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Furthermore, 25 complete MRGs were identified based on annotations from the MSigDB database. Results: A comparison of the mitophagy scores between the groups with high and low scores was done using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, which also revealed the differential gene expression patterns between the two groups. Using Kaplan-Meier analysis, two prognostic MRGs from the groups with high and low mitophagy scores were identified: TOMM40 and VDAC1. Using univariate and multivariate Cox regression, the relationship between the expression levels of these two genes and prognostic clinical features of LUAD was examined further.The prognosis of LUAD patients was shown to be significantly correlated (P < 0.05) with the expression levels of these two genes. Conclusions: Our prognostic model would improve the prognosis of LUAD and guide clinical treatments.

Correlation of common inflammatory cytokines with cognition impairment, anxiety, and depression in acute ischemic stroke patients

Abstract Inflammatory cytokines are related to cognitive function and psychiatric disorders in patients with several diseases. However, few relevant studies have been performed on acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the correlation of common inflammatory cytokines with cognition impairment, anxiety, and depression in AIS patients. Common inflammatory cytokines of 176 AIS patients (including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and IL-17) were measured using Human Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay Kits. Cognition impairment (Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)), anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale for anxiety (HADS-A)), and depression (HADS-D) were evaluated. The incidence of cognition impairment, anxiety, and depression was 43.2, 39.2, and 31.2%, respectively. TNF-α and IL-6 were negatively associated with MMSE score, and high TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 were correlated with cognition impairment occurrence. In addition, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-17 were positively associated with HADS-A score, while only high TNF-α was associated with anxiety occurrence. Furthermore, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-17 were positively associated with HADS-D score, while high IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-17 correlated with depression occurrence. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that TNF-α and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score ≥5 were associated with high risk of cognition impairment; TNF-α, IL-17, unemployed before surgery, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease (CKD) correlated with high anxiety occurrence. Furthermore, IL-17, divorced/widowed/single status, diabetes, and NIHSS score ≥5 were associated with high risk of depression. In conclusion, common inflammatory cytokines including TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-17 were related to cognition impairment, anxiety, or depression in AIS patients.