APC/C-regulated CPT1C promotes tumor progression by upregulating the energy supply and accelerating the G1/S transition.

BACKGROUND: In addition to functioning as a precise monitoring mechanism in cell cycle, the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) is reported to be involved in regulating multiple metabolic processes by facilitating the ubiquitin-mediated degradation of key enzymes. Fatty acid oxidation is a metabolic pathway utilized by tumor cells that is crucial for malignant progression; however, its association with APC/C remains to be explored. METHODS: Cell cycle synchronization, immunoblotting, and propidium iodide staining were performed to investigate the carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 C (CPT1C) expression manner. Proximity ligation assay and co-immunoprecipitation were performed to detect interactions between CPT1C and APC/C. Flow cytometry, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2 H-tetrazolium, inner salt (MTS) assays, cell-scratch assays, and transwell assays and xenograft transplantation assays were performed to investigate the role of CPT1C in tumor progression in vitro and in vivo. Immunohistochemistry was performed on tumor tissue microarray to evaluate the expression levels of CPT1C and explore its potential clinical value. RESULTS: We identified CPT1C as a novel APC/C substrate. CPT1C protein levels exhibited cell cycle-dependent fluctuations, peaking at the G1/S boundary. Elevated CPT1C accelerated the G1/S transition, facilitating tumor cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, CPT1C enhanced fatty acid utilization, upregulated ATP levels, and decreased reactive oxygen species levels, thereby favoring cell survival in a harsh metabolic environment. Clinically, high CPT1C expression correlated with poor survival in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our results revealed a novel interplay between fatty acid utilization and cell cycle machinery in tumor cells. Additionally, CPT1C promoted tumor cell proliferation and survival by augmenting cellular ATP levels and preserving redox homeostasis, particularly under metabolic stress. Therefore, CPT1C could be an independent prognostic indicator in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Two-dimensional MBene: a comparable catalyst to MXene for effective CO2RR towards C1 products.

Electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) to high-value-added products is one of the most promising strategies for mitigating the greenhouse effect and energy shortage. Two-dimensional (2D) MXene materials are regarded as promising catalysts for electrocatalysis, and the boron-analogs of MXenes, 2D transition metal borides (MBenes), may exhibit superior CO2RR performance owing to their unique electronic properties. Herein, a novel 2D transition metal boride, MoB, is theoretically evaluated as a potential catalyst for the CO2RR by comparing it with traditional Mo2C. MoB shows metallic nature and exhibits excellent electrical conductivity. MoB can effectively activate CO2 with a larger interaction energy of -3.64 eV than that of Mo2C. Both density of states and charge difference density reveal a significant charge transfer from MoB to CO2. MoB shows higher catalytic selectivity due to its inhibited hydrogen evolution reaction and low reaction energy for the CO2RR. At potentials more negative than -0.62 V, the CO2RR on MoB becomes a high-throughput reaction process towards CH4. This work discovered that MoB exhibited comparable CO2RR performance to Mo2C and forecasted MBenes as promising catalysts for electrocatalysis.

Dimethylglycine Can Enhance the Cryopreservation of Red Blood Cells by Reducing Ice Formation and Oxidative Damage.

The cryopreservation of red blood cells (RBCs) holds great potential for ensuring timely blood transfusions and maintaining an adequate RBC inventory. The conventional cryoprotectants (CPAs) have a lot of limitations, and there is an obvious need for novel, efficient, and biocompatible CPAs. Here, it is shown for the first time that the addition of dimethylglycine (DMG) improved the thawed RBC recovery from 11.55 ± 1.40% to 72.15 ± 1.22%. We found that DMG could reduce the mechanical damage by inhibiting ice formation and recrystallization during cryopreservation. DMG can also scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) and maintain endogenous antioxidant enzyme activities to decrease oxidative damage during cryopreservation. Furthermore, the properties of thawed RBCs were found to be similar to the fresh RBCs in the control. Finally, the technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) was used to compare the performance of glycerol (Gly), hydroxyethyl starch (HES), and DMG in cryopreservation, and DMG exhibited the best efficiency. This work confirms the use of DMG as a novel CPA for cryopreservation of RBCs and may promote clinical transfusion therapy.

Microbial response behavior to powdered activated carbon in high-solids anaerobic digestion of kitchen waste: Metabolism and functional prediction analysis.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) can not only treat organic waste, but also recycle energy. However, high-solids AD of kitchen waste usually failed due to excessive acidification. In this study, the effect of activated carbon (AC) on kitchen waste AD performance was investigated under high-solids conditions (total solids contents = 15%). The results showed that efficiencies of acidogenesis and methanogenesis were promoted in presence of moderate concentration (50 g/L > AC >5 g/L), but high concentration (AC >70 g/L) weakened AD performance. Moreover, AC addition enhanced the methane production rate from 66.0 mL/g VS to 231.50 mL/g VS, i.e., up to 250.7%. High-throughput sequencing results demonstrated that the abundance of electroactive DMER64 increased from less than 1%-29.7% (20 g/L AC). As AC gradually increased，aceticlastic methanogenesis changed to hydrogenotrophic pathway. Predicted functional analysis indicated that AC can enhance abundances of energy and inorganic ion metabolism, resulting in high methane production.

Short and long-term prognosis of admission hyperglycemia in patients with and without diabetes after acute myocardial infarction: a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: Admission hyperglycemia is associated with poor prognosis in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), but the effects of baseline diabetes status on this association remain elusive. We aim to investigate the impact of admission hyperglycemia on short and long-term outcomes in diabetic and non-diabetic AMI patients. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, 3330 patients with regard to first-time AMI between July 2012 and July 2020 were identified. Participants were divided into two groups according to diabetes status (1060 diabetic patients and 2270 non-diabetic patients). Thereafter, they were divided into four groups according to diabetes status-specific cutoff values of fasting blood glucose (FBG) identified by restricted cubic spline. Short-term outcomes included in-hospital death and cardiac complications. Long-term outcomes were all-cause mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was conducted to adjust for baseline differences among the groups, followed by a weighted Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to calculate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for all-cause mortality associated with each FBG category. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were performed to test the robustness of our findings. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 3.2 years, 837 patients died. There was a significant interaction between diabetes status and FBG levels for all-cause mortality during long-term follow-up (p-interaction < 0.001). Moreover, restricted cubic spline curves for the association between FBG and all-cause mortality followed a J shape in patients with diabetes and a non-linear in patients without diabetes. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated greater survival in non-hyperglycemia patients compared to hyperglycemia patients for both diabetic and non-diabetic patients groups. Survival of hyperglycemia patients without diabetes greater than in hyperglycemia patients with diabetes. In the weighted Multivariable cox analysis, admission hyperglycemia predicted higher short and long-term mortality. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis showed the robustness of the results. CONCLUSIONS: The inflection points of FBG level for poor prognosis were 5.60 mmol/L for patients without diabetes and 10.60 mmol/L for patients with diabetes. Admission hyperglycemia was identified as an independent predictor of worse short and long-term outcomes in AMI patients, with or without diabetes. These findings should be explored further.

Antifreeze Proteins: Novel Applications and Navigation towards Their Clinical Application in Cryobanking.

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) or thermal hysteresis (TH) proteins are biomolecular gifts of nature to sustain life in extremely cold environments. This family of peptides, glycopeptides and proteins produced by diverse organisms including bacteria, yeast, insects and fish act by non-colligatively depressing the freezing temperature of the water below its melting point in a process termed thermal hysteresis which is then responsible for ice crystal equilibrium and inhibition of ice recrystallisation; the major cause of cell dehydration, membrane rupture and subsequent cryodamage. Scientists on the other hand have been exploring various substances as cryoprotectants. Some of the cryoprotectants in use include trehalose, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), ethylene glycol (EG), sucrose, propylene glycol (PG) and glycerol but their extensive application is limited mostly by toxicity, thus fueling the quest for better cryoprotectants. Hence, extracting or synthesizing antifreeze protein and testing their cryoprotective activity has become a popular topic among researchers. Research concerning AFPs encompasses lots of effort ranging from understanding their sources and mechanism of action, extraction and purification/synthesis to structural elucidation with the aim of achieving better outcomes in cryopreservation. This review explores the potential clinical application of AFPs in the cryopreservation of different cells, tissues and organs. Here, we discuss novel approaches, identify research gaps and propose future research directions in the application of AFPs based on recent studies with the aim of achieving successful clinical and commercial use of AFPs in the future.

Tricine as a Novel Cryoprotectant with Osmotic Regulation, Ice Recrystallization Inhibition and Antioxidant Properties for Cryopreservation of Red Blood Cells.

The cryopreservation of red blood cells (RBCs) plays a key role in blood transfusion therapy. Traditional cryoprotectants (CPAs) are mostly organic solvents and may cause side effects to RBCs, such as hemolysis and membrane damage. Therefore, it is necessary to find CPAs with a better performance and lower toxicity. Herein, we report for the first time that N-[Tri(hydroxymethyl)methyl]glycine (tricine) showed a great potential in the cryopreservation of sheep RBCs. The addition of tricine significantly increased the thawed RBCs' recovery from 19.5 ± 1.8% to 81.2 ± 8.5%. The properties of thawed RBCs were also maintained normally. Through mathematical modeling analysis, tricine showed a great efficiency in cryopreservation. We found that tricine had a good osmotic regulation capacity, which could mitigate the dehydration of RBCs during cryopreservation. In addition, tricine inhibited ice recrystallization, thereby decreasing the mechanical damage from ice. Tricine could also reduce oxidative damage during freezing and thawing by scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) and maintaining the activities of endogenous antioxidant enzymes. This work is expected to open up a new path for the study of novel CPAs and promote the development of cryopreservation of RBCs.

[Panax notoginseng: a review on chemical components, chromatographic analysis, P. notoginseng extracts, and pharmacology in recent five years].

As a famous and precious Chinese medicinal material, Panax notoginseng(PN) has been commonly used for a long history in China. As reported, PN exhibits significant pharmacological actions in protecting cardiocerebral vascular system and nervous system and suppressing tumors. In recent years, with the innovation in ideas, as well as the development of methods and equipment, PN has been extensively investigated, and notable progress has been made. This paper reviewed the advancements of PN in recent five years from chemical components, chromatographic analysis, P. notoginseng extracts, and pharmacology, in which the application of PN extracts in quality control was first summarized. The present study aims to provide a theoretical basis for quality control, product development, and rational medication of PN.

Can N, S Cocoordination Promote Single Atom Catalyst Performance in CO2 RR? Fe-N2 S2 Porphyrin versus Fe-N4 Porphyrin.

Single atom catalysts (SACs) are promising electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR), in which the coordination environment plays a crucial role in intrinsic catalytic activity. Taking the regular Fe porphyrin (Fe-N4 porphyrin) as a probe, the study reveals that the introduction of opposable S atoms into N coordination (Fe-N2 S2 porphyrin) allows for an appropriate electronic structural optimization on active sites. Owing to the additional orbitals around the Fermi level and the abundant Fe dz2 orbital occupation after S substitution, N, S cocoordination can effectively tune SACs and thus facilitating protonation of intermediates during CO2 RR. CO2 RR mechanisms lead to possible C1 products via two-, six-, and eight-electron pathways are systematically elucidated on Fe-N4 porphyrin and Fe-N2 S2 porphyrin. Fe-N4 porphyrin yields the most favorable product of HCOOH with a limiting potential of -0.70 V. Fe-N2 S2 porphyrin exhibits low limiting potentials of -0.38 and -0.40 V for HCOOH and CH3 OH, respectively, surpassing those of most Cu-based catalysts and SACs. Hence, the N, S cocoordination might provide better catalytic environment than regular N coordination for SACs in CO2 RR. This work demonstrates Fe-N2 S2 porphyrin as a high-performance CO2 RR catalyst, and highlights N, S cocoordination regulation as an effective approach to fine tune high atomically dispersed electrocatalysts.

Characteristics and requirements of hypertensive patients willing to use digital health tools in the Chinese community: a multicentre cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Digital health tools (WeChat or mobile health apps) provide opportunities for new methods of hypertension management for hypertensive patients. However, the willingness of these patients to use social media and mobile health apps for hypertension management remains unclear. This study explored the characteristics and requirements of patients willing to use digital health (WDH) tools to manage hypertension. METHODS: From February to March 2018, we administered questionnaires to 1089 patients with hypertension at eight Chinese primary medical units. We assessed independent risk factors of WDH and requirement among WDH patients. RESULTS: Overall, 43% (465/1089) of participants were WDH patients, who were younger (58 ± 12 vs 61 ± 13 years) and had a greater proportion of employed individuals (31% vs 14%) and higher education levels (65% vs 52%) than the non-WDH patients (all P < 0.0001). After adjusting for other risk factors, higher education (OR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.34-0.79), good medicine adherence (OR: 1.5; 95% CI: 1.0-2.3) and blood pressure self-monitoring (OR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.2-2.3) remained significantly associated with WDH (all P < 0.05). WDH patients responded that digital health tools should try to provide a platform for blood pressure monitoring (42%), medication reminders (41%), hypertension knowledge (39%) and doctor-patient communication (32%). CONCLUSION: Our survey suggested that among hypertensive patients, willingness to use digital health tools was significantly associated with education, medicine adherence and blood pressure self-monitoring. Digital health tool developers and researchers should pay particular attention to recruiting older, less educated and unemployed patients with less willingness and who are less technologically savvy and research the requirements of WDH patients (blood pressure monitoring, medication reminders, and knowledge education) in the future.

Novel insight into high solid anaerobic digestion of swine manure after thermal treatment: Kinetics and microbial community properties.

Compared to traditional anaerobic digestion (AD), high solid anaerobic digestion (HSAD) had the advantages of small digester, low heating energy and less digestate. However, the methane production was poor. In our previous study, thermal treatment (70 ±â€¯1 °C, 3 days) without any dilution could satisfactorily enhance the methane production rate of HSAD by up to 39.5%. However, effects of solid content on HSAD after thermal treatment were not yet studied. In this study, HSAD was conducted at 11.7-17.6% solid content, and the control experiment was conducted at low solid content (4.4% solid content). Results showed that HSAD's methane production rate was the highest at 11.7% solid content (158 mL CH4/g VS), and could reach up to 89.2% of that at 4.4% solid content. The utilization of organics was revealed by kinetics analysis that the readily biodegradable organics could be utilized at increasing solid content with decreasing hydrolysis rate. Furthermore, it was notable that methylotrophic methanogens predominated in HSAD with the abundance of 82.6%. This was quite unique from the general belief that AD system was usually dominated by acetoclastic or hydrogenotrophic methanogenic pathways. In this study, the microbial community structure of HSAD after thermal treatment was firstly studied, its unique specific methanogenic pathways was firstly revealed.

Design, characterization and digestibility of ß-carotene-loaded emulsion system stabilized by whey protein with chitosan and potato starch addition.

The physicochemical properties and gastrointestinal fate of ß-carotene-loaded emulsions and emulsion gels were examined. The emulsion was emulsified by whey protein isolate and incorporated with chitosan, then the emulsion gels were produced by gelatinizing potato starch in the aqueous phase. The rheology properties, water distribution, and microstructure of emulsions and emulsion gels were modulated by chitosan combination. A standardized INFOGEST method was employed to track the gastrointestinal fate of emulsion systems. Significant changes in droplet size, zeta-potential, and aggregation state were detected during in vitro digestion, including simulated oral, stomach, and small intestine phases. The presence of chitosan led to a significantly reduced free fatty acids release in emulsion, whereas a slightly increasing released amount in the emulsion gel. ß-carotene bioaccessibility was significantly improved by hydrogel formation and chitosan addition. These results could be used to formulate advanced emulsion systems to improve the gastrointestinal fate of hydrophobic nutraceuticals.

Inulin Can Improve Red Blood Cell Cryopreservation by Promoting Vitrification, Stabilizing Cell Membranes, and Inhibiting Ice Recrystallization.

In transfusion medicine, the cryopreservation of red blood cells (RBCs) is of major importance. The organic solvent glycerol (Gly) is considered the current gold-standard cryoprotectant (CPA) for RBC cryopreservation, but the deglycerolization procedure is complex and time-consuming, resulting in severe hemolysis. Therefore, it remains a research hotspot to find biocompatible and effective novel CPAs. Herein, the natural and biocompatible inulin, a polysaccharide, was first employed as a CPA for RBC cryopreservation. The presence of inulin could improve the thawed RBC recovery from 11.83 ± 1.40 to 81.86 ± 0.37%. It was found that inulin could promote vitrification because of its relatively high viscosity and glass transition temperature (Tg'), thus reducing the damage during cryopreservation. Inulin possessed membrane stability, which also had beneficial effects on RBC recovery. Moreover, inulin could inhibit the mechanical damage induced by ice recrystallization during thawing. After cryopreservation, the RBC properties were maintained normally. Mathematical modeling analysis was adopted to compare the performance of inulin, Gly, and hydroxyethyl starch (HES) in cryopreservation, and inulin presented the best efficiency. This work provides a promising CPA for RBC cryopreservation and may be beneficial for transfusion therapy in the clinic.

Effect of alkali pretreatment time on kitchen waste anaerobic digestion performance enhanced by alkali pretreatment combined with bentonite: performance enhancement, microbial community structure, and functional gene analysis.

Kitchen waste was mainly composed of carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins. Anaerobic digestion (AD) of kitchen waste usually occurred acidification and further deteriorated. In our previous study, alkali pretreatment combined with bentonite (AP/Be) treatment was proved to enhance high solid AD of kitchen waste. However, effects of AP time on AP/Be were not yet studied. This study investigated the effects of AP time on AP/Be treatment on enhancing high solid AD. The results showed that compared with the control group, the cumulative methane production rate could be increased by 3.30 times (149.7 mL CH4/g VS) and the volatile solids (VS) reduction rate increased by 63.36%. Microbial community analysis showed that the relative abundance of Methanosarcina and Methanosaeta were increased from 6.49 and 7.83% to 47.14 and 16.39% respectively. Predictive functional analysis showed that AP/Be treatment increased the abundance of energy production and conversion, coenzyme transport, and metabolism. This study revealed the potential mechanism of AP/Be enhanced kitchen waste AD performance and AP/Be was a potential strategy to strengthen AD.

Trehalose in Biomedical Cryopreservation-Properties, Mechanisms, Delivery Methods, Applications, Benefits, and Problems.

Cells and tissues are the foundation of translational medicine. At present, one of the main technological obstacles is their preservation for long-term usage while maintaining adequate viability and function. Optimized storage techniques must be developed to make them safer to use in the clinic. Cryopreservation is the most common long-term preservation method to maintain the vitality and function of cells and tissues. But, the formation of ice crystals in cells and tissues is considered to be the main mechanism that could harm cells and tissues during freezing and thawing. To reduce the formation of ice crystals, cryoprotective agents (CPAs) must be added to the cells and tissues to achieve the cryoprotective effect. However, conventional cryopreservation of cells and tissues often needs to use toxic organic solvents as CPAs. As a result, cryopreserved cells and tissues may need to go through a time-consuming washing process to remove CPAs for further applications in translational medicine, and multiple valuable cells are potentially lost or killed. Currently, trehalose has been researched as a nontoxic CPA due to its cryoprotective ability and stability during cryopreservation. Nevertheless, trehalose is a nonpermeable CPA, and the lack of an effective intracellular trehalose delivery method has become the main obstacle to its use in cryopreservation. This article illustrated the properties, mechanisms, delivery methods, and applications of trehalose, summarized the benefits and limits of trehalose, and summed up the findings and research direction of trehalose in biomedical cryopreservation.

Aberrant expression of PELI1 caused by Jagged1 accelerates the malignant phenotype of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive cancers. PELI1 has been reported to promote cell survival and proliferation in multiple cancers. As of now, the role of PELI1 in pancreatic cancer is largely unknown. Here, we found that the PELI1 mRNA was higher expressed in pancreatic tumor tissues than in adjacent normal tissues, and the high PELI1 level in pancreatic cancer patients had a short survival time compared with the low level. Moreover, the results showed that PELI1 promoted cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, and inhibited apoptosis in vitro. Xenograft tumor experiments were used to determine the biological function of PELI1, and the results showed that PELI1 promoted tumor growth in vivo. Additionally, we found that Jagged1 activated PELI1 transcription in pancreatic cancer cells. To sum up, our results show that PELI1 affects the malignant phenotype of pancreatic cancer.

Cryopreservation of tissues and organs: present, bottlenecks, and future.

Tissue and organ transplantation continues to be an effective measure for saving the lives of certain critically ill patients. The organ preservation methods that are commonly utilized in clinical practice are presently only capable of achieving short-term storage, which is insufficient for meeting the demand for organ transplantation. Ultra-low temperature storage techniques have garnered significant attention due to their capacity for achieving long-term, high-quality preservation of tissues and organs. However, the experience of cryopreserving cells cannot be readily extrapolated to the cryopreservation of complex tissues and organs, and the latter still confronts numerous challenges in its clinical application. This article summarizes the current research progress in the cryogenic preservation of tissues and organs, discusses the limitations of existing studies and the main obstacles facing the cryopreservation of complex tissues and organs, and finally introduces potential directions for future research efforts.

Analysis of antiplatelet therapy adherence in patients with ischemic cerebral stroke.

BACKGROUND: The related factors affecting the adherence of ischemic cerebral stroke (ICS) patients to antiplatelet therapy have attracted much attention. METHODS: Patients with ICS (confirmed by CT or MRI) were enrolled from January 2020 to July 2021. The demographic data were retrospectively investigated and analyzed. The adherence calculation was as follows: Adherence = number of tablets taken/number of tablets needed to be taken. Adherence < 100% was defined as nonadherence. Severe nonadherence is defined as adherence ≤ 75%. RESULTS: A total of 229 patients with ICS were enrolled. We found no significant difference in the proportion of patients with nonadherence, while the proportion of severe nonadherence in the aspirin group was significantly higher (p < .001). Multivariable analysis indicated that medical insurance (odds ratio [OR] = 0.071, p < .001) and regular exercise (OR = 0.438, p = .015) were independent factors associated with adherence. In addition, only medical insurance (OR = 5.475, p < .001) and aspirin treatment (OR = 0.228, p < .001) were independent risk factors associated with severe nonadherence. We therefore constructed a nomogram plot and a model as follows: Adherence risk score = 3 × medical insurance + regular exercise. Patients were divided into low-risk and high-risk groups for adherence based on the median model score. A total of 13.3% of patients in the low-risk group were nonadherent patients compared with 53.4% in the high-risk group (p < .001). Similarly, 8.4% of patients in the low-risk group had severe nonadherence compared with 19.9% in the high-risk group (p = .022). Moreover, in low-risk patients, no significant difference was observed. In patients with high risk, aspirin-treated patients showed significantly decreased adherence compared with the other two groups. CONCLUSION: Medical insurance and regular exercise were independent factors for antiplatelet therapy adherence. For patients with high model scores, timely intervention is necessary.

Graphdiyne supported Ag-Cu tandem catalytic scheme for electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to C2+ products.

The electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) to added-value C2+ products is a worthy way to effectively reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Cu nanomaterials have been proposed as efficient CO2RR catalysts for producing C2+ products; however, the difficulties in controlling their efficiency and selectivity hinder their applications. Herein, we propose a simple routine to construct a graphdiyne (GDY) supported Ag-Cu nanocluster as a C2+ product-selective electrocatalyst and optimize the composition by electrochemical performance screening. The synthesized Ag-Cu nanoclusters are uniformly distributed on the surface of GDY with particle sizes constricted to 3.7 nm due to the strong diyne-Cu interaction. Compared to Cu/GDY, Ag-Cu/GDY tandem schemes exhibited superior CO2RR to C2+ performance with a Faraday efficiency (FE) of up to 55.1% and a current density of 48.6 mA cm-2 which remain stable for more than 33 hours. Theoretical calculations show that the adsorption energy of CO is much higher on Cu (-1.066 eV) than on Ag (-0.615 eV), thus promoting the drift of *CO from Ag to Cu. Moreover, the calculations indicate that the key C-C coupling reaction of *CO with *COH is more favored on Ag-Cu/GDY than on the original Cu/GDY which contributes to the formation of C2+ products. Our findings shed light on a new strategy of combining a GDY support with a tandem catalytic scheme for developing new CO2RR catalysts with superior selectivity and activity for C2+ products.

Alleviating acid inhibition via bentonite supplementation during acidulated swine manure anaerobic digestion: Performance enhancement and microbial mechanism analysis.

Swine manure is usually transmitted by the "collection-storage-transport" mode of the biogas project. However, this particular application pattern results in high volatile fatty acids (VFAs) concentration due to the long transition time in the "collection-storage-transport" process. In this work, acidulated swine manure anaerobic digestion (AD) with bentonite supplementation was firstly investigated with an expectation of acid alleviation, performance enhancement and microbial mechanism. Results indicated that the methane production rate in the 20 g/L bentonite-added digester was 2.87 fold higher than that of the control digester. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rate was elevated by 140.1% via bentonite supplementation. Besides, the rapid decrease of VFAs and ammonia indicated that bentonite supplementation could offer buffering capacity and alleviate acid inhibition. Microbial community analysis revealed that acetoclastic methanogenesis (Methanosaeta and Methanosarcina) was the predominant methanogenesis pathway in this AD system. Syntrophic acetate oxidation (SAO) bacteria were discovered in the bentonite-added digester, and they converted acetate into H2/CO2 to support hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis. This study could offer guidance for acidulated swine manure AD in the practical biogas project.