Effect of the defoliant tribufos on the reproductive ability of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica).

As a cotton defoliator, tribufos (S,S,S-tributyl phosphorotrithioate) is widespread in the environment. It can cause neurotoxicity in chickens, reproductive toxicity in rats, and can also cause headaches and nausea in humans. However, little is known about its impact on the reproduction of birds. Here, by analyzing the differences in reproductive indexs and histopathological characteristics, we investigated the chronic effects of 32 mg a.i./kg, 160 mg a.i./kg and 800 mg a.i./kg tribufos treatment on the reproductive ability of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). The results indicated that 32 mg a.i./kg and 160 mg a.i./kg tribufos treatment significantly reduced the food intake of quails, significantly increased the broken egg rate, and had adverse effects on gonads and liver tissue. The 160 mg a.i./kg tribufos treatment also significantly reduced the average egg production. Moreover, 800 mg a.i./kg treatment had significant negative effects on feed intake (FI), body weight (BW), eggshell thickness, egg production (EP), fertilization rate, hatchability and progeny 14-d survival rate, and it also significantly increased the broken egg rate. In addition, tribufos exposure caused lesions in quail gonads and liver tissue. Overall, our results revealed that tribufos had adverse effects on the reproductive ability of Japanese quail, especially at high concentrations.

Co-Culture of White Rot Fungi Pleurotus ostreatus P5 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens B2: A Strategy to Enhance Lipopeptide Production and Suppress of Fusarium Wilt of Cucumber.

Fusarium wilt, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumerinum (FOC), poses a serious threat to cucumber productivity. Compared to traditional chemical pesticides, biological control strategies have attracted more attention recently owing to their effectiveness against pathogens and their environmental safety. This study investigated the effect of white rot fungi Pleurotus ostreatus P5 on the production of cyclic lipopeptides (CLPs) of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens B2 and the potential co-culture filtrate of strains B2 and P5 to control cucumber Fusarium wilt. A PCR amplification of CLP genes revealed that B. amyloliquefaciens B2 had two antibiotic biosynthesis genes, namely, ituA and srf, which are involved in iturin A and surfactin synthesis. Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) revealed that CLPs derived from strain B2 contained two families, iturin A (C14, C15) and surfactin (C12-C17). The co-culture exhibited an enhanced accumulation of iturin A and surfactin compared to the monoculture of strain B2. Furthermore, the gene expressions of ituA and srf were both significantly upregulated when co-cultured with the fungus compared to monocultures. In an in vitro experiment, the co-culture filtrate and monoculture filtrate of B. amyloliquefaciens B2 inhibited mycelial growth by 48.2% and 33.2%, respectively. In a greenhouse experiment, the co-culture filtrate was superior to the monoculture filtrate in controlling cucumber Fusarium wilt disease and in the promotion of plant growth. Co-culture filtrate treatment significantly enhanced the microbial metabolic activity and decreased the abundance of FOC in the rhizosphere soil. These results show that the co-culture of P. ostreatus P5 and B. amyloliquefaciens B2 has great potential in cucumber Fusarium wilt disease prevention by enhancing the production of bacterial CLPs.

Phase Engineering of Intermetallic PtBi2 Nanoplates for Formic Acid Electrochemical Oxidation.

Phase engineering of Pt-based intermetallic catalysts has been demonstrated as a promising strategy to optimize catalytic properties for a direct formic acid fuel cell. Pt-Bi intermetallic catalysts are attracting increasing interest due to their high catalytic activity, especially for inhibiting CO poisoning. However, the phase transformation and synthesis of intermetallic compounds usually occurring at high temperatures leads to a lack of control of the size and composition. Here, we report the synthesis of intermetallic ß-PtBi2 and γ-PtBi2 two-dimensional nanoplates with controlled sizes and compositions under mild conditions. The different phases of intermetallic PtBi2 can significantly affect the catalytic performance of the formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR). The obtained ß-PtBi2 nanoplates exhibit an excellent mass activity of 1.1 ± 0.01 A mgPt-1 for the FAOR, which is 30-fold higher than that of commercial Pt/C catalysts. Moreover, intermetallic PtBi2 demonstrates high tolerance to CO poisoning, as confirmed by in situ infrared absorption spectroscopy.

Functionalized Titanium-Based MOF for Cr(VI) Removal from Wastewater.

The removal of toxic Cr(VI) is a hot topic in the environmental remediation field. In this work, a Ti-based metal-organic framework (MOF) (MIL-125(Ti)-NH2) was successfully functionalized by introducing amidoxime groups for the first time. The functionalized material (MIL-125(Ti)-AO) exhibited excellent Cr(VI) adsorption performance with a maximum adsorption capacity of 271 mg·g-1 according to Langmuir fitting. More importantly, during the adsorption process, Cr(VI) could be simultaneously reduced to less toxic Cr(III) species, and the residual concentration of chromium in the treated water was below the drinking water limit (0.05 mg·L-1) recommended by WHO. The effects of initial pH, contact time, and the initial concentration of Cr(VI) and the presence of competitive ions on the Cr(VI) adsorption performance of MIL-125(Ti)-AO were systematically investigated. The excellent Cr(VI) removal performance of MIL-125(Ti)-AO was attributed to the synergistic effects of simultaneous adsorption of Cr(VI) and Cr(III) by a [Ti-O] bond when Cr(VI) was reduced to Cr(III) by amidoxime groups.

Surface and Interface Engineering for the Catalysts of Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction.

The massive use of fossil fuels releases a great amount of CO2 , which substantially contributes to the global warming. For the global goal of putting CO2 emission under control, effective utilization of CO2 is particularly meaningful. Electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (eCO2 RR) has great potential in CO2 utilization, because it can convert CO2 into valuable carbon-containing chemicals and feedstock using renewable electricity. The catalyst design for eCO2 RR is a key challenge to achieving efficient conversion of CO2 to fuels and useful chemicals. For a typical heterogeneous catalyst, surface and interface engineering is an effective approach to enhance reaction activity. Herein, the development and research progress in CO2 catalysts with focus on surface and interface engineering are reviewed. First, the fundaments of eCO2 RR is briefly discussed from the reaction mechanism to performance evaluation methods, introducing the role of the surface and interface engineering of electrocatalyst in eCO2 RR. Then, several routes to optimize the surface and interface of CO2 electrocatalysts, including morphology, dopants, atomic vacancies, grain boundaries, surface modification, etc., are reviewed and representative examples are given. At the end of this review, we share our personal views in future research of eCO2 RR.

Multifunctional Yolk-Shell Structured Magnetic Mesoporous Polydopamine/Carbon Microspheres for Photothermal Therapy and Heterogenous Catalysis.

Yolk-shell structure with magnetic core, interior void and mesoporous polymer/carbon shell demonstrate potential applications in biocatalysis, magnetic biological separation, biomedicine, and magnetic resonance imaging due to their comprehensive benefits of magnetic and mesoporous shells. Herein, yolk-shell structured magnetic mesoporous polydopamine microspheres (Fe3O4@Void@mPDA) and the corresponding derivatives of carbon-based microspheres (Fe3O4@Void@mCN) are successfully fabricated through an interface assembly and selective etching approach. The obtained monodisperse Fe3O4@Void@mPDA microspheres consist of a magnetic core, a mesoporous polydopamine shell, and the large void formed between them, with perpendicular mesopores (5.2 nm), high surface area (303.3 m2g-1), and richness of functional groups. The Fe3O4@Void@mPDA microspheres show a remarkable inhibitory effect on tumor cells. Moreover, the Fe3O4@Void@mCN microspheres can immobilize ultrafine Au nanoparticles for hydrogenation of 4-nitrophenol with superb catalytic activity and excellent magnetic reusability.

V2 O3 /MnS Arrays as Bifunctional Air Electrode for Long-Lasting and Flexible Rechargeable Zn-Air Batteries.

Exploring highly efficient, stable, and cost-effective bifunctional electrocatalysts is crucial for the wide commercialization of rechargeable Zn-air batteries. Herein, a vanadium-oxide-based hybrid air electrode comprising a heterostructure of V2 O3 and MnS (V2 O3 /MnS) is reported. The V2 O3 /MnS catalyst shows a decent catalytic activity that is comparable to Pt/C toward the oxygen reduction reaction and acceptable toward oxygen evolution. The extraordinary stability as well as the low cost set the V2 O3 /MnS among the best bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts. In a demonstration of an assembled liquid-state Zn-air battery using V2 O3 /MnS as cathode, high power density (118 mW cm-2 ), specific capacity (808 mAh gZn -1 ), and energy density (970 Wh kgZn -1 ), as well as the outstanding rechargeability and durability for 4000 cycles (>1333 h, i.e., >55 days) are enabled. The V2 O3 /MnS is also integrated into an all-solid-state Zn-air battery to demonstrate its great potential as a flexible power source for next-generation electronics. Density functional theory calculations further elucidate the origin of the intrinsic activity and stability of the V2 O3 /MnS heterostructure.

Health risk assessment of As due to rice ingestion based on iAs distribution and actual consumption patterns for the residents in Beijing: a cross-sectional study.

As a well-known human carcinogen, arsenic (As) could pose various detrimental health effects to humans mainly through the exposure pathway of food ingestion. In comparison with other foods, rice can accumulate more arsenic due to its tissue specificity. Thus, it is of great significance to assess the health risk of As due to rice ingestion. However, the study on risk assessment from exposure to As in rice is still in an early stage and lack accuracy to date. In this study, after obtaining the rice exposure behavior patterns based on a questionnaire survey, a total of 160 rice samples, which consisted of 4 types (i.e., japonica, indica, glutinous and brown rice), rice from 4 areas and consumed by most of the population in Beijing, were collected. On the basis of the actual intake rate and the species weighted average concentration of consumed rice, average daily exposure dose and health risks of inorganic As (iAs) from rice ingestion were assessed for the population among different genders and ages in Beijing. The results show that japonica rice and rice from Northeast China had higher As content, with the same value of 0.064 mg kg-1. And, they were the most popular rice consumed by people, with the intake rates of 75.50 g d-1, and 67.91 g d-1, respectively. The proportion of iAs to total As (tAs) was 58.34%, with a range of 43.18-71.88%. The average daily dose of iAs for the population was 1.15 × 10-4, which mainly came from japonica rice and the rice from Northeast China ingestion. In comparison with the acceptable non-cancer risk, which had a HQ value of 0.38, the carcinogenic risk of the population in Beijing was 1.73 × 10-4 on average. Furthermore, males had higher carcinogenic risk (1.88 × 10-4) than females (1.62 × 10-4), and the people in the age of 45-55 suffered from the highest carcinogenic risk (2.22 × 10-4), which mainly was attributed to the japonica rice and the rice from Northeast China. This study strengthened that appropriate dietary patterns should be paid more attention in order to control the health risk due to As exposure.

Thermodynamic Regulation of Dendrite-Free Li Plating on Li3Bi for Stable Lithium Metal Batteries.

Rechargeable batteries with metallic lithium (Li) anodes are attracting ever-increasing interests because of their high theoretical specific capacity and energy density. However, the dendrite growth of the Li anode during cycling leads to poor stability and severe safety issues. Here, Li3Bi alloy coated carbon cloth is rationally chosen as the substrate of the Li anode to suppress the dendrite growth from a thermodynamic aspect. The adsorption energy of a Li atom on Li3Bi is larger than the cohesive energy of bulk Li, enabling uniform Li nucleation and deposition, while the high diffusion barrier of the Li atom on Li3Bi blocks the migration of adatoms from adsorption sites to the regions of fast growth, which further ensures uniform Li deposition. With the dendrite-free Li deposition, the composite Li/Li3Bi anode enables over 250 cycles at an ultrahigh current density of 20 mA cm-2 in a symmetrical cell and delivers superior electrochemical performance in full batteries.

Two-Dimensional Pd Rafts Confined in Copper Nanosheets for Selective Semihydrogenation of Acetylene.

The development of highly selective and active catalysts to catalyze an industrially important semihydrogenation reaction remains an open challenge. Here, we report the design of a bimetallic Pd/Cu(111) catalyst with Pd rafts confined in a Cu nanosheet, which exhibits desirable catalytic performance for acetylene semihydrogenation to ethylene with the selectivity of >90%. Theory calculations show that Pd atoms replacing neighboring Cu atoms in Cu(111) can improve the catalytic activity by reducing the energy barrier of the semihydrogenation reaction, as compared to unsubstituted Cu(111), and can improve the selectivity by weakening the adsorption of C2H4, as compared to a Pd(111) surface. The presence of Pd rafts confined in Cu nanosheets effectively turns on Cu nanosheets for semihydrogenation of acetylene with high activity and selectivity under mild reaction conditions. This work offers a well-defined nanostructured Pd/Cu(111) model catalyst that bridges the pressure and materials' gap between surface-science catalysis and practical catalysis.

Nanoscale Chemical and Structural Analysis during In Situ Scanning/Transmission Electron Microscopy in Liquids.

Liquid-cell scanning/transmission electron microscopy (S/TEM) has impacted our understanding of multiple areas of science, most notably nanostructure nucleation and growth and electrochemistry and corrosion. In the case of electrochemistry, the incorporation of electrodes requires the use of silicon nitride membranes to confine the liquid. The combined thickness of the liquid layer and the confining membranes prevents routine atomic-resolution characterization. Here, we show that by performing electrochemical water splitting in situ to generate a gas bubble, we can reduce the thickness of the liquid to a film approximately 30 nm thick that remains covering the sample. The reduced thickness of the liquid allows the acquisition of atomic-scale S/TEM images with chemical and valence analysis through electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and structural analysis through selected area electron diffraction (SAED). This contrasts with a specimen cell entirely filled with liquid, where the broad plasmon peak from the liquid obscures the EELS signal from the sample and induces beam incoherence that impedes SAED analysis. The gas bubble generation is fully reversible, which allows alternating between a full cell and thin-film condition to obtain optimal experimental and analytical conditions, respectively. The methodology developed here can be applied to other scientific techniques, such as X-ray scattering, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, allowing for a multi-modal, nanoscale understanding of solid-state samples in liquid media.

SnO2 Quantum Dots Enabled Site-Directed Sodium Deposition for Stable Sodium Metal Batteries.

Dendrite growth has been severely impeding the implementation of sodium (Na) metal batteries, which is regarded as one of the most promising candidates for next-generation high-energy batteries. Herein, SnO2 quantum dots (QDs) are homogeneously dispersed and fully covered on a 3D carbon cloth scaffold (SnO2-CC) with high affinity to molten Na, given that SnO2 spontaneously initiates alloying reactions with Na and provides low nucleation barrier for Na deposition. Molten Na can be rapidly infused into the SnO2-CC scaffold as a free-standing anode material. Because of the affinity between SnO2 and Na ion, SnO2 QDs can effectively guide Na nucleation and attains site-directed dendrite-free Na deposition when combined with the 3D CC scaffold. This electrochemically stable anode enables almost 400 cycles at ultrahigh current density of 20 mA cm-2 in Na symmetric battery and delivers superior cycling performance and reversible rate capability in Na-Na3V2(PO4)3 full batteries.

Fatigue and Mental Status of Caregivers of Severely Chronically Ill Patients.

Background and Aims: Fatigue is an unpleasant experience accompanied by functional deterioration involving both mental and physical factors. Caregivers of patients with severe illnesses who require long-term treatment often experience marked physical and mental fatigue. This study investigated the factors affecting fatigue among caregivers of patients with severe chronic diseases. Methods: The study enrolled 100 caregivers of patients providing home care nursing at a university hospital in Gyeonggi-do of Korea, including 47 caregivers caring for cancer patients and 53 caregivers caring for chronic disease patients (e.g., dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease). The degree of fatigue was measured using the Korean version of the multidimensional fatigue inventory (MFI-K). Caregiver depression and anxiety were examined using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Results: The average MFI-K score of all caregivers was 60.43 ± 13.77 and did not differ significantly between those caring for cancer patients and those caring for patients with severe chronic diseases (62.15 ± 13.27 vs. 58.49 ± 14.20, respectively, p=0.186). The longer the disease duration, the greater the general and physical fatigue of the caregiver (r = 0.284, p=0.004). However, caregiver mental fatigue did not differ according to disease duration (r = 0.169, p=0.094). The main factors affecting caregiver general and physical fatigue were caregiver anxiety and depression and patient's disease duration. Conclusions: The caregivers of patients with cancer or chronic severe illnesses experience high levels of fatigue: the longer the disease duration, the greater the degrees of depression, anxiety, and physical fatigue experienced by the caregivers. Such caregivers need strategies to manage their fatigue and depression.

Polycycl. Aromatic Hydrocarbon Exposure of Children in Typical Household Coal Combustion Environments: Seasonal Variations, Sources, and Carcinogenic Risks.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emissions from the combustion of household solid coal for cooking and heating cause great harm to public health in China, especially in less developed areas. Children are one of the most susceptible population groups at risk of indoor air pollutants due to their immature respiratory and immune systems. However, information on PAH exposure of children is limited due to limited monitoring data. In this study, we aimed to assess the seasonal differences of PAHs in classrooms, analyze the pollutant sources, and calculate the incremental lifetime cancer risk attributable to PAHs in Shanxi Provence. A typical school using household coal combustion in Shanxi Province was selected. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5)samples were collected by both individual samplers and fixed middle-flow samplers during the heating and non-heating seasons in December 2018 and April 2019. The PAH concentrations in PM2.5 samples were analyzed by a gas chromatograph coupled to a mass spectrometer. The results showed that PAH concentrations in PM2.5 varied between 89.1 ng/m3 in the heating season and 1.75 ng/m3 in the non-heating season. The mean concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), a carcinogenic marker of PAHs, were 10.3 and 0.05 ng/m3 in the heating and non-heating seasons, respectively. Source allocation analysis of individual portable and passive samplers revealed that the main contributors during heating and non-heating seasons were coal combustion and gasoline sources, respectively. According to the results of a Monte Carlo simulation, the incremental lifetime cancer risk values from the inhalation of PAHs in the heating and non-heating seasons were 3.1 × 10-6 and 5.7 × 10-8, respectively. The significant increase in PAHs and the incremental lifetime cancer risk in the heating season indicates that children are more exposed to health threats in winter. Further PAH exposure control strategies, including reducing coal usage and promoting clean fuel applications, need to be developed to reduce the risk of PAH-induced cancer.

Alternately Dipping Method to Prepare Graphene Fiber Electrodes for Ultra-high-Capacitance Fiber Supercapacitors.

Flexible fiber supercapacitors are promising candidate for power supply of wearable electronics. Fabrication of high-performance fibers is in progress yet challenging. The currently available graphene fibers made from wet-spinning or electro-deposition technologies are far away from practical applications due to their unsatisfactory capacitance. Here we report a facile alternately dipping (AD) method to coat graphene on wire-like substrates. The excellent mechanical properties of the substrate with greatly diverse choices can be carried over to the fiber supercapacitors. Under such guideline, the graphene fiber with a titanium core made by our AD method (AD:Ti@RGO) shows an ultra-high specific capacitance of up to 1,722.1 mF cm-2, which is ∼1,000 times that of wet-spinning- and electro-deposition-fabricated neat graphene fibers and presents the highest specific capacitance to date. With excellent mechanical properties and striking electrochemical performances, the AD:Ti@RGO-based supercapacitors light the path to the next-generation technologies for wearable devices.

Nanoporous V-Doped Ni5P4 Microsphere: A Highly Efficient Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction at All pH.

Hydrogen economy is one of the most promising candidates to replace the current energy system on depleting fossil fuels. As a clean and sustainable way to produce hydrogen, electrocatalytic water splitting attracts ever-increasing interest from the research community. Although the wide application of platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts is limited because of the scarcity and high cost toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the non-PGM electrocatalysts usually suffer from unsatisfactory activity and poor durability. In this work, we report an active and durable V-doped Ni5P4 electrocatalyst that can be used for all-pH HER. Particularly, V-Ni5P4 has an HER activity that is comparable to that of Pt in preferred alkaline media, with overpotentials as low as 13 mV and 295 mV at current densities of 10 and 1000 mA cm-2, respectively. The low-cost V-Ni5P4 that enables ultrahigh current density (i.e., at the level of A cm-2) would be of great interest to the hydrogen production industry.

Eliminating dissolution of platinum-based electrocatalysts at the atomic scale.

A remaining challenge for the deployment of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells is the limited durability of platinum (Pt) nanoscale materials that operate at high voltages during the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction. In this work, atomic-scale insight into well-defined single-crystalline, thin-film and nanoscale surfaces exposed Pt dissolution trends that governed the design and synthesis of durable materials. A newly defined metric, intrinsic dissolution, is essential to understanding the correlation between the measured Pt loss, surface structure, size and ratio of Pt nanoparticles in a carbon (C) support. It was found that the utilization of a gold (Au) underlayer promotes ordering of Pt surface atoms towards a (111) structure, whereas Au on the surface selectively protects low-coordinated Pt sites. This mitigation strategy was applied towards 3 nm Pt3Au/C nanoparticles and resulted in the elimination of Pt dissolution in the liquid electrolyte, which included a 30-fold durability improvement versus 3 nm Pt/C over an extended potential range up to 1.2 V.

Author Correction: Eliminating dissolution of platinum-based electrocatalysts at the atomic scale.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Hierarchical Mesoporous MXene-NiCoP Electrocatalyst for Water-Splitting.

The utilization of nonprecious metal electrocatalysts for water-splitting may be the ultimate solution for sustainable and clean hydrogen energy. MXene, an emerging two-dimensional material, exhibits many unique properties such as possible metal-like conductivity, hydrophilic surface, and rich chemistry, rendering a group of promising catalysts and catalyst support materials. In this study, exfoliated Ti3C2 MXenes serve as a substrate to perpendicularly grow uniform mesoporous NiCoP nanosheets through an in situ interface-growth strategy and subsequent phosphorization. The obtained Ti3C2@mNiCoP materials with a stable hierarchical sandwich structure possess excellent conductivity, large surface area, and uniform mesopores with high pore volume. With these beneficial properties, the Ti3C2@mNiCoP material exhibits superior overall water-splitting performance compared with that of its building-block counterparts, matching the state-of-the-art water-splitting electrocatalysts.

Estimating inorganic arsenic exposure from rice intake in Chinese Urban Population.

BACKGROUND: Rice intake is a major route of oral exposure to inorganic arsenic (iAs), a known human carcinogen. The recent risk assessment on iAs in rice conducted by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) didn't propose an action level for iAs in rice mainly because of the relatively low consumption rate in the general US population. However, this decision may not be applicable to high rice-intake populations, such as the Chinese population. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to probabilistically characterize the exposure of iAs via rice intake in Chinese population with a focus on the urban population. METHODS: With the consideration of bioaccessibility of iAs in rice, iAs exposure is mainly determined by rice intake rate and iAs concentration in rice. To estimate the daily rice consumption, a dietary survey consisting of 1873 subjects was conducted in three major Chinese cities (Beijing, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou). Speciated As concentration in rice was measured using 480 rice samples collected from markets in these three cities. Monte Carlo simulation approach was applied to distributionally estimate the average daily dose (ADD) of iAs through rice intake. RESULTS: The estimated distribution of daily iAs exposure of the study population has a mean of 10.5 µg/day with a 95th percentile interval from 0.1 to 75.3 µg/day. The estimated distribution of ADD has a mean of 0.179 µg/kg/day with a 95th percentile interval from 0.001 to 1.224 µg/kg/day. Greater level of iAs exposure (due to higher rice intake) was observed in males than females, and in summer than other seasons with lower temperature. Geographically, the ADD of iAs exposure from rice intake reduces from south to north. CONCLUSIONS: About 13% of the Chinese urban population are exposed to iAs via rice intake higher than the Reference Dose (RfD) level.