Interpretable machine learning-based clinical prediction model for predicting lymph node metastasis in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: Prediction of lymph node metastasis (LNM) for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is critical for the treatment regimen and prognosis. We aim to develop and validate machine learning (ML)-based predictive models for LNM in patients with ICC. METHODS: A total of 345 patients with clinicopathological characteristics confirmed ICC from Jan 2007 to Jan 2019 were enrolled. The predictors of LNM were identified by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and logistic analysis. The selected variables were used for developing prediction models for LNM by six ML algorithms, including Logistic regression (LR), Gradient boosting machine (GBM), Extreme gradient boosting (XGB), Random Forest (RF), Decision tree (DT), Multilayer perceptron (MLP). We applied 10-fold cross validation as internal validation and calculated the average of the areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve to measure the performance of all models. A feature selection approach was applied to identify importance of predictors in each model. The heat map was used to investigate the correlation of features. Finally, we established a web calculator using the best-performing model. RESULTS: In multivariate logistic regression analysis, factors including alcoholic liver disease (ALD), smoking, boundary, diameter, and white blood cell (WBC) were identified as independent predictors for LNM in patients with ICC. In internal validation, the average values of AUC of six models ranged from 0.820 to 0.908. The XGB model was identified as the best model, the average AUC was 0.908. Finally, we established a web calculator by XGB model, which was useful for clinicians to calculate the likelihood of LNM. CONCLUSION: The proposed ML-based predicted models had a good performance to predict LNM of patients with ICC. XGB performed best. A web calculator based on the ML algorithm showed promise in assisting clinicians to predict LNM and developed individualized medical plans.

Dynamic monitoring of the fibrosis disease by a collagen targeting near infrared probe.

The deposition of the extracellular matrix, especially collagen, and the elevated expression levels of reactive oxygen species, including H2O2, are the main features of fibrosis. Fibrosis can occur in many tissues, such as tumor and liver tissues. The deposition of collagen in the location of lesions not only leads to immunological rejection and supports liver fibrosis and tumor progression, but also provides unique physiological signals with the progression of fibrosis and tumor. However, at present, the detection of fibrosis, especially real time detection, is greatly difficult, making it important to develop noninvasive probes for the dynamic monitoring of fibrosis progression. Herein, we propose a H2O2 responsive macromolecular probe for collagen imaging with high sensitivity and specificity. This probe consists of a collagen-targeting peptide and a H2O2-sensitive and near-infrared (NIR)-emitting macromolecular optical probe, which could effectively bind to collagen both in vitro and in vivo in the region of tumor or fibrotic liver tissues, allowing for high sensitivity and noninvasive visualization of fibrotic tissues and real time monitoring of collagen degradation after anti-fibrotic drug treatment.

HMW-GSs 1Dx3+1Dy12 contribute to a suitable wheat gluten strength that confers superior Chinese steamed bread quality.

The aim of this study was to clarify the effects of the high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GSs) 1Dx3+1Dy12 (3+12) and 1Dx4+1Dy12 (4+12) at the Glu-D1 locus on gluten and Chinese steamed bread (CSB) quality. The grain protein content and composition, gluten content and gluten index, farinograph properties, and CSB quality were investigated using four wheat near-isogenic lines (NILs) carrying HMW-GSs 1Dx2+1Dy12 (2+12), 3+12, 4+12 and 1Dx5+1Dy10 (5+10), respectively. The unextractable polymeric protein (UPP) and glutenin macropolymer (GMP) content, gluten index, dough development time, stability time, and farinograph quality number of four NILs all ranked as 5+10 > 3+12 > 2+12/4+12, such as the gluten index ranked as 5+10(44.88%) > 3+12(40.07%) > 2+12(37.46%)/4+12(35.85%); however, their contributions to the quality of CSB were ranked as 3+12 > 5+10 > 2+12/4+12, such as the specific volume ranked as 3+12(2.64 mL/g) > 5+10(2.49 mL/g) > 2+12(2.36 mL/g)/4+12(2.35 mL/g), which indicated that a suitable gluten strength (3+12) was crucial to making high-quality CSB. In addition, subunits 4+12 had a similar quality performance to low-quality subunits 2+12. All these findings suggested that, except for the acknowledged high-quality subunits 5+10, the introduction of 3+12 at the Glu-D1 locus is an efficient way for quality improvement of gluten as well as CSB.

Alpine grassland greening on the Northern Tibetan Plateau driven by climate change and human activities considering extreme temperature and soil moisture.

Alpine grassland is among the world's most vulnerable ecosystems, characterized by a high sensitivity to climate change (CC) and human activities (HA). Quantifying the relative contributions of CC and HA to grassland change plays a crucial role in safeguarding grassland ecological security and devising sustainable grassland management strategies. Although there were adequate studies focusing on the separate impacts of CC and HA on alpine ecosystem, insufficient attention has been given to investigating the effects of extreme temperatures and soil moisture. In this study, the spatiotemporal variations of alpine grassland were analyzed based on MODIS NDVI during the growing season from 2000 to 2020 in Naqu, using partial least squares regression and residual analysis methods to analyze the importance of climate factors and the impacts of CC and HA on grassland change. The results show that the NDVI during the growing season in Naqu exhibited an increasing trend of 0.0046/10a. At the biome scale, the most significant and rapid increase was observed in alpine desert and alpine desert grassland. Extreme temperature and soil moisture (SM) exerted a more significant importance on alpine grassland at whole scale. SM always showed a significant importance at biome and grid scale. The contributions of CC and HA to the change during the growing season were calculated as 0.0032/10a and 0.0015/10a, respectively, accounting for 68.05 % and 31.05 %. CC dominated the increase in NDVI during the growing season; HA contributed positively to NDVI in most areas of Naqu. The results are expected to enhance our understanding of grassland variations under CC and HA and provide a scientific basis for future ecological conservation in alpine regions.

Divergent Roles of KLF4 During Primordial Germ Cell Fate Induction from Human Embryonic Stem Cells.

As a core transcriptional factor regulating pluripotency, Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) has gained much attention in the field of stem cells during the past decades. However, few research have focused on the function of KLF4 during human primordial germ cell (PGC) specification. Here, we induced human PGC-like cells (hPGCLCs) from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and the derived hPGCLCs upregulated PGC-related genes, like SOX17, BLIMP1, TFAP2C, NANOS3, and the naïve pluripotency gene KLF4. The KLF4-knockout hESCs formed typical multicellular colonies with clear borders, expressed pluripotency genes, such as NANOG, OCT4, and SOX2, and exhibited no differences in proliferation capacity compared with wild type hESCs. Notably, KLF4 deletion in hESCs did not influence the induction of PGCLCs in vitro. In contrast, overexpression of KLF4 during PGC induction process inhibited the efficiency of PGCLC formation from hESCs in vitro. Overexpression of KLF4 may regenerate the naïve ground state in hESCs and results in repression for PGC specification. Thus, KLF4 could be a downstream target of human PGC program and the upregulation of KLF4 is prepared for late stage of germline development.

RKHS-based covariate balancing for survival causal effect estimation.

Survival causal effect estimation based on right-censored data is of key interest in both survival analysis and causal inference. Propensity score weighting is one of the most popular methods in the literature. However, since it involves the inverse of propensity score estimates, its practical performance may be very unstable, especially when the covariate overlap is limited between treatment and control groups. To address this problem, a covariate balancing method is developed in this paper to estimate the counterfactual survival function. The proposed method is nonparametric and balances covariates in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) via weights that are counterparts of inverse propensity scores. The uniform rate of convergence for the proposed estimator is shown to be the same as that for the classical Kaplan-Meier estimator. The appealing practical performance of the proposed method is demonstrated by a simulation study as well as two real data applications to study the causal effect of smoking on survival time of stroke patients and that of endotoxin on survival time for female patients with lung cancer respectively.

Postoperative plasma presepsin as a biomarker of postoperative infectious complications in different surgical departments: A meta-analysis and systematic review.

BACKGROUND: High rates of postoperative infection persist after different surgical procedures, encompassing surgical site infections (SSIs), remote infections, sepsis, and septic shock. Our aim was to assess presepsin's diagnostic accuracy for postoperative infections in patients across surgical procedures. METHOD: We conducted a comprehensive search in seven databases, extracting data independently. Using STATA 14.0, we calculated pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and Under the receiver operator curve and 95 â€‹% confidence interval (AUC, 95 â€‹% CI) as primary outcomes, with secondary outcomes involving sensitivity and specificity in subgroup analyses. RESULTS: This meta-analysis of 14 studies (1891 cases) evaluated presepsin's diagnostic value for postoperative infectious complications. Results include sensitivity of 77 â€‹% (70-83), specificity of 81 â€‹% (71-88), DOR of 14 (8-26), AUC of 84 (80-87), PLR of 4 (3-6), and NLR of 0.28 (0.21-0.38). Presepsin exhibits promise as a diagnostic tool for postoperative infections. CONCLUSION: In summary, compared to conventional markers like C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT), presepsin demonstrated superior sensitivity and specificity for detecting postoperative infectious complications across various surgical procedures.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Procalcitonin for Infection After Adult Liver Transplantation: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.

Background: Post-operative infection remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in adults early after liver transplantation (LT). Procalcitonin (PCT) may be a good test method for early diagnosis of post-operative infection and determining its severity. This study was performed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of PCT as a biomarker for infection after LT. Patients and Methods: A meta-analysis and systematic review was conducted for studies reporting diagnostic performance of PCT for infection in adults after LT. Observational studies were evaluated for their reporting of diagnostic accuracy, relevance, and quality. Results: Ten eligible studies assessing 730 patients were included in this meta-analysis and systematic review summarizing the diagnostic value of PCT for post-operative infection in adult liver transplantation. Pooled sensitivity and specificity with corresponding 95% confidence interval were 69% (95% confidence interval [CI], 54-81; heterogeneity I2 = 82.4%) and 88% (95% CI, 82-92; I2 = 52.7%), respectively. The diagnostic odd ratio (DOR) was 16 (95% CI, 10-25; I2 = 76.4%). The summary receiver operator characteristic (SROC) of PCT for post-operative infection was 0.88. There was a wide range of variability in the cutoff values, ranging from 0.22 to 42.80 ng/mL. Heterogeneity was reduced by excluding studies that focused on pediatric LT recipients. Conclusions: Procalcitonin is a moderately accurate diagnostic marker for post-operative infection in adult LT. Additionally, the diagnostic performance can be improved by combining it with other inflammatory biomarkers. This article provides the research direction for post-operative infection control.

Prevalence and influencing factors of abnormal carotid artery intima-media thickness in Henan Province in China.

Background: Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) has been shown to be a valuable predictor of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The aim of this study was to investigate the influencing factors of CIMT among adults in Central China. Methods: A total of 2,578 participants who underwent physical examination in Henan Provincial People's Hospital between January 2018 and July 2018 were enrolled. The respondents were divided into two subgroups according to their CIMT value (CIMT ≥1.0 mm group and CIMT <1.0 mm group). Variables considered were age, gender, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) triglycerides, fasting blood glucose, and uric acid levels, as well as hypertension, diabetes, body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio, body fat percentage, and visceral fat area (VFA). Logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the potential factors influencing CIMT. Results: The proportion of CIMT ≥1.0 mm among the physical examination population was 27.42% (707/2 578). The analysis of the two groups revealed significant differences in age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, total cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol. In the logistic regression analysis, age (OR=1.071, 95%CI=1.062-1.080), male sex (OR=2.012, 95%CI=1.251-2.238), hypertension (OR=1.337, 95%CI=1.031-1.735), diabetes (OR=1.535, 95%CI=1.045-2.255), HDL cholesterol (OR=0.540, 95%CI=0.366-0.796), and LDL cholesterol (OR=1.336, 95%CI=1.154-1.544) were significantly associated with abnormal CIMT. Conclusion: Early screening should be carried out among men, the older adults, and those with hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia.

Lycium barbarum Polysaccharides Improved Glucose Metabolism in Prediabetic Mice by Regulating Duodenal Contraction.

Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBPs) have been shown to exert an antiglycemic effect. Emerging evidence suggests that patients with hyperglycemia have a hypercontractility of duodenum, and targeting duodenal contraction of duodenum can be beneficial to glucose metabolism. However, it is unknown whether LBPs can improve glucose metabolism by regulating the hypercontractility of the duodenum. Our aim was to explore the effect of LBPs on duodenal contraction in prediabetic mice and also preliminarily investigate the mechanism. The results showed that LBPs improved glucose homeostasis by decreasing the duodenal amplitude of contraction rather than frequency. Moreover, LBPs ameliorated the gut microbiota composition and the levels of short-chain fatty acids, especially acetic acid, which might bind to the receptor on neurons to regulate the contraction of the duodenum. Acetic acid was hypothesized to play a key role in the above process. Then, acetic acid was determined to exert an antiglycemic effect as expected. In conclusion, LBPs may rely on acetic acid to regulate duodenal contraction to ameliorate glucose metabolism in prediabetic mice, which provides a new therapeutic strategy to treat dysglycemia.

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Stable isotope technique is important for understanding the structure and function of soil food web, which is considered as a belowground black box. We reviewed typical application cases of stable isotope techniques in the research of soil food webs, including to determine food sources and feeding preferences of soil fauna by using isotopes, and to analyze the trophic structure of soil food webs through isotope fractionation effects during the process of feeding and nutrient sequestration by soil fauna. Additionally, stable isotope techniques could reveal the role of soil biota at different trophic levels within soil food web in ecosystem matter and energy flow, which favored to carry out accurate and efficient research on the contribution of soil food webs to soil carbon and nitrogen cycling process and the corresponding influence mechanism. We further put forward the limitations of current stable isotope techniques and the future development directions.

Metal-organic-framework derived Zn-V-based oxide with charge storage mechanism as high-performance anode material to enhance lithium and sodium storage.

Transition metal oxides have been extensively studied due to their large theoretical capacities, but their practical application has been hampered by low electrical conductivity and dramatic volume fluctuation during cycling. In this work, we synthesized Zn3V2O8 material using Zn-V-MOF (metal-organic framework) as a sacrificial template to improve the electrochemical characteristics of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). Unique dodecahedral structure, larger specific surface area and higher ability to mitigate volume changes, improve the electrochemical reaction active site while accelerating ion transport. Zn3V2O8 with 2-methylimidazole as a ligand demonstrated a discharge capacity of 1225.9 mAh/g in LIBs and 761.6 mAh/g in SIBs after 300 cycles at 0.2 C. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation illustrates the smaller diffusion barrier energy and higher specific capacity in LIBs that is ascribed to the fact that Li has a smaller size and hence its diffusion is easier. This study may lead to a path for the manufacturing of high-performance LIBs and SIBs.

Genomic properties and clinical outcomes associated with tertiary lymphoid structures in patients with breast cancer.

Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) play a crucial role in determining prognosis and response to immunotherapy in several solid malignancies. Nevertheless, the effect of TLS-associated gene signature based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort in patients with breast cancer (BRCA) remains controversial. Based on TCGA-BRCA dataset (n = 866), 9-gene was identified to construct an TLS signature and further analyzed its prognostic value. Then, we explored the relationship of this TLS signature with molecular subtype, immune microenvironment, tumor mutational burden (TMB). High-TLS signature patients had a better overall survival (OS) than low-TLS signature patients, consistent with the results in the METABRIC cohort. Multivariate analysis revealed that TLS signature remained an independent prognostic indicator for OS. In addition, we established a nomogram with the integration of TLS signature and other independent variables to predict individual risk of death. The comprehensive results showed that patients with high TLS signature benefit from immunotherapy; the signature was also correlated with inhibition of cell proliferation pathways, low TP53 mutation rate, high infiltration of B cells, CD8 + T cells, CD4 + T cells, and M1 macrophages. Therefore, TLS signature is a promising biomarker to distinguish the prognosis and immune microenvironment in BRCA.

Effects of Low-Molecular-Weight Glutenin Subunit Encoded by Glu-A3 on Gluten and Chinese Fresh Noodle Quality.

Low-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (LMW-GS) account for 40% of the total wheat grain gluten protein fraction, which plays a significant role in the formation of noodle processing quality. The goal of this study was to clarify the effects of the major LMW-GS encoded by Glu-A3 on gluten and Chinese fresh noodle (CFN) quality. Four near-isogenic lines (NILs) were used as materials in this study, respectively carrying alleles Glu-A3a, Glu-A3b, Glu-A3c, and Glu-A3e, against the background of wheat variety Xiaoyan 22. The grain protein and its component contents and the gluten content, gluten index, farinograph properties, cooking quality, and textural quality of CFN were investigated. The results show that the ratios of glutenin to gliadin (Glu/Gli) in the NILs ranked them as Glu-A3b > Glu-A3c/Glu-A3a > Glu-A3e, and the unextractable polymeric protein content (UPP%), gluten index (GI), and farinograph quality in the NILs ranked them as Glu-A3b > Glu-A3c > Glu-A3a/Glu-A3e. Compared to Glu-A3b and Glu-A3a, the NILs carrying alleles Glu-A3c and Glu-A3e had better cooking and texture properties in CFN. All these findings suggest that the introduction of alleles Glu-A3c or Glu-A3e is an efficient method for quality improvement in CFN, which provides an excellent subunit selection for improving CFN quality.

Synthesis of Functionalized Tetrahydroquinoline Containing Indole Scaffold via Chemoselective Annulation of Aza-ortho-quinone Methide Precursor.

The chemoselective annulation of aza-ortho-quinone methide generated by in situ o-chloromethyl sulfonamide has been achieved with bifunctional acyclic olefin. This efficient approach provides access to the diastereoselective synthesis of functionalized tetrahydroquinoline derivatives containing indole scaffolds through the inverse-electron-demand aza-Diels-Alder reaction under mild reaction conditions with excellent results (up to 93% yield, > 20:1 dr). Moreover, this article realized the cyclization of α-halogeno hydrazone with electron-deficient alkene affording the tetrahydropyridazine derivatives, which had never been reported.

3D Body shape for regional and appendicular body composition estimation.

Body composition is correlated to bone mineral density, muscle strength, and physical performance. This is important for diagnosing conditions like sarcopenia, which is defined as the age-associated decrease in muscle mass leading to decreased mobile function, increased frailty, and imbalance. Existing methods for body composition measurement either suffer from inaccurate results or require expensive equipment such as Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Although DXA measures lean mass and not muscle mass, previous studies have considered extremity lean mass as appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASMM) approximation. In this study, we develop a new shape descriptor to predict regional body composition (in particular, regional lean mass) from 3D body shapes. In addition, we propose a neural network for ASMM assessment which is calculated by lean mass. We evaluate the effectiveness by comparing adjusted R-Squared values and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). In our experiment, the regression models utilizing level circumference as the training feature outperforms all regional anthropometric measurements and lowers the average RMSE by about 21%. For ASMM, the proposed neural network, which combines shape features and demographic features, surpasses all other traditional regression models and reaches the lowest RMSE at 1.85 kg. Compared to the vanilla linear regression model, our approach improves the RMSE by 17%. The experimental results suggest that the 3D body shape has the potential to be used to predict body composition, and in particular lean mass, for the whole body as well as specific regions of the body.

Ecological regulation of water level should be combined with seed supplementation for lakeshore Carex community restoration in Yangtze-disconnected lakes.

Carex communities in most Yangtze-disconnected lakes have been degraded severely due to alterations in water level fluctuations. To explore the feasibility of restoring the lakeshore Carex communities through ecological regulation of water level, the present study selected the Yangtze-connected Qili Lake (the lakeshore was dominated by Carex) and the Yangtze-disconnected Wuchang Lake (the lakeshore was dominated by Zizania latifolia) as model systems, and analyzed the lakeshore seed bank characteristics and seed-related quantitative, morphological, and germination traits of three representative Carex species. According to the results, although Carex seed density in the Qili Lake seed bank was obviously higher than that in Wuchang Lake, their contribution to the total seed density in both lakes was extremely low, with no significant difference between the two lakes. The results indicate that restoration of the degraded Carex communities using existing seed bank in Yangtze-disconnected lakes exclusively through water level regulation is not feasible. In addition, the seed densities of aboveground parts of Carex cinerascens, Carex dimorpholepis, and Carex argyi in Qili Lake were 6.9 × 104, 45.1 × 104, and 3.6 × 104 seeds/m2, respectively, which can provide high numbers of seeds continuously for lakeshore Carex restoration. The results of seed germination experiments showed that light, burial depth, and their interaction had significant effects on seed germination of the three species, whereas water condition had a significant effect only on C. dimorpholepis seed germination. The average germination rates of the three Carex species were 16.63 %, 19.06 %, and 7.78 %, respectively. However, considering the high seed densities in the aboveground parts of the three species, there are considerable numbers of seeds that can be used for Carex restoration. Therefore, the restoration of Carex communities in lakeshore zones of Yangtze-disconnected lakes is still possible if water level regulation can be combined with natural or artificial seed supplementation.

Exogenous carbon turnover within the soil food web strengthens soil carbon sequestration through microbial necromass accumulation.

Exogenous carbon turnover within soil food web is important in determining the trade-offs between soil organic carbon (SOC) storage and carbon emission. However, it remains largely unknown how soil food web influences carbon sequestration through mediating the dual roles of microbes as decomposers and contributors, hindering our ability to develop policies for soil carbon management. Here, we conducted a 13 C-labeled straw experiment to demonstrate how soil food web regulated the residing microbes to influence the soil carbon transformation and stabilization process after 11 years of no-tillage. Our work demonstrated that soil fauna, as a "temporary storage container," indirectly influenced the SOC transformation processes and mediated the SOC sequestration through feeding on soil microbes. Soil biota communities acted as both drivers of and contributors to SOC cycling, with 32.0% of exogenous carbon being stabilizing in the form of microbial necromass as "new" carbon. Additionally, the proportion of mineral-associated organic carbon and particulate organic carbon showed that the "renewal effect" driven by the soil food web promoted the SOC to be more stable. Our study clearly illustrated that soil food web regulated the turnover of exogenous carbon inputs by and mediated soil carbon sequestration through microbial necromass accumulation.

Nanostructured conversion-type anode materials of metal-organic framework-derived spinel XMn2O4 (X = Zn, Co, Cu, Ni) to boost lithium storage.

Bimetallic spinel transition metal oxides play a major part in actualizing eco-friendly electrochemical energy storage systems (ESSs). However, structural precariousness and low electrochemical capacitance restrict their actual implementation in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). To address these demerits, the sacrificial template approach has been considered as a prospective way to strengthen electrochemical stability and rate performance. Herein, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) derived XMn2O4-BDC (H2BDC = 1,4-dicarboxybenzene, X = Zn, Co, Cu, Ni) are prepared by a hydrothermal approach in order to discover the effects of various metal cations on the electrochemical performance. Among them, ZnMn2O4-BDC displays best electrochemical properties (1321.5 mAh g-1 at the current density of 0.1 A g-1 after 300 cycles) and high efficiency with accelerated Li+ diffusivity. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm the ZnMn2O4 possesses the weakest adsorption energy on Li+ with a minimized value of -0.92 eV. In comparison with other XMn2O4 through traditional fabrication method, MOF-derived XMn2O4-BDC possesses a higher number of Li+ transport channels and better electric conductivity. This tactic provides a feasible and effective method for preparing bimetallic transition metal oxides and enhances energy storage applications.

A pyridine-based conjugated imprinted polymer as an adsorptive photocatalyst for efficient removal of aqueous Cr(VI).

Herein, a designed pyridine-based conjugated imprinted polymer (CIP) was constructed by introducing 4-vinylpyridine (4-VP) via an in situ copolymerization reaction. In addition to the good adsorption performance of Cr(VI), this polymer also showed high efficiency in reducing Cr(VI) in water by photocatalysis. The ingenious design of the polymer not only furnished insight into the enhanced photocatalytic reaction kinetics but also provided a new route for the modification of the molecular skeleton of the conjugated polymer photocatalyst.