Substantial removal of four pesticide residues in three fruits with ozone microbubbles.

Developing a straightforward method to remove pesticide residues from fruits is essential for food safety. In this study, ozone microbubble treatment was performed on three fruits (strawberry, cherry, and apricot) to remove four pesticide residues (emamectin benzoate, azoxystrobin, boscalid, and difenoconazole) while comparing removal efficiency. The concentration of hydroxyl radicals in different washing orientations was homogeneous at a concentration ranging between 8.9 and 10.2 µmol·L-1. Under long washing time (18 min), strawberry, cherry, and apricot obtained higher removal rates of 51 %∼65 %, 51 %∼59 % and 24 %∼70 %, respectively. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and contact angle (CA) revealed that apricot has better hydrophobicity, leading to a higher pesticide removal of 45 âˆ¼ 84 % with less water and more vigorous washing. Notably, vitamin C content in fruits remain largely unchanged following ozone microbubble treatment. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of ozone microbubble treatment as pollution-free method for enhancing food safety by removing pesticide residues on fruits.

Accelerated removal of five pesticide residues in three vegetables with ozone microbubbles.

A simple and effective approach to remove pesticide residues on vegetables is necessary for food safety. Ozone microbubbles treatment as an eco-friendly washing technique was investigated for three vegetables (celery, pakchoi and cowpea) collected from the field applied with five pesticides. The removal rates of five pesticide residues on cowpea by ozone microbubbles treatment were 15 %-47 % higher than that by ozone macrobubbles. Moreover, compared with the other four systemic pesticides, emamectin benzoate had a preferable removal rate (65 %-94 %) as a non-systemic pesticide with high water solubility. Through Mass Spectrometry (MS), the double-bonded structure of emamectin benzoate made it more possible to be removed chemically, carrying a degradation rate of 88 % at 25 min in water. Additionally, cowpea showed low removal (28 %-65 %) owing to its stomata and rough surface with SEM. Conclusively, this study demonstrated the potential of the ozone microbubble treatment on pesticide residues removal to enhance food safety.

An achieved strategy for magnetic biochar for removal of tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones: Adsorption and mechanism studies.

In this study, poplar wood biochar modified with Fe3O4 (MPBC) was prepared using poplar wood as carbon source applied to remove tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones. The adsorption behavior was investigated by batch experiments, and a series of characterization techniques were used to study the corresponding mechanism. Characterizations indicated that pore filling, electrostatic interactions, π-π interaction, surface complexation, and hydrogen bond contributed to the adsorption of antibiotics on MPBC. Most importantly, the thermodynamic experiment results showed that the adsorption capacity of MPBC for tetracyclines (70.28-89.58 mg⋅g-1) was significantly higher than fluoroquinolones (35.54-60.31 mg⋅g-1), which was further explained by hydrogen bond interactions calculated from Conductor-like screening model for real solvents (COSMO-RS). In addition, the adsorption between MPBC and antibiotics was favorable at lower ionic strengths and neutral conditions. Conclusively, this study could provide a promising approach to controlling the pollution of tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones.

Ubiquitin specific peptidase 25 alleviates acute lung injury and suppresses the inflammatory response in lung epithelial cells.

As COVID-19 spreads over the world, the treatment of acute lung injury (ALI) has attracted much attention. Considering ubiquitin-specific protease (USP) 25 has been relevant to inflammation, this article focused on its role in ALI and its regulatory mechanism. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was applied to separately stimulate mice and human lung epithelial cells to establish in vivo and in vitro ALI models. To discover the effects of USP25 overexpression on mouse, lung pathology, inflammatory factor levels, edema, number of inflammatory cells, and downstream protein levels were evaluated. USP25 overexpression in mice could alleviate LPS-induced lung tissue lesions and edema, and reduce inflammatory factors and inflammatory cells. It also inhibited the levels of downstream TRAF6, MAPK pathway-related proteins, and Fos Proto-Oncogene (FOS) in vivo. Furthermore, BEAS-2B cells were transfected with TNF receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) plasmids to study the role of TRAF6 in the regulatory mechanism of USP25. TRAF6 overexpression was found to reverse the functions of USP25 overexpression on cells. In conclusion, USP25 reduced ALI and inhibited inflammation in lung epithelial cells via regulating TRAF6/MAPK/FOS signaling.

[Progress in preparation of plant biomass-derived biochar and application in pesticide residues field].

Pesticides such as insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides play an important role in the global agricultural industry as they reduce the occurrence of crop diseases, kill pests, and remove weeds. On the other hand, these pesticides are a double-edged sword because they have both acute effects and chronic adverse effects on human health. The widespread use of pesticides has led to their persistence in soil, water, and agricultural products, thus posing a serious threat to public health. Therefore, the removal and analysis of pesticides are critical to protecting human safety and health. When removing pesticides from the environment, it is imperative to ensure high removal efficiency while preventing secondary pollution to the environment. Because of the low concentrations of pesticide residue in the environment, complex matrix, and large throughput of pesticide residue analysis, a low-cost fast pre-treatment technique that has strong selectivity and an enrichment effect on the target pesticide residue, with little environmental impact, is required. Plant biomass-derived biochar is obtained from wheat straw, corn cob, rice husk, etc. This material has a large specific surface area, high pore capacity, tunable surface functional groups, and good environmental compatibility, which make it an inexpensive and efficient adsorbent. Hence, there is a need to systematically review the knowledge regarding the application of plant-based biochar on pesticide removal and pesticide residue analysis. This paper reviews the application progress of plant biomass-derived biochar in the above mentioned two areas over the last decade. The pesticide removal applications include reducing the mobility of pesticides in soil, eliminating the pollution caused by chiral pesticides, loading pesticide-degrading bacteria, and releasing fertilizers sustainably when removing pesticide. As mentioned above, plant biomass-derived biochar has a large specific surface area, a high number of functional groups on the surface, and good environmental compatibility. Therefore, it can effectively remove pesticides or their metabolites from the environment without causing any secondary pollution. During pre-treatment, plan biomass-derived biochar is used as an adsorbent for dispersive solid-phase extraction, solid-phase microextraction, and magnetic solid-phase extraction to selectively adsorb organophosphorus and triazole pesticides in fruits and vegetables, as well as organochlorine pesticides in the aquatic environment. This paper also introduces the adsorption mechanism of plant biomass-derived biochar, where studies based on computational simulations such as the density functional theory, molecular dynamics simulation, and giant canonical Monte Carlo simulation are carefully discussed. The benefits of adopting computational simulations are also mentioned. Finally, this paper summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of using plant biomass-derived biochar in pesticide removal and pre-treatment, as well as the future research trends in this area.

Artificial Intelligence Technology-Based Medical Information Processing and Emergency First Aid Nursing Management.

This study was aimed at exploring the new management mode of medical information processing and emergency first aid nursing management under the new artificial intelligence technology. This study will use the artificial intelligence algorithm to optimize medical information processing and emergency first aid nursing management process, in order to improve the efficiency of emergency department and first aid efficiency. The successful rescue rates of hemorrhagic shock, coma, dyspnea, and more than three organs injury were 96.7%, 92.5%, 93.7%, and 87.2%, respectively, after the emergency first aid nursing mode was used in the hospital emergency center. The success rates of first aid within three years were compared, which were 91.8%, 93.4%, and 94.2%, respectively, showing an increasing trend year by year. 255 emergency patients in five batches in June and five batches in July were selected as the research objects by convenience sampling method. Among them, 116 cases in June were taken as the experimental group, and 139 cases in July were taken as the control group, which was used to verify the efficiency of the design model in this study. The results showed that the triage time of the two groups was 8.16 ± 2.07 min and 19.21 ± 6.36 min, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.01). The triage coincidence rates were 96.35% and 90.04%, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The research proved that the design of intelligent medical information processing and emergency first aid nursing management research model can effectively improve the triage efficiency of the wounded, assist the efficiency of emergency nursing of medical staff, and improve the survival rate of emergency patients, which is worthy of clinical promotion.

Utilizing Plackett-Burman design and response surface analysis to optimize ultrasonic cleaning of pesticide residues from rape.

BACKGROUND: Pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables threaten food safety. Cleaning before eating is a usual way to remove pesticide residues, so it is very important to find the most efficient cleaning conditions for public health. However, many previous cleaning studies only focused on a single variable which required a large amount of time manpower and material resources. Plackett-Burman design (PBD) and response surface methodology can avoid the earlier-mentioned problems and have potential in studying the influence and interaction of multiple factors. In this study, the effect of five factors on the removal of triadimefon and boscalid from rape by ultrasonic washing was evaluated through PBD: pH of water, ultrasonic cleaning time, water temperature, initial residual concentration and volume of water. RESULTS: Temperature had a significant effect on the rate of triadimefon removal while the other four factors impacted boscalid removal greatly. A higher temperature was better for the removal rate of triadimefon. Under alkaline environment, when initial residual concentration and cleaning time increased with decreasing water volume, the removal rate of boscalid increased. Furthermore, the interactions among factors were obtained. The regression coefficients of fitting equations about triadimefon and boscalid were 0.9657 and 0.9738, respectively. CONCLUSION: Changing pH of water, cleaning time, water volume and temperature during the washing process of rape through PBD designed experiments represents a valid strategy for improving the removal rate of two pesticides residue. This study provides a reference for ultrasonic cleaning conditions by a sink dishwasher, which has a positive effect on food safety. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Residue Analysis and Risk Assessment of Oxathiapiprolin and Its Metabolites in Cucumbers under Field Conditions.

In this study, a rapid, sensitive, and selective method was established for the detection of oxathiapiprolin and the metabolite IN-E8S72, as well as its glucose conjugate IN-SXS67 in cucumber using modified QuEChERS procedure combined with HPLC-MS/MS. The LOQs for all compounds were 0.02 mg kg-1, and the average recoveries were 77.4-111.3% with RSDs of 1.0-8.5%. Under the optimized conditions, the established method was successfully used to determine field samples in dissipation and terminal residue studies. The dissipation study results showed that oxathiapiprolin dissipated rapidly in cucumber with half-lives of 2.4-4.0 days. On the basis of the terminal residue results, the risk assessment was conducted, and both the international estimated daily intake (IEDI) or national estimated daily intake (NEDI) of oxathiapiprolin were much less than 100% which indicate a low health risk to consumers. This work provides guidance for establishing MRL of oxathiapiprolin in China and is of great significance for evaluating its dietary risk in cucumber.

The effects and mechanism of using ultrasonic dishwasher to remove five pesticides from rape and grape.

In this study, the ultrasonic dishwasher was used to remove five pesticides known to be frequently used on rape and grape. As compared with normal water washing, washing with the ultrasonic dishwasher was demonstrated to be more effective for pesticides removal, achieving removal rates between 14.7% and 59.8% on rape, and between 72.1% and 100% on grape. However, there were significant differences in order of the removal rate of five pesticides on rape and grape. From the adsorption experiments and analysis via Freundlich equation, the adsorption index (n, 0.551-1.056 on rape and 0.362-1.478 on grape) and adsorption coefficient (KF, 10-2.47-10-1.65 and 10-3.64-10-1.56 (mg·dm-2)/(mg·L-1)-n on rape and grape) were obtained. Taken together with the observation of the matrix surface by scanning electron microscopy and the evaluation of the physicochemical properties of pesticides, the different pesticides removal may be related to surface structure of the matrix.

Removal of nine pesticide residues from water and soil by biosorption coupled with degradation on biosorbent immobilized laccase.

Biosorbents prepared with peanut shell and wheat straw were act as supports for the immobilization of Aspergillus laccase, and the redox mediator syringaldehyde (SA) was used to improve laccase-catalyzed degradation of nine pesticide residues, including isoproturon, atrazine, prometryn, mefenacet, penoxsulam, nitenpyram, prochloraz, pyrazosulfuron-ethyl and bensulfuron-methyl. Pesticides in water and soil samples were effectively removed via biosorbent concentration and subsequent immobilized laccase degradation on peanut shell or wheat straw supports. The Langmuir equation and Freundlich equation described the biosorption isotherms of the nine pesticides. Parameters that affect the degradation was also investigated. With concentration of pesticides and SA of 6.0 mg L-1 and 1 mmol L-1, over 54.5% and 65.9% of pesticides were removed in water in 3 days with a biosorbent immobilized laccase dose of 25 g L-1 for peanut shell immobilized laccase and wheat straw immobilized laccase, respectively. In the treatment of pesticide in soil with a biosorbent dose of 50 g (kg soil)-1, with the maximum degradation rates ranged from 20.9 to 92.9% and 14.7-92.0% in 7 days for peanut shell immobilized laccase and wheat straw immobilized laccase, respectively. Therefore, laccase immobilized on biomass materials has a strong potential for the effective removal of pesticide pollutants from water and soil by biosorption coupled with degradation.

Novel surface-active ionic liquids used as solubilizers for water-insoluble pesticides.

Three surface active ionic liquids (ILs) containing organic anions but no halides were used as solubilizers for water insoluble pesticides and as well as alternates for similar ILs with halide anions, which have been increasingly popular in the agricultural practice. The solubilities of five pesticides (fluazifop-P, clethodim, pyrethrin, fosthiazate, and prochloraz) in three aqueous micellar systems, each containing 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium--tartrate ([OMIM][Tart]), 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium-l-proline ([OMIM][Prol]), 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium-l-lactate ([OMIM][lact]), respectively, were measured. The solubilities of all five pesticides were found to increase with the increasing concentrations of ILs solubilzers The enhancements in solubilities were related to surface activities of these SAILs, as indicated in the results of the measurements of their corresponding critical aggregation concentration (CAC), lowest surface tension (γcac), maximum surface excess concentration (Γmax) and minimum area per molecule (Amin) of aqueous solutions of ILs. When comparing with similar ILs with halides as counter anions, we found that these ILs with organic counterions are at least comparable, often more effective solubilizers for all of the five very different pesticides we tested. We conclude that these novel SAILs with organic counterions would serve as at least similarly effective and more environmentally-friendly solubilizers over the more traditional ones with halides.

Sparingly soluble pesticide dissolved in ionic liquid aqueous.

Ionic liquids may be considered as "environment-friendly solvents" for sparingly soluble pesticides. In this study, a series of aqueous ionic liquids (ILs) with different cations and different anions was used as environment-friendly alternative to harmful organic solvents sparingly dissolved in soluble pesticides (metolachlor, acetochlor, clethodim, thiamethoxam, and prochloraz). The aggregation behavior of aqueous ILs was investigated through surface tension measurement. Minimum area per IL molecule (Amin) values from the surface tension measurement showed that alkyl chain length and the halide anions strongly affect the aggregation behavior of ILs and the solubilization of pesticides. The solubility of metolachlor, acetochlor, clethodim, thiamethoxam, nitenpyram, and prochloraz in aqueous ILs increased. More importantly, the solubility of prochloraz in [C10mim][I] became 5771-fold higher than that in pure water. The substantially enhanced solubility of the above pesticides proved that aqueous ILs are promising environment-friendly solvents for pesticides that are commercially processed in emulsifiable concentrate (EC) formulation.

Guanidinium l-glutamate.

In the title compound, CH(6)N(3) (+)·C(5)H(8)NO(4) (-), there are two independent cations and two independent anions in the asymmetric unit. In the crystal structure, cations and anions are linked by inter-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds into a three-dimensional network.