Neuromelanin-sensitive MRI of the substantia nigra distinguishes bipolar from unipolar depression.

Depression in bipolar disorder (BD-II) is frequently misdiagnosed as unipolar depression (UD) leading to inappropriate treatment and downstream complications for many bipolar sufferers. In this study, we evaluated whether neuromelanin-MR signal and volume changes in the substantia nigra (SN) can be used as potential biomarkers to differentiate BD-II from UD. The signal intensities and volumes of the SN regions were measured, and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) to the decussation of the superior cerebellar peduncles were calculated and compared between healthy controls (HC), BD-II and UD subjects. Results showed that compare to HC, both BD-II and UD subjects had significantly decreased CNR and increased volume on the right and left sides. Moreover, the volume in BD-II group was significantly increased compared to UD group. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for discriminating BD from HC was the largest for the Volume-L (AUC, 0.85; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.77, 0.93). The AUC for discriminating UD from HC was the largest for the Volume-L (AUC, 0.76; 95% CI: 0.65, 0.86). Furthermore, the AUC for discriminating BD from UD was the largest for the Volume-R (AUC, 0.73; 95% CI: 0.62, 0.84). Our findings suggest that neuromelanin-sensitive magnetic resonance imaging techniques can be used to differentiate BD-II from UD.

Corrigendum: High follicle-stimulating hormone level associated with risk of rheumatoid arthritis and disease activity.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.862849.].

Intra- and Inter-Reader Variations in Lung Nodule Measurements: Influences of Nodule Size, Location, and Observers.

(1) Background: Accurate measurement of lung-nodule size is necessary, but whether a three-dimensional volume measurement is better or more reliable than the one-dimensional method is still unclear. This study aimed to investigate the intra- and inter-reader variations according to nodule type, size, three-dimensional volume measurements, and one-dimensional linear measurements. (2) Methods: This retrospective study included computed tomography (CT) examinations of lung nodules and volume measurements performed from October to December 2016. Two radiologists independently performed all measurements. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) and Bland-Altman plots were used for analysis. (3) Results: The overall variability in the calculated volume was larger than when using the semiautomatic volume measurement. Nodules <6 mm tended to have larger variability than nodules ≥6 mm in both one-dimensional and calculated volume measurements. The isolated type showed smaller variability in both intra- and inter-reader comparisons. The juxta-vascular type showed the largest variability in both one-dimensional and calculated volume measurements. The variability was decreased when using the 3D volume semiautomated software. (4) Conclusions: The present study suggests that 3D semiautomatic volume measurements showed lower variability than the calculated volume measurement. Nodule size and location influence measurement variability. The intra- and inter-reader variabilities in nodule volume measurement were considerable.

Knowledge Mapping of Exosomes in Autoimmune Diseases: A Bibliometric Analysis (2002-2021).

Background: Autoimmune diseases (AIDs) are a class of chronic disabling diseases characterized by inflammation and damage to muscles, joints, bones, and internal organs. Recent studies have shown that much progress has been made in the research of exosomes in AIDs. However, there is no bibliometric analysis in this research field. This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the knowledge structure and research hotspots of exosomes in AIDs through bibliometrics. Method: Publications related to exosomes in AIDs from 2002 to 2021 were searched on the web of science core collection (WoSCC) database. VOSviewers, CiteSpace and R package "bibliometrix" were used to conduct this bibliometric analysis. Results: 312 articles from 48 countries led by China and the United States were included. The number of publications related to exosomes in AIDs is increasing year by year. Central South University, Sun Yat Sen University, Tianjin Medical University and University of Pennsylvania are the main research institutions. Frontiers in immunology is the most popular journal in this field, and Journal of Immunology is the most co-cited journal. These publications come from 473 authors among which Ilias Alevizos, Qianjin Lu, Wei Wei, Jim Xiang and Ming Zhao had published the most papers and Clotilde Théry was co-cited most often. Studying the mechanism of endogenous exosomes in the occurrence and development of AIDs and the therapeutic strategy of exogenous exosomes in AIDs are the main topics in this research field. "Mesenchymal stem cells", "microRNA", "biomarkers", "immunomodulation", and "therapy" are the primary keywords of emerging research hotspots. Conclusion: This is the first bibliometric study that comprehensively summarizes the research trends and developments of exosomes in AIDs. This information identifies recent research frontiers and hot directions, which will provide a reference for scholars studying exosomes.

Synovial Macrophages: Past Life, Current Situation, and Application in Inflammatory Arthritis.

Inflammatory arthritis is an inflammatory disease that involves the joints and surrounding tissues. Synovial hyperplasia often presents when joints become inflamed due to immune cell infiltration. Synovial membrane is an important as well as a highly specific component of the joint, and its lesions can lead to degeneration of the joint surface, causing pain and joint disability or affecting the patients' quality of life in severe cases. Synovial macrophages (SMs) are one of the cellular components of the synovial membrane, which not only retain the function of macrophages to engulf foreign bodies in the joint cavity, but also interact with synovial fibroblasts (SFs), T cells, B cells, and other inflammatory cells to promote the production of a variety of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, such as TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-8, and IL-6, which are involved in the pathogenic process of inflammatory arthritis. SMs from different tissue sources have differently differentiated potentials and functional expressions. This article provides a summary on studies pertaining to SMs in inflammatory arthritis, and explores their role in its treatment, in order to highlight novel treatment modalities for the disease.

Association between the volume of subregions of the amygdala and major depression with suicidal thoughts and anxiety in a Chinese cohort.

BACKGROUND: Major depression is the largest single contributor to suicide, and anxiety symptoms are associated with the severity of depression and suicidality. It is important to explore biomarkers of anxiety and suicidal ideation in major depression. In this study we hypothesized that the volume of subregions of the amygdala might be indicators of anxiety and suicidal ideation in patients with major depression. METHODS: We recruited 59 drug-naïve patients with first-episode depression who scored >17 on the Hamilton Rating Scale for depression, and 30 healthy controls to participate in a magnetic resonance imaging study. We examined the volume of sub-regions of the amygdala thought to be involved in processing anxious emotion in the depression and healthy control groups. We performed pair-wise comparisons of amygdala subfield volumes in patients with depression and healthy controls with an analysis of variance. We used logistic regression to test the relationship between suicidal ideation and anxious character with the volume of subregions of the amygdala. RESULTS: 1) We found a significant difference in the volumes of the left amygdala (P = 0.003) and right amygdala (P = 0.001) between the two groups. There are significant differences in the volumes of the sub-region of the left amygdala. 2) The volume of the left lateral nucleus (P<0.001), basal nucleus (P<0.001), accessory basal nucleus (P<0.05), left Paralaminar-nucleus (P<0.001), right lateral-nucleus (P<0.05), right basal-nucleus (P<0.05), right anterior-amygdaloid area AAA (P<0.05), right paralaminar-nucleus (P<0.001) in the depression group are larger than healthy controls, however the volumes of the central-nucleus (P<0.05), medial-nucleus (P<0.001) in both sides are decreased in the major depression group. 3) There is a significantly larger volume of right medial nucleus in the suicidal ideation group comparing the hopelessness (P = 0.026), and the depressive patients without hopeless thoughts (P = 0.004). 4) We found a negative relation between the left basal nucleus and anxiety (OR: 0.940, 95%CI: 0.891-0.991), and a positive relation between the accessory basal nucleus on the left side and anxiety (OR: 1.007, 95%CI: 1.002-1.158). LIMITATIONS: We were not able to examine the effects of gender or age. The changes of amygdala volume in patients with depression were not followed up. Our sample size was such that independent replication is needed to confirm the robustness of our results. CONCLUSIONS: The volumes of the basal nucleus in both sides are increased in depressed patients while the volumes of the central-nucleus, medial-nucleus bilaterally are reduced in the major depression group. Among the subregions, the volume of right medial nucleus might be the biomarkers for suicidal ideation in depressive patients.

High Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Level Associated With Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Disease Activity.

Background: The prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has significant gender and age difference. The peak age of RA is consistent with the age of menopause, which is accompanied by a sharp increase in serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) level. This study aims to identify the FSH levels in female RA patients and the relationship with diseases activity. Methods: In total, 79 female RA patients and 50 age-matched controls were included in our study. Serum sex hormones levels were measured using chemiluminescence. RA patients were grouped by FSH quartile. Disease activity and inflammatory marks were analyzed among groups. Results: Lower sex hormones and higher gonadotropin were found in RA patients. Serum FSH level was significantly higher in RA patients than in the age-match controls (57.58 ± 15.94 vs. 43.11 ± 19.46, p=0.025). Even after adjusting for age (OR: 1.071; 95%CI: 1.006-1.139; p = 0.031), luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol (E), and testosterone (T) OR: 1.066; 95%CI: 1.003-1.133; p = 0.039), the OR were still more than one. RA patients in the higher quartiles had higher ESR, DAS28-ESR and DAS28-CRP (p<0.05) than the lowest quartile. Besides, menopause age was significantly related with onset age in post-menopause RA patients (r = 0.432, p =0.008). Conclusion: High FSH appears to be a risk factor for RA and is positively associated with their disease activity. Early menopause might be an essential factor of RA.

Related Risk Factors and Treatment Management of Psoriatic Arthritis Complicated With Cardiovascular Disease.

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory joint disease related to psoriasis (PsO). The risk of PsA patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) is significantly higher than that of the general population. At present, the relevant mechanism is not clear, chronic inflammation and traditional cardiovascular risk factors are the most important factors for the increased risk of CVD in PsA patients. Early assessment of the risk of PsA patients with CVD, and active control of the disease activity of PsA patients and intervention of traditional cardiovascular risk factors can delay the progression of CVD risk. This article reviews the epidemiology and pathogenesis between PsA and CVD, and reviews the latest developments in the risk assessment and management of CVD in PsA patients.

Diagnostic value of susceptibility-weighted imaging for endometrioma: preliminary results from a retrospective analysis.

BACKGROUND: Endometrioma is a common manifestation of endometriosis that can be difficult to diagnose with conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) may be more sensitive than conventional MRI in the detection of chronic, local hemorrhagic disease. PURPOSE: To investigate whether signal voids in SWI sequences could be used in the preoperative diagnosis of endometrioma. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This retrospective study included consecutive female patients with clinically suspected endometrioma. All patients underwent pelvic 3-T MRI (T1- and T2-weighted) and SWI within two weeks before laparoscopy. Two experienced radiologists blinded to the histopathologic/clinical diagnoses interpreted the images together, and any disagreements were resolved by consensus. RESULTS: The final analysis included 73 patients: 46 patients (mean age=37 years; age range=22-68 years) with 85 endometrioma lesions and 27 patients (mean age=34 years; age range=15-68 years) with 34 non-endometrioid cystic lesions (18 hemorrhagic corpus luteal cysts, three simple cysts, three mucinous cystadenomas, two mature teratomas, and one endometrioid cyst with corpus luteum rupture/hemorrhage). The presenting symptoms for patients with endometrioma were chronic pelvic pain (44.6%), dysmenorrhea (31.9%), infertility (12.8%), dyspareunia (6.4%), and menstrual irregularity (4.3%). MRI identified all 119 lesions observed laparoscopically. SWI visualized punctate or curvilinear signal voids along the cyst wall or within the lesion in 67 of 85 endometriomas (78.8%) and only 3 of 31 non-endometrioid cysts (8.8%). CONCLUSION: The use of SWI to look for signal voids in the cyst wall or within the lesion could facilitate the preoperative diagnosis of endometrioma.

Mechanical property and heavy metal leaching behavior enhancement of municipal solid waste incineration fly ash during the pressure-assisted sintering treatment.

The conventional sintering process of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash is always energy intensive. The process forms a cracked structure because of the difficulty in forming the liquid phase to enhance the mass transfer process. Therefore, exploring a new disposal method to simultaneously decrease the sintering temperature and improve the mechanical and heavy metal leaching properties of sintered samples is necessary. In this study, a pressure-assisted sintering treatment was introduced to dispose fly ash by varying the chemical composition and mechanical pressure at relatively low temperatures (300-500 °C). The results revealed that the compressive strength of treated samples increased with the CaO/SiO2 molar ratio increasing from 0.5 to 1.0, and a maximum value of 238.28 ± 8.50 MPa was obtained. The heavy metal leaching concentration results demonstrated a low risk of contamination in the treated samples. Microstructure analyses suggested that the densification process was enhanced with increased mechanical pressure, and the formed calcium silicates and aluminosilicates positively affected the compressive strength. Moreover, smaller crystal lattices were observed during aggregation formation, suggesting the restraint of anomalous crystal growth, which accelerated the densification process and increased the compressive strength. Moreover, the mass transfer process during the pressure-assisted sintering process was enhanced compared with the conventional thermal process, which was reflected by the transformation of elements from homogeneous to heterogeneous distribution. Therefore, the improved mechanical properties and leaching behavior of heavy metals were attributed to the densified microstructure, formation of new minerals, and enhanced driving force during the pressure-assisted sintering process. These findings suggest that pressure-assisted sintering is a promising method for maximizing the reutilization and minimizing the energy consumption simultaneously to dispose fly ash.

Effect of in-situ torrefaction and densification on the properties of pellets from rice husk and rice straw.

The research on preparing high-quality pellets by combining torrefaction and densification of biomass has received widespread attention. This paper investigated the influence of torrefaction temperature on biomass and evaluated the quality of three kinds of pellets (raw pellets, ex-situ torrefied densified pellets and in-situ torrefied densified pellets). When the torrefaction temperature was raised to 300 °C, the energy yield of rice straw (RS) and rice husk (RH) quickly decreased to 71.08% and 77.62%, and the cellulose was decomposed significantly. The results proved that 250 °C was an optimum temperature for RS and RH torrefaction. The densities of RS and RH in-situ torrefied densified pellets were 1236.84 kg/m3 and 1277.50 kg/m3 under 150 MPa, respectively. The density, Meyer hardness, hydrophobicity, and mechanical specific energy consumption of the pellet increased with the increase of molding pressure. The in-situ pellets had higher Meyer hardness, hydrophobicity, and lower mechanical specific energy consumption under the same molding pressure than raw pellets and ex-situ torrefied densified pellets. In addition, the bonding mechanism was studied by using scanning electron microscopy and ultraviolet auto-fluorescence. In-situ torrefaction and densification facilitated the formation of self-locking and the migration of lignin between particles. Compared with RH pellets, RS pellets had higher quality due to the higher hemicellulose content, which was necessary for forming stable hydrogen bonds.

B Cells in Rheumatoid Arthritis：Pathogenic Mechanisms and Treatment Prospects.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common, chronic, systemic autoimmune disease, and its clinical features are the proliferation of joint synovial tissue, the formation of pannus and the destruction of cartilage. The global incidence of RA is about 1%, and it is more common in women. The basic feature of RA is the body's immune system disorders, in which autoreactive CD4+T cells, pathogenic B cells, M1 macrophages, inflammatory cytokines, chemokines and autoantibodies abnormally increase in the body of RA patients B cell depletion therapy has well proved the important role of B cells in the pathogenesis of RA, and the treatment of RA with B cells as a target has also been paid more and more attention. Although the inflammatory indicators in RA patients receiving B-cell depletion therapy have been significantly improved, the risk of infection and cancer has also increased, which suggests that we need to deplete pathogenic B cells instead of all B cells. However, at present we cannot distinguish between pathogenic B cells and protective B cells in RA patients. In this review, we explore fresh perspectives upon the roles of B cells in the occurrence, development and treatment of RA.

Efficiently sintering of MSWI fly ash at a low temperature enhanced by in-situ pressure assistant: Process performance and product characterization.

Municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash disposal is an urgent task with some technical bottlenecks. In this study, a novel pressure-assisted sintering method was employed to treat the MSWI fly ash. A series of pressure-assisted sintering experiments were carried out by varying mechanical pressures and sintering temperatures, and their properties of compressive strength, density and heavy metals leaching behavior were determined to screen out the optimal conditions. Instrumental analysis of XRF, SEM, XRD and TEM-EDX and calculation kinetics were conducted to explore the enhancement mechanism of pressure-assisted sintering. With the help of mechanical pressure, a high-strength ceramic product was produced from MSWI fly ash sintered at a low temperature (400 °C), which never occurred in the conventional low-temperature sintering process. Maximum compressive strength of 218.30 ± 4.08 MPa was obtained at 400 °C and 100 MPa, which was much higher than conventional construction materials of brick and cement. In addition, the leaching concentrations of heavy metals obtained from pressure-assisted sintering process were lower than the standard limitation. The SEM and XRD results revealed that the increased mechanical properties and the decreased heavy metals leaching concentration were mainly attributed to the increased density and crystalline degree. The kinetics calculation results indicated that the sintering activation energy was much lower than the sintering process without pressure, suggesting surface diffusion and grain boundary diffusion were main sintering mechanisms in the pressure-assisted sintering process. These findings proved that pressure-assisted sintering could be a promising method to treat fly ash together with producing high-value building materials.

Influencing mechanism of zinc mineral contamination on pyrolysis kinetic and product characteristics of corn biomass.

The metal mineral has a complex influence on the thermal decomposition of biomass due to the sophisticated structure of biomass and parallel reactions. Therefore, the influencing mechanisms of metal minerals on biomass decomposition kinetic expressions needed to be thoroughly investigated. In this study, the decomposition of the three major components of biomass was considered separately. The iso-conversional method and integral master-plots method based on thermogravimetry were firstly introduced to explore the kinetic model changes after the introduction of zinc mineral. The thermogravimetric results showed that the presence of zinc mineral had discrepant influences on different biomass components, demoting the fragmentation of hemicellulose while promoting cellulose degradation. In the kinetic analysis, the presence of zinc mineral, the activation energy of three pseudo-components (91.90, 184.64 and 210.91 kJ mol-1) increased to 178.84, 299.05, and 359.45 kJ mol-1, respectively. The kinetic models were altered from 2.0-order reaction (F2.0) for hemicellulose, random nucleation (A1.8) for cellulose, and 2.3-order reaction (F2.3) for lignin to F2.8, F3.0, and F3.2, respectively. This indicated that the zinc mineral was beneficial to the occurrence of multimolecular repolymerization of the primary degradation products. In products analysis, the increment of biochar yields and the C4-C5 products of cellulose (especially furfural) in metal-polluted biomass pyrolysis were detected, which confirmed the simulated reaction mechanisms. The obtained results are expected to provide a mechanism reference to practical applications of metal-contaminated biomass.

Integrated thermal behavior and compounds transition mechanism of municipal solid waste incineration fly ash during thermal treatment process.

Thermal behavior of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash is extremely complicated due to the simultaneously occurred reactive processes and the products with different chemical compositions, therefore, the investigation of chemical compounds transition behavior and mechanism during the integrated thermal process is of great significance. In this study, the macro-thermal treatment of fly ash and thermo-gravimetric analysis via non-isothermal methods were carried out and Málek method was firstly introduced to explore the mechanism of multi-step reaction for fly ash. The mineral transition results suggested that the halite, sylvite in the raw fly ash transformed to more complex crystals in treated samples, such as chlorellestadite, polyhalite and enstatite during the thermal process. And the heavy metals leaching concentration decreased with the temperature increased from 300 °C to 1200 °C, and the leaching values were lower than the standard limitation after thermal treatment. In addition, three major steps of fly ash reactions (300-380 °C, 650-750 °C and 890-1130 °C) during the thermal process were observed and expressed by first order reaction for the first step, three-dimensional diffusion for the second step and three dimensions of limiting surface reaction between both phases for the third step, respectively. The kinetic study revealed that the mineral transition process was in well accordance with the simulated reaction mechanism during the thermal treatment. The obtained results are expected to provide the research basis for studying detailed thermal characteristics and reaction mechanism during the thermal treatment of MSWI fly ash.

Inhibition of norfloxacin on anaerobic digestion: Focusing on the recoverability and shifted microbial communities.

Antibacterial properties of norfloxacin (NOR) could cause adverse impact on engineered biological process. In this study, the objective was to investigate the inhibitory effects of NOR on anaerobic digestion focusing on the recoverability and microbial community changes. The effects of different concentrations of NOR on anaerobic digestion were studied with three continuous feed cycles. Results showed that NOR seriously inhibited the methane production with an 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 0.41 mM. In addition, with extending of exposure time, inhibitory effect increasingly strengthened and the IC50 values decreased to 0.16 mM and 0.07 mM in the second and third feeding cycle, respectively. However, when the inhibitor in supernatant was removed, the performance recovered and the relative methane yield increased by 9 times from 25.38 mL/g VS to 257.05 mL/g VS. The transformation of NOR showed that the degradation of NOR in the anaerobic digestion was difficult and the recovery was due to the removal of NOR. The microbial analysis revealed that the inhibition of NOR on bacteria of Candidatus_Cloacimonas, Petrimonas, Ercella, Sphaerochaeta and hydrogenotrophic methanogens of Methanoculleus and Methanobacterium was recoverable when NOR was removed. However, it was irreversible for acetoclastic methanogen of Methanosaeta. These findings provided comprehensive understanding on the characteristics of NOR inhibition and also provided feasible strategy to recover the NOR inhibited anaerobic digestion.

[Study advance of depressive animal models and its application in traditional Chinese medicines].

Depression is a kind of mental disease with main symptoms of low mood and lack of pleasure, which seriously endangers human health. An appropriate depressive animal model is of great significance for the study of depression and new antidepressant drugs, while the suitable selection and matching of experimental animals, modeling methods and evaluation indexes are critical to eva-luate the scientificity and effectiveness of the depressive animal model. The study advance of depressive animal models in the aspects of experimental animal selection, modeling principle and method, characteristics, evaluation indexes and their application in traditional Chinese medicine are summarized through the systematic review of relevant literatures in PubMed, CNKI and other databases. The depressive animal modeling methods utilized in recent studies include stress, glucocorticoid induction, reserpine induction, lipopolysaccharide induction, surgical modeling, gene knockout, joint application modeling methods. Stress method is better to simulate the depressive symptoms of clinical patients, whereas there are some deficiencies, such as long modeling time and large cost. The depressive animal models induced by glucocorticoid, reserpine and lipopolysaccharide have the advantages of short modeling time and good controllability, but with a poor reliability. The pathogenesis of surgical modeling is highly matched with that of clinical depressive patients, whereas it has the defect of long postoperative recovery period. Gene knockout models can be used to study the precise role of specific genes in depression. However, its applicability may be restricted in studies on depression. The joint application modeling method can improve its reliability and accuracy, and attracts more and more attention. This paper provides a reference for the selection of animal models in future studies of pathological mechanism of depression, and screening and evaluation of antidepressant drugs.

Bayesian Network-Based Risk Assessment of Single-Phase Grounding Accidents of Power Transmission Lines.

With the increasing demand for electricity transmission and distribution, single-phase grounding accidents, which cause great economic losses and casualties, have occurred frequently. In this study, a Bayesian network (BN)-based risk assessment model for representing single-phase grounding accidents is proposed to examine accident evolution from causes to potential consequences. The Bayesian network of single-phase grounding accidents includes 21 nodes that take into account the influential factors of environment, management, equipment and human error. The Bow-tie method was employed to build the accident evolution path and then converted to a BN. The BN conditional probability tables are determined with reference to historical accident data and expert opinion obtained by the Delphi method. The probability of a single-phase grounding accident and its potential consequences in normal conditions and three typical accident scenarios are analyzed. We found that "Storm" is the most critical hazard of single-phase grounding, followed by "Aging" and "Icing". This study could quantitatively evaluate the single-phase grounding accident in multi-hazard coupling scenarios and provide technical support for occupational health and safety management of power transmission lines.

Antagonistic effect of zinc oxide nanoparticle and surfactant on anaerobic digestion: Focusing on the microbial community changes and interactive mechanism.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the antagonistic effect of emerging pollutants of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on anaerobic digestion and explore their potential mechanism. The results indicated that at a low inhibitory concentration of ZnO NPs (1.0 mM), the practical co-inhibition was decreased by 24% and 18% in co-existence of 50 mg/L SDS and 300 mg/L SDS, respectively. More importantly, the co-existence of 300 mg/L SDS greatly enhanced methanogenesis of organics in seriously inhibited case (2.0 mM of ZnO NPs). The microbial community analysis showed that co-existed SDS enhanced the growth of Methanothrix, Methanosarcina and Methanobacterium. The antagonistic enhancement could be attributed to the net charge reversal, partially agglomeration of ZnO NPs and/or reduction of Zn2+ release in the presence of SDS. These findings could provide useful information for evaluating the co-inhibition of SDS and ZnO NPs on biological processes.

A Dual Network Hydrogel Sunscreen Based on Poly-γ-glutamic Acid/Tannic Acid Demonstrates Excellent Anti-UV, Self-Recovery, and Skin-Integration Capacities.

Novel sunscreen products based on bioadhesive/gel systems that can prevent the skin penetration behaviors of UV filters have attracted increasing attention in recent years. However, integration is very difficult to achieve and control on the wet surface of the skin under sweaty/dynamic physiological conditions, resulting in functional failure. Herein, we demonstrated the fabrication of a novel dual-network hydrogel sunscreen (DNHS) based on poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) and tannic acid (TA), which demonstrated prominent UV protection properties across broad UVA and UVB regions (360-275 nm). Due to a three-dimensional network microstructure and a highly hydrated nature that mimics the extracellular matrix of natural skin, DNHS can perfectly match the skin surface without irritation and sensitization. In addition, the intermolecular hydrogen bond interactions of γ-PGA and TA provide an important driving force for coacervation, which endows the DNHS with remarkable self-recovery properties (within 60 s). Moreover, due to the multiple interfacial interactions between γ-PGA/TA and the protein-rich skin tissue surfaces, DNHS simultaneously possesses excellent skin-integration and water-resistance capacities, and it can be readily removed on demand. Our results highlight the potential of the DNHS to be used in next-generation sunscreens by providing long-term and stable UV protection functions even under sweaty/dynamic physiological conditions.