Oxalate modification enabled advanced phosphate removal of nZVI: In Situ formed surface ternary complex and altered multi-stage adsorption process.

Nano zero-valent iron (nZVI) is a promising phosphate adsorbent for advanced phosphate removal. However, the rapid passivation of nZVI and the low activity of adsorption sites seriously limit its phosphate removal performance, accounting for its inapplicability to meet the emission criteria of 0.1 mg P/L phosphate. In this study, we report that the oxalate modification can inhibit the passivation of nZVI and alter the multi-stage phosphate adsorption mechanism by changing the adsorption sites. As expected, the stronger anti-passivation ability of oxalate modified nZVI (OX-nZVI) strongly favored its phosphate adsorption. Interestingly, the oxalate modification endowed the surface Fe(III) sites with the lowest chemisorption energy and the fastest phosphate adsorption ability than the other adsorption sites, by in situ forming a Fe(III)-phosphate-oxalate ternary complex, therefore enabling an advanced phosphate removal process. At an initial phosphate concentration of 1.00 mg P/L, pH of 6.0 and a dosage of 0.3 g/L of adsorbents, OX-nZVI exhibited faster phosphate removal rate (0.11 g/mg/min) and lower residual phosphate level (0.02 mg P/L) than nZVI (0.055 g/mg/min and 0.19 mg P/L). This study sheds light on the importance of site manipulation in the development of high-performance adsorbents, and offers a facile surface modification strategy to prepare superior iron-based materials for advanced phosphate removal.

The causal effect of gut microbiota on hepatic encephalopathy: a mendelian randomization analysis.

BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence for a relationship between gut microbiota and hepatic encephalopathy (HE). However, the causal nature of the relationship between gut microbiota and HE has not been thoroughly investigated. METHOD: This study utilized the large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) summary statistics to evaluate the causal association between gut microbiota and HE risk. Specifically, two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach was used to identify the causal microbial taxa for HE. The inverse variance weighted (IVW) method was used as the primary MR analysis. Sensitive analyses were performed to validate the robustness of the results. RESULTS: The IVW method revealed that the genus Bifidobacterium (OR = 0.363, 95% CI: 0.139-0.943, P = 0.037), the family Bifidobacteriaceae (OR = 0.359, 95% CI: 0.133-0.950, P = 0.039), and the order Bifidobacteriales (OR = 0.359, 95% CI: 0.133-0.950, P = 0.039) were negatively associated with HE. However, no causal relationship was observed among them after the Bonferroni correction test. Neither heterogeneity nor horizontal pleiotropy was found in the sensitivity analysis. CONCLUSION: Our MR study demonstrated a potential causal association between Bifidobacterium, Bifidobacteriaceae, and Bifidobacteriales and HE. This finding may provide new therapeutic targets for patients at risk of HE in the future.

Fabrication of a novel nanofiltration membrane using an Mg-Fe layered double hydroxide for dye/salt separation.

Mg-Fe layered hydroxide (LDH) was synthesized by the double titration method and added to trimesoyl chloride (TMC) to prepare an Mg-Fe LDH-modified polyamide nanofiltration (NF) membrane by interfacial polymerization (IP). Compared to the pure polyamide NF membrane, the Mg-Fe LDH-modified membrane presented a wrinkled structure and a comparatively smooth surface. Additionally, the permeation flux and rejection rate of the modified NF membrane for 1000 mg L-1 Na2SO4 solution were 61.7 L m-2 h-1 and 95.9%, respectively. When the Mg-Fe LDH modified NF membrane was used to separate dye/NaCl mixed solutions, the rejection of NaCl was less than 17% and the rejection rate of Coomassie Brilliant Blue (CBB) molecules was close to 100%. At the same time, the concentration of CBB increased from 500 mg L-1 to 1151 mg L-1 which means that the LDH modified NF membrane could separate CBB/NaCl effectively and could concentrate CBB at the same time.

Research on Active Safety Situation of Road Passenger Transportation Enterprises: Evaluation, Prediction, and Analysis.

The road passenger transportation enterprise is a complex system, requiring a clear understanding of their active safety situation (ASS), trends, and influencing factors. This facilitates transportation authorities to promptly receive signals and take effective measures. Through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, we delved into potential factors for evaluating ASS and extracted an ASS index. To predict obtaining a higher ASS information rate, we compared multiple time series models, including GRU (gated recurrent unit), LSTM (long short-term memory), ARIMA, Prophet, Conv_LSTM, and TCN (temporal convolutional network). This paper proposed the WDA-DBN (water drop algorithm-Deep Belief Network) model and employed DEEPSHAP to identify factors with higher ASS information content. TCN and GRU performed well in the prediction. Compared to the other models, WDA-DBN exhibited the best performance in terms of MSE and MAE. Overall, deep learning models outperform econometric models in terms of information processing. The total time spent processing alarms positively influences ASS, while variables such as fatigue driving occurrences, abnormal driving occurrences, and nighttime driving alarm occurrences have a negative impact on ASS.

Design of a Negative Temperature Coefficient Temperature Measurement System Based on a Resistance Ratio Model.

In this paper, a temperature measurement system with NTC (Negative Temperature Coefficient) thermistors was designed. An MCU (Micro Control Unit) primarily operates by converting the voltage value collected by an ADC (Analog-to-Digital Converter) into the resistance value. The temperature value is then calculated, and a DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) outputs a current of 4 to 20 mA that is linearly related to the temperature value. The nonlinear characteristics of NTC thermistors pose a challenging problem. The nonlinear characteristics of NTC thermistors were to a great extent solved by using a resistance ratio model. The high precision of the NTC thermistor is obtained by fitting it with the Hoge equation. The results of actual measurements suggest that each module works properly, and the temperature measurement accuracy of 0.067 °C in the range from -40 °C to 120 °C has been achieved. The uncertainty of the output current is analyzed and calculated with the uncertainty of 0.0014 mA. This type of system has broad potential applications in industry fields such as the petrochemical industry.

Biomechanical analysis of the maxillary sinus floor membrane during internal sinus floor elevation with implants at different angles of the maxillary sinus angles.

OBJECTIVE: This study analyzed and compared the biomechanical properties of maxillary sinus floor mucosa with implants at three different maxillary sinus angles during a modified internal sinus floor elevation procedure. METHODS: 3D reconstruction of the implant, maxillary sinus bone, and membrane were performed. The maxillary sinus model was set at three different angles. Two internal maxillary sinus elevation models were established, and finite element analysis was used to simulate the modified maxillary sinus elevation process. The implant was elevated to 10 mm at three maxillary sinus angles when the maxillary sinus floor membrane was separated by 0 and 4 mm. The stress of the maxillary sinus floor membrane was analyzed and compared. RESULTS: When the maxillary sinus floor membrane was separated by 0 mm and elevated to 10 mm, the peak stress values of the implant on the maxillary sinus floor membrane at three different angles were as follows: maxillary sinus I: 5.14-78.32 MPa; maxillary sinus II: 2.81-73.89 MPa; and maxillary sinus III: 2.82-51.87 MPa. When the maxillary sinus floor membrane was separated by 4 mm and elevated to 10 mm, the corresponding values were as follows: maxillary sinus I: 0.50-7.25 MPa; maxillary sinus II: 0.81-16.55 MPa; and maxillary sinus III: 0.49-22.74 MPa. CONCLUSION: The risk of sinus floor membrane rupture is greatly reduced after adequate dissection of the maxillary sinus floor membrane when performing modified internal sinus elevation in a narrow maxillary sinus. In a wide maxillary sinus, the risk of rupture or perforation of the wider maxillary sinus floor is reduced, regardless of whether traditional or modified internal sinus elevation is performed at the same height.

DDX58 deficiency leads to triple negative breast cancer chemotherapy resistance by inhibiting Type I IFN-mediated signalling apoptosis.

Introduction: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by its aggressive nature and absence of specific therapeutic targets, necessitating the reliance on chemotherapy as the primary treatment modality. However, the drug resistance poses a significant challenge in the management of TNBC. In this study, we investigated the role of DDX58 (DExD/H-box helicase 58), also known as RIG-I, in TNBC chemoresistance. Methods: The relationship between DDX58 expression and breast cancer prognosis was investigated by online clinical databases and confirmed by immunohistochemistry analysis. DDX58 was knockout by CRISPR-Cas9 system (DDX58-KO), knockdown by DDX58-siRNA (DDX58-KD), and stably over expressed (DDX58-OE) by lentivirus. Western blotting, immunofluorescence and qPCR were used for related molecules detection. Apoptosis was analyzed through flow cytometry (Annexin V/7AAD apoptosis assay) and Caspase 3/7 activity assay. Results: Patients with lower expression of DDX58 led to lower rate of pathological complete response (pCR) and worse prognosis by online databases and hospital clinical data. DDX58-KD cells showed multiple chemo-drugs resistance (paclitaxel, doxorubicin, 5-fluorouracil) in TNBC cell lines. Similarly, DDX58-KO cells also showed multiple chemo-drugs resistance in a dosage-dependent manner. In the CDX model, tumours in the DDX58-KO group had a 25% reduction in the tumour growth inhibition rate (IR) compared to wild-type (WT) group after doxorubicin (Dox) treatment. The depletion of DDX58 inhibited proliferation and promoted the migration and invasion in MDA-MB-231 cells. The findings of our research indicated that DDX58-KO cells exhibit a reduction in Dox-induced apoptosis both in vivo and in vitro. Mechanistically, Dox treatment leads to a significant increase in the expression of double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) and activates the DDX58-Type I interferon (IFN) signaling pathway, ultimately promoting apoptosis in TNBC cells. Discussion: In the process of TNBC chemotherapy, the deficiency of DDX58 can inhibit Dox-induced apoptosis, revealing a new pathway of chemotherapy resistance, and providing a possibility for developing personalized treatment strategies based on DDX58 expression levels.

DNAJC12 causes breast cancer chemotherapy resistance by repressing doxorubicin-induced ferroptosis and apoptosis via activation of AKT.

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy is a primary treatment for breast cancer (BC), yet many patients develop resistance over time. This study aims to identify critical factors contributing to chemoresistance and their underlying molecular mechanisms, with a focus on reversing this resistance. METHODS: We utilized samples from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and West China Hospital to identify and validate genes associated with chemoresistance. Functional studies were conducted using MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cell lines, involving gain-of-function and loss-of-function approaches. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) identified potential mechanisms. We examined interactions between DNAJC12, HSP70, and AKT using co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) assays and established cell line-derived xenograft (CDX) models for in vivo validations. RESULTS: Boruta analysis of four GEO datasets identified DNAJC12 as highly significant. Patients with high DNAJC12 expression showed an 8 % pathological complete response (pCR) rate, compared to 38 % in the low expression group. DNAJC12 inhibited doxorubicin (DOX)-induced cell death through both ferroptosis and apoptosis. Combining apoptosis and ferroptosis inhibitors completely reversed DOX resistance caused by DNAJC12 overexpression. RNA-seq suggested that DNAJC12 overexpression activated the PI3K-AKT pathway. Inhibition of AKT reversed the DOX resistance induced by DNAJC12, including reduced apoptosis and ferroptosis, restoration of cleaved caspase 3, and decreased GPX4 and SLC7A11 levels. Additionally, DNAJC12 was found to increase AKT phosphorylation in an HSP70-dependent manner, and inhibiting HSP70 also reversed the DOX resistance. In vivo studies confirmed that AKT inhibition reversed DNAJC12-induced DOX resistance in the CDX model. CONCLUSION: DNAJC12 expression is closely linked to chemoresistance in BC. The DNAJC12-HSP70-AKT signaling axis is crucial in mediating resistance to chemotherapy by suppressing DOX-induced ferroptosis and apoptosis. Our findings suggest that targeting AKT and HSP70 activities may offer new therapeutic strategies to overcome chemoresistance in BC.

Mechanism and effectiveness of enzymatically induced phosphate precipitation (EIPP) in stabilizing coexisting lead, zinc, and cadmium in tailings.

Lead-zinc (Pb-Zn) tailings ponds carry the risk of multiple heavy metals (HMs) contamination and pile destabilization. This poses requirements for in-situ applicable, low-distribution, and effective stabilization/solidification (S/S) methods. For this, the novel enzymatically induced phosphate precipitation (EIPP) method was implemented in this study. Its mechanism and performance on stabilization of composite Pb, Zn, and cadmium (Cd) in tailings were explored and evaluated under typical erosion conditions for the first time. Results show that the EIPP stabilized HMs by chemically transforming the unstable carbonate-bound HMs to stable phosphate precipitates and by physically encapsulating tailings particles with newberyite precipitates. The stabilization effect on the three HMs was ranked as Pb > Zn > Cd. Comparing magnesium resources for the EIPP reactants, the EIPP utilizing Mg(CH3COO)2 was more effective at decontamination than MgCl2 because its special pre-activation and re-precipitation function enhanced the chemical transformation function of EIPP. The EIPP stabilization was confirmed to reduce simulated acid rain-leachable and bio-extractive HMs by about 90% and 60%, respectively. Under the prolonged acid attack, treated HMs were ultimately leached through the dissolution mechanism. Zn exhibited significant instability in highly acidic conditions (pH = 2.5-3.5), where its cumulative leaching toxicity after long-term dissolution warrants attention. Overall, EIPP presents a novel and effective strategy for on-site mitigation of composite HMs pollution.

Arginine-methylated c-Myc affects mitochondrial mitophagy in mouse acute kidney injury via Slc25a24.

The transcription factor methylated c-Myc heterodimerizes with MAX to modulate gene expression, and plays an important role in energy metabolism in kidney injury but the exact mechanism remains unclear. Mitochondrial solute transporter Slc25a24 imports ATP into mitochondria and is central to energy metabolism. Gene Expression Omnibus data analysis reveals Slc25a24 and c-Myc are consistently upregulated in all the acute kidney injury (AKI) cells. Pearson correlation analysis also shows that Slc25a24 and c-Myc are strongly correlated (⍴ > 0.9). Mutant arginine methylated c-Myc (R299A and R346A) reduced its combination with MAX when compared with the wild type of c-Myc. On the other hand, the Slc25a24 levels were also correspondingly reduced, which induced the downregulation of ATP production. The results promoted reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and mitophagy generation. The study revealed that the c-Myc overexpression manifested the most pronounced mitochondrial DNA depletion. Additionally, the varied levels of mitochondrial proteins like TIM23, TOM20, and PINK1 in each group, particularly the elevated levels of PINK1 in AKI model groups and lower levels of TIM23 and TOM20 in the c-Myc overexpression group, suggest potential disruptions in mitochondrial dynamics and homeostasis, indicating enhanced mitophagy or mitochondrial loss. Therefore, arginine-methylated c-Myc affects mouse kidney injury by regulating mitochondrial ATP and ROS, and mitophagy via Slc25a24.

Non-destructive prediction of isoflavone and starch by hyperspectral imaging and deep learning in Puerariae Thomsonii Radix.

Accurate assessment of isoflavone and starch content in Puerariae Thomsonii Radix (PTR) is crucial for ensuring its quality. However, conventional measurement methods often suffer from time-consuming and labor-intensive procedures. In this study, we propose an innovative and efficient approach that harnesses hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology and deep learning (DL) to predict the content of isoflavones (puerarin, puerarin apioside, daidzin, daidzein) and starch in PTR. Specifically, we develop a one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1DCNN) model and compare its predictive performance with traditional methods, including partial least squares regression (PLSR), support vector regression (SVR), and CatBoost. To optimize the prediction process, we employ various spectral preprocessing techniques and wavelength selection algorithms. Experimental results unequivocally demonstrate the superior performance of the DL model, achieving exceptional performance with mean coefficient of determination (R2) values surpassing 0.9 for all components. This research underscores the potential of integrating HSI technology with DL methods, thereby establishing the feasibility of HSI as an efficient and non-destructive tool for predicting the content of isoflavones and starch in PTR. Moreover, this methodology holds great promise for enhancing efficiency in quality control within the food industry.

Construction of an OCP-ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy Device to In Situ Monitor the Interfacial Reaction of Contaminants: Competitive Adsorption of Cr(VI) and Oxalate on Hematite.

The comprehensive understanding of contaminant interfacial behavior strongly depends on the in situ characterization technique, which is still a great challenge. In this study, we constructed a device integrated with open-circuit potentialand attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (OCP-ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy to simultaneously monitor the electrochemical and infrared spectral information on the interfacial reaction for the process analysis, taking the competitive adsorption of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) and oxalate on hematite nanocubes (HNC) as an example. The synchronous OCP and infrared results revealed that Cr(VI) interacted with HNC via bidentate binuclear inner-sphere coordination, accompanied by electron transfer from HNC to Cr(VI), while oxalate was adsorbed on HNC through bidentate mononuclear side-on inner-sphere coordination with electron transfer from HNC to oxalate, and also outer-sphere coordination with negative charge accumulation. When oxalate was added to HNC with preadsorbed Cr(VI), oxalate would occupy the inner-sphere adsorption sites and thus cause the detaching of preadsorbed Cr(VI) from HNC. This study provides a promising in situ characterization technique for real-time interfacial reaction monitoring and also sheds light on the competitive adsorption mechanism of oxalate and Cr(VI) on the mineral surface.

Triangle Cl-Ag1 -Cl Sites for Superior Photocatalytic Molecular Oxygen Activation and NO Oxidation of BiOCl.

BiOCl photocatalysis shows great promise for molecular oxygen activation and NO oxidation, but its selective transformation of NO to immobilized nitrate without toxic NO2 emission is still a great challenge, because of uncontrollable reaction intermediates and pathways. In this study, we demonstrate that the introduction of triangle Cl-Ag1 -Cl sites on a Cl-terminated, (001) facet-exposed BiOCl can selectively promote one-electron activation of reactant molecular oxygen to intermediate superoxide radicals (⋅O2 - ), and also shift the adsorption configuration of product NO3 - from the weak monodentate binding mode to a strong bidentate mode to avoid unfavorable photolysis. By simultaneously tuning intermediates and products, the Cl-Ag1 -Cl-landen BiOCl achieved >90 % NO conversion to favorable NO3 - of high selectivity (>97 %) in 10 min under visible light, with the undesired NO2 concentration below 20 ppb. Both the activity and the selectivity of Cl-Ag1 -Cl sites surpass those of BiOCl surface sites (38 % NO conversion, 67 % NO3 - selectivity) or control O-Ag1 -O sites on a benchmark photocatalyst P25 (67 % NO conversion and 87 % NO3 - selectivity). This study develops new single-atom sites for the performance enhancement of semiconductor photocatalysts, and also provides a facile pathway to manipulate the reactive oxygen species production for efficient pollutant removal.

Preparation of Li3V2(PO4)3 as cathode material for aqueous zinc ion batteries by a hydrothermal assisted sol-gel method and its properties.

To alleviate the depletion of lithium resources and improve battery capacity and rate capacity, the development of aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) is crucial. The open channels monoclinic structure Li3V2(PO4)3 is conducive to the transfer and diffusion of guest ions, making it a promising cathode material for AZIBs. Therefore, in this study, nanoneedles and particles Li3V2(PO4)3 cathode materials for AZIBs were prepared by a hydrothermal assisted sol-gel method, and the effect of synthesized pH values was studied. XRD results show that all samples had the monoclinic structure, and the Li3V2(PO4)3 sample prepared at pH = 7 exhibits (LVP-pH7) the highest peak tips and narrowest peak widths. SEM images demonstrate that all samples have the morphology character of randomly oriented needles and irregular particles, with the LVP-pH7 sample having more needle-like particles that contribute to ion diffusion. EDS results show uniform distribution of P, V, and O elements in the LVP-pH7 sample, and no obvious aggregation phenomenon is observed. Electrochemical tests have shown that the LVP-pH7 sample exhibits excellent cycling performance (97.37% after 50 cycles at 200 mA g-1) and rate ability compared to other samples. The CV test results showed that compared with other samples, the LVP-pH7 sample had the most excellent ionic diffusion coefficient (2.44 × 10-12 cm2 s-1). Additionally, the Rct of LVP-pH7 is the lowest (319.83 Ω) according to the findings of EIS and Nyquist plot fitting, showing a decreased charge transfer resistance and raising the kinetics of the reaction.

Ionic Conductivity and Cycling Performance in PEO Polymer Electrolyte Enhanced by Non-Milled In Situ Nano-LLZO Powders.

High Li+ conductivity, good interfacial compatibility, and nano-scale particle size have always been essential conditions for selecting inorganic fillers in high-performance composite solid electrolytes. In this study, non-milled in situ LLZO fillers with nanosize was synthesized via the sol-gel method by rapid heating sintering, which resulted in more surface defects and fewer impurities in LLZO. Compared with milled LLZO fillers, these non-milled LLZO fillers with more surface defects and fewer impurities can effectively reduce the crystallinity of PEO and agglomeration in PEO, which can form composite electrolytes with high Li+ conductivity. Most importantly, the discharge capacity of the 7.5% non-milled LLZO-PEO-based LiFePO4/Li battery is about 135.5 mA h g-1 at 1C and 60 °C. After 100 cycles, the discharge specific capacity remains at 99%. It is worth noting that nano-sized non-milled LLZO will improve the discharge capacity of LiFePO4/Li batteries to 122.1 mA h g-1 at 0.2C and 30 °C.

Dual-Coordination-Induced Poly(vinylidene fluoride)/Li6.4Ga0.2La3Zr2O12/Succinonitrile Composite Solid Electrolytes Toward Enhanced Rate Performance in All-Solid-State Lithium Batteries.

Pursuing high energy and power density in all-solid-state lithium batteries (ASSLBs) has been the focus of attention. However, due to their inferior ion transport, their rate performance is limited compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries. Herein, a dual-coordination mechanism is first proposed to construct a high-performance poly(vinylidene fluoride)/Li6.4Ga0.2La3Zr2O12/succinonitrile (PVDF/LLZO/SN) composite solid electrolyte. The dual-coordination interactions of SN with both LLZO and Li+ in lithium salts allow SN to act like a branched chain of PVDF, realizing an increase in the free volume of the composite electrolyte. Meanwhile, SN molecules are immobilized within the electrolyte membrane by coordinating with LLZO, ensuring good interfacial stability. Profiting from the dual-coordination mechanism, the PVDF/LLZO/SN composite solid electrolyte combines enhanced electrochemical performance and interfacial compatibility. When applied to ASSLBs, the composite solid electrolyte enables the battery to operate at rates up to 6 C. The LiFePO4/Li batteries operated at 4 C can still deliver a high capacity retention rate of 96.4% after 50 cycles. Notably, these batteries also exhibit good long-cycle stability. After 500 cycles at 0.5 C, the discharge capacity was maintained at 145.9 mAh g-1.

Predicting the prognosis of HER2-positive breast cancer patients by fusing pathological whole slide images and clinical features using multiple instance learning.

In 2022, breast cancer will become an important factor affecting women's public health and HER2 positivity for approximately 15-20$ \% $ invasive breast cancer cases. Follow-up data for HER2-positive patients are rare, and research on prognosis and auxiliary diagnosis is still limited. In light of the findings obtained from the analysis of clinical features, we have developed a novel multiple instance learning (MIL) fusion model that integrates hematoxylin-eosin (HE) pathological images and clinical features to accurately predict the prognostic risk of patients. Specifically, we segmented the HE pathology images of patients into patches, clustered them by K-means, aggregated them into a bag feature-level representation through graph attention networks (GATs) and multihead attention networks, and fused them with clinical features to predict the prognosis of patients. We divided West China Hospital (WCH) patients (n = 1069) into a training cohort and internal validation cohort and used The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) patients (n = 160) as an external test cohort. The 3-fold average C-index of the proposed OS-based model was 0.668, the C-index of the WCH test set was 0.765, and the C-index of the TCGA independent test set was 0.726. By plotting the Kaplan-Meier curve, the fusion feature (P = 0.034) model distinguished high- and low-risk groups more accurately than clinical features (P = 0.19). The MIL model can directly analyze a large number of unlabeled pathological images, and the multimodal model is more accurate than the unimodal models in predicting Her2-positive breast cancer prognosis based on large amounts of data.

Risk assessment of combined exposure to lead, cadmium, and total mercury among the elderly in Shanghai, China.

Lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and total mercury (THg) are toxic heavy metals (THMs) that are widely present in the environment and can cause substantial health problems. However, previous risk assessment studies have rarely focused on the elderly population and have usually targeted a single heavy metal, which might underestimate the long-term accumulative and synergistic effects of THMs in humans. Based on the food frequency questionnaire and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, this study assessed external and internal exposures to Pb, Cd and THg in 1747 elderly people in Shanghai. Probabilistic risk assessment with the relative potential factor (RPF) model was used to assess the neurotoxicity and nephrotoxicity risks of combined THMs exposures. The mean external exposures of Pb, Cd and THg in Shanghai elderly were 46.8, 27.2 and 4.9 µg/day, respectively. Plant-based foods are the main source of Pb and THg exposure, while Cd is mainly from animal-based foods. The mean concentrations of Pb, Cd and THg were 23.3, 1.1 and 2.3 µg/L in the whole blood, and 6.2, 1.0 and 2.0 µg/L in the morning urine, respectively. Combined exposure to THMs leading to 10.0 % and 7.1 % of Shanghai elderly at risk of neurotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. The results of this study have important implications for understanding the profiles of Pb, Cd and THg exposure in the elderly living in Shanghai and provide data support for risk assessment and control of nephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity from combined THMs exposure in the elderly.

Electrochemical generation of hydrogen peroxide from a zinc gallium oxide anode with dual active sites.

Electrochemical water oxidation enables the conversion of H2O to H2O2. It holds distinct advantages to the O2 reduction reaction, which is restricted by the inefficient mass transfer and limited solubility of O2 in aqueous media. Nonetheless, most reported anodes suffer from high overpotentials (usually >1000 mV) and low selectivity. Electrolysis at high overpotentials often causes serious decomposition of peroxides and leads to declined selectivity. Herein, we report a ZnGa2O4 anode with dual active sites to improve the selectivity and resist the decomposition of peroxides. Its faradaic efficiency reaches 82% at 2.3 V versus RHE for H2O2 generation through both direct (via OH-) and indirect (via HCO3-) pathways. The percarbonate is the critical species generated through the conversion of bicarbonate at Ga-Ga dual sites. The peroxy bond is stable on the surface of the ZnGa2O4 anode, significantly improving faradaic efficiency.

Raman spectroscopic and microscopic monitoring of on-site and in-situ remediation dynamics in petroleum contaminated soil and groundwater.

The mechanistic study of soil and groundwater remediation in petroleum contaminated lands significantly demands rapid qualitative and quantitative identification of petroleum substances. However, most traditional detection methods cannot provide the on-site or in-situ information of petroleum compositions and contents simultaneously even with multi-spot sampling and complex sample preparation. In this work, we developed a strategy for the on-site detection of petroleum compositions and in-situ monitoring of petroleum contents in soil and groundwater using dual-excitation Raman spectroscopy and microscopy. The detection time was 0.5 h for the Extraction-Raman spectroscopy method and one minute for the Fiber-Raman spectroscopy method. The limit of detection was 94 ppm for the soil samples and 0.46 ppm for the groundwater samples. Meanwhile, the petroleum changes at the soil-groundwater interface were successfully observed by Raman microscopy during the in-situ chemical oxidation remediation processes. The results revealed that hydrogen peroxide oxidation released petroleum from the interior to the surface of soil particles and then to groundwater during the remediation process, while persulfate oxidation only degraded petroleum on the soil surface and in groundwater. This Raman spectroscopic and microscopic method can shed light on the petroleum degradation mechanism in contaminated lands, and facilitate the selection of suitable soil and groundwater remediation plans.