A potential slow-release fertilizer based on biogas residue biochar: Nutrient release patterns and synergistic mechanism for improving soil fertility.

The large yield of anaerobic digestates and the suboptimal efficacy of nutrient slow-release severely limit its practical application. To address these issues, a new biochar based fertilizer (MAP@BRC) was developed using biogas residue biochar (BRC) to recover nitrogen and phosphorus from biogas slurry. The nutrient release patterns of MAP@BRC and mechanisms for enhancing soil fertility were studied, and it demonstrated excellent performance, with 59% total nitrogen and 50% total phosphorus nutrient release rates within 28 days. This was attributed to the coupling of the mechanism involving the dissolution of struvite skeletons and the release of biochar pores. Pot experiments showed that crop yield and water productivity were doubled in the MAP@BRC group compared with unfertilized planting. The application of MAP@BRC also improved soil nutrient levels, reduced soil acidification, increased microbial populations, and decreased soil heavy metal pollution risk. The key factors that contributed to the improvement in soil fertility by MAP@BRC were an increase in available nitrogen and the optimization of pH levels in the soil. Overall, MAP@BRC is a safe, slow-release fertilizer that exhibits biochar-fertilizer interactions and synergistic effects. This slow-release fertilizer was prepared by treating a phosphorus-rich biogas slurry with a nitrogen-rich biogas slurry, and it simultaneously addresses problems associated with livestock waste treatment and provides a promising strategy to promote zero-waste agriculture.

Shallow wet irrigation reduces nitrogen leaching loss rate in paddy fields by microbial regulation and lowers rate of downward migration of leaching water: a 15N-tracer study.

China consumes 35% of the world's fertilizer every year; however, most of the nitrogen fertilizers, which are essential for rice cultivation, are not used effectively. In this study, factors affecting the nitrogen leaching loss rate were studied in typical soil and rice varieties in South China. The effects of various irrigation measures on rice growth and nitrogen leaching loss were investigated by conducting experiments with eight groups. These groups included traditional irrigation (TI) and shallow wet irrigation (SWI). The TI is a common irrigation method for farmers in South China, maintaining a water layer of 5-8 cm depth. For SWI, after establishing a shallow water layer usually maintaining at 1-2 cm, paddy is irrigated when the field water level falls to a certain depth, then this process is then repeat as necessary. The nitrogen distribution characteristics were determined using 15N isotope tracing. In addition, the effects of nitrification, denitrification, and microbial composition on soil nitrogen transformation at different depths were studied by microbial functional gene quantification and high-throughput sequencing. The results revealed that in the SWI groups, the total nitrogen leaching loss rate reduced by 0.3-0.8% and the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) increased by 2.18-4.43% compared with those in the TI groups. After the 15N-labeled nitrogen fertilizer was applied, the main pathways of nitrogen were found to be related to plant absorption and nitrogen residues. Furthermore, paddy soil ammonia-oxidizing archaea were more effective than ammonia-oxidizing bacteria for soil ammonia oxidation by SWI groups. The SWI measures increased the relative abundance of Firmicutes in paddy soil, enhancing the ability of rice to fix nitrogen to produce ammonium nitrogen, thus reducing the dependence of rice on chemical fertilizers. Moreover, SWI enhanced the relative abundance of nirS and nosZ genes within surface soil bacteria, thereby promoting denitrification in the surface soil of paddy fields. SWI also promoted ammonia oxidation and denitrification by increasing the abundance and activity of Proteobacteria, Nitrospirae, and Bacteroidetes. Collectively, SWI effectively reduced the nitrogen leaching loss rate and increase NUE.

Stable and recyclable FeS-CMC-based peroxydisulfate activation for effective bisphenol A reduction: performance and mechanism.

In this study, a novel material, iron sulfide modified by sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (FeS-CMC), was successfully synthetized for peroxydisulfate (PDS) activation to remove bisphenol A (BPA). Characterization results showed that FeS-CMC had more attachment sites for PDS activation due to its higher specific surface area. A stronger negative potential contributed to preventing nanoparticles from reuniting in the reaction and improving the interparticle electrostatic interactions of the materials. Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) analysis of FeS-CMC suggested that the coordination of the ligand for combining sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) with FeS was monodentate. A total of 98.4% BPA was decomposed by the FeS-CMC/PDS system after 20 min under optimized conditions (pH = 3.60, [FeS-CMC] = 0.05 g/L and [PDS] = 0.88 mM). The isoelectric point (pHpzc) of FeS-CMC is 5.20, and FeS-CMC contributed to reducing BPA under acidic conditions but showed a negative effect under basic conditions. The presence of HCO3-, NO3- and HA inhibited BPA degradation by FeS-CMC/PDS, while excess Cl- accelerated the reaction. FeS-CMC exhibited excellent performance in oxidation resistance with a final removal degree of 95.0%, while FeS was only 20.0%. Furthermore, FeS-CMC showed excellent reusability and still reached 90.2% after triple reusability experiments. The study confirmed that the homogeneous reaction was the primary part of the system. Surface-bound Fe(II) and S (-II) were found to be the major electron donors during activation, and the reduction of S (-II) contributed to the cycle of Fe(III)/Fe(II). Sulfate radicals (SO4•-), hydroxyl radicals (•OH), superoxide radicals (O2•-) and singlet oxygen (1O2) were produced at the surface of FeS-CMC and accelerated the decomposition of BPA. This study offered a theoretical basis for improving the oxidation resistance and reusability of iron-based materials in the presence of advanced oxidation processes.

Comparisons of the diagnostic accuracy across prostate health index, prostate health index density, and percentage free prostate-specific antigen for clinically significant prostate cancer: a prospective diagnostic study.

Background: As the novel serum biomarkers, it has not been clearly clarified that the diagnostic accuracy of prostate health index (PHI) and prostate health index density (PHID) are superior to that of percentage free prostate-specific antigen (%fPSA) in detection of clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa), especially in the gray zone. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the diagnostic value of PHI, PHID, and %fPSA for csPCa in the patients with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) >4 ng/mL and those with PSA within 4-10 ng/mL. Methods: In this study, the serum samples and clinicopathological features were prospectively obtained from the patients who underwent prostate biopsy between September 2019 and December 2020. According to the inclusion criteria, the patients with total PSA (tPSA) >4 ng/mL, prostate magnetic resonance imaging or ultrasound clearly suggesting an occupying lesion were enrolled in this study. The patients with Gleason score ≥7 indicated csPCa. The receiver operating characteristic curves and the area under the curve (AUC) values were used to assess the diagnostic performance. Results: Among the 296 patients (mean age 67.5 years, median tPSA 7.94 ng/mL) included in this study, there were 54 in the csPCa group (mean age 70.4 years, median tPSA 11.0 ng/mL) and 242 in the non-csPCa group (mean age 66.8 years, median tPSA 7.67 ng/mL). Based on the PSA level, there were 198 patients with PSA within the gray zone, which included 40 patients in the csPCa group and 158 in the non-csPCa group. In all patients, the sensitivity of PHID for detecting csPCa was 96.30%, and the specificity was 33.06% with the cut-off value of 0.51. Moreover, both PHID and PHI did better in the diagnosis of csPCa (AUC: 0.880 and 0.867, respectively) compared with other PSA derivative markers. Similarly, in the patients with PSA level in the gray zone, the diagnostic accuracy of PHID and PHI in predicting csPCa (AUC: 0.788 and 0.777, respectively) were better than other PSA derivative markers. Conclusions: PHID presented the better diagnostic accuracy in predicting csPCa in patients with PSA in the gray zone than other PSA derivative markers, which could be a promising biomarker for making the biopsy strategy.

Vasectomy reversal in China during the recent decade: insights from a multicenter retrospective investigation.

To date, there is little information about the demography of vasectomy reversal (VR) patients or the factors currently influencing VR effectiveness in China, especially after the universal two-child policy was released in 2015. In this research, demographic data and perioperative medical records of VR patients were extracted from seven major hospitals in different provinces or municipalities of China. Meanwhile, a telephone survey of the patients was conducted to collect follow-up information. Eventually, 448 VR cases from the past 13 years were included. The results were analyzed by stratified comparison to investigate factors that can influence postoperative vas deferens patency and pregnancy rate. Appropriately statistical methods were used, and all of the protocols were approved by the Ethics Committees of the institutes in this research. The results showed that the annual operation volume of VR quadrupled after the two-child policy was implemented. Nonmicrosurgery and a long duration of vasectomy were significantly associated with a lower patency rate. A follow-up survey showed that the general postoperative pregnancy rate was 27.2%. For female partners over the age of 35 years, the postoperative pregnancy rate showed a more severe decline, but only 35.5% of them had been given a fertility examination before their husbands' VR surgery. Our work revealed that more patients in China have been demanding VR in recent years. High-quality microsurgery and a short duration of vasectomy are crucial for restoring patency by VR. Clinical andrologists should perform a preoperative fertility evaluation of the patients' female partners.

Removal of cadmium and tetracycline by lignin hydrogels loaded with nano-FeS: Nanoparticle size control and content calculation.

Cadmium (Cd) and tetracycline (TC) cause serious environmental risks. Nanomaterials have been extensively applied for environmental remediation. The size and content of nanoparticles directly affect the removal of contaminants. However, size regulation and quantitative determination of nanoparticles cannot be easily realized. In this study, hydrogels with different polymerization degrees were prepared by adjusting the contents of acrylamide (AM) and sodium lignosulfonate polymeric monomers. Ferrous sulfide (FeS) nanoparticles of different sizes were synthesized in situ within the hydrogels. The nanoparticle size decreased from 600 to 200 nm with increasing hydrogel polymerization degree, and an incomplete crystalline state was observed at the highest polymerization degree. By combining energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) images with the maximum between-class variance (Otsu) method, the content of nanoparticles was calculated to be 7.81%, 15.05%, 22.62%, 27.10%, 21.97%, and 23.95%. The distribution state of FeS compounds was also obtained. A low polymerization degree resulted in high FeS dispersal, and a high polymerization degree affected the uniformity distribution based on irregular ion diffusion. The obtained nanocomposites with different polymerization degrees were applied to the removal of Cd and TC in water. The removal capacity for both contaminants revealed a trend of initially increasing and then decreasing. The initial increase was related to the increasing content and decreasing size of the FeS nanoparticles, while the following decrease was due to the decreasing content and incomplete crystallization of the FeS nanoparticles. Overall, changing the proportion of polymeric monomers is an effective way to regulate particle size, and the Otsu method combined with EDS mapping images is a feasible method for calculating the content of nanoparticles.

KOH modification effectively enhances the Cd and Pb adsorption performance of N-enriched biochar derived from waste chicken feathers.

Waste chicken feathers are the ideal precursor for the production of low-cost N-enriched biochar. KOH-modified N-enriched biochar (KNB) containing 15.92 wt% N was successfully prepared using waste chicken feathers. The adsorption kinetics results showed that KNB had rapid Cd (2 h) and Pb (1 h) adsorption rates. The Cd and Pb adsorption capacities of KNB (the values of KF were 22.324 (Cd) and 119.654 (Pb) mg1-(1/n)·L1/n·g-1) were 7.07 and 26.52 times higher than those of the original biochar based on the adsorption isotherm results. The KNB was stable at pH 3-6 and had stronger co-adsorption capacities in double-ion systems. Based on the adsorption experiments and various characterization methods, we concluded that the primary Cd and Pb adsorption mechanisms of KNB involved electrostatic interactions, cation-π interactions, complexation, and K+ exchange. The precipitation mechanism could partially account for Pb adsorption but not for Cd adsorption. KOH modification enhanced the electronegativity of biochar and then increased the electrostatic attraction. Surface O- and N-containing functional groups were involved in Cd and Pb adsorption. Graphitic-N, oxidised-N, and OCO were the main active adsorption groups, the relative contents of which increased after KOH modification, thus increasing the Cd and Pb adsorption performance. Therefore, KNB can be used as a fast and highly efficient adsorption agent to remove Cd and Pb from wastewater containing either Cd and Pb or a combination of these two metals.

Highly effective removal of bisphenol A by greigite/persulfate in spiked soil: Heterogeneous soil/water system balance and degradation.

The degradation of bisphenol A (BPA) in spiked soil was studied to investigate persulfate (PS) activation by the environment-friendly heterogeneous material greigite for removing organic pollutants from soil. The effects of the PS and greigite doses were investigated, and the BPA degradation rate in the lateritic red soil was lower than that in kaolin. Notably, 500 mg/kg of BPA could be effectively removed by the flower-like greigite (FLG)/PS system in 30 min. The difference in BPA degradation in kaolin and the lateritic red soil was negligible, thus indicating that the contents of components such as total organic matters in the lateritic red soil did not affect the BPA degradation rate of the FLG/PS system considerably. Furthermore, the distribution processes of BPA in the soil and liquid phase were also investigated in detail. The results showed that the water contents were a key factor in the distribution and degradation of BPA. The transfer of BPA from kaolin to the liquid phase was simpler than that from the lateritic red soil to the liquid phase. BPA might be transferred to the liquid phase first and then degraded by the FLG/PS system in that phase. Regarding BPA degradation in the lateritic red soil, BPA was degraded in the soil and liquid phases at the same time. This study proposed a pathway for BPA degradation in soil slurries by heterogeneous material/PS systems for first time, providing a deeper understanding of the degradation mechanism of organic pollutants in soil and new methods for soil remediation.

Removal of cadmium from wastewater by magnetic zeolite synthesized from natural, low-grade molybdenum.

Zeolite has a high adsorption capacity for heavy metals, but it is difficult to separate from the medium because of its small particle size. In this study, magnetic zeolite was synthesized from natural, low-grade molybdenum ore by adding nano ferroferric oxide (saturation magnetization 83.43 emu/g) directly in the hydrothermal synthesis process, which was used to adsorb cadmium from wastewater. The results of scanning electron microscopy showed that the nano ferroferric oxide was adhered to the surface of the zeolite to make it magnetic. The vibrating sample magnetometer showed that the larger the amount of nano ferroferric oxide added, the higher the saturation magnetization of the magnetic zeolite. The saturation magnetization of the magnetic zeolite with a loading proportion of 25% was 18.18 emu/g with a specific surface area of 459.8 m2/g. The adsorption experiments showed that when the pH value is greater than 4, the adsorption capacity of magnetic zeolite is high and stable, and the theoretical maximum adsorption capacity is 204.2 mg Cd/g. Na+ and Ca2+ have different inhibitory functions on the adsorption capacity. The mapping graphs showed that cadmium is captured by the magnetic zeolite after contact with cadmium, and XRD confirmed the presence of cadmium oxide in the magnetic zeolite after adsorption, XPS and EDS results indicated that ion exchange is one of the main mechanisms of cadmium adsorption by magnetic zeolites, and electrostatic adsorption may also have a contribution.

Occurrence and distribution of natural and synthetic progestins, androgens, and estrogens in soils from agricultural production areas in China.

The occurrence of biologically potent sex hormones in agricultural soils is of growing concern due to their ability to disrupt the endocrine systems of aquatic organisms after being transported to surface waters via runoff. This study, therefore, examined the large-scale occurrence of 34 natural and synthetic sex hormones (13 progestins, 16 androgens, and 5 estrogens) in soils from 7 provinces and 1 municipality in China. The target sex hormones were detected in 99.3% of the soil samples, indicating their widespread occurrence in most agricultural areas. Additionally, seven synthetic progestins were detected in soils for the first time. The total concentration of the 34 sex hormones (Σsex hormones) in the sampled soils ranged from below the method detection limit to 23.7 ng/g (mean of 4.72 ± 4.07 ng/g), with androgens and progestins being the most dominant hormone groups. Significant correlations were observed among the concentrations of Σestrogens, Σandrogens, and Σprogestins (r = 0.117-0.433, p < 0.001), suggesting similar sources of sex hormones. The mean concentration of Σsex hormones varied considerably across the selected provinces/municipality. Notably, the annual slaughter of poultry and swine (R2 = 0.75-0.88), female population (R2 = 0.57-0.58), and soil organic carbon content (R2 = 0.20-0.55) in each province were significantly correlated with the concentrations or mean concentrations of Σsex hormones, Σestrogens, or Σprogestins. This finding implies that these parameters contributed to the occurrence and distribution of sex hormones in the studied soils. Finally, risk quotients for some sex hormones exceeded 0.01, indicating medium or high risks to agroecosystems. This study highlights the importance of designing an optimal manure fertilization strategy in order to mitigate the risks posed by sex hormones in agroecosystems.

Prostate cancer patients can benefit from 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor treatment: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy and safety of 5α-reductase inhibitors (5ARIs) in treating prostate cancer (PCa) have not been fully determined. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of 5ARIs for PCa patients. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search of online databases was conducted to obtain comparative studies exploring the effectiveness and safety of 5ARIs in treating PCa up to October 2019. Summarized odds ratio s (OR s) or hazard ratio s (HR s) were calculated to compare the outcomes between 5ARI and control groups. Our meta-analysis was registered in PROSPERO under number CRD42018109809. RESULTS: A total of 2,277 patients from 10 studies were included. No significant difference was found in prostate-specific antigen progression between two groups (OR = 0.82, 95% CI [0.52-1.29], P = 0.40). However, 5ARI treatment significantly reduced the total progression of PCa (OR = 0.61, 95% CI [0.48-0.77], P < 0.0001), especially for patients with local (OR = 0.56, 95% CI [0.44-0.73], P < 0.00001) and low-Gleason score (≤7) PCa (OR = 0.63, 95% CI [0.48-0.84], P = 0.002). Additionally, 5ARIs also significantly prolonged the progression-free survival time (HR = 0.57, 95% CI [0.34-0.96], P = 0.04) for PCa patients. No significant difference was found in the occurrence of PCa recurrence, metastasis, biopsy reclassification, and side-effects between two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that 5ARI treatment can benefit patients with local and low Gleason score (≤7) PCa, especially in delaying the disease progression. More studies with larger sample size and comprehensive study design are still needed to verify our outcomes.

Methylation of SRD5A2 promoter predicts a better outcome for castration-resistant prostate cancer patients undergoing androgen deprivation therapy.

PURPOSE: To determine whether SRD5A2 promoter methylation is associated with cancer progression during androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in CRPC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a Local CRPC cohort, 42 prostatic specimens were collected from patients who were diagnosed as CRPC and underwent transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). In a metastatic CRPC (Met CRPC) cohort, 12 metastatic biopsies were collected from CRPC patients who would be treated with abiraterone plus dutasteride (Clinical Trial NCT01393730). As controls, 36 benign prostatic specimens were collected from patients undergoing prostate reduction surgery for symptoms of bladder outlet obstruction secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The methylation status of cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) site(s) at SRD5A2 promoter regions was tested. RESULTS: Compared with benign prostatic tissue, CRPC samples demonstrated higher SRD5A2 methylation in the whole promoter region (Local CRPC cohort: P < 0.001; Met CRPC cohort: P <0.05). In Local CRPC cohort, a higher ratio of methylation was correlated with better OS (R2 = 0.33, P = 0.013). Hypermethylation of specific regions (nucleotides -434 to -4 [CpG# -39 to CpG# -2]) was associated with a better OS (11.3±5.8 vs 6.4±4.4 years, P = 0.001) and PFS (8.4±5.4 vs 4.5±3.9 years, P = 0.003) with cutoff value of 37.9%. Multivariate analysis showed that SRD5A2 methylation was associated with OS independently (whole promoter region: P = 0.035; specific region: P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrate that SRD5A2 methylation in promoter regions, specifically at CpG# -39 to -2, is significantly associated with better survival for CRPC patients treated with ADT. Recognition of epigenetic modifications of SRD5A2 may affect the choices and sequence of available therapies for management of CRPC.

Efficacy and safety of bipolar versus monopolar transurethral resection of bladder tumors: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

CONTEXT: In the management of bladder tumors bipolarenergy has been used as a common alternative to the conventional monopolar transurethral resection of the bladder (M-TURB). AIM: This study aims to examine the clinical efficacy and safety of bipolar versus monopolar TURB tumors (TURBTs). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We conducted a systematic literature search in the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases for the identification of prospective randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the outcomes between the two procedures. THE STATISTICAL TOOL: Meta-analysis was performed using the software Review Manager 5.3. RESULTS: We identified nine RCTs involving 1193 patients. In terms of the surgical outcomes, there was no significant difference between the bipolar and monopolar TURBT. However, there was significantly reduced bladder perforation (risk ratio [RR] = 0.48; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.30-0.77; P = 0.002) and shorter hospital stay (mean difference = 0.43; 95% CI = 0.83-0.03, P = 0.01) in the bipolar TURBT group. There was also a lower incidence of thermal damage, which causes histopathological artifacts for patients treated via bipolar TURBT relative to those treated via monopolar TURBT (RR = 0.66; 95% CI = 0.55-0.78; P < 0.00001). P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. However, after bipolar and monopolar TURBT, we had no sufficient evidence regarding the recurrence rate. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis suggests that the use of bipolar technology, which is associated with less bladder perforation and lower thermal artifacts in TURBT is safer and more effective.

The clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic value of squamous differentiation in patients with bladder urothelial carcinoma: a meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Urothelial carcinoma with squamous differentiation (UCSD) is the most common histologic variant in bladder cancer (BCa). Previously, some studies have linked the presence of UCSD with the risk of worse survival outcomes in BCa patients. However, such association is still controversial. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis to clarify the clinicopathological characteristics and to further investigate the prognostic value of UCSD in BCa. METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed in electronic databases including PubMed, Embase, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang Data until October 2018. Subgroup analyses were performed according to different treatments and study outcomes. RESULTS: Total of 13,284 patients were enrolled in 19 studies which were included in this meta-analysis. The percentage of female patients with UCSD was significantly higher than those with pure urothelial carcinoma. UCSD was correlated with tumor stage T3/T4, tumor grade 3, positive surgical margin, and lymph node involvement. Moreover, the recurrence rate was higher in patients with UCSD after surgery. UCSD was associated with poorer disease-free survival (DFS). No significant difference of cancer-specific survival (CSS) or overall survival (OS) was found on multivariable analysis between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that UCSD in BCa was associated not only with unfavorable clinicopathological features, but also with high risk of recurrence and poorer prognosis for DFS. However, UCSD is not independently significant for CSS and OS. Well-designed randomized study with larger sample size is warranted to verify the findings and to further explore the role of UCSD in BCa.

Impact of biopsy perineural invasion on the outcomes of patients who underwent radical prostatectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: To investigate the association between biopsy perineural invasion (PNI) and oncological outcomes of prostate cancer (PCa) after radical prostatectomy (RP).Materials and methods: A systematic literature search was performed using PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science up to December 2018 to identify the eligible studies that included localized PCa patients who underwent biopsy and subsequently RP as well as follow-up information. Meta-analyses were conducted using available hazard ratios (HRs) of biopsy PNI from both univariate and multivariate analyses.Results: Eighteen studies including 14,855 patients with treatment follow-up information were included in the current systematic review. The rate of biopsy PNI varied between 7.0% and 33.0%. Seven out of the 18 studies that demonstrated biopsy PNI were associated with adverse pathologic features. Thirteen out of the 18 studies showed biopsy PNI correlated significantly with higher rates of biochemical recurrence (BCR)/cancer progression status or worse prognostic outcomes. With pooled data based on four studies with available univariate analysis results and four studies with multivariate analysis, statistically significant associations were found between biopsy PNI and BCR with univariate analysis (HR = 2.05; 95% CI = 1.57-2.68; p < 0.001) and with multivariate analysis (HR = 1.57; 95% CI = 1.28-1.93; p < 0.001).Conclusion: Evidence from the included observational studies indicated that biopsy PNI was not only correlated with adverse pathologic characteristics but also with worse BCR prognosis of local PCa after RP. The status of biopsy PNI could serve as a promising risk-stratification factor to help the decision-making process, considering active surveillance (AS) or further treatment for PCa patients.

Efficient degradation of Orange G with persulfate activated by recyclable FeMoO4.

In this study, FeMoO4 was applied to activate persulfate (PS, S2O82-) for azo dye Orange G (OG) degradation. The catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. FeMoO4 showed excellent efficiency in activating PS for OG removal. More than 95% could be removed after 40 min under reaction conditions of 4 mM PS, 0.3 g L-1 FeMoO4 and 0.2 mM OG. The effect of different parameters (PS doses, FeMoO4 doses and pH) were evaluated. The results showed that acid condition provided higher efficiency and overdosing FeMoO4 and PS presented a scavenging effect. Major intermediates were identified and possible degradation pathway was proposed. Recycle tests presented that FeMoO4 had excellent recyclable stability in activating PS for OG removal. Sulfate radicals and hydroxyl radicals all occurred in the oxidation reactions and the former came first. The oxidation reaction was involved in the translation of Fe2+/Fe3+ occurred on the surface layer. This study revealed that the FeMoO4/PS system is a very promising method for degrading organic contaminants in the environment.

Synthesis and thermotropic studies of a new series of teraryl liquid crystals 2-(4'-alkoxybiphen-4-yl)-5-cyanopyridines.

A new series of teraryl 2-(4'-alkoxybiphen-4-yl)-5-cyanopyridines (nO-PPPyCN, n = 2-8) compounds, bearing a cyanopyridine terminus, were synthesized using a short 2-step reaction with overall yields between 33% and 69%. Spectral analyses were in accord with the expected structures. Thermotropic behavior of the teraryl compounds was investigated using polarised optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. All compounds exhibited both enantiotropic nematic and smectic A phases, with an additional enantiotropic smectic C phase when n = 7 and 8. Polymesomorphism appears to be a common behavior in this series of linear liquid crystal compounds.