Muricauda onchidii sp. nov., isolated from a marine invertebrate from South China Sea, and transfers of Flagellimonas algicola, Flagellimonas pacifica and Flagellimonas maritima to Muricauda algicola comb. nov., Muricauda parva nom. nov. and Muricauda aurantiaca nom. nov., respectively, and emended description of the genus Muricauda.

An aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped and non-motile strain (XY-359T) was isolated from the mouth of a marine invertebrate Onchidium species from the South China Sea. It grew at pH 6.0-8.5 (optimum, pH 7.5), at 15-37 °C (optimum, 30 °C) and in the presence of 0.5-4.5 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 2.5 %). It could not hydrolyse Tweens 20, 40, 60 or 80 and no flexirubin-type pigments were produced. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified aminolipid, six unidentified phospholipids and two unidentified polar lipids. The major fatty acids were iso-C17:0 3-OH, iso-C15:1 G and iso-C15:0 3-OH. The respiratory quinone was MK-6. Strain XY-359T showed the greatest degree of 16S rRNA sequence similarity to Flagellimonas algicola AsT0115T (96.54 %), followed by Muricauda flava DSM 22638T (96.27 %). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences and 31 core genes indicated that strain XY-359T belongs to the genus Muricauda. The genome size of strain XY-359T was 4 207 872 bp, with 39.1 mol% of DNA G+C content. The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain XY-359T and F. algicola AsT0115T were 74.58 % and 18.5 %, respectively, and those between strain XY-359T and M. flava DSM 22638T were 74.2 % and 18.3 %. The combined phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data suggest that strain XY-359T represents a novel species of the genus Muricauda, for which the name Muricauda onchidii sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is XY-359T (=MCCC 1K03658T =KCTC 72218T). Moreover, based on the proposal of nesting Spongiibacterium and Flagellimonas within Muricauda by García (Validation List No. 193) and the analyses of phylogenetic trees and average amino acid identities in this study, the transfers of F. algicola, F. pacifica and F. maritima to the genus Muricauda as Muricauda algicola comb. nov., Muricauda parva nom. nov. and M. aurantiaca nom. nov., respectively, are proposed, with an emended description of the genus Muricauda.

Changing the reaction pathway in TiO2 photocatalytic dehalogenation of halogenated aromatic pollutants by surface hydroxyl regulation.

Understanding the photocatalytic reductive dehalogenation mechanism of halogenated aromatic pollutants is of great research value. However, the proton source in the photocatalytic dehalogenation process of representative halogenated aromatic pollutants by TiO2 is not clear. In this study, the TiO2 surface was modified by hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, and sodium fluoride to obtain TiO2 samples with different hydroxyl groups. It was found that the hydroxyl groups on the surface of TiO2 affects the sequence of proton and electron transfer in dehalogenation. The abundance of hydroxyl groups on the surface of TiO2 can accelerate the reductive dehalogenation process of representative halogenated aromatic pollutants. The kinetic solvent isotope effect was used to study the proton-coupled electron transfer process in the reaction. It shows that the enriching of protons on TiO2 bridging oxygen (bridging hydroxyl groups) is conducive to the rapid step of protonation of the reactant, and subsequent proton and electron transfer. On the contrary, the bridging hydroxyl groups can be removed by reacting with strongly basic sodium hydroxide and sodium ions can occupy the bridging oxygen. The substitution of bridging oxygen by fluorine ions can also lead to the destruction of bridge hydroxyl groups. Significantly, the absence of bridging hydroxyl groups on titanium dioxide will lead to the dehalogenation of representative halogenated aromatic pollutants initiated by electron transfer. This study is helpful to understand dehalogenation reaction paths catalyzed by TiO2.

Deciphering photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue by surface-tailored nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots derived from Kraft lignin.

Lignin in black liquor can be used to manufacture carbon nanomaterials on a large scale. However, the effect of nitrogen doping on the physicochemical properties and photocatalytic performance of carbon quantum dots (NCQDs) remains to be explored. In this study, NCQDs with different properties were prepared hydrothermally by using kraft lignin as the raw material and EDA as a nitrogen dopant. The amount of EDA added affects the carbonization reaction and surface state of NCQDs. Raman spectroscopy showed that the surface defects increased from 0.74 to 0.84. Photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) showed that NCQDs had different intensities of fluorescence emission at 300-420 nm and 600-900 nm. Meanwhile, NCQDs can photo-catalytically degrade 96 % of MB under simulated sunlight irradiation within 300 min. After three months of storage, the fluorescence intensity of NCQDs remained above 94 %, showing remarkable fluorescence stability. After four times of recycling, the photo-degradation rate of NCQDs was maintained above 90 %, confirming its outstanding stability. As a result, a clear understanding of the design of carbon-based photo-catalyst fabricated from the waste of the paper-making industry has been gained.

Atomistic picture of isothermal volume relaxation behavior of atactic polystyrene glass provided by a molecular dynamics simulation.

Using an atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, we study the volume relaxation behavior of atactic polystyrene and attempt to correlate this macroscopic behavior with certain microscopic aspects. To this end, the gyration radius, the dimensionless relative shape anisotropy, the mean-squared displacement, and the non-Gaussian parameter are examined simultaneously. Our result shows that the structures characterized at different length scales change in a self-similar way and these changes are intimately correlated to the translational mobility of atoms. The initial incubation of structural changes at the different scales originates from the restriction of mobility due to the cage effect. The applicability of the MD simulation to the investigation of the bulk properties is discussed.

Near-infrared light-responsive photothermal α-Fe2O3@Au/PDA core/shell nanostructure with on-off controllable anti-bacterial effects.

Antimicrobial materials are expected to be alternatives for antibiotics against multidrug-resistant bacteria. In this paper, non-spherical α-Fe2O3@Au/PDA core/shell nanoparticles with tunable shapes are synthesized by a one-step in situ oxidation-redox polymerization method toward near infrared light-responsive antibacterial therapy. The thickness and composition of the Au/PDA hybrid shell can be controlled by varying the concentration of HAuCl4 and the dopamine precursor. Owing to the wonderful photothermal characteristics originating from the Au/PDA shell, the spindle α-Fe2O3@Au/PDA core shell nanoparticles exhibit excellent photothermal sterilization effects against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus at low concentrations. Meanwhile, the NIR photothermal induced bactericidal performance indicates that α-Fe2O3@Au/PDA hybrid particles with tunable non-spherical shapes possess unique controllable antibacterial effects. As a result, this finding provides a simple strategy for fabricating high performance photothermal antibacterial agents and the final products possess high potential in synergistic antimicrobial therapy.

Using Magnetic and Photic Stimuli-Responsive Liposomes to Serve Up Chemotherapy Drugs to Cancer Cells.

Liposome is a traditional drug-delivery system and most novel studies have focused on its drug release function. In this paper, a new drug-delivery system based on liposomes was prepared, which contains hydrophobic FeAg alloy nanoparticles (FeAgNPs) in their lipid bilayer and berberine as test drug in their middle water phase. The size of AgFe-Ls was about 200 nm, the encapsulation efficiency of drugs was 35% and the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of AgFe-Ls was about 41.96 °C. FeAgNPs in the AgFe-Ls had a 1:1 iron-to-silver atomic ratio with both optical and superparamagnetic properties. The photothermal effect and magnetocaloric effect of FeAgNPs could serve up both photo-stimulated and magnetic- stimulated drug release to liposomes. Release experiments results showed that AgFe-Ls could easily release berberine when stimulated by UV light (45% drug release at 20 min) or alternating current electromagnetic field (AMF) (80% drug release at 4 h). AgFe-Ls with both photo-controlled and magnetic-controlled drug release functions are promising to serve up chemotherapy drugs to cancer cells.

Functional hydrogel contact lens for drug delivery in the application of oculopathy therapy.

Although hydrogel contact lens has attracted increasingly concerns as delivery carriers in the field of oculopathy therapy, traditional hydrogel does not show excellent drug encapsulated and controlled properties due to simple hydrophilic polymer chain lacking extra interaction with drug molecule. Herein, functional hydrogels were synthesized in this research to delivery ophthalmic drug for oculopathy therapy. Functional monomer of mono-GMA-ß-CD and functional crosslinker of MA-ß-CD were incorporated into hydrogel by copolymerization. For hydrogels, equilibrium swelling ratio and contact angle was influenced by mono-GMA-ß-CD ratio and MA-ß-CD ratio, respectively. All hydrogels exhibited similar water loss behavior and good transparency. Hydrogels had rheological characteristic of typical elastomer. Viscoelasticity and surface morphology of hydrogel were also affected by mono-GMA-ß-CD ratio and MA-ß-CD ratio. In the aspect of properties, functional hydrogel containing ß-CD domain exhibited better protein resistance capacity and significantly higher equilibrium encapsulated drug amount than traditional hydrogel. Besides the performance, drug release behavior of drug encapsulated hydrogel was adjusted by both mono-GMA-ß-CD ratio and MA-ß-CD ratio. Preliminary in vivo evaluation revealed that functional hydrogel contact lens had better effect and efficacy on lowering intraocular tension than commercial eye drop. It is inferred from all results that functional contact lens has a bright prospect in the application of oculopathy therapy.