2D Ni-Co bimetallic oxide nanosheets activate persulfate for targeted conversion of bisphenol A in wastewater into polymers.

The selective removal of targeted pollutants from complex wastewater is challenging. Herein, a novel persulfate (PS)-based advanced oxidation system equipped with a series of two-dimensional (2D) bimetallic oxide nanosheets (NSs) catalysts is developed to selectively degrade bisphenol A (BPA) within mixed pollutants via initiating nonradical-induced polymerization. Results indicate that the Ni0.60Co0.40Ox NSs demonstrate the highest catalytic efficiency among all Ni-Co NSs catalysts. Specifically, BPA degradation rate is 47.34, 27.26, and 9.72 times higher than that of 4-chlorophenol, phenol, and 2,4-dichlorophenol in the mixed solution, respectively. The lower oxidative potential of BPA in relation to the other pollutants renders it the primary target for oxidation within the PDS activation system. PDS molecules combine on the surface of Ni0.60Co0.40Ox NSs to form the surface-activated complex, triggering the generation of BPA monomer radicals through H-abstraction or electron transfer. These radicals subsequently polymerize on the surface of the catalyst through coupling reactions. Importantly, this polymerization process can occur under typical aquatic environmental conditions and demonstrates resistance to background matrices like Cl- and humic acid due to its inherent nonradical attributes. This study offers valuable insights into the targeted conversion of organic pollutants in wastewater into value-added polymers, contributing to carbon recycle and circular economy.

An integrated biological-electrocatalytic process for highly-efficient treatment of coking wastewater.

Coking wastewater is typically refractory, mainly due to its biological toxicity and complex composition. In this study, a novel integrated biological-electrocatalytic process consisting of two three-dimensional electrochemical reactors (3DERs), two biological aerated filters (BAFs), and a three-dimensional biofilm electrode reactor (3DBER) is developed for the advanced treatment of coking wastewater. 73.21% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), 38.02% of ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) and 91.46% of nitrate nitrogen (NO3--N) are removed by 3DERs. BAFs mainly convert NH4+-N to NO3--N through microbial nitrification. The 3DBER removes the residual NO3--N by bio-electrochemical denitrification. The integrated system can eliminate 74.72-83.27% of COD, 99.38-99.74% of NH4+-N, and 69.64-99.83% of total nitrogen from coking wastewater during the continuous operation, as well as significantly reducing the toxicity of the wastewater. The superiorities of the integrated 3DERs/BAFs/3DBER system recommend the application of such biological-electrocatalytic technology in the treatment of highly toxic wastewater.

[Effect of Zirconium-Modified Zeolite Addition on Migration and Transformation of Phosphorus in River Sediments Under Static and Hydrodynamic Disturbance Conditions].

In this study, the effect of the addition of zirconium-modified zeolite (ZrMZ) on the migration and transformation of phosphorus (P) in river sediments under static and hydrodynamic disturbance conditions was studied using sediment core incubation experiments. Results showed that, whether under static or hydrodynamic disturbance condition, the ZrMZ amendment suppressed the release of SRP from sediments into the overlying water. Furthermore, the addition of ZrMZ to the upper sediment (0-10 mm) not only resulted in the decrease of the dissoluble reactive P (SRP) concentration in the overlying water at a depth of 0-30 mm, but also led to the decrease of the diffusion flux of SRP from the pore water to the overlying water across the sediment-water interface (SWI). In addition, the ZrMZ amendment induced the transformation of the redox-sensitive P (BD-P) and HCl extractable P (HCl-P) into the metal oxide-bound P (NaOH-rP) and residual P (Res-P), thus resulting in the reduction of mobile P (sum of NH4Cl extractable P and BD-P) in the top 10 mm of sediment. In addition, the addition of ZrMZ into the top 10 mm of sediment resulted in reduction of the content of mobile P in 10-20 mm of sediment. Furthermore, the effect of ZrMZ addition on the migration and transformation of P in sediments under hydrodynamic disturbance condition had a certain difference from that under static condition. The presence of hydrodynamic disturbance enhanced the immobilization efficiency of SRP in the pore water at a depth of 0-20 mm by the ZrMZ amendment, and also increased the reduction efficiency of the SRP diffusion flux from the pore water to the overlying water across the SWI by the ZrMZ amendment. However, the efficiency of the control of SRP release from sediments to the overlying water by the ZrMZ amendment was slightly reduced by the hydrodynamic disturbance. The reductions of mobile P in the top sediment, SRP in the pore water as well as the diffusion flux of SRP from the pore water to the overlying water across the SWI played a key role in the control of SRP release from sediments to the overlying water by the ZrMZ amendment. Results of this work indicate that ZrMZ is a very promising amendment for the control of SRP release from river sediments under static and hydrodynamic disturbance conditions.

[Research Progress of Supercontinuum Laser Spectroscopy in Biomedical Field].

Supercontinuum laser refers to the spectral broadening of an incident laser beam due to a series of nonlinear effects when the incident beam passes through a special light guide. With the development of ultrafast lasers and the photonic crystal fiber technology, the coherent and bright supercontinuum laser, generated with ultrashort pulses propagating in photonic crystal fibers, has become a kind of ideal white light source. Since supercontinuum lasers have been put into practice, their application domain is getting wider, especially for cells and bloods analysis in the biomedical field with fluorescence spectroscopy, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, and optical coherence tomography as powerful analysis tools. Supercontinuum laser source has become one of the mail optical components in these scientific instruments that employ advanced technologies. In this paper, international research progress on supercontinuum laser sources was introduced in detail firstly, and then the development and application of supercontinuum laser spectroscopy technology in biomedical fields, such as microscopic imaging, flow cytometry instrument, fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, fluorescence resonance energy transfer, optical coherence tomography, and confocal microscopy was comprehensively elaborated. The requirements, schemes and research progress of supercontinuum laser spectroscopy technologies in the noncontact identification for blood products were also discussed in the paper, including studies on light fiber supercontinuum laser sources with spectra range from 400 to 2000nm, distinguishing species characteristic of bloods with supercontinuum laser spectroscopy, analyzing and establishing mathematical models based on meta databases of big data bloods spectra, determining the bloods species based on these models, and developing portable instruments for bloods spectra identification. Finally, the prospect of applications of supercontinuum laser spectroscopy in the biomedical field is discussed.

[Elemental Analysis of Rock with Remote Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy].

As a kind of spectroscopic technique, the remote laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (Remote LIBS) can qualitatively or quantitatively measure the elemental compositions of remote targets with high-power laser and focusing optical path. In this work, a Remote LIBS system was designed and established to probe the target from 2 to 10 meters. It is characterized with Cassegrain telescope structure and automatic focusing technique. Based on this system, a method to remotely retrieve the major elemental abundance of rocks is presented. With comparative experiment, the influences on spectral signal by pulse laser energy, acquisition delay time, integration time, accumulative pulse number are analyzed to find out the optimum parameters: the wavelength of laser is 1 064 nm, pulse energy is 120 mJ, delay time is 1.5 µs, integration time is 1 ms, and each spectrum data acquired with averaging 30 times detection. 48 pieces of rock specimens and 6 kinds of standard rock samples (shale, granite, andesite, basalt, gneiss and pegmatite) are selected for the experiment. As to the atomic spectra database, 8 characteristic spectral lines of the major elements (SiⅠ390.55 nm，AlⅠ394.40 nm，AlⅠ396.15 nm，CaⅡ396.85 nm，FeⅠ404.6 nm，SiⅠ500.60nm，MgⅠ518.36nm，NaⅠ589.59 nm) were extracted for analyses. Then a PLS model is constructed to quantitatively analyze the rock elements. 48 rock specimens were selected as the training sets to serve the model. The 6 standard samples were used to test the solved model. The testing results shows that the elemental abundance of Si and Al can be predicted accurately with average relative error of only 9.4% and 9.6% respectively.

[Plasma Mass Spectrometry of Sea Mountain Basalts in the Western Pacific and Its Geological Significance].

As a kind of spectroscopic technique, the remote laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (Remote LIBS) can qualitatively or quantitatively measure the elemental compositions of remote targets with high-power laser and focusing optical path. In this work, a Remote LIBS system was designed and established to probe the target from 2 to 10 meters. It is characterized with Cassegrain telescope structure and automatic focusing technique. Based on this system, a method to remotely retrieve the major elemental abundance of rocks is presented. With comparative experiment, the influences on spectral signal by pulse laser energy, acquisition delay time, integration time, accumulative pulse number are analyzed to find out the optimum parameters: the wavelength of laser is 1 064 nm, pulse energy is 120 mJ, delay time is 1.5 µs, integration time is 1 ms, and each spectrum data acquired with averaging 30 times detection. 48 pieces of rock specimens and 6 kinds of standard rock samples (shale, granite, andesite, basalt, gneiss and pegmatite) are selected for the experiment. As to the atomic spectra database, 8 characteristic spectral lines of the major elements (SiⅠ390.55 nm，AlⅠ394.40 nm，AlⅠ396.15 nm, Ca II 396.85 nm，FeⅠ404.6 nm，SiⅠ500.60nm，MgⅠ518.36nm，NaⅠ589.59 nm) were extracted for analyses. Then a PLS model is constructed to quantitatively analyze the rock elements. 48 rock specimens were selected as the training sets to serve the model. The 6 standard samples were used to test the solved model. The testing results shows that the elemental abundance of Si and Al can be predicted accurately with average relative error of only 9.4% and 9.6% respectively.

Determinants of undergraduate nursing students' care willingness towards the elderly in China: Attitudes, gratitude and knowledge.

BACKGROUND: An aging population has become a serious problem in China. Improving the nursing students' care willingness is a critical way to solve this dilemma. Few studies reveal the relationship between the knowledge, care willingness, attitude towards the elderly and gratitude. This research has found that the attitude towards the elderly, the knowledge about aging, and gratitude showed correlation with care willingness. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships among knowledge about aging, care willingness, attitude towards the elderly and gratitude. DESIGN: A cross-sectional descriptive design has been used. METHODS: From November to December 2015, a total of 382 undergraduate nursing students in China completed the questionnaires. The response rate was 95.5%. Four questionnaires including Care Willingness to the Elderly Scale (CW), Kogan's Attitudes towards Old People scale (KAOP), the Facts on Aging Quiz (FAQ), and the Gratitude Scale. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to explore the relationship among those variables in this study. RESULTS: For Chinese nursing students, the care willingness of elderly was in medium-high level. Their attitude towards the elderly and gratitude were at the medium degree, while the knowledge about aging was at a lower level. The attitude towards older people, knowledge about aging, and gratitude were significantly correlated with care willingness. The knowledge about aging has no relationship with the attitude. Gratitude plays a mediation role between the knowledge about aging and care willingness. The experience of caring the elderly could lead to a positive impact in care willingness. CONCLUSIONS: The nursing students' knowledge about aging had a direct influence on their care willingness. Gratitude plays a mediating role between the knowledge about aging and care willingness to the elderly.

[Identification of Animal Whole Blood Based on Near Infrared Transmission Spectroscopy].

The inspection and classification for blood products are important but complicated in import-export ports or inspection and quarantine departments. For the inspection of whole blood products, open sampling can cause pollution and virulence factors in bloods samples may even endanger inspectors. Thus non-contact classification and identification methods for whole bloods of animals are needed. Spectroscopic techniques adopted in the flowcytometry need sampling blood cells during the detection; therefore they can not meet the demand of non-contact identification and classification for whole bloods of animals. Infrared absorption spectroscopy is a technique that can be used to analyze the molecular structure and chemical bonds of detected samples under the condition of non-contact. To find a feasible spectroscopic approach of non-contact detection for the species variation in whole blood samples, a near infrared transmitted spectra (NITS, 4 497.669 - 7 506.4 cm(-1)) experiment of whole blood samples of three common animals including chickens, dogs and cats has been conducted. During the experiment, the spectroscopic resolution is 5 cm(-1), and each spectrogram is an average of 5 measured spectral data. Experimental results show that all samples have a sharp absorption peak between 5 184 and 5 215 cm(-1), and a gentle absorption peak near 7 000 cm(-1). Besides, the NITS curves of different samples of same animals are similar, and only have slight differences in the whole transmittance. A correlation coefficient (CC) is induced to distinguish the differences of the three animals' whole bloods in NITS curves, and the computed CCs between NITS curves of different samples of the same animals, are greater than 0.99, whereas CCs between NITS curves of the whole bloods of different animals are from 0.509 48 to 0.916 13. Among which CCs between NITS curves of the whole bloods of chickens and cats are from 0.857 23 to 0.912 44, CCs between NITS curves of the whole bloods of chickens and dogs are from 0.509 48 to 0.664 82, and CCs between NITS curves of the whole bloods of cats and dogs are from 0.872 75 to 0.916 13. The cat and the dog belong to the class of mammal, and the CCs between their whole bloods NITS curves are greater than those between chickens and cats, or chickens and dogs, which are hetero-class animals. Namely, the whole bloods NITS curves of the cat and the dog have higher similarity. These results of NITS provide a feasible method of non-contact identification of animal whole bloods.

[The Progress in Remote Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy].

As a kind of spectroscopic technique, the remote laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (Remote LIBS) can measure elemental compositions of remote targets by using high-power lasers and focusing approaches. In this paper, three remote detection approaches (open path LIBS, fiber optic LIBS and compact probe fiber optic LIBS) and their system architectures are summarized and analyzed. Conventional open path LIBS, with high requirement of specifications of lasers, optical systems, spectrographs and detectors, has always been a research focus in remote testing field. Fiber optic LIBS has the advantages of simplification of optical focusing system and high collection efficiency of the plasma light. This paper reviews the progress in new techniques of LIBS, for instance Filament-LIBS techniques and LIBS combines with other spectral detection techniques, and emphatically analyzes their characteristics and advantages. These new techniques have greatly broadened the detection range of LIBS, enhanced material recognition ability of LIBS, and made a great contribution to expanding applications of remote LIBS. Latest development of applications of remote LIBS in fields of deep space exploration, hazardous material detection, pollution testing, metallurgical industries and heritage restoration is introduced in detail. With the development of laser techniques, spectral detection and calibration techniques, the detection range of remote LIBS has been expended, their application fields has been extended, and the detection precision and accuracy have been improved.

[Effect of Astragalus mongholicus injection on proliferation and apoptosis of hormone sensitive (MCF-7) breast cancer cell lines with physiological dose E2].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Astragalus mongholicus injection on proliferation and apoptosis in hormone sensitive breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7) with physiological dose E2. METHODS: Cell control group, TAM control group and five different dose Astragalus mongholicus injection groups with physiological dose E2 were set in the study. Proliferation of MCF-7 cells were evaluated with MTT assay, cell apoptotic rate were measured with flow cytometry, DNA ladder and cell cycle were observed. RESULTS: In physiological dose E2, Astragalus mongholicus injection inhibited MCF-7 cells proliferation at all concentration groups. As time lasting, Astragalus mongholicus injection showed better inhibitory effect than TAM (P<0.05). Among 2 x 10(-1) g/mL-2 x 10(-4) g/mL concentration, Astragalus mongholicus injection significantly increased the proliferative percent of G0/G1 and S-phase cell, decreased percent of G2-M phase cell (P<0.05) at 24 hours. After cocultured 72 hours, Astragalus mongholicus injection increased the rate of apoptosis to 16.7% at 2 x 10(-1) g/mL concentration. CONCLUSION: In some dose limit, Astragalus mongholicus injection may inhibit proliferation, induce apoptosis and interrupt caryocinesia at G0-G1 phase or S phase in hormone sensitive (MCF-7) breast cancer cell lines with physiological dose E2.

[Standardization of syndrome differentiation based on stages for breast cancer: a significant and updating topic on mastology of traditional Chinese medicine].

The incidence of breast cancer increased rapidly in recent years. Breast cancer has become the most frequent malignant tumor of female especially in the developed regions. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is effective in treating breast cancer, but its theories appear hysteretic, restricting the progress in clinical practice, teaching and research of TCM in the treatment of breast cancer. This article described the significance and urgency to work out the standardization of syndrome differentiation based on stages for breast cancer and put it into practice. It also analyzed the foundations, ideas and approaches of the research of standardization of syndrome differentiation based on stages for breast cancer in light of the changes of spectrum of diseases, the weaknesses of modern medicine in treating breast cancer, and the existed problems in the update clinical practice.

[Discussion of some problems about use of traditional Chinese medicine in perioperative management of breast cancer].

The study on use of traditional Chinese medicine in perioperative management of breast cancer is still in the beginning phase. With the emergence of new understanding about the biological characteristics of breast cancer, the concept of treatment has changed. For instance, the resection extent is tending to be narrower, large doses of radiotherapy may be adopted during the operation, and early use of adjuvant chemotherapy is advocated after the operation. These have bought about changes to the intervention factors in the perioperative period for breast cancer. Some related problems about the participation of traditional Chinese medicine in perioperative management of breast cancer are discussed in this article, so as to make the perioperative management perfect.

[Effects of Runing Recipe II on expressions of p53 and ras oncogene proteins and cell cycle of the transplanted Ca761 breast cancer in mice].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanisms of Runing Recipe II (a recipe composed of traditional Chinese herbs) in inhibiting the growth of breast cancer by observing its effects on the expressions of p53 and ras oncogene proteins and cell cycle of the transplanted Ca761 breast cancer in mice. METHODS: We established the breast cancer model by transplanting Ca761 cells in mice. The mice were randomly divided into 4 groups: normal saline control group, CTX-treated group, Runing Recipe II-treated group, and Runing Recipe II and CTX-treated group, with 12 mice in each group. We detected the cell cycle of the cancer cells in the mice's transplanted tumor with flow cytometry and measured the expressions of p53 and ras oncogene proteins in the transplanted tumor with immunohistochemical methods. RESULTS: The percentages of tumor cells in S-phase of the Runing Recipe II treated group, CTX-treated group and Runing Recipe II and CTX-treated group were significantly lower than that of the normal saline control group respectively (P<0.05). The percentage of tumor cells in G(0)-G(1) phase of the Runing Recipe II treated group was lower than that of the CTX-treated group (P<0.05), while the percentage of tumor cells in G(2)-M phase was higher than that of the CTX-treated group. The immunoreactive scores (IRSs) of p53 in the Runing Recipe II treated group and Runing Recipe II and CTX-treated group were significantly lower than that in the normal saline control group respectively (P<0.05). The effect of CTX on the expression of p53 was not significant. The IRSs of ras oncogene protein in the Recipe II-treated group, CTX-treated group and Runing Recipe II and CTX-treated group were lower than that in the normal saline control group respectively (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Runing Recipe II can inhibit the growth of Ca761 breast cancer in mice by controlling the cell cycle of the transplanted tumor. This may be related to its effect on the gene expressions of p53 and ras in the tumor tissue.

[Study progress in reversing multidrug resistance to breast cancer with Chinese herbs].

Multidrug resistance of breast cancer is one of the most causes of failure in clinical chemotherapy. It is important to find out some safe and effective drugs to reserve multidrug resistance to breast cancer. The effect of some herbs had been identified in vitro. This article mainly reviewed the research progress in reversing multidrug resistance to breast cancer with Chinese herb. If the herb's effects and safety can be testified in vivo by further research, it will be effectively applied in clinic.