The genome of Stephania japonica provides insights into the biosynthesis of cepharanthine.

Stephania japonica is an early-diverging eudicotyledon plant with high levels of cepharanthine, proven to be effective in curing coronavirus infections. Here, we report a high-quality S. japonica genome. The genome size is 688.52 Mb, and 97.37% sequences anchor to 11 chromosomes. The genome comprises 67.46% repetitive sequences and 21,036 genes. It is closely related to two Ranunculaceae species, which diverged from their common ancestor 55.90-71.02 million years ago (Mya) with a whole-genome duplication 85.59-96.75 Mya. We further reconstruct ancestral karyotype of Ranunculales. Several cepharanthine biosynthesis genes are identified and verified by western blot. Two genes (Sja03G0243 and Sja03G0241) exhibit catalytic activity as shown by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Then, cepharanthine biosynthesis genes, transcription factors, and CYP450 family genes are used to construct a comprehensive network. Finally, we construct an early-diverging eudicotyledonous genome resources (EEGR) database. As the first genome of the Menispermaceae family to be released, this study provides rich resources for genomic studies.

Analysis on the therapeutic effect of Cangfu Daotan Decoction combined with drospirenone and ethinylestradiol tablets (II) on patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to investigate the therapeutic effect of Cangfu Daotan Decoction (CDD) combined with drospirenone and ethinylestradiol tablets (II) on patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). METHODS: Patients with PCOS were gathered from September 2020 to September 2022 and divided into the experimental group (n = 36), treated with CDD combined with drospirenone and ethinylestradiol tablets (II), and the control group (n = 41), received only drospirenone and ethinylestradiol tablets (II). Levels of sex hormone, obesity, blood glucose, blood lipid were detected and compared between the two groups pre- and post-treatment. The treatment efficacy, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) syndrome score, adverse drug reactions, and pregnancy rate were compared as well. RESULTS: After treatment, the experimental group had a higher treatment efficacy (94.44% vs 73.17%, P < 0.05) and a higher pregnancy rate (44.44% vs 21.95%, P < 0.05) than the control group, but the difference in the incidence of adverse drug reactions was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Compared with control group, TCM syndrome score and levels of fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and waist circumference of the experimental group after treatment displayed remarkable reduction (P < 0.05), while the levels of estradiol (E2) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) showed a remarkable increase (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: CDD in combination with drospirenone and ethinylestradiol tablets (II) may be effective in treating PCOS by improving obesity, glucose metabolism and lipid metabolism with no serious adverse events, making it a feasible clinical practice option.

Burden of female infertility in China from 1990 to 2019: a temporal trend analysis and forecasting, and comparison with the global level.

BACKGROUND: Infertility is a common reproductive disease that affects not only individuals and families, but also the growth of the social population. Hence, understanding the burden of female infertility in China and worldwide is of great significance for the development of infertility prevention and treatment strategies. METHODS: The Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD 2019) Data Resources were used to collect and collate relevant data on female infertility in China and worldwide from 1990 to 2019. The difference in the number, age-standardised prevalence rate (ASPR), disability-adjusted life years and age-standardised disability-adjusted life years rate (ASDR) of women with infertility in different periods and geographical areas were analysed. The autoregressive integrated moving average method was used to predict the ASPR and ASDR of female infertility in China and worldwide in the next 11years. RESULTS: In the past 30years, the number of female infertility cases increased by 7.06million in China and 56.71million worldwide. The corresponding average annual increase of ASPR was 10.10% and 7.28%, respectively, and that of ASDR was 0.08% and 0.79%, respectively. In addition, there are differences in age and time between Chinese and global female infertility. In 1990, the crude prevalence rate of female infertility was the highest in women aged 40-44years and 35-39years in China and worldwide, respectively. In 2019, the crude prevalence rate of female infertility was still the highest in women aged 40-44years in China, whereas that around the world reached the highest in women aged 30-34years, which was significantly earlier. The forecast for the next 11years suggests that the ASPR and ASDR for female infertility in China will first rise and then decline, but the overall magnitude of change is not very significant, whereas the ASPR and ASDR for female infertility globally are still on the rise. The ASPR value of female infertility is expected to be 5025.56 in 100 000 persons in China and 3725.51 in 100 000 persons worldwide by 2030. The ASDR value of female infertility is expected to be 26.16 in 100 000 persons in China and 19.96 in 100 000 persons worldwide by 2030. CONCLUSION: The burden of female infertility is still increasing in China and worldwide. Therefore, it is of great significance to pay more attention to infertile women, and advocate a healthy lifestyle to reduce the burden of disease for infertile women.

The high-quality sequencing of the Brassica rapa 'XiangQingCai' genome and exploration of genome evolution and genes related to volatile aroma.

'Vanilla' (XQC, brassica variety chinensis) is an important vegetable crop in the Brassica family, named for its strong volatile fragrance. In this study, we report the high-quality chromosome-level genome sequence of XQC. The assembled genome length was determined as 466.11 Mb, with an N50 scaffold of 46.20 Mb. A total of 59.50% repetitive sequences were detected in the XQC genome, including 47 570 genes. Among all examined Brassicaceae species, XQC had the closest relationship with B. rapa QGC ('QingGengCai') and B. rapa Pakchoi. Two whole-genome duplication (WGD) events and one recent whole-genome triplication (WGT) event occurred in the XQC genome in addition to an ancient WGT event. The recent WGT was observed to occur during 21.59-24.40 Mya (after evolution rate corrections). Our findings indicate that XQC experienced gene losses and chromosome rearrangements during the genome evolution of XQC. The results of the integrated genomic and transcriptomic analyses revealed critical genes involved in the terpenoid biosynthesis pathway and terpene synthase (TPS) family genes. In summary, we determined a chromosome-level genome of B. rapa XQC and identified the key candidate genes involved in volatile fragrance synthesis. This work can act as a basis for the comparative and functional genomic analysis and molecular breeding of B. rapa in the future.

Value of the short physical performance battery (SPPB) in predicting fall and fall-induced injury among old Chinese adults.

BACKGROUND: The short physical performance battery (SPPB) is an easy-to-use tool for fall risk prediction, but its predictive value for falls and fall-induced injuries among community dwellers has not been examined through a large-sample longitudinal study. METHODS: We analyzed five-round follow-up data (2, 3, 4, 5, 7 years) of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) (2011-2018). Data concerning falls and fall-induced injuries during multi-round follow-ups were collected through participant self-report. The Cochran-Armitage trend test examined trends in fall incidence rate across SPPB performance levels. Multivariable logistic regression and negative binomial regression models examined associations between SPPB performance and subsequent fall and fall-induced injury. The goodness-of-fit and area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) were used together to quantify the value of the SPPB in predicting fall and fall-induced injury among community-dwelling older adults. RESULTS: The CHARLS study included 9279, 6153, 4142, 4148, and 3583 eligible adults aged 60 years and older in the five included follow-up time periods. SPPB performance was associated with fall and fall-induced injury in two and three of the five follow-up time periods, respectively (P < 0.05). The goodness-of-fit for all predictive models was poor, with both Cox-Snell R2 and Nagelkerke R2 under 0.10 and AUCs of 0.53-0.57 when using only SPPB as a predictor and with both Cox-Snell R2 and Nagelkerke R2 lower than 0.12 and AUCs of 0.61-0.67 when using SPPB, demographic variables, and self-reported health conditions as predictors together. Sex and age-specific analyses displayed highly similar results. CONCLUSIONS: Neither use of SPPB alone nor SPPB together with demographic variables and self-reported health conditions appears to offer good predictive performance for falls or fall-induced injuries among community-dwelling older Chinese adults.

Road traffic death coding quality in the WHO Mortality Database.

Objective: To evaluate the precision and dependability of road traffic mortality data recorded in the World Health Organization Mortality Database and investigate how uncorrected data influence vital mortality statistics used in traffic safety programmes worldwide. Methods: We assessed country and territory-specific data quality from 2015 to 2020 by calculating the proportions of five types of nonspecific cause of death codes related to road traffic mortality. We compared age-adjusted road traffic mortality and changes in the average annual mortality rate before and after correcting the deaths with nonspecific codes. We generated road traffic mortality projections with both corrected and uncorrected codes, and redistributed the data using the proportionate method. Findings: We analysed data from 124 countries and territories with at least one year of mortality data from 2015 to 2020. The number of countries and territories reporting more than 20% of deaths with ill-defined or unknown cause was 2; countries reporting injury deaths with undetermined intent was 3; countries reporting unspecified unintentional injury deaths was 21; countries reporting unspecified transport crash deaths was 3; and countries reporting unspecified unintentional road traffic deaths was 30. After redistributing deaths with nonspecific codes, road traffic mortality changed by greater than 50% in 7% (5/73) to 18% (9/51) of countries and territories. Conclusion: Nonspecific codes led to inaccurate mortality estimates in many countries. We recommend that injury researchers and policy-makers acknowledge the potential pitfalls of relying on raw or uncorrected road traffic mortality data and instead use corrected data to ensure more accurate estimates when improving road traffic safety programmes.

Sulforaphane attenuates microglia-mediated neuronal damage by down-regulating the ROS/autophagy/NLRP3 signal axis in fibrillar Aß-activated microglia.

The neuroinflammatory hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) posits that amyloid-beta (Aß) phagocytosis along with subsequent lysosomal damage and NLRP3 inflammasome activation plays important roles in Aß-induced microglia activation and microglia-induced neurotoxicity. Sulforaphane (SFN) has neuroprotective effects for AD. However, whether SFN can inhibit its cytotoxic autophagy and NLRP3 inflammasome activation in microglia remain unknown. In this study, results showed SFN played an indirect, protective role on neurons via a series of impacts on Aß-activated microglia, including inhibition of autophagy initiation as well as autophagic lysosomal membrane permeability and subsequent NLRP3/caspase-1 inflammasomes activation. M1 phenotype polarization was also inhibited. Our results demonstrated that SFN could inhibit the cytostatic autophagy-induced NLRP3 signaling pathway in Aß-activated microglia by decreasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. These results provide novel insight into the potential role of SFN in AD therapy.

Investigating the active components of Huatan Tongjing decoction for the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome via network pharmacology.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disease in women, potentially causing ovarian infertility for women at gestational age. Huatan Tongjing Decoction is commonly used to treat PCOS; however, the involved molecular mechanism has not been fully understood. In this study, the active components of Huatan Tongjing Decoction and potentially targeted proteins were downloaded from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database. PCOS-related genes were accessed from Malacards database. STRING database was utilized to construct a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network based on the PCOS-related genes and the predicted targets. Subsequently, the PPI network was subjected to Random walk with restart (RWR). Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed on top 50 genes with the high affinity scores to the drug targets. Subsequently, based on the predicted drug components and targets, a component-gene interaction network was constructed. Finally, the most central drug targets were selected, and the corresponding compounds were subjected to molecular docking and dynamic simulations to examine their bindings. The 122 main active components and 246 potential targets of Huatan Tongjing Decoction were obtained from TCMSP, and a total of 259 nodes and 1919 interactions were acquired from the PPI network. The top 50 genes were mainly enriched in response to peptide hormone function and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Molecular docking and dynamic simulations predicted that MMP-quercetin interaction played an important role in the treatment of PCOS using Huatan Tongjing Decoction. Luteolin and quercetin in Huatan Tongjing Decoction potentially bound MMP9 and served as active components. This study preliminarily suggested the efficacy of Huatan Tongjing Decoction against PCOS in molecular degree.

Coding quality of deaths and its impact on elderly unintentional fall mortality data from 1990 to 2019: a retrospective analysis of the WHO Mortality Database.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have assessed the reporting quality of all-cause mortality data from the WHO Mortality Database, but little is known about coding quality and its impact on elderly unintentional fall mortality data worldwide. We aimed to assess the coding quality of deaths and its impact on elderly unintentional fall mortality. METHODS: Using data from the WHO Mortality Database, 1990-2019, we calculated the number of countries/territories that had mortality data in the database, and the proportion of deaths with five types of problematic codes based on the 10th International Classification of Disease (unspecified deaths, injury deaths with undetermined intent, unspecified unintentional injury, unintentional falls with unspecified mechanism, unintentional falls with unknown occurrence place). We estimated age-adjusted unintentional fall mortality before and after correcting problematic codes. RESULTS: Only 64% (124/194) of WHO member states had at least 1 year of mortality data in the database during 1990-2019, and data unavailability was more common for underdeveloped countries/territories than for developed countries/territories. Coding quality was poor for many countries/territories. Among the study years when countries/territories possessed mortality data, 80, 53, 51, and 63% had a proportion of unintentional fall deaths with unspecified mechanism over 50% in low-income, lower middle-income, upper middle-income, and high-income countries/territories, respectively; comparable proportions for unintentional fall deaths with unknown occurrence place were 100, 42, 71, and 62%. Among the 94 countries/territories having mortality data, problematic codes caused a relative mortality difference ≥ 50% in 59 countries/territories (63%). After correcting problematic codes, 5 of 55 countries/territories with data witnessed a reverse in mortality changes between 2005 and 2015. Among the 82 countries/territories with mortality data for 5 or more years, 18 countries/territories (22%) experienced a directional reverse in linear regression coefficient. CONCLUSIONS: The availability and coding quality of global data related to elderly unintentional fall mortality was poor between 1990 and 2019. When data are available, varying coding quality across countries/territories and over time have a substantial impact on mortality estimates and mortality comparisons. Global agencies plus each individual government should be aware of the importance of collecting and sharing high-quality mortality data, and take action to improve data quality for inclusion in the WHO Mortality Database.

Changes in Six-Month Prevalence of Circulatory System Diseases among People Aged 20 Years and Older between 2013 and 2018 in Hunan, China.

Recent changes in population-based prevalence for circulatory system diseases (CSDs) remain unreported either nationally or locally for China. Data were from the two-round health service household interview survey of Hunan Province, China, in 2013 and 2018. A Rao-Scott chi-square test was performed to examine prevalence differences across socio-demographic variables. The overall age-standardized prevalence of CSDs increased substantially between 2013 and 2018 for inhabitants aged 20 years and older (14.25% vs. 21.25%; adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.24-2.04). Hypertensive disease was the most prevalent type of CSD, accounting for 87.24% and 83.83% of all CSDs in 2013 and in 2018, respectively. After controlling for other socio-demographic factors, the prevalence of CSDs was significantly higher in 2018 (adjusted OR = 1.40), urban residents (adjusted OR = 1.43), females (adjusted OR = 1.12) and older age groups (adjusted OR = 5.36 for 50-59 years, 9.51 for 60-69 years, 15.19 for 70-79 years, and 12.90 for 80 years and older) than in 2013, rural residents, males and the youngest age group (20-49 years). The recent increase in the overall age-standardized CSD prevalence and the large prevalence disparities across urban/rural residents, sex and age groups merit the attention of policymakers and researchers. Further prevention efforts are needed to curb the increasing tendency and to reduce the prevalence of disparities across socio-demographic groups.

Comb-like structural modification stabilizes polyvinylidene fluoride membranes to realize thermal-regulated sustainable transportation efficiency.

Hydrophobic micro-porous membrane such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) with excellent thermal-/chemical-stability and low surface energy has received extensive attention in industrial water treatment and sustainable energy conversion. However, undesirable contaminants caused by inevitable proteins or microorganisms adhesion may lead to a rapid loss of separation efficiency, which significantly deteriorate their porous structures and eventually limit their practical performance. Herein, we present a scalable approach for fabricating comb-like copolymer modified PVDF membranes (PVDF-PN@AgNPs) that prevent bacteria from proliferating on the surface and temperature-controlled release of adhered contaminants. Comb-like structured copolymers were imparted to a polydopamine (PDA)-treated PVDF membrane by Michael addition reaction, which enabled a covalent binding of comb-like structured copolymers to the membrane. Such unique structural design of grafted copolymer, containing hydrophilic side chain and temperature-responsive chain backbone, stably prevents bacteria adhesion and provides reversible surface wettability. Therefore, the resultant membranes were evaluated to prevent bacterial adhesion, high touch-killing efficiency and temperature-controlled contaminants release (~99% of protein and ~75% of bacteria). Moreover, with the collapse and stretch of grafted copolymer chain backbone, the synthetic membrane further reversibly adjusted inner micro-porous structure and surface wettability, which eventually helped to achieve variable water fluid transport efficiency. This study not only provides a feasible structural design for stably coping with the challenging of antifouling and subsequent contamination adhesion of PVDF membrane, but also potentially answers the significant gap between lab research advances and practical application, particularly in the industrial membrane field.

Effects of ultrasonic pre-treatment on physicochemical properties of proteins extracted from cold-pressed sesame cake.

Sesame is an oil crop with high nutritional value. Protein is one of the main ingredients of sesame, however research on protein of cold-pressed sesame cake is limited. This study aimed to investigate the effects of ultrasonic pre-treatment (UPT) on physicochemical properties of proteins (yield, solubility, amino acid composition, surface properties, structural and thermal stability) extracted from the cold-pressed sesame cake, after removing lignans by ultrasonic-assisted extraction. By comparison, the extraction yield of protein was significantly (p ＜ 0.05) increased from 22.24% (without UPT) to 25.95% (with UPT), while the purity (54.08% without UPT, 55.43% with UPT), total amount of essential amino acids (22.48% without UPT, 23.10% with UPT) and non-essential amino acids (37.48% without UPT, 36.54% with UPT) were not significantly influenced. Besides, UPT slightly reduced the solubility, foaming capacity and stability (FC and FS) of protein. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermal stability (TG) analysis demonstrated that UPT could disorder and loose protein molecular structure, resulting in the change of morphology, secondary structure and thermal stability. In conclusion, this study provides a way for the separation and future application of sesame cake protein. UPT is a good option to remove the lignans from sesame cake proteins.

Needs Analysis for a Parenting App to Prevent Unintentional Injury in Newborn Babies and Toddlers: Focus Group and Survey Study Among Chinese Caregivers.

BACKGROUND: With the growing popularity of mobile health technology, app-based interventions delivered by smartphone have become an increasingly important strategy toward injury prevention. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to develop a framework supporting the design of an app-based intervention to prevent unintentional injury, targeted for caregivers of Chinese children aged 0 to 6 years. METHODS: A theory-based mixed-method study, including focus groups and Web-based quantitative survey, was performed. Adult caregivers who care for children aged 0 to 6 years and own a smartphone were recruited into 2 sequential stages of research. First, focus groups were conducted among the caregivers at community health care centers and preschools from December 2015 to March 2016. Focus groups (8-10 participants per group) explored awareness, experiences, and opinions of caregivers toward using an app to prevent unintentional injury among children. Second, based on the focus groups findings, a Web-based quantitative survey was designed and distributed to caregivers in November 2016; it collected information on specific needs for the app-based intervention. Thematic analysis and quantitative descriptive analyses were performed. RESULTS: In total, 12 focus groups were completed, involving 108 caregivers. Most participants expressed a strong desire to learn knowledge and skills about unintentional child injury prevention and held positive attitudes toward app-based interventions. Participants expressed multiple preferences concerning the app-based intervention, including their contents, functions, interactive styles, installation and registration logistics, and privacy protection and information security. Following the focus groups, 1505 caregivers completed a WeChat-based quantitative survey, which generated roughly similar results to those of focus groups and added numerical metrics concerning participants' preferences on what to learn, when to learn it, and how to learn it. A detailed framework was established involving 5 components: (1) content design, (2) functional design, (3) interactive style, (4) installation and registration logistics, and (5) privacy protection and information security, and 15 specific requirements. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a framework that can be used as a guide to design app-based interventions for parents and caregivers, specifically for unintentional injury prevention of children aged 0 to 6 years.

Evaluation of the diagnostic implications of Das-Naglieri cognitive assessment system in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

BACKGROUND: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental characterized by attention deficit, hyperactivity, emotional impulses and difficulty with cognitive functions. The Das-Naglieri Cognitive Assessment System (DN: CAS), as a theory-driven assessment kit, was explored based on Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive Theory (PASS). Recent researches have tried to explore the sensitivity and specificity of DN: CAS in diagnosing ADHD; nevertheless, these studies were performed in a small study population. The following study explores the cognitive functions in ADHD by the DN: CAS and to evaluate the DN: CAS's diagnostic value in ADHD. METHODS: A total of 135 children with ADHD and 140 healthy controls were enrolled to evaluate cognitive function by the DN: CAS. ROC curve and the area under the curve (AUC) were applied to evaluate the diagnostic value of DN: CAS on ADHD. RESULTS: Compared with healthy controls, children with ADHD had significantly lower scores in Planning, Simultaneous (Verbal-Spatial Relations), Attention in the four Subtests of DN: CAS, as well as the total scores. ROC analysis indicated that Planning and Attention of DN: CAS had good classification accuracy in diagnosing ADHD with AUCs of 0.808 and 0.730, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The planning and attention assessment of DN: CAS revealed high sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing ADHD, thus suggesting that DN: CAS might be an effective tool in diagnosing ADHD.

Physicians' Workloads in China: 1998⁻2016.

BACKGROUND: Physicians play a primary role in patients' health. Heavy workloads can threaten the health of physicians and their patients. This study examined workload changes among physicians in Chinese health institutions from 1998⁻2016. METHODS: This study examined data from the online China Statistical Yearbook of 1999⁻2017, which is released annually by the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China. Three relevant and available indicators were retrieved: (1) number of physicians, (2) number of patient visits and (3) number of inpatient admissions. Patient visits per physician and inpatient admissions per physician from 1998⁻2016 were calculated to approximate physician workloads in Chinese health institutions. RESULTS: Between 1998 and 2016, patient visits per physician in China increased by 135% and inpatient admissions per physician rose by 184%. Both indicators demonstrate a stabilizing trend in the most recent five years, including a slight decrease (7%) in patient visits per physician since 2012. CONCLUSIONS: Physician workload increased dramatically for Chinese physicians from 1998⁻2016, a trend that could potentially threaten physicians' health and the quality of patient care. The findings highlight the importance of interventions and efforts to relieve physician workloads in China.

Effect of Sevoflurane Anesthesia on Brain Is Mediated by lncRNA HOTAIR.

Postoperative cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients has been related to neurodegenerative disorders and mortality. Sevoflurane anesthesia has been implicated in both postoperative cognitive dysfunction and neurotoxicity. Given the advantages of using inhaled anesthetics like sevoflurane, it is important to understand how their usage results in neurotoxicity and subsequently devise ways to circumvent or attenuate the anesthetic-mediated induction in neurotoxicity. Long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) are a group of > 200 bp long RNAs and show specific spatiotemporal expression profiles. Several recent reports suggest that lncRNAs are involved in responses of the central nervous system (CNS) following acute injuries. However, their role in sevoflurane anesthesia-mediated cognitive dysfunction has not been studied. RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) combined with qRT-PCR detection of six different lncRNAs showed that the HOTAIR lncRNAs were significantly more bound to both Sin3A and coREST, both corepressors of the RE-1 silencing transcription factor, within rat hippocampus following sevoflurane anesthesia compared with sham. Sevoflurane inhalation resulted in significant inhibition of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and cognitive impairment. Treatment with a combination of siRNAs targeting HOTAIR rescued BDNF expression and improved cognitive responses. Taken together, our results suggest that sevoflurane-mediated brain function impairment is at least in part mediated by the HOTAIR lncRNA.

Integration of antifouling and antibacterial properties in salt-responsive hydrogels with surface regeneration capacity.

The development of new antimicrobial materials and strategies is of importance for many biomedical and industrial applications. In this work, we report a new strategy to integrate distinct antimicrobial, antifouling, and stimuli-responsive properties into a single hydrogel to realize bacteria resistance, killing, and releasing functions. To achieve this design, we conjugated salt-responsive anti-polyelectrolyte polyDVBAPS (poly(3-(dimethyl(4-vinylbenzyl)ammonio)propyl sulfonate)) with antifouling polyHEAA (poly(N-hydroxyethyl acrylamide)) and antimicrobial AgNPs (silver nanoparticles) to form a hybrid hydrogel of polyDVBAPS-g-polyHEAA@AgNPs, among which polyHEAA functions as a general antifouling background to prevent bacteria adsorption on the surface, AgNPs act as antimicrobial agents to kill bacteria on the surface, and polyDVBAPS uses its unique salt-responsive, anti-polyelectrolyte property to release adherent bacteria from the surface. In this design, polyDVBAPS-g-polyHEAA@AgNPs hydrogels not only effectively resist bacteria attachment and kill the adherent bacteria, but also regenerate the antifouling surface of the hydrogel by releasing the adhered bacteria to keep the surface free from bacteria. The polyDVBAPS-g-polyHEAA@AgNPs hydrogels exhibited high surface resistance to bacteria adsorption (<106 cells per cm2) for up to 4 days, high antibacterial activity by killing ∼99% of attached bacteria of both E. coli and S. aureus, and surface regeneration ability by releasing >96% of adherent live or dead bacteria from the surface upon a simple treatment of 1.0 M NaCl solution for 10 min. Upon the release of AgNPs, AgNPs were reloaded into the hydrogel again to achieve multiple antifouling, bactericidal, and regenerative properties. This work demonstrates a new design for a new multifunctional hydrogel to effectively achieve antimicrobial, antifouling, and surface regeneration properties, making this hydrogel very promising for antimicrobial applications.

Graphene oxide coated coordination polymer nanobelt composite material: a new type of visible light active and highly efficient photocatalyst for Cr(VI) reduction.

A visible light active photocatalyst was synthesized successfully by coating graphene oxide (GO) on a coordination polymer nanobelt (CPNB) using a simple colloidal blending process. Compared with neat CPNB, the resulting graphene oxide coated coordination polymer nanobelt composite material (GO/CPNB) exhibits excellent photocatalytic efficiency in the reduction of K2Cr2O7 under visible light irradiation. In the composite material, GO performs two functions. Firstly, it cuts down the band gap (E(g)) of the photocatalyst and extends its photoresponse region from the ultraviolet to visible light region. Secondly, GO exhibits excellent electron transportation ability that impedes its recombination with holes, and this can enhance photocatalytic efficiency. For GO, on its surface, the number of functional groups has a great influence on the photocatalytic performance of the resulting GO/CPNB composite material and an ideal GO"coater" to obtain a highly efficient GO/CPNB photocatalyst has been obtained. As a photocatalyst that may be used in the treatment of Cr(VI) in wastewater, GO/CPNB exhibited outstanding stability during the reduction of this pollutant.