The effect of emotion regulation strategies on nomophobia in college students: The masking role of resilience.

College students have a high prevalence of nomophobia. However, research on the effects of emotion regulation and resilience on nomophobia in China is lacking. This research investigated how cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression strategies directly and indirectly affect nomophobia through resilience. Therefore, from March to May 2023, 756 university student volunteers (21.4 % men) were selected from a university in northeastern China for a questionnaire survey. Our findings suggest that college students' resilience has a masking effect on the relationship between cognitive reappraisal and nomophobia and can attenuate the negative effect of the frequency of using cognitive reappraisal strategies on nomophobia. The frequency of expressive suppression strategies directly and positively affected nomophobia. Early psychological interventions targeting resilience might be potentially effective in alleviating nomophobia among college students.

Electrical stress and acid orange 7 synergistically clear the blockage of electron flow in the methanogenesis of low-strength wastewater.

Energy recovery from low-strength wastewater through anaerobic methanogenesis is constrained by limited substrate availability. The development of efficient methanogenic communities is critical but challenging. Here we develop a strategy to acclimate methanogenic communities using conductive carrier (CC), electrical stress (ES), and Acid Orange 7 (AO7) in a modified biofilter. The synergistic integration of CC, ES, and AO7 precipitated a remarkable 72-fold surge in methane production rate compared to the baseline. This increase was attributed to an altered methanogenic community function, independent of the continuous presence of AO7 and ES. AO7 acted as an external electron acceptor, accelerating acetogenesis from fermentation intermediates, restructuring the bacterial community, and enriching electroactive bacteria (EAB). Meanwhile, CC and ES orchestrated the assembly of the archaeal community and promoted electrotrophic methanogens, enhancing acetotrophic methanogenesis electron flow via a mechanism distinct from direct electrochemical interactions. The collective application of CC, ES, and AO7 effectively mitigated electron flow impediments in low-strength wastewater methanogenesis, achieving an additional 34% electron recovery from the substrate. This study proposes a new method of amending anaerobic digestion systems with conductive materials to advance wastewater treatment, sustainability, and energy self-sufficiency.

Sediment microbial fuel cell coupled floating treatment wetland for enhancing non-reactive phosphorus removal.

The presence of non-reactive phosphorus (NRP) in environmental waters presents a potential risk of eutrophication and poses challenges for the removal of all phosphorus (P) fractions. This study presents the first investigation on the removal performance and mechanism of three model NRP compounds, sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP), adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) and 2-phosphonobutane-1,2,4-tricarboxylic acid (PBTC), in the sediment microbial fuel cell-floating treatment wetland (SMFC-FTW). Coupling SMFC with plants proved to be effective at removing NRP via electrochemical oxidation and plant uptake, particularly the challenging-to-degrade phosphonates that contain C-P bonds. Compared with the control group, the removal efficiencies of the model NRP in SMFC were observed to increase by 11.9%-20.8%. SMFC promoted the conversion of NRP to soluble reactive phosphorus (sRP) and the transfer of P to sediment. Furthermore, the electrochemical process enhanced both plant growth and P uptake, and increased P assimilation by 72.6%. The presence of plants in the bioelectrochemical system influenced the occurrence and fate of P by efficiently assimilating sRP and supporting microbial transformation of NRP. Consequently, plants enhanced the removal efficiencies of all P fractions in the overlying water. This study demonstrated that SMFC-FTW is a promising technology to remove various NRP species in environmental waters.

Dion-Jacobson Type Lead-Free Double Perovskite with Ultra-Narrow Aromatic Interlayer Spacing for Highly Sensitive and Stable X-ray Detection.

The low-toxic and environmentally friendly 2D lead-free perovskite has made significant progress in the exploration of "green" X-ray detectors. However, the gap in detection performance between them and their lead-based analogues remains a matter of concern that cannot be ignored. To reduce this gap, shortening the interlayer spacing to accelerate the migration and collection of X-ray carriers is a promising strategy. Herein, a Dion-Jacobson (DJ) lead-free double perovskite (4-AP)2 AgBiBr8 (1, 4-AP = 4-amidinopyridine) with an ultra-narrow interlayer spacing of 3.0 Å, is constructed by utilizing π-conjugated aromatic spacers. Strikingly, the subsequent enhanced carrier transport and increased crystal density lead to X-ray detectors based on bulk single crystals of 1 with a high sensitivity of 1117.3 µC Gy-1  cm-2 , superior to the vast majority of similar double perovskites. In particular, the tight connection of the inorganic layers by the divalent cations enhances structural rigidity and stability, further endowing 1 detector with ultralow dark current drift (3.06 × 10-8  nA cm-1  s-1  V-1 , 80 V), excellent multiple cycles switching X-ray irradiation stability, as well as long-term environmental stability (maintains over 94% photoresponse after 90 days). This work brings lead-free double perovskites one step closer to realizing efficient practical green applications.

A comprehensive review on the inherent and enhanced antifouling mechanisms of hydrogels and their applications.

Biofouling remains a persistent challenge within the domains of biomedicine, tissue engineering, marine industry, and membrane separation processes. Multifunctional hydrogels have garnered substantial attention due to their complex three-dimensional architecture, hydrophilicity, biocompatibility, and flexibility. These hydrogels have shown notable advances across various engineering disciplines. The antifouling efficacy of hydrogels typically covers a range of strategies to mitigate or inhibit the adhesion of particulate matter, biological entities, or extraneous pollutants onto their external or internal surfaces. This review provides a comprehensive review of the antifouling properties and applications of hydrogels. We first focus on elucidating the fundamental principles for the inherent resistance of hydrogels to fouling. This is followed by a comprehensive investigation of the methods employed to enhance the antifouling properties enabled by the hydrogels' composition, network structure, conductivity, photothermal properties, release of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and incorporation of silicon and fluorine compounds. Additionally, we explore the emerging prospects of antifouling hydrogels to alleviate the severe challenges posed by surface contamination, membrane separation and wound dressings. The inclusion of detailed mechanistic insights and the judicious selection of antifouling hydrogels are geared toward identifying extant gaps that must be bridged to meet practical requisites while concurrently addressing long-term antifouling applications.

Multi-level FeCo/N-doped carbon nanosheet for peroxymonosulfate oxidation and sterilization inactivation.

Magnetic carbon-based catalysts with environmental friendliness have exhibited prominent effects on advanced oxidation processes. Herein, a multi-level FeCo/N-doped carbon nanosheet (FeCo/CNS) was synthesized by facile impregnation iron-cobalt salt onto cotton and followed by confined pyrolysis. We identified excellent advantages of the modified FeCo/CNS materials: (i) The convenience of the synthesis method and (ii) The dual effect of sterilization and contaminant degradation achieved through the FeCo/CNS-activated Peroxymonosulfate (PMS). The comparative experimental showed that FeCo/CNS could provide favorable catalytic performance, completely removing bisphenol A (BPA) and tetracycline (TC) within 5 min. Moreover, the potent sterilization properties against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were also verified. Analysis of the degradation pathway confirmed the existence of intermediates, and toxicological research demonstrated that the toxicity of the degradation intermediates of BPA gradually decreased over time. Our research provided an excellent application of FeCo/CNS in PMS oxidation and sterilization inactivation.

Chemical and Structural Engineering of Gelatin-Based Delivery Systems for Therapeutic Applications: A Review.

As a biodegradable and biocompatible protein derived from collagen, gelatin has been extensively exploited as a fundamental component of biological scaffolds and drug delivery systems for precise medicine. The easily engineered gelatin holds great promise in formulating various delivery systems to protect and enhance the efficacy of drugs for improving the safety and effectiveness of numerous pharmaceuticals. The remarkable biocompatibility and adjustable mechanical properties of gelatin permit the construction of active 3D scaffolds to accelerate the regeneration of injured tissues and organs. In this Review, we delve into diverse strategies for fabricating and functionalizing gelatin-based structures, which are applicable to gene and drug delivery as well as tissue engineering. We emphasized the advantages of various gelatin derivatives, including methacryloyl gelatin, polyethylene glycol-modified gelatin, thiolated gelatin, and alendronate-modified gelatin. These derivatives exhibit excellent physicochemical and biological properties, allowing the fabrication of tailor-made structures for biomedical applications. Additionally, we explored the latest developments in the modulation of their physicochemical properties by combining additive materials and manufacturing platforms, outlining the design of multifunctional gelatin-based micro-, nano-, and macrostructures. While discussing the current limitations, we also addressed the challenges that need to be overcome for clinical translation, including high manufacturing costs, limited application scenarios, and potential immunogenicity. This Review provides insight into how the structural and chemical engineering of gelatin can be leveraged to pave the way for significant advancements in biomedical applications and the improvement of patient outcomes.

Antimicrobial research of carbohydrate polymer- and protein-based hydrogels as reservoirs for the generation of reactive oxygen species: A review.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an important role in biological milieu. Recently, the rapid growth in our understanding of ROS and their promise in antibacterial applications has generated tremendous interest in the combination of ROS generators with bulk hydrogels. Hydrogels represent promising supporters for ROS generators and can locally confine the nanoscale distribution of ROS generators whilst also promoting cellular integration via biomaterial-cell interactions. This review highlights recent efforts and progress in developing hydrogels derived from biological macromolecules with embedded ROS generators with a focus on antimicrobial applications. Initially, an overview of passive and active antibacterial hydrogels is provided to show the significance of proper hydrogel selection and design. These are followed by an in-depth discussion of the various approaches for ROS generation in hydrogels. The structural engineering and fabrication of ROS-laden hydrogels are given with a focus on their biomedical applications in therapeutics and diagnosis. Additionally, we discuss how a compromise needs to be sought between ROS generation and removal for maximizing the efficacy of therapeutic treatment. Finally, the current challenges and potential routes toward commercialization in this rapidly evolving field are discussed, focusing on the potential translation of laboratory research outcomes to real-world clinical outcomes.

Effluent quality prediction of the sewage treatment based on a hybrid neural network model: Comparison and application.

The accurate prediction and assessment of effluent quality in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are paramount for the efficacy of sewage treatment processes. Neural network models have exhibited promise in enhancing prediction accuracy by simulating and analyzing diverse influent parameters. In this study, a back propagation neural network hybrid model based on a tent chaotic map and sparrow search algorithm (Tent_BP_SSA) was developed to predict the effluent quality of sewage treatment processes. The prediction performance of the propose hybrid model was compared with traditional neural network models using five performance indicators (MAE, RMSE, SSE, MAPE and R2). Specifically, in comparison with the prior Tent_BP_SSA, Tent_BP_SSA2 demonstrated notable enhancements, with the R2 increasing from 0.9512 to 0.9672, while MAE, RMSE, SSE, and MAPE decreased by 9.62%, 18.84%, 24.80%, and 47.10%, respectively. These indicators collectively affirm that the utilization of higher-order input parameters ensures improved accuracy of the Tent_BP_SSA2 hybrid model in predicting effluent quality. Moreover, the Tent_BP_SSA2 model exhibited robust prediction ability (R2 of 0.9246) when applied to assess the effluent quality of an actual sewage treatment plant. The incorporation of integrated models comprising the sparrow search optimizing algorithm, tent chaotic mapping, and higher-order magnitude decomposition of input parameters has demonstrated the capacity to enhance the accuracy of effluent quality prediction. This study illuminates novel perspectives on the prediction of effluent quality and the assessment of effluent warnings in WWTPs.

A sustainable integrated anoxic/aerobic bio-contactor process for simultaneously in-situ deodorization and pollutants removal from decentralized domestic sewage.

The integration of anoxic filter and aerobic rotating biological contactor shows promise in treating rural domestic sewage. It offers high efficiency, low sludge production, and strong shock resistance. However, further optimization is needed for odor control, pollutant removal, and power consumption. In this study, the investigation on a one-pump-drive lab-scale device of retention anoxic filter (RAF) integrated with hydraulic rotating bio-contactor (HRBC) and its optimal operation mode were conducted. During the 50-day operation, optimal operation parameters were investigated. These parameters included a 175 % reflux ratio (RR), 5-h hydraulic retention time in the RAF (HRTRAF), and 2.5-h hydraulic retention time in the HRBC (HRTHRBC). Those conditions characterized a micro-aerobic environment (DO: 0.6-0.8 mg/L) in RAF, inducing improved deodorization (89.3 % sulfide removal) and denitrification (85.9 % nitrate removal) simultaneously. During the operation period, 84.79 ± 3.87 % COD, 82.71± 2.06 % NH4+-N, 74.83 ± 2.06 % TN, 91.68± 2.12 % S2-, and 89.04 ± 1.68 % TON were removed in RAF-HRBC. Based on large amount of operational data, organic loading rate curves of RAF-HRBC were validated and calibrated as a crucial reference to aid in full-scale designs and applications. The richness of microbial community was improved in both RAF and HRBC. In the RAF, the autotrophic sulfide-oxidizing nitrate-reducing bacteria (a-son) and heterotrophic sulfide-oxidizing nitrate-reducing bacteria (h-son) were selectively enriched, which intensified the sulfide removal and denitrification process. In the two-stage HRBC system, the 1st stage RBC was primarily composed of organics degraders, while the 2nd stage RBC consisted mainly of ammonium oxidizers. Overall, the integrated RAF-HRBC process holds significant potential for simultaneously improving pollutant removal and in-situ odor mitigation in decentralized domestic sewage treatment. This process specifically contributes to enhancing environmental sustainability and operational efficiency.

Alternating chiral and achiral spacers for constructing two-dimensional chiral hybrid perovskites toward circular-polarization-sensitive photodetection.

The intrinsic integration of structural flexibility, chiroptical activity, and photoelectric properties endows the two-dimensional (2D) chiral hybrid perovskites (CHPs) with significant application potential in chiroptoelectronics and spintronics. However, the scarcity of suitable chiral organic ligands severely hinders their extensive construction, necessitating the development of new strategies for designing 2D CHPs. Herein, by exploiting a half substitution method, we created a pair of 2D CHPs with alternating cations in the interlayer space (ACI), (R/S-PPA)(PA)PbBr4 (2R/2S, PPA = 1-phenylpropylamine, PA = n-pentylamine), from the achiral Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) (PA)2PbBr4 (1). The successful chirality transfer induces 2R/2S to crystallize in the chiral P212121 space group and thus acquire appealing chiroptical activity. Consequently, the single-crystal devices of 2R exhibit good distinguishability to the left- and right-handed circularly polarized 405 nm lights with a photocurrent dissymmetric factor of 0.10 at 10 V bias. This work demonstrates an intriguing achiral RP to chiral ACI motif reconstruction in 2D halide hybrid perovskites, opening a door for expanding the family of 2D CHPs.

Insight into the mechanism of nutrients removal and response regulation of denitrifying phosphorus removal system under calcium ion stress.

The influent quality is an important factor affecting the nutrients removal and operational stability of denitrifying phosphorus removal (DPR) system. This study investigated the effects of calcium ion (Ca2+) on the nutrients removal, nitrogen oxide (N2O) release, microbial community, and quorum sensing in DPR system. Results showed that high accumulation of Ca2+ had a significant impact on the carbon footprint of DPR system. Specifically, N2O release reached 2.11 mg/L under Ca2+ of 150 mg/L, which represented 214.93% increase compared to 0 mg/L of Ca2+. The DPR system demonstrated its adaptability to elevated Ca2+ concentrations by modifying key enzyme activities involved in nitrogen and phosphorus removal, altering the microbial community structure, and adjusting the type and content of signal molecules. These findings hold significant implications for understanding the stress mechanism of Ca2+ on DPR system, ultimately aiding in the maintenance and enhancement of stable operational performance in biological wastewater treatment process.

Iron-Cobalt magnetic porous carbon beads activated peroxymonosulfate for enhanced degradation and Microbial inactivation.

Magnetic carbon-based catalysts are promising materials for advanced oxidation processes, offering both high catalytic activity and environmental friendliness, and hold great potential in environmental remediation. In this work, Fe and Co zeolite imidazole frameworks (ZIFs) derived micron-sized magnetic porous carbon beads (MPCBs) were prepared by phase inversion and following the carbonization procedure, and the morphological and structural characteristics of the MPCBs were confirmed. The presence of pores and channels in the MPCBs provides a specific microenvironment for the for the catalysis of the core. Bisphenol A (BPA) was selected for the targeted pollutant, and the catalytic experiments confirmed that the effective catalytic activity of MPCBs in the presence of peroxymonosulfate (PMS), which could almost completely degrade BPA in 20 min with a reaction rate of 0.368 min-1. Furthermore, the MPCBs were used to effectively bacterial inactivation. Intermediate products of the BPA degradation process were validated and the toxicological studies showed a gradual decrease in toxicity, indicating effective reduction of potential hazards. The macroscopic preparation methods we developed for MPCBs that is promising for industrial applications and has the potential to cope with complex environmental remediation.

A hierarchical porous aerohydrogel for enhanced water evaporation.

Natural solar-powered steam generation provides a promising strategy to deal with deteriorating water resources. However, the practical applications of this strategy are limited by the tedious manufacturing of structures at micro-nano levels to concentrate heat and transport water to heat-localized regions. Herein, this work reports the fabrication of hierarchically porous aerohydrogel with enhanced light absorption and thermal localization at the air-solid interface. This aerohydrogel steam generator is fabricated by a simple yet controllable micropore generation approach to assemble air and hydrogel into hierarchically porous gas-solid hybrids. The tunable micropore size in a wide range from 99±49µm to 316±58µm not only enables contrasting sunlight absorptance (0.2 - 2.5µm) by reducing the reflection of solar light but also harnesses water transportation to the heating region via a capillary force-driven liquid flow. Therefore, a solar-vapor conversion efficiency of 91.3% under one sun irradiation was achieved using this aerohydrogel evaporator, reaching a ready evaporation rate of 2.76kg m-2 h-1 and 3.71kg m-2 h-1 under one and two sun irradiations, respectively. Our work provides a versatile and scalable approach to engineering porous hydrogels for highly efficient steam generation and opens an avenue for other potential practical applications based on this aerohydrogel.

Modelling biochemical oxygen demand using improved neuro-fuzzy approach by marine predators algorithm.

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is one of the most important parameters used for water quality assessment. Alternative methods are essential for accurately prediction of this parameter because the traditional method in predicting the BOD is time-consuming and it is inaccurate due to inconstancies in microbial multiplicity. In this study, the applicability of four hybrid neuro-fuzzy (ANFIS) methods, ANFIS with genetic algorithm (GA), ANFIS with particle swarm optimization (PSO), ANFIS with sine cosine algorithm (SCA), and ANFIS with marine predators algorithm (MPA), was investigated in predicting BOD using distinct input combinations such as potential of hydrogen (pH), dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity (EC), water temperature (WT), suspended solids (SS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (T-P) acquired from two river stations, Gongreung and Gyeongan, South Korea. The applicability of multi-variate adaptive regression spline (MARS) in determination of the best input combination was examined. The ANFIS-MPA was found to be the best model with the lowest root mean square error and mean absolute error and the highest determination coefficient. It improved the root mean square error of ANFIS-PSO, ANFIS-GA, and ANFIS-SCA models by 13.8%, 12.1%, and 6.3% for Gongreung Station and by 33%, 25%, and 6.3% for Gyeongan Station in the test stage, respectively.

Dion-Jacobson to Alternating-Cations-Interaction Reconstruction toward Narrow Bandgap 2D Aromatic Hybrid Perovskite.

The 2D aromatic Dion-Jacobson (DJ) hybrid perovskites combining advantages of high stability, enhanced light absorption, and favorable charge transport, are regarded as a kind of very promising materials for high-performance optoelectronic applications. However, due to the rigidity and large size of the aromatic ring, how to further reduce the interlayer distance to achieve better carrier transport and wider light response window still remain extremely challenging. Here, an interesting DJ-to-ACI (alternating-cations-interaction) reconstruction in 2D aromatic perovskite is first realized by inserting MA+ cations into (4-AP)PbI4 (1, 4-AP = 4-amidinopyridinium), successfully constructing an unprecedented ACI perovskite of (4-AP)(MA)2 Pb2 I8 (2, MA = methylamine). Remarkably, such a DJ-to-ACI reconstruction not only effectively reduces the interlayer spacing from 3.89 to 3.15 Å but also alleviates the structural distortion, which jointly causes a significant bandgap narrowing from 2.22 to 1.95 eV (smaller than all current 2D monolayered DJ perovskites), hence achieving a broad photodetection window over 660 nm. This work reports a novel narrow bandgap 2D ACI perovskite derived from the aromatic DJ motif, which sheds light on future regulations on the structure and properties of hybrid perovskites.

Acceleration of nitrogen removal performance in a biofilm reactor augmented with Pseudomonas sp. using polycaprolactone as carbon source for treating low carbon to nitrogen wastewater.

Heterotrophic nitrification-aerobic denitrification (HN-AD) process was achieved in a moving bed biofilm reactor after 180-days acclimation using PCL as carbon source for low C/N wastewater treatment. A novel HN-AD strain, JQ-H3, with ability of PCL degradation was augmented to improve nitrogen removal. TN removal efficiencies of 82.31%, 90.05%, and 93.16% were achieved in the augmented reactor (R2), at different HRTs of 24 h, 20 h, and 16 h, while in the control reactor (R1), the TN removal efficiencies were 59.24%, 74.61%, and 76.68%. The effluent COD in R2 was 10.17 mg/L, much lower than that of 42.45 mg/L in R1. Microbial community analysis revealed that JQ-H3 has successfully proliferated with a relative abundance of 4.79%. Relative abundances of functional enzymes of nitrogen cycling remarkably increased due to bioaugmentation based on the analysis of PICRUSt2. This study provides a new approach for enhancing nitrogen removal in low C/N sewage treatment via the HN-AD process.

Effects of nano metal oxide particles on denitrifying phosphorus removal system: Potential stress mechanism and recovery strategy.

The accumulation of nano metal oxide particles (NMOPs) in municipal sewage treatment systems harms the microbial community and its metabolism in activated sludge system, resulting in the degradation of its pollutants removal performance. In this work, the stress effect of NMOPs on the denitrifying phosphorus removal system was systematically investigated in terms of pollutants removal performance, key enzyme activities, microbial community diversity and abundances, and intracellular metabolites. Among the ZnO NPs, TiO2 NPs, CeO2 NPs, and CuO NPs, the ZnO NPs showed the most significant impacts with the chemical oxygen demand, total phosphorus, and nitrate nitrogen removal ratio decreased from above 90 % to 66.50 %, 49.13 %, and 57.11 %, respectively. The addition of surfactants and chelating agents could relieve the toxic effect of NMOPs on the denitrifying phosphorus removal system, and the chelating agents were more effective than surfactants in performance recovery. After adding ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid, the removal ratio of chemical oxygen demand, total phosphorus, and nitrate nitrogen under ZnO NPs stress was restored to 87.31 %, 88.79 %, and 90.35 %, respectively. The study provides valuable knowledge to better understand the impacts and stress mechanism of NMOPs on activated sludge systems and provides a solution to recover the nutrients removal performance of denitrifying phosphorus removal system under NMOPs stress.

Prevalence and risk factors for anxiety and depression among community dwelling patients with cervical spondylosis during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The emergence of COVID-19 and its unfavorable consequences lead to disease fear and other related mental health problems for individuals worldwide. This study aimed to analyze the prevalence and relevant factors of anxiety and depression among community dwelling cervical spondylosis (CS) patients, and to explore the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety and depression, so as to provide scientific basis for improving their mental health. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among a cohort of 556 CS patients by using convenient sampling. These participants were asked to complete a demographic questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S). The Chi-square test was used to determine the differences among categorical variables. Binary stepwise logistic regression was used to determine predictors of anxiety and depression. Results: The median HADS-A score was 5 (interquartile interval 2-7), and the median HADS-D score was 4 (interquartile interval 2-8). In this study, the prevalence of anxiety and depression was 25.0% and 26.6%, respectively. Gender and comorbid chronic diseases were predictors of depressive symptoms. In addition, fear of COVID-19 was related to depression and anxiety among community dwelling CS patients. Conclusion: Approximately one quarter of community dwelling CS patients were suffering depression or anxiety. Our findings could provide a basis for the development of psychological crisis intervention strategies for CS patients under public health emergencies in the future.