Carbon border adjustment mechanism challenges and implications: The case of Visegrád countries.

Stricter climate policies across the European Union are enhancing the phenomenon of free riding by nonacting countries, which translates into carbon leakage and loss of competitiveness. This paper investigates the trade, economic and environmental implications of the future implementation of a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) in Visegrád countries as EU member states. We exploit trade data to estimate price and income elasticities for emission-intensive trade-exposed (EITE) goods imported from non-EU trading partners to Visegrád countries. Based on these estimates, which are combined with the average carbon intensity of the EU's proposed list of EITE goods, we simulate the implications of six different configurations of restrictiveness of the CBAM imposed on imports from non-EU countries. We find that a high price elasticity and carbon intensity tend to significantly decrease import demand for EITE goods under the CBAM. Moreover, future CBAM implementation will yield a relatively small adverse impact on economic growth in Visegrád countries and a small decrease in total carbon emissions in non-EU countries.

Spatio-temporal evolution and influencing factors of high quality economic development: Case study of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

With the increase in global economic integration, high-quality economic development (HQED) has become a common goal of all countries. Based on these five development concepts, this paper uses the Gini coefficient, trend surface analysis, geographically weighted regression (GWR), the entropy weighting method, and standard deviation ellipse analysis to study the spatio-temporal pattern and driving mechanism of HQED in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). This paper examines the spatial and temporal patterns and driving mechanisms of HQED in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) based on five development concepts. The study revealed that (1) HQED is on the rise overall, but at the same time, it highlights the uneven development of multiple dimensions, especially in terms of significant differences in innovation, openness, and sharing. (2) HQED shows a clear center-periphery structure, with Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong as the core high-value areas; the growth rate of HQED capacity in the internal areas is significantly greater than that in the external areas, and HQED is prominent in the cities around Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. (3) Factors such as agglomeration level, human capital, foreign investment, infrastructure development, financial and environmental protection expenditures, and financial inputs, and scientific, and technological inputs have a significant positive effect on HQED, and their interactions are further strengthened. This study reveals the importance of the realization of HQED in the GBA and the promotion of the overall development of the region.

Partial suppression of BCAA catabolism as a potential therapy for BCKDK deficiency.

Branched chain ketoacid dehydrogenase kinase (BCKDK) deficiency is a recently described inherited neurometabolic disorder of branched chain amino acid (BCAA) metabolism implying increased BCAA catabolism. It has been hypothesized that a severe reduction in systemic BCAA levels underlies the disease pathophysiology, and that BCAA supplementation may ameliorate disease phenotypes. To test this hypothesis, we characterized a recent mouse model of BCKDK deficiency and evaluated the efficacy of enteral BCAA supplementation in this model. Surprisingly, BCAA supplementation exacerbated neurodevelopmental deficits and did not correct biochemical abnormalities despite increasing systemic BCAA levels. These data suggest that aberrant flux through the BCAA catabolic pathway, not just BCAA insufficiency, may contribute to disease pathology. In support of this conclusion, genetic re-regulation of BCAA catabolism, through Dbt haploinsufficiency, partially rescued biochemical and behavioral phenotypes in BCKDK deficient mice. Collectively, these data raise into question assumptions widely made about the pathophysiology of BCKDK insufficiency and suggest a novel approach to develop potential therapies for this disease.

Mechanism of Injury for Traumatic Mid-Foot Lisfranc Injuries: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans transitioned away from their normal routines, drove in motor vehicles less, and reduced their physical activity, ultimately influencing the incidence and nature of orthopedic injuries that were operatively managed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and subsequent deconditioning on the mechanism of injury and severity of Lisfranc injury. Methods This retrospective study included patients with a traumatic Lisfranc injury who were surgically treated by a foot and ankle fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon between 2015 and 2021. Electronic health records were queried for patient demographics, mechanism of injury, physical exam findings, and pain scores. Preoperative radiographs were reviewed to grade Lisfranc injuries using the previously described Nunley-Vertullo classification system. Descriptive and univariate statistics were performed to compare 15 patients in the pre-COVID-19 cohort and 15 patients in the post-COVID-19 cohort. Results In the pre-COVID-19 cohort, 80% (n=12/15) of the patients were female, the mean age was 46±15 years, the mean BMI was 29.7±7 kg/m2, and the mean follow-up period was 18.1±12 months. In the post-COVID-19 cohort, 53% (n=8/15) of the patients were female, the mean age was 48.5±17 years, the mean BMI was 31.4±7 kg/m2, and the mean follow-up period was 9.5±4 months. Significantly higher proportions of plantar ecchymosis (n=8/15, 53%), neuropathic pain (n=7/15, 47%), and swelling (n=12/15, 80%) were present in the post-COVID-19 cohort. A low-energy mechanism of injury was sustained by 73% (n=11/15) of the pre-COVID-19 cohort and 80% (n=12/15) of the post-COVID-19 cohort. Lisfranc injuries for the pre-COVID-19 cohort and the post-COVID-19 cohort demonstrated the following classifications: Grade 1 (33%, n=5/15 vs. 40%, n=6/15), Grade 2 (60%, n=9/15 vs. 53%, n=8/15), and Grade 3 (7%, n=1/15 vs. 7%, n=1/15). Conclusion Although a higher proportion of plantar ecchymosis, neuropathic pain, and swelling was observed, there was no association between a low mechanism of injury and a higher grade of Lisfranc injury following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Selective oxidation decontamination in cobalt molybdate activated Fenton-like oxidation via synergic effect of cobalt and molybdenum.

In this study, cobalt molybdate (CoMoO4) activated peracetic acid (PAA) was developed for water purification. CoMoO4/PAA system could remove 95% SMX with pseudo-first-order reaction rate constant of 0.15410 min-1, which was much higher than CoFe2O4/PAA, FeMoO4/PAA, and CoMoO4/persulfate systems. CoMoO4/PAA system follows a non-radical species pathway dominated by the high-valent cobalt (Co(IV)), and CH3C(O)OO• shows a minor contribution to decontamination. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation indicates that the generation of Co(IV) is thermodynamically more favorable than CH3C(O)OO• generation. The abundant Co(IV) generation was attributed to the special structure of CoMoO4 and effect of molybdenum on redox cycle of Co(II)/Co(III). DFT calculation showed that the atoms of SMX with higher ƒ0 and ƒ- values are the main attack sites, which are in accordance with the results of degradation byproducts. CoMoO4/PAA system can effectively reduce biological toxicity after the reaction. Benefiting from the selective of Co(IV) and CH3C(O)OO•, the established CoMoO4/PAA system exhibits excellent anti-interference capacity and satisfactory decontamination performance under actual water conditions. Furthermore, the system was capable of good potential practical application for efficient removal of various organics and favorable reuse. Overall, this study provides a new strategy by CoMoO4 activated PAA for decontamination with high efficiency, high selectivity and favorable anti-interference.

Unraveling the link between heavy metals, perfluoroalkyl substances and depression: Insights from epidemiological and bioinformatics strategies.

Heavy metals and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have become particularly important when studying the development of depression, a common illness that severely restricts psychosocial functioning and diminishes quality of life. Therefore, the potential joint effects of heavy metal and PFAS exposure on depression, as well as the underlying mechanisms involved, were investigated by using integrated epidemiological and bioinformatic approaches in the present study. A thorough analysis of 7301 samples from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles that occurred between 2005 and 2018 was performed. Single-exposure studies have shown that cadmium exposure is positively associated with depression, whereas perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) exposure and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDE) exposure are negatively associated with depression. Furthermore, the Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) and quantile g-computation (QGcomp) models were employed to investigate the collective impact of exposure to mixed metals on depression. Cadmium emerged as the principal contributor to depression. Moreover, the addition of PFAS to the metal mixture had an antagonistic effect on depression, with PFOS having the most prominent influence. Analysis of the effects of co-exposure to cadmium and PFOS confirmed the presence of an antagonistic effect. The inflection points of cadmium and PFOS were determined to be -1.11 and 2.27, respectively. Additionally, exposure to cadmium and PFOS had the opposite effects on two crucial pathways, namely, the rap1 and calcium signaling pathways, which involve core genes related to depression such as ADORA2A, FGF2, and FGFR1. These findings have significant implications for future studies and provide new strategies for exploring the mechanisms underlying co-exposure effects.

Detoxification of Mycotoxin Patulin by the Yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus YG-4 in Apple Juice.

Patulin (PAT) is a mycotoxin produced by Penicillium species, which often contaminates fruit and fruit-derived products, posing a threat to human health and food safety. This work aims to investigate the detoxification of PAT by Kluyveromyces marxianus YG-4 (K. marxianus YG-4) and its application in apple juice. The results revealed that the detoxification effect of K. marxianus YG-4 on PAT includes adsorption and degradation. The adsorption binding sites were polysaccharides, proteins, and some lipids on the cell wall of K. marxianus YG-4, and the adsorption groups were hydroxyl groups, amino acid side chains, carboxyl groups, and ester groups, which were combined through strong forces (ion interactions, electrostatic interactions, and hydrogen bonding) and not easily eluted. The degradation active substance was an intracellular enzyme, and the degradation product was desoxypatulinic acid (DPA) without cytotoxicity. K. marxianus YG-4 can also effectively adsorb and degrade PAT in apple juice. The contents of organic acids and polyphenols significantly increased after detoxification, significantly improving the quality of apple juice. The detoxification ability of K. marxianus YG-4 toward PAT would be a novel approach for the elimination of PAT contamination.

Information consumption city and carbon emission efficiency: Evidence from China's quasi-natural experiment.

The transformation of public consumption patterns has become a burning question, but there are few studies on public consumption patterns. Therefore, evaluating the impact of ICC policy on carbon emission efficiency holds significant implications. This study settles on 104 pilot cities in China from 2006 to 2020 to assess the impact and the response mechanism of ICC policy on carbon emission efficiency through the time-vary Difference-in-Difference (DID) model. The result shows that: (1) ICC policy significantly promotes the local carbon emission efficiency, which remains robust after a battery of sensitivity tests. (2) It improves carbon emission efficiency through production factors agglomeration effect, industrial structural changing effect, innovation promotion effect, and environmental attention effect; (3) The direct impact of ICC policy on carbon emission efficiency varies across regions with different information consumption and carbon emission base. (4) ICC can improve carbon emission efficiency through the joint implementation of smart city (SC), new urbanization (NU), ecological civilization city construction (EC), Belt and Road Initiative (BR), Broadband China (BC), low-carbon city pilot policy (LCC), and air quality standards (AQS) policy.

Nano-enabled gas separation membranes: Advancing sustainability in the energy-environment Nexus.

Gas separation membranes serve as crucial to numerous industrial processes, including gas purification, energy production, and environmental protection. Recent advancements in nanomaterials have drastically revolutionized the process of developing tailored gas separation membranes, providing unreachable levels of control over the performance and characteristics of the membrane. The incorporation of cutting-edge nanomaterials into the composition of traditional polymeric membranes has provided novel opportunities. This review critically analyses recent advancements, exploring the diverse types of nanomaterials employed, their synthesis techniques, and their integration into membrane matrices. The impact of nanomaterial incorporation on separation efficiency, selectivity, and structural integrity is evaluated across various gas separation scenarios. Furthermore, the underlying mechanisms behind nanomaterial-enhanced gas transport are examined, shedding light on the intricate interactions between nanoscale components and gas molecules. The review also discusses potential drawbacks and considerations associated with nanomaterial utilization in membrane development, including scalability and long-term stability. This review article highlights nanomaterials' significant impact in revolutionizing the field of selective gas separation membranes, offering the potential for innovation and future directions in this ever-evolving sector.

Update on chiral recognition mechanisms in separation science.

The stereospecific analysis of chiral molecules is an important issue in many scientific fields. In separation sciences, this is achieved via the formation of transient diastereomeric complexes between a chiral selector and the selectand enantiomers driven by molecular interactions including electrostatic, ion-dipole, dipole-dipole, van der Waals or π-π interactions as well as hydrogen or halogen bonds depending on the nature of selector and selectand. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and molecular modeling methods are currently the most frequently applied techniques to understand the selector-selectand interactions at a molecular level and to draw conclusions on the chiral separation mechanism. The present short review summarizes some of the recent achievements for the understanding of the chiral recognition of the most important chiral selectors combining separation techniques with molecular modeling and/or spectroscopic techniques dating between 2020 and early 2024. The selectors include polysaccharide derivatives, cyclodextrins, macrocyclic glycopeptides, proteins, donor-acceptor type selectors, ion-exchangers, crown ethers, and molecular micelles. The application of chiral ionic liquids and chiral deep eutectic solvents, as well as further selectors, are also briefly addressed. A compilation of all published literature on chiral selectors has not been attempted.

Atomic Insight into the Enzymatic Selectivity of Acetyltransferase for Endogenous Polyamines.

The N1-Spermidine/spermine acetyltransferase (SSAT) serves as the rate-limiting enzyme in the polyamine metabolism pathway, specifically catalyzing the acetylation of spermidine, spermine, and other specific polyamines. The source of its enzymatic selectivity remains elusive. Here, we used quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics simulations combined with various technologies to explore the enzymatic mechanism of SSAT for endogenous polyamines from an atomic perspective. The static binding and chemical transformation were considered. The binding affinity was identified to be dependent on the protonated state of polyamine. The order of the binding affinity for Spm, Spd, and Put is consistent with the experimental results, which is also verified by the dynamic separation of polyamine and SSAT. Hydrogen bond interactions and salt bridges contribute most, and the common hot residues were identified. In addition, the transfer of acetyl and proton between polyamine and AcCoA was discovered to follow a concerted mechanism, and thermodynamic properties are responsible for the catalytic efficiency of SSAT. This work may be helpful for the development of polyamine derivatives based on catalysis to regulate polyamine metabolism.

Quinoline Derivatives in Discovery and Development of Pesticides.

Finding highly active molecular scaffold structures is always the key research content of new pesticide discovery. In the research and development of new pesticides, the discovery of new agricultural molecular scaffold structures and new targets still faces great challenges. In recent years, quinoline derivatives have developed rapidly in the discovery of new agriculturally active molecules, especially in the discovery of fungicides. The unique quinoline scaffold has many advantages in the discovery of new pesticides and can provide innovative and feasible solutions for the discovery of new pesticides. Therefore, we reviewed the use of quinoline derivatives and their analogues as molecular scaffolds in the discovery of new pesticides since 2000. We systematically summarized the agricultural biological activity of quinoline compounds and discussed the structure-activity relationship (SAR), physiological and biochemical properties, and mechanism of action of the active compounds, hoping to provide ideas and inspiration for the discovery of new pesticides.

Iron Monomers or Trimers on Nitrogen-Doped Carbon: Which Is Better for the Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction Reaction?

The electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) presents an alternative method for the Haber-Bosch process, and single-atom catalysts (SACs) to achieve efficient NRR have attracted considerable attention in the past decades. However, whether SACs are more suitable for NRR compared to atomic-cluster catalysts (ACCs) remains to be studied. Herein, we have successfully synthesized both the Fe monomers (Fe1) and trimers (Fe3) on nitrogen-doped carbon catalysts. Both the experiments and DFT calculations indicate that compared to the end-on adsorption of N2 on Fe1 catalysts, N2 activation is enhanced via the side-on adsorption on Fe3 catalysts, and the reaction follows the enzymatic pathway with a reduced free energy barrier for NRR. As a result, the Fe3 catalysts achieved better NRR performance (NH3 yield rate of 27.89 µg h-1 mg-1cat. and Faradaic efficiency of 45.13%) than Fe1 catalysts (10.98 µg h-1 mg-1cat. and 20.98%). Therefore, our research presents guidance to prepare more efficient NRR catalysts.

Probing Metal Ion Adduction in the ESI Charged Residue Mechanism via Gas-Phase Ion/Ion Chemistry.

The final stages of the charged residue mechanism/model (CRM) for ion generation via electrospray ionization (ESI) involves the binding of excess charge onto analyte species. Ions of both polarities can bind to the analyte with an excess of ions of the same polarity as the droplet. For large biomolecule/biocomplex ions, which are commonly the species of interest in native mass spectrometry (MS), the binding of acids and salts onto the analyte can lead to extensive broadening of ion signals due to adduction. Therefore, heating step(s) to facilitate desolvation and salt adduct removal are commonplace. In this work, we describe an approach to study the final stages of CRM using gas-phase ion/ion reactions to generate analyte ion/salt clusters of well-defined composition, followed by gas-phase collision-induced dissociation (CID). While there are many variables that can be studied systematically via this approach, the work described herein is focused on salt clusters of the form [Na10X11]-, where X = acetate (Ac-), chloride (Cl-), or nitrate (NO3-), in reaction with a common charge state of ubiquitin as well as several model peptides. Experiments in which equimolar quantities of each salt (i.e., NaAc, NaCl, and NaNO3) are subjected to ESI with ubiquitin (Ubi) and gas-phase ion/ion reaction studies involving [Na10X11]- and [Ubi + 6H]6+ show similar trends, in terms of the extent of sodium ion incorporation into the protein ions. Ion/ion reaction studies using model peptides show that the acetate-containing salt transfers significantly more Na+ ions into the peptide ions. Exchange of Na+ for H+ is shown to occur at the C-terminus and at up to all of the amide linkages using [Na10X11]-, whereas only the C-terminus engages in Na+/H+ exchange with [Na10Cl11]- and [Na10(NO3)11]-. In the latter cases, an additional Na+ is taken up as the excess positive charge, presumably due to solvation of the charge by multiple sites (e.g., carbonyl oxygens and basic sites).

Exploring chalcone-sulfonyl piperazine hybrids as anti-diabetes candidates: design, synthesis, biological evaluation, and molecular docking study.

To address the escalating rates of diabetes mellitus worldwide, there is a growing need for novel compounds. The demand for more affordable and efficient methods of managing diabetes is increasing due to the inevitable side effects associated with existing antidiabetic medications. In this present research, various chalcone-sulfonyl piperazine hybrid compounds (5a-k) were designed and synthesized to develop inhibitors against alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase. In addition, several spectroscopic methods, including FT-IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and HRMS, were employed to confirm the exact structures of the synthesized derivatives. All synthesized compounds were evaluated for their ability to inhibit alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase in vitro using acarbose as the reference standard and they showed excellent to good inhibitory potentials. Compound 5k exhibited excellent inhibitory activity against alpha-glucosidase (IC50 = 0.31 ± 0.01 µM) and alpha-amylase (IC50 = 4.51 ± 1.15 µM), which is 27-fold more active against alpha-glucosidase and 7-fold more active against alpha-amylase compared to acarbose, which had IC50 values of 8.62 ± 1.66 µM for alpha-glucosidase and 30.97 ± 2.91 µM for alpha-amylase. It was discovered from the Lineweaver-Burk plot that 5k exhibited competitive inhibition against alpha-glucosidase. Furthermore, cytotoxicity screening assay results against human fibroblast HT1080 cells showed that all compounds had a good level of safety profile. To explore the binding interactions of the most potent compound (5k) with the active site of enzymes, molecular docking research was conducted, and the results obtained supported the experimental data.

Ultrasound image denoising autoencoder model based on lightweight attention mechanism.

Background: The presence of noise in medical ultrasound images significantly degrades image quality and affects the accuracy of disease diagnosis. The convolutional neural network-denoising autoencoder (CNN-DAE) model extracts feature information by stacking regularly sized kernels. This results in the loss of texture detail, the over-smoothing of the image, and a lack of generalizability for speckle noise. Methods: A lightweight attention denoise-convolutional neural network (LAD-CNN) is proposed in the present study. Two different lightweight attention blocks (i.e., the lightweight channel attention (LCA) block and the lightweight large-kernel attention (LLA) block are concatenated into the downsampling stage and the upsampling stage, respectively. A skip connection is included before the upsampling layer to alleviate the problem of gradient vanishing during backpropagation. The effectiveness of our model was evaluated using both subjective visual effects and objective evaluation metrics. Results: With the highest peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity (SSIM) values at all noise levels, the proposed model outperformed the other models. In the test of brachial plexus ultrasound images, the average PSNR of our model was 0.15 higher at low noise levels and 0.33 higher at high noise levels than the suboptimal model. In the test of fetal ultrasound images, the average PSNR of our model was 0.23 higher at low noise levels and 0.20 higher at high noise levels than the suboptimal model. The statistical analysis showed that the p values were less than 0.05, which indicated a statistically significant difference between our model and the other models. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the proposed LAD-CNN model is more efficient in denoising and preserving image details than both conventional denoising algorithms and existing deep-learning algorithms.

Study on Anti-fatigue Effects and Mechanisms of Polysaccharide from Paris polyphylla.

The objectives of this study were to investigate the anti-fatigue effects of Paris polyphylla polysaccharide component 1 (PPPm-1) and explore its mechanisms. A mouse model of exercise-induced fatigue was established by weight-bearing swimming to observe the effects of different concentrations of PPPm-1 on weight-bearing swimming time. The anti-fatigue effect of PPPm-1 was determined by the effects of contraction amplitude, contraction rate, and diastolic rate of the frog gastrocnemius muscle in vivo before and after infiltration with 5 mg/mL PPPm-1. The effects of PPPm-1 on the contents of blood lactate, serum urea nitrogen, hepatic glycogen, muscle glycogen in the exercise fatigue model of mice, and acetylcholine (ACh) content and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity at the junction of the frog sciatic nerve-gastrocnemius under normal physiological, and Na+-K+-ATPase and Ca2+-Mg2+-ATPase activities of the frog gastrocnemius were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), to investigate the anti-fatigue mechanisms of PPPm-1. The results showed that PPPm-1 could significantly prolong the weight-bearing swimming time in mice (P < 0.01), decrease the contents of blood lactate and serum urea nitrogen, increase the contents of the hepatic glycogen and muscle glycogen of mice after exercise fatigue compared with those of the control group, and there was extremely significant difference in most indicators (P < 0.01). The 5 mg/mL of PPPm-1 could significantly promote the contraction amplitude, contraction rate, and relaxation rate of the gastrocnemius muscle in the frogs, and the content of ACh at the junction of the frog sciatic nerve-gastrocnemius (P < 0.01), but it had obvious inhibitory effetc on the activity of AChE at the junction of the frog sciatic nerve-gastrocnemius (P < 0.01). PPPm-1 could increase the Na+-K+-ATPase and Ca2+-Mg2+-ATPase activities of gastrocnemius in the frogs (for Ca2+-Mg2+-ATPase, P < 0.01). The above results suggested that the PPPm-1 had a good anti-fatigue effect, and its main mechanisms were related to improving endurance and glycogen reserve, reducing glycogen consumption, lactate and serum urea nitrogen accumulation, and promoting Ca2+ influx.

lncRNAs and cyclin-dependent kinases: Unveiling their critical roles in cancer progression.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a diverse class of RNA molecules that do not code for proteins but play critical roles in gene regulation. One such role involves the modulation of cell cycle progression and proliferation through interactions with cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), key regulators of cell division. Dysregulation of CDK activity is a hallmark of cancer, contributing to uncontrolled cell growth and tumor formation. These lncRNA-CDK interactions are part of a complex network of molecular mechanisms underlying cancer pathogenesis, involving various signaling pathways and regulatory circuits. Understanding the interplay between lncRNAs, CDKs, and cancer biology holds promise for developing novel therapeutic strategies targeting these molecular targets for more effective cancer treatment. Furthermore, targeting CDKs, key cell cycle progression and proliferation regulators, offers another avenue for disrupting cancer pathways and overcoming drug resistance. This can open new possibilities for individualized treatment plans and focused therapeutic interventions.

Natural products as glycolytic inhibitors for cervical cancer treatment: A comprehensive review.

Cervical cancer, a prevalent gynaecological malignancy, presents challenges in late-stage treatment efficacy. Aerobic glycolysis, a prominent metabolic trait in cervical cancer, emerges as a promising target for novel drug discovery. Natural products, originating from traditional medicine, represent a significant therapeutic avenue and primary source for new drug development. This review explores the regulatory mechanisms of glycolysis in cervical cancer and summarises natural compounds that inhibit aerobic glycolysis as a therapeutic strategy. The glycolytic phenotype in cervical cancer is regulated by classical molecules such as HIF-1, HPV virulence factors and specificity protein 1, which facilitate the Warburg effect in cervical cancer. Various natural products, such as artemisinin, shikonin and kaempferol, exert inhibitory effects by downregulating key glycolytic enzymes through signalling pathways such as PI3K/AKT/HIF-1α and JAK2/STAT3. Despite challenges related to drug metabolism and toxicity, these natural compounds provide novel insights and promising avenues for cervical cancer treatment.

The construction of Z-scheme heterojunction ZnIn2S4@CuO with enhanced charge transfer capability and its mechanism study for the visible light degradation of tetracycline.

In this study, copper oxide (CuO) was prepared by the microwave-assisted hydrothermal technique subsequently, CuO was grown in situ onto different rare metal compounds to prepare Z-scheme heterojunctions to improve the degradation efficiency of tetracycline (TC) in water environments. Various characterization proved the successful synthesis of all composite materials, and the formation of tight heterojunction interfaces, among which, the core-shell structure ZnIn2S4@CuO exhibited excellent photocatalytic degradation capability. Research results indicated that the degradation efficiency of ZnIn2S4@CuO for TC (50 mg/L) in the water environment reached 95.8 %, and the degradation rate is 2.41 times and 12.93 times that of CuO and ZnIn2S4 alone, respectively, the reason is because of the introduction of ZnIn2S4, Z-scheme heterojunction structures and internal electric field (IEF) is constructed and formed to extend the visible light response range of photocatalysts to improve electron-hole separation efficiency, and enhance charge transfer. In addition, ZnIn2S4@CuO-2 exhibited good stability and reproducibility, with no significant loss of activity after five cycles. Finally, the precise locations of free radical attack on TC were investigated by the combined use of high-resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MC) and frontier electron densities (FEDs), and a reasonable degradation pathway was provided. The results of this research provide a new and viable approach to overcome the limitations of conventional photocatalytic materials in terms of limited visible light absorption range and fast carrier recombination rates, which offers promising prospects for a wide range of applications in the field of wastewater purification.