Dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes is regulated by iron oxides: Insight into the influence on bacterial transformation.

The transportation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in manure-soil-plant continuums poses risks to human health. Horizontal gene transfer, particularly for bacterial transformation, is an important way for ARG dissemination. As crucial components in soils, iron oxides impacted the fates of various abiotic and biotic contaminants due to their active properties. However, whether they can influence the transformation of ARGs is unknown, which waits to be figured out to boost the assessment and control of ARG spread risks. In this study, we have investigated the effects of goethite, hematite, and magnetite (0-250 mg/L, with sizes < 100 nm and > 100 nm) on the transfer of ampicillin resistance genes to Escherichia coli cells. At lower iron oxide concentrations, the transformation of ARGs was first facilitated (transformation frequency reached up to 3.38-fold higher), but the facilitating effects gradually weakened and eventually disappeared as concentrations further increased. Particle size and iron oxide type were not the universal determinants controlling the transformation. At lower concentrations, iron oxides interacted with proteins and phospholipids in E. coli envelope structures, and induced the overgeneration of intracellular reactive oxygen species. Consequently, they led to pore formation and permeability enhancement on the cell membrane, thus promoting the transformation. The facilitation was also associated with the carrier-like effect of iron oxides for antibiotic resistance plasmids. At higher concentrations, the weakened facilitations were attributed to the aggregation of iron oxides. In this study, we highlight the crucial roles of the concentrations (contents) of iron oxides on the dissemination of ARGs in soils; this study may serve as a reference for ARG pollution control in future agricultural production.

The application of extended reality technology-assisted intraoperative navigation in orthopedic surgery.

Extended reality (XR) technology refers to any situation where real-world objects are enhanced with computer technology, including virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. Augmented reality and mixed reality technologies have been widely applied in orthopedic clinical practice, including in teaching, preoperative planning, intraoperative navigation, and surgical outcome evaluation. The primary goal of this narrative review is to summarize the effectiveness and superiority of XR-technology-assisted intraoperative navigation in the fields of trauma, joint, spine, and bone tumor surgery, as well as to discuss the current shortcomings in intraoperative navigation applications. We reviewed titles of more than 200 studies obtained from PubMed with the following search terms: extended reality, mixed reality, augmented reality, virtual reality, intraoperative navigation, and orthopedic surgery; of those 200 studies, 69 related papers were selected for abstract review. Finally, the full text of 55 studies was analyzed and reviewed. They were classified into four groups-trauma, joint, spine, and bone tumor surgery-according to their content. Most of studies that we reviewed showed that XR-technology-assisted intraoperative navigation can effectively improve the accuracy of implant placement, such as that of screws and prostheses, reduce postoperative complications caused by inaccurate implantation, facilitate the achievement of tumor-free surgical margins, shorten the surgical duration, reduce radiation exposure for patients and surgeons, minimize further damage caused by the need for visual exposure during surgery, and provide richer and more efficient intraoperative communication, thereby facilitating academic exchange, medical assistance, and the implementation of remote healthcare.

C-arm CT guided percutaneous vertebroplasty for pain release in cancer patient with cervical 1 vertebral metastases: A case report.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and treatment outcome of C-arm CT percutaneous vertebroplasty in the treatment of cervical 1 (C1) vertebral metastases. METHODS: This report recruited a male patient diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma and C1 vertebral metastases, who had suffered from severe neck pain symptoms and the analgesic showed little soothing effect. Under the guidance of C-arm CT, an 18G coaxial needle was used to puncture the left lateral mass of C1 vertebral metastases from lateral space between thyroid cartilage and the left carotid sheath, with 2 ml bone cement injected. RESULTS: Postoperative C-arm CT three-dimensional reconstruction scan showed that the bone cement was well filled and distributed in the left lateral mass of C1 vertebral body, and no leakage of bone cement was observed. The neck pain of the patients was significantly relieved one week after the operation. CONCLUSION: Under the guidance of C-arm CT, cement augmentation using percutaneous vertebroplasty in an anterior cervical direction could serve as a safe and effective pain relief approach for patients with C1 vertebral metastases.

Palladium-Catalyzed Electrooxidative Double C-H Arylation.

The electrochemical transition metal-catalyzed cross-dehydrogenative reaction has emerged as a promising platform to achieve a sustainable and atom-economic organic synthesis that avoids hazardous oxidants and minimizes undesired byproducts and circuitous functional group operations. However, a poor mechanistic understanding still prevents the widespread adoption of this strategy. In this regard, we herein present an electrochemical palladium-catalyzed oxidative coupling strategy to access biaryls in the absence of a stoichiometric chemical oxidant. The robust palladaelectrocatalysis considerably suppresses the occurrence of homocoupling and oxygenation, being compatible even with electron-deficient arenes. Late-stage functionalization and Boscalid precursor synthesis further highlighted the practical importance of our electrolysis. Remarkably, mechanistic studies including the evaluation of the reaction order of each component by variable time normalization analysis (VTNA) and initial rate analysis, H/D exchange experiment, kinetic isotope effect, and stoichiometric organometallic experiments provided strong support for the involvement of transmetalation between two organopalladium complexes in the turnover limiting step. Therefore, matching the concentrations or lifetimes of two distinct organopalladium intermediates is revealed to be a pivot to the success of electrooxidative catalysis. Moreover, the presence of cationic copper(II) seems to contribute to the stabilization of the palladium(0) catalyst instead of playing a role in the oxidation of the catalyst.

Clinical efficacy of HAIC (FOLFOX) combined with lenvatinib plus PD-1 inhibitors vs. TACE combined with lenvatinib plus PD-1 inhibitors in the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein tumor thrombus and arterioportal fistulas.

This study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) combined with lenvatinib and PD1 inhibitors vs. transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with lenvatinib and PD1 inhibitors in the treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) and artery-portal shunts (APFs). HCC Patients with PVTT and APFs who received HAIC in combination with PD1 inhibitor or TACE in combination with lenvatinib and PD1 inhibitor from March 2019 to May 2023 in Zhongshan People's Hospital were included. The objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), median overall survival (mOS), median progression-free survival (mPFS), median duration of response (mDOR), and adverse events (AEs) were assessed. A total of 95 patients were enrolled in this study, including 34 cases in the HAIC+L+P group and 61 cases in the TACE+L+P group. According to the RECIST1.1, the ORR was 52.9% and 27.9%, and the DCR was 100% and 88.5%, respectively (P values =0.03 and < 0.001, respectively). The mOS of HAIC+L+P group and TACE+L+P group were 25.00 and 19.30 months, respectively (P=0.035). The mPFS of the two groups were 21.74 and 8.74 months, respectively (P=0.0066). The mDOR of the two groups was 20.43 and 9.13 months, respectively (P=0.067). Compared with TACE in combination with lenvatinib and PD-1 inhibitors, HAIC (FOLFOX) in combination with lenvatinib and PD-1 inhibitors can improve tumor response and prolong OS, PFS, and DOR in HCC patients with PVTT and APFs.

Prognosis value of microscopic bile duct invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma: A multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prognostic significance of microscopic bile duct invasion (MiBDI) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) following R0 resection. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients who underwent R0 resection for HCC at nine medical centers were stratified into five groups: neither bile duct nor vascular invasion (MiBDI-MVI-), microscopic bile duct invasion alone (MiBDI+MVI-), both microscopic bile duct and vascular invasion (MiBDI+MVI+), microscopic vascular invasion alone (MiBDI-MVI+), and macroscopic bile duct invasion (MaBDI). Overall survival (OS) was assessed using Kaplan-Meier analysis, and independent risk factors of OS were determined using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: A total of 377 HCC cases were analyzed. The OS for MiBDI+MVI- was similar to that of MiBDI-MVI- (p > 0.05) but better than MiBDI+MVI+, MiBDI-MVI+, and MaBDI (all p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis indicated that MiBDI was not an independent risk factor for OS, while MVI and MaBDI were. CONCLUSIONS: Overall survival (OS) in patients with MiBDI was superior to those with MVI and MaBDI. Isolated MiBDI did not influence OS in patients with HCC after R0 resection.

Isolated bronchial hemangioma causing recurrent hemoptysis: A case report.

RATIONAL: The development of bronchial hemangioma in adults is rare, and massive hemoptysis due to diffuse vascular proliferation of bronchial hemangioma is fatal. PATIENT CONCERNS: A case of a 29-year-old woman kept massive hemoptysis even after being underwent repeated interventional embolization for recurrent massive hemoptysis. Eventually, the patient was performed the operation of right upper lung lobectomy and bronchial hemangioma with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support and was followed up for 4 years without recurrent hemoptysis. DIAGNOSES: Bronchial hemangioma. CONCLUSION: For patients with bronchial angiomas bonded with bronchial artery-pulmonary arteriovenous fistulae, the early surgical resection is recommended if bronchial artery embolization (BAE) is considered ineffective.

Machine learning-based identification of CYBB and FCAR as potential neutrophil extracellular trap-related treatment targets in sepsis.

Objective: Sepsis related injury has gradually become the main cause of death in non-cardiac patients in intensive care units, but the underlying pathological and physiological mechanisms remain unclear. The Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (SEPSIS-3) definition emphasized organ dysfunction caused by infection. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) can cause inflammation and have key roles in sepsis organ failure; however, the role of NETs-related genes in sepsis is unknown. Here, we sought to identify key NETs-related genes associate with sepsis. Methods: Datasets GSE65682 and GSE145227, including data from 770 patients with sepsis and 54 healthy controls, were downloaded from the GEO database and split into training and validation sets. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) performed. A machine learning approach was applied to identify key genes, which were used to construct functional networks. Key genes associated with diagnosis and survival of sepsis were screened out. Finally, mouse and human blood samples were collected for RT-qPCR verification and flow cytometry analysis. Multiple organs injury, apoptosis and NETs expression were measured to evaluated effects of sulforaphane (SFN). Results: Analysis of the obtained DEGs and WGCNA screened a total of 3396 genes in 3 modules, and intersection of the results of both analyses with 69 NETs-related genes, screened out seven genes (S100A12, SLC22A4, FCAR, CYBB, PADI4, DNASE1, MMP9) using machine learning algorithms. Of these, CYBB and FCAR were independent predictors of poor survival in patients with sepsis. Administration of SFN significantly alleviated murine lung NETs expression and injury, accompanied by whole blood CYBB mRNA level. Conclusion: CYBB and FCAR may be reliable biomarkers of survival in patients with sepsis, as well as potential targets for sepsis treatment. SFN significantly alleviated NETs-related organs injury, suggesting the therapeutic potential by targeting CYBB in the future.

Joint Optimization of Bandwidth and Power Allocation in Uplink Systems with Deep Reinforcement Learning.

Wireless resource utilizations are the focus of future communication, which are used constantly to alleviate the communication quality problem caused by the explosive interference with increasing users, especially the inter-cell interference in the multi-cell multi-user systems. To tackle this interference and improve the resource utilization rate, we proposed a joint-priority-based reinforcement learning (JPRL) approach to jointly optimize the bandwidth and transmit power allocation. This method aims to maximize the average throughput of the system while suppressing the co-channel interference and guaranteeing the quality of service (QoS) constraint. Specifically, we de-coupled the joint problem into two sub-problems, i.e., the bandwidth assignment and power allocation sub-problems. The multi-agent double deep Q network (MADDQN) was developed to solve the bandwidth allocation sub-problem for each user and the prioritized multi-agent deep deterministic policy gradient (P-MADDPG) algorithm by deploying a prioritized replay buffer that is designed to handle the transmit power allocation sub-problem. Numerical results show that the proposed JPRL method could accelerate model training and outperform the alternative methods in terms of throughput. For example, the average throughput was approximately 10.4-15.5% better than the homogeneous-learning-based benchmarks, and about 17.3% higher than the genetic algorithm.

Health risks posed by environmental benzophenone-type ultraviolet filters (BP-UVFs): An investigation into the binding of BP-UVFs to trypsin and their adverse effects.

Benzophenone-type ultraviolet filters (BP-UVFs) are ubiquitous in the environment, and people frequently ingest them via food chain and drinking water. However, there is no clear information about whether BP-UVFs are detrimental to human health. Herein, experiments using multi-spectroscopy revealed typical BP-UVFs, i.e., benzophenone (BP), 2-hydroxybenzophenone (2-OHBP), 4-hydroxybenzophenone (4-OHBP), 2,2'-dihydroxybenzophenone (2,2'-OHBP), 2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone (2,4-OHBP), 4,4'-dihydroxybenzophenone (4,4'-OHBP), 2,4,4'-trihydroxybenzophenone (2,4,4'-OHBP), 2,2',4,4'-tetraphydroxybenzophenone (2,2',4,4'-OHBP), 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone (2-OH-4-MeOBP) and 2,2'-dihydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone (2,2'-OH-4-MeOBP), could bind to the active site of trypsin with different binding constants (2.69 × 104-1.07 × 106 L/mol), cause structural abnormalities and inhibit the enzymatic activity in varying degrees, indicating that the BP-UVFs ingestion poses a risk to human health. In contrast to previous research, this study systematically analysed the binding mechanism using an innovative combination of molecular docking and advanced quantum chemistry calculations, including molecular dynamics simulations, energy calculations, etc. The results revealed that most amino acids that make up trypsin have a greater positive electrostatic surface potential (ESP). Therefore, the greater the area and distribution of negative ESP in a particular BP-UVFs, the more easily it will bind to trypsin. This provides new insight into the binding of pollutants to proteins. This study suggests a need for better monitoring and control of environmental BP-UVFs.

Electrocatalyzed direct arene alkenylations without directing groups for selective late-stage drug diversification.

Electrooxidation has emerged as an increasingly viable platform in molecular syntheses that can avoid stoichiometric chemical redox agents. Despite major progress in electrochemical C-H activations, these arene functionalizations generally require directing groups to enable the C-H activation. The installation and removal of these directing groups call for additional synthesis steps, which jeopardizes the inherent efficacy of the electrochemical C-H activation approach, leading to undesired waste with reduced step and atom economy. In sharp contrast, herein we present palladium-electrochemical C-H olefinations of simple arenes devoid of exogenous directing groups. The robust electrocatalysis protocol proved amenable to a wide range of both electron-rich and electron-deficient arenes under exceedingly mild reaction conditions, avoiding chemical oxidants. This study points to an interesting approach of two electrochemical transformations for the success of outstanding levels of position-selectivities in direct olefinations of electron-rich anisoles. A physical organic parameter-based machine learning model was developed to predict position-selectivity in electrochemical C-H olefinations. Furthermore, late-stage functionalizations set the stage for the direct C-H olefinations of structurally complex pharmaceutically relevant compounds, thereby avoiding protection and directing group manipulations.

Caffeine Synthesis and Its Mechanism and Application by Microbial Degradation, A Review.

Caffeine is a metabolite derived from purine nucleotides, typically accounting for 2-5% of the dry weight of tea and 1-2% of the dry weight of coffee. In the tea and coffee plants, the main synthesis pathway of caffeine is a four-step sequence consisting of three methylation reactions and one nucleosidase reaction using xanthine as a precursor. In bacteria, caffeine degradation occurs mainly through the pathways of N-demethylation and C-8 oxidation. However, a study fully and systematically summarizing the metabolism and application of caffeine in microorganisms has not been established elsewhere. In the present study, we provide a review of the biosynthesis, microbial degradation, gene expression, and application of caffeine microbial degradation. The present review aims to further elaborate the mechanism of caffeine metabolism by microorganisms and explore the development prospects in this field.

Proliferating cell nuclear antigen impairs the nuclear import of influenza A virus PB2 and suppresses virus replication.

The genome of Influenza A virus (IAV) transcribes and replicates in the nucleus of cells and the viral ribonucleoprotein (vRNP) complex plays an important role in viral replication. As a major component of the vRNP complex, the polymerase basic protein 2 (PB2) is translocated to the nucleus via its nuclear localization signals mediated by the importins. Herein, it was identified proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) as an inhibitor of nuclear import of PB2 and subsequent viral replication. Mechanically, PCNA interacted with PB2 and inhibited the nuclear import of PB2. Furthermore, PCNA decreased the binding efficiency of PB2 with importin alpha (importin α) and the K738, K752, and R755 of PB2 were identified as the key sites binding with PCNA and importin α. Furthermore, PCNA was demonstrated to retrain the vRNP assembly and polymerase activity. Taken together, the results demonstrated that PCNA impaired the nuclear import of PB2, vRNP assembly and polymerase activity, which negatively regulated virus replication.

Efficacy and safety of biological agents for pemphigoid: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Biologic agents (also termed biologics) have become an important adjuvant-targeted treatment option in autoimmune blistering disease. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of newly licensed biologics for the management of pemphigoid using a meta-analysis. PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library for studies involving pemphigoid patients treated with biological agents (rituximab, dupilumab, omalizumab, or mepolizumab) were searched. The pooled risk ratio (RR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to assess the short-term efficacy, adverse event (AE), relapse, and long-term survival. A total of seven studies involving 296 patients were identified. The pooled RRs for short-term effectiveness, AE, relapse, and long-term survival rate in patients treated with biological agents versus systemic corticosteroids were 1.37 (95% CI 0.95-1.97; I2 = 82%; P = 0.09), 0.54 (95% CI 0.39-0.73; I2 = 13%; P = 0.005), 1.36 (95% CI 0.95-1.96; I2 = 16.8%; P = 0.19), and 1.08 (95% CI 0.95-1.21; I2 = 48.1%; P = 0.53), respectively. Meta-regression and subgroup analysis revealed that the RRs of efficacy were 2.10 (95% CI 1.61-2.75; I2 = 0%; P < 0.00001) for rituximab and 2.07 (95% CI 1.61-2.67; I2 = 0%; P < 0.00001) for sample size greater than 30. Compared with conventional therapy, biologics treatment was significantly associated with fewer adverse events (P < 0.05), but no significant differences were found for efficacy and relapse (P > 0.05). The findings demonstrate that a biologics-containing regimen could minimize the occurrence of AEs and might display a comparable efficacy and recurrence to that of receiving systemic corticosteroids.

Impact of antithrombotic drugs on the accuracy of fecal occult blood testing for advanced colorectal neoplasia screening: a meta-analysis and systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The current meta-analysis was conducted to determine whether antithrombotic drug use would affect the diagnostic accuracy of fecal occult blood testing for advanced colorectal neoplasia. METHODS: Articles published between 2000 and 2019 were systematically retrieved and screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria by two reviewers independently. Pooled analyses were conducted with a fixed-effect model if no apparent heterogeneity (I2 ≥ 50%) was found between studies; otherwise, the random effects model would be used. Sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis were also conducted using Review Manager 5.3. RESULTS: Pooled analysis revealed that aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were associated with a decrease in the positive predictive value of fecal occult blood testing for advanced colorectal neoplasia screening, with a RR of 0.89 (95% CI: 0.84-0.94) and 0.88 (95% CI: 0.84-0.93, p<0.001) respectively. Subgroup analysis based on data limited to high-quality studies, fecal immunochemical testing, or in Caucasians also showed that the use of aspirin/NSAID drugs decreased the accuracy for advanced colorectal neoplasia screening. CONCLUSION: Aspirin/NSAIDs and direct oral anticoagulants rather than warfarin may decrease the diagnostic accuracy of fecal occult blood testing for advanced colorectal neoplasia screening.

Dynamic evaluation of postoperative survival in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma patients who did not undergo lymphadenectomy: a multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: The prognosis of Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) patients who did not undergo lymphadenectomy is difficult to assess. This study aims to have a dynamic evaluation on the postoperative survival of ICC patients by calculating conditional survival. METHODS: Relevant data were from patients treated in 12 large-scale hospitals from December 2011 to December 2017. The influence of relevant clinical baseline data on the prognosis of ICC patients was analyzed by Cox regression. Conditional survival (CS) is a method that may predict the prognostic probability dynamically. For a patient with x years of survival, the 1-year CS (CS1) may be calculated as CS1= OS(x + 1)/OS(x). RESULT: A total of 361 patients who met the criteria were included in the study. Conditional survival (CS) means that the patients' prognosis varies with survival time, meanwhile, relevant factors affecting the prognosis have a time-varying effect. The probability of survival assessed by CS1 increased year by year and the 1,2,3-year survival improved from 68.4% to 87.8%, while the postoperative actuarial OS decreased from 69.4% at 1 years to 36.9% at 3 years. CONCLUSIONS: In terms of CS, the estimated survival for ICC varies with the increase of survival time after excision. Patients who live longer were likely to live longer. At the same time, with the passage of time, the role of the original adverse factors of the tumor would gradually decrease. Conditional survival allows a more accurate assessment of ICC patients who did not undergo lymphadenectomy.

Percutaneous microwave ablation and transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for serum tumor markers and prognostics of middle-late primary hepatic carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC) has an insidious onset and is usually diagnosed in the middle and late stages. Although transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the preferred option for treating middle- and advanced-stage PHC, it has limited efficacy in killing tumor cells and poor long-term efficacy. TACE plus percutaneous microwave coagulation therapy (PMCT) is more effective than interventional therapy alone and can improve survival time. However, there are few reports on the effects of TACE and PMCT on serum marker levels and the prognosis of patients with advanced PHC. AIM: To investigate the effect of PMCT + TACE on serum tumor markers and the prognosis of middle-late PHC. METHODS: This retrospective study included 150 patients with middle-late PHC admitted to Zhongshan People's Hospital between March 2018 and February 2021. Patients were divided into a single group (treated with TACE, n = 75) and a combined group (treated with TACE + PMCT, n = 75). Before and after treatment, the clinical efficacy and serum tumor marker levels [carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)] of both groups were observed. The 1-year survival rates and prognostic factors of the two groups were analyzed. RESULTS: The combined group had 21 and 35 cases of complete remission (CR) and partial remission (PR), respectively. The single group had 13 and 25 cases of CR and PR, respectively. After 4 wk of treatment, the serum CA19-9, CEA, and AFP levels in the single and combined groups decreased, with the decrease in the combined group being more significant (P < 0.05). The 1-year survival rate of the combined group (80.00%) was higher than that of the single group (60.00%) (P < 0.05). The average survival time within 1 year in the combined group was 299.38 ± 61.13 d, longer than that in the single group (214.41 ± 72.97 d, P < 0.05). COX analysis revealed that tumor diameter, tumor number, and the treatment method were prognostic factors for patients with middle-late PHC (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: TACE + PMCT is effective in treating patients with mid-late PHC. It reduces the levels of tumor markers, prolongs survival, and improves prognosis.

D2D-Assisted Multi-User Cooperative Partial Offloading in MEC Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning.

Mobile edge computing (MEC) and device-to-device (D2D) communication can alleviate the resource constraints of mobile devices and reduce communication latency. In this paper, we construct a D2D-MEC framework and study the multi-user cooperative partial offloading and computing resource allocation. We maximize the number of devices under the maximum delay constraints of the application and the limited computing resources. In the considered system, each user can offload its tasks to an edge server and a nearby D2D device. We first formulate the optimization problem as an NP-hard problem and then decouple it into two subproblems. The convex optimization method is used to solve the first subproblem, and the second subproblem is defined as a Markov decision process (MDP). A deep reinforcement learning algorithm based on a deep Q network (DQN) is developed to maximize the amount of tasks that the system can compute. Extensive simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed scheme.

Recyclable structured toxic industrial nickel-containing sludge for efficient anionic contaminant adsorption.

Safe, efficient, and simultaneous treatment of toxic industrial sludge and anionic contaminant crisis in one route still remains a persistent global challenge. Herein, we proposed a facile waste-control-waste conceptual design strategy to develop low-cost and high-performance sludge-based adsorbent for not only recycling of toxic waste nickel-containing sludge (NCS) but for the efficient removal of anionic contaminants in wastewater. The as-designed Ni-Al layered double oxides/calcined NCS (Ni-Al LDOs/CNCS) (216.96 m2/g, 0.44 cm3/g) with hierarchical porous structure possessed a larger specific surface area and well-developed porosity compared with raw NCS (60.52 m2/g, 0.26 cm3/g). It was proved that a higher hydrothermal temperature (180 °C) and a longer hydrothermal time (24 h) both promote the in situ assembly of LDHs nanosheets on CNCS surface. Significantly, the sludge-based adsorbent displayed high adsorption capacity towards five representative anions including F- (~ 31.1 mg/g), SO42- (~ 37.7 mg/g), NO3- (~ 21.8 mg/g), Cl- (~ 28.0 mg/g), and H2PO4- (~ 35.8 mg/g). Furthermore, the adsorbent maintained desirable adsorption capacity even after 6 adsorption/desorption cycles. Therefore, this study could be potentially extended toward design of other industrial waste sludge-derived high value-added advanced materials and for wastewater treatment applications.

Solar-heating superhydrophobic modified melamine sponge for efficient recovery of viscous crude oil.

Developing self-heating sorbents for rapid clean-up of viscous oil spills by using clean solar energy is attracting attention. Still, simple and scalable fabrication approaches of solar-heating sorbents remain challenging. Herein, a facile and practical modification strategy was presented to develop a solar-heating modified melamine sponge (rGO/CNT/MS) by dip-coating layer-by-layer (LBL) electrostatic assembly of GO and CNT with opposite charges onto MS skeleton followed by thermal reduction, without any complicated microfabrication and hydrophobic modification processes. Based on the intercalation of CNT into rGO layers and strong conjugation/hyperconjugation synergy of rGO and CNT, the light sorption ability, photothermal conversion, hydrophobicity and mechanical properties of the rGO/CNT/MS sorbent were further improved compared to rGO/MS and CNT/MS. The surface temperature could reach 75 â„ƒ in 100 s under 1 sun radiation (1 kW m-2), which would effectively absorb crude oil by in-situ sunlight-heating to reduce its viscosity. The sorption speed increased by about 30 times compared with no sunlight irradiation, and the continuous sorption capacity was up to 1.71 g/cm2 at 610 s driven by pump force. The easily-prepared solar-assisted rGO/CNT/MS with high photothermal performance, corrosion resistance, mechanical compressibility, coating firmness and oil sorption ability showed huge potential application in oil spill recovery.