Signatures of Adaptation and Purifying Selection in Highland Populations of Dasiphora fruticosa.

High mountains harbor a considerable proportion of biodiversity, but we know little about how diverse plants adapt to the harsh environment. Here we finished a high-quality genome assembly for Dasiphora fruticosa, an ecologically important plant distributed in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and lowland of the Northern Hemisphere, and resequenced 592 natural individuals to address how this horticulture plant adapts to highland. Demographic analysis revealed D. fruticosa underwent a bottleneck after Naynayxungla Glaciation. Selective sweep analysis of two pairs of lowland and highland populations identified 63 shared genes related to cell wall organization or biogenesis, cellular component organization, and dwarfism, suggesting parallel adaptation to highland habitats. Most importantly, we found that stronger purging of estimated genetic load due to inbreeding in highland populations apparently contributed to their adaptation to the highest mountain. Our results revealed how plants could tolerate the extreme plateau, which could provide potential insights for species conservation and crop breeding.

Prediction of postoperative infectious complications in elderly patients with colorectal cancer: a study based on improved machine learning.

BACKGROUND: Infectious complications after colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery increase perioperative mortality and are significantly associated with poor prognosis. We aimed to develop a model for predicting infectious complications after colorectal cancer surgery in elderly patients based on improved machine learning (ML) using inflammatory and nutritional indicators. METHODS: The data of 512 elderly patients with colorectal cancer in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from March 2018 to April 2022 were retrospectively collected and randomly divided into a training set and validation set. The optimal cutoff values of NLR (3.80), PLR (238.50), PNI (48.48), LCR (0.52), and LMR (2.46) were determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve; Six conventional machine learning models were constructed using patient data in the training set: Linear Regression, Random Forest, Support Vector Machine (SVM), BP Neural Network (BP), Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LGBM), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and an improved moderately greedy XGBoost (MGA-XGBoost) model. The performance of the seven models was evaluated by area under the receiver operator characteristic curve, accuracy (ACC), precision, recall, and F1-score of the validation set. RESULTS: Five hundred twelve cases were included in this study; 125 cases (24%) had postoperative infectious complications. Postoperative infectious complications were notably associated with 10 items features: American Society of Anesthesiologists scores (ASA), operation time, diabetes, presence of stomy, tumor location, NLR, PLR, PNI, LCR, and LMR. MGA-XGBoost reached the highest AUC (0.862) on the validation set, which was the best model for predicting postoperative infectious complications in elderly patients with colorectal cancer. Among the importance of the internal characteristics of the model, LCR accounted for the highest proportion. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates for the first time that the MGA-XGBoost model with 10 risk factors might predict postoperative infectious complications in elderly CRC patients.

Heterojunction photocatalyst FeS2/g-C3N5 for activating sulfites to degrade tetracycline: A stable degradation system based on heterogeneous processes.

The UV/sulfite system is a promising source of •SO4- and/or •OH, but its application is largely limited by the use of UV light due to its high cost and high energy consumption. Graphite carbon nitride (g-C3N5), as a new photocatalytic material, has better visible light absorption capacity and narrower band gap than g-C3N4, which is expected to activate sulfite under visible light to solve this problem. Herein, a novel FeS2/CN heterojunction material based on g-C3N5 was constructed by hydrothermal in-situ synthesis method and successfully activated sulfite, which was confirmed by tetracycline degradation experiments in water. Under optimized conditions, the degradation rate of TC in 1 h reached 96%. The experimental results revealed that the FeS2/CN heterostructure enhances the absorption of visible light and inhibits the recombination of carriers, enabling more electrons and holes to be utilized. Holes play a major role in the degradation reaction, promote the sulfite chain reaction, and effectively regulate the cycle of Fe2+ and Fe3+ in the solution. Iron ion leaching is negligible and the degradation reaction remains stable at pH 5-9.

Improved H2O2 Electrosynthesis on S-doped Co-N-C through Cooperation of Co-S and Thiophene S.

Co-N-C based catalysts have emerged as a prospective alternative for H2O2 electrosynthesis via a selective 2e- oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, conventional Co-N-C with Co-N4 configurations usually exhibits low selectivity toward 2e- ORR for H2O2 production. In this study, the S-doped Co-N-C (Co-N-C@S) catalysts were designed and synthesized for enhancing the electrosynthesis of H2O2, and their S doping levels and species were tuned to investigate their relationship with the H2O2 yield. The results showed that the S doping greatly enhanced the activity and selectivity of Co-N-C@S for H2O2 production. The optimal Co-N-C@S(12) displayed a high H2O2 production rate of 395 mmol gcat-1 h-1, H2O2 selectivity of 76.06%, and Faraday efficiency of 91.66% at 0.2 V, which were obviously better than those of Co-N-C (H2O2 production rate of 44 mmol gcat-1 h-1, H2O2 selectivity of 26.63%, and Faraday efficiency of 17.37%). Moreover, the Co-N-C@S(12) based electron-Fenton system displayed effective rhodamine B (RhB) removal, significantly outperforming the Co-N-C-based system. Experimental results combined with density functional theory unveiled that the enhanced performance of Co-N-C@S(12) stemmed from the combined effect of Co-S and thiophene S, which jointly enhanced electron density of the Co center, reduced the desorption energy of the *OOH intermediate, and then promoted the production of H2O2.

Highly efficient peroxymonosulfate activation on Fe-N-C catalyst via the collaboration of low-coordinated Fe-N structure and Fe nanoparticles for enhanced organic pollutant degradation.

Supporting Fe catalysts on N doped carbon (Fe-N-C) renders a promising way towards peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation for water decontamination, but constructing high-efficiency Fe-N-C remains challenging due to the insufficient understanding of the structure-performance relationship. Herein, the N doped carbon nanotube supported Fe catalysts (Fe-NCNT) were prepared towards PMS activation for organic pollutants removal, in which the Fe-N coordination number and Fe species were tuned through changing the pyrolysis temperature to study their roles in PMS activation. Results showed increasing the pyrolysis temperature converted the Fe-N4 structure in Fe-NCNT to low-coordinated Fe-N3 structure and produced Fe nanoparticles (FeNP, encapsulated in carbon). The Fe-NCNT with Fe-N3 and FeNP exhibited a remarkably high specific activity (0.119 L min-1 m-2), which was 1.8 times higher than that of Fe-NCNT with only Fe-N4 and obviously outperformed those of the state-of-the-art PMS activators. The low-coordinated structure and FeNP promoted the PMS reduction on Fe2+ of Fe-Nx for •OH and SO4•- production, which served as major oxidants for pollutants degradation. The experimental results and theoretical calculation corroborated the low-coordinated structure and FeNP jointly enhanced the PMS adsorption and electron density on Fe center, which accelerated electron transfer from Fe center to PMS for radical production.

Chromosome-scale genomes of five Hongmu species in Leguminosae.

The Legume family (Leguminosae or Fabaceae), is one of the largest and economically important flowering plants. Heartwood, the core of a tree trunk or branch, is a valuable and renewable resource employed for centuries in constructing sturdy and sustainable structures. Hongmu refers to a category of precious timber trees in China, encompassing 29 woody species, primarily from the legume genus. Due to the lack of genome data, detailed studies on their economic and ecological importance are limited. Therefore, this study generates chromosome-scale assemblies of five Hongmu species in Leguminosae: Pterocarpus santalinus, Pterocarpus macrocarpus, Dalbergia cochinchinensis, Dalbergia cultrata, and Senna siamea, using a combination of short-reads, long-read nanopore, and Hi-C data. We obtained 623.86 Mb, 634.58 Mb, 700.60 Mb, 645.98 Mb, and 437.29 Mb of pseudochromosome level assemblies with the scaffold N50 lengths of 63.1 Mb, 63.7 Mb, 70.4 Mb, 61.1 Mb and 32.2 Mb for P. santalinus, P. macrocarpus, D. cochinchinensis, D. cultrata and S. siamea, respectively. These genome data will serve as a valuable resource for studying crucial traits, like wood quality, disease resistance, and environmental adaptation in Hongmu.

Chromosome-scale genomes of commercially important mahoganies, Swietenia macrophylla and Khaya senegalensis.

Mahogany species (family Meliaceae) are highly valued for their aesthetic and durable wood. Despite their economic and ecological importance, genomic resources for mahogany species are limited, hindering genetic improvement and conservation efforts. Here we perform chromosome-scale genome assemblies of two commercially important mahogany species: Swietenia macrophylla and Khaya senegalensis. By combining 10X sequencing and Hi-C data, we assemble high-quality genomes of 274.49 Mb (S. macrophylla) and 406.50 Mb (K. senegalensis), with scaffold N50 lengths of 8.51 Mb and 7.85 Mb, respectively. A total of 99.38% and 98.05% of the assembled sequences are anchored to 28 pseudo-chromosomes in S. macrophylla and K. senegalensis, respectively. We predict 34,129 and 31,908 protein-coding genes in S. macrophylla and K. senegalensis, respectively, of which 97.44% and 98.49% are functionally annotated. The chromosome-scale genome assemblies of these mahogany species could serve as a vital genetic resource, especially in understanding the properties of non-model woody plants. These high-quality genomes could support the development of molecular markers for breeding programs, conservation efforts, and the sustainable management of these valuable forest resources.

Transforming radical to non-radical pathway in peroxymonosulfate activation on nitrogen doped carbon sphere for enhanced removal of organic pollutants: Combined effect of nitrogen species and carbon structure.

Carbon induced non-radical based peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation has exhibited several advantages over radical process for eliminating organic pollutants in complicated water matrices. However, the relationship between configuration and composition of carbon and non-radical mechanism, which is important for designing high-efficiency carbon catalysts, remains elusive. In this work, the nitrogen doped carbon spheres (NCSs) with superior PMS activation ability were prepared from low-cost chitosan via two-step hydrothermal carbonization-pyrolysis method for organic pollutants removal. The carbon structure and nitrogen species of NCSs were tuned via changing hydrothermal temperature to explore their correlation with their PMS catalytic mechanism. Results showed hydrothermal carbonization boosted the content of pyridinic N, graphitic N and sp2-hybrided carbon (CC) in NCS, which significantly enhanced its catalytic performance and collaboratively promoted the catalytic mechanism switch from radical-dominant (SO4•- and •OH) to non-radical-dominant (surface-mediated electron transfer (SMET) and 1O2) process. The NCS with most pyridinic N and CC performed best, whose catalytic activity was 10.4 times higher than that without hydrothermal carbonization. The pyridinic N and CC enhanced the SMET process through strengthening PMS adsorption capacity and facilitating the electron migration from pollutant to PMS, respectively, while graphitic N triggered PMS oxidation on its neighboring electron-deficient C to produce 1O2.

Hydrothermal carbonation carbon-based photocatalysis under visible light: Modification for enhanced removal of organic pollutant and novel insight into the photocatalytic mechanism.

Hydrothermal carbonation carbon (HTCC) is emerging as a promising alternative for photocatalytic removal of contaminants from water. However, the catalytic activity of HTCC is limited by its poor charge transfer ability, and its photocatalytic mechanism remains unclear. Herein, a unique photosensitization-like mechanism was firstly found on Fe modified HTCC (Fe-HTCC) derived from glucose for effective removal of organic pollutants. Under visible light illumination, the organic pollutant coordinated with Fe-HTCC enabled electrons transfer from its highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) to conduction band (CB) of Fe-HTCC, which not only oxidized pollutant itself, but also generated oxygen-centered radical for reducing O2 into O2•- towards pollutant removal. The degradation kinetic constant of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) over Fe-HTCC was about 1024.4 and 20.5 times higher than that of HTCC and g-C3N4, respectively. The enhanced performance of Fe-HTCC was originated from dual role of Fe modification: one is to boost the electron-deficient C sites which prefer to coordinate with amino or hydroxyl of pollutants; the other is to enhance the linkage of discrete polyfuran chains in Fe-HTCC for effective electron transfer from pollutant to Fe-HTCC. This work provides new insight into the synthesis and mechanism of HTCC-based high-efficiency photocatalyst for water decontamination.

Confining peroxymonosulfate activation in carbon nanotube intercalated nitrogen doped reduced graphene oxide membrane for enhanced water treatment: The role of nanoconfinement effect.

Coupling membrane filtration with peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation is promising to overcome the selectivity-permeability trade-off in membrane-based water treatment. However, the PMS catalytic efficiency of membrane still needs improvement to offset the insufficient reaction time during filtration process. Herein, an oxidized carbon nanotube intercalated nitrogen doped reduced graphene oxide (NRGO-OCNT) membrane with PMS activation function was firstly designed and prepared, which confined PMS activation in membrane interlayer for enhanced water treatment. The influence of confinement scale on membrane performance was studied through changing the OCNT intercalation ratio. Under the optimal confinement condition, the NRGO-OCNT membrane filtration integrated with PMS activation (MFPA) could realize 100% 4-chlorophenol removal at a high permeate flux of 290.2 L m-2 h-1 bar-1 (retention time of only 0.36 s), whose performance was 2.8, 1.7 and 5.0 times higher than that of filtration alone, NRGO MFPA (excessive confinement) and NRGO-OCNT powder-based batch reaction (no confinement), respectively. Moreover, NRGO-OCNT MFPA preferentially removed smaller-sized organics which easily entered and diffused in confined interlayer. The outstanding performance of NRGO-OCNT MFPA was owing to the nanoconfinement effect in appropriate confined interspacing, where the mass transfer rate of reactants was greatly boosted for enhanced generation of SO4- and OH towards pollutant.

Enhanced peroxymonosulfate activation on dual active sites of N vacancy modified g-C3N4 under visible-light assistance and its selective removal of organic pollutants.

Constructing highly efficient metal-free material towards peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation under photocatalytic assistance is a promising strategy for water decontamination. Herein, N vacancy modified g-C3N4 nanotube (VCN) was prepared to build a novel photo-assisted PMS activation system (PPAS), in which the unique electronic structure created by N vacancy could favor the PMS activation on VCN under visible-light irradiation. The role of N vacancy in PPAS was firstly studied through tuning its content in VCN. The results showed that the N vacancy greatly improved PMS activation on VCN PPAS towards organic pollutants removal. The VCN PPAS with moderate N vacancy modification performed best, whose kinetic constant for Rhodamine B degradation was 9.6 and 2.6 times higher than that of VCN/PMS system and pristine g-C3N4 PPAS, respectively. Moreover, the VCN PPAS performed well in wide pH range (3-12) and real water background. Selective removal of different organic pollutants was found on VCN PPAS, owing to the different interaction between pollutant and the catalyst surface with surface-bound radicals. The O2- and OH were major oxidants for pollutant removal in VCN PPAS, which were produced on dual active sites of VCN via two pathways: The N vacancy enhanced PMS adsorption and trapped photogenerated electrons for PMS reduction into OH, while the electron-deficient C atoms created by N loss promoted the PMS oxidation into O2-.

Synergistic killing effects of PD-L1-CAR T cells and colorectal cancer stem cell-dendritic cell vaccine-sensitized T cells in ALDH1-positive colorectal cancer stem cells.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are characterized by self-renewal and unlimited proliferation, providing a basis for tumor occurrence, metastasis, and recurrence. Because CSCs are highly resistant to conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy, various immunotherapies, particularly chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy and dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccine therapy, are currently being developed. Accordingly, in this study, we evaluated programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression in colorectal CSCs (CCSCs) and non-CCSCs and designed a combination immunotherapy synchronously utilizing PD-L1-CAR-T cells together with CCSC-DC vaccine-sensitized T cells for the treatment of colorectal cancer. PD-L1-CAR-T cells specifically recognized the PD-L1 molecule on CCSCs by binding to the extracellular domain of programmed cell death-1. The CCSC-DC vaccine was prepared using CCSC lysates. We found that aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1)-positive CCSCs were abundant in samples from patient tumor tissues and cancer cell lines. Moreover, PD-L1 was highly expressed in ALDH1-positive CCSCs compared with that in non-CCSCs. Monotherapy with PD-L1-CAR-T cells or CCSC-DC vaccine only elicited moderate tumor remission both in vitro and in vivo. However, combination therapy markedly killed cancer cells and relieved the tumor burden in mice. Our findings may provide a novel strategy for the clinical treatment of colorectal malignancy.

Enhanced activation of peroxymonosulfate by nitrogen-doped graphene/TiO2 under photo-assistance for organic pollutants degradation: Insight into N doping mechanism.

Production of sulfate radical from peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation by carbon-based catalysts is a promising strategy to degrade pollutants. However, the electron-transfer ability of carbon catalysts, which is critical in PMS activation, still needs to be improved. In this study, a novel photo-assisted PMS activation system (PPAS) was constructed on a nitrogen-doped graphene/TiO2 (NG/TiO2), in which the photogenerated electrons excited from TiO2 could be utilized by NG for enhanced PMS activation on it. Moreover, the N content was varied to firstly investigate the role of N doping on PPAS. Under photo-assistance, the NG/TiO2 displayed significantly enhanced PMS activation for removal of organic pollutants. 100% bisphenol A (BPA) can be removed within 1 h. The results show that the degradation kinetic constant of BPA by the NG/TiO2 PPAS was 24 times higher than that under PMS alone, and was 1.4 times higher than that of rGO/TiO2 PPAS. The singlet oxygen (1O2) and sulfate radical (SO4-) were the main reactive species in PPAS. The outstanding performance of NG/TiO2 system was ascribed to the two main reasons: on one hand, the N doping decreased the schottky barrier formed between NG and TiO2, which favored the electron transfer from TiO2 to NG. On the other hand, the N doping enhanced the adsorption and electron-transfer ability of NG towards PMS.

Porous carbon membrane with enhanced selectivity and antifouling capability for water treatment under electrochemical assistance.

Membrane filtration is an effective method for eliminating contaminants from water, but its performance is restricted by the trade-off between permeability and selectivity, as well as the serious membrane fouling. In this work, a novel porous carbon membrane (PCM) was constructed by coating porous carbon derived from metal-organic frameworks on ceramic membrane support. The PCM possessed good electrical conductivity, large surface area and hierarchical porous structure, making it promising to couple membrane filtration with electrochemistry for improved water treatment. Under electrochemical assistance, the PCM displayed enhanced selectivity and antifouling capability towards the water treatment. At -1.5 V, the PCM showed enhanced removal and reduced flux loss for the removal of suspended particles with size comparable to membrane pore size. Moreover, the PCM under +1.5 V exhibited effective removal of the organic chemicals unfavorable for size-exclusion by the membrane, whose removal efficiencies towards phenol and methyl orange were 3.0 and 3.3 times higher than those without voltage supply, respectively. The PCM with electrochemical assistance also displayed superior performance than PCM alone in real water treatment. The outstanding performance of the PCM under electrochemical assistance was mainly owing to its large electro-active surface area and enhanced mass transfer rate.

Activation of peroxymonosulfate by CoFe2O4 loaded on metal-organic framework for the degradation of organic dye.

The magnetic composite CoFe2O4/ZIF-8 based on metal organic framework (MOF) with high specific surface area and high activity was synthesized by solvothermal method. The prepared catalysts were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibration sample magnetometer (VSM) and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, respectively. After characterization, CoFe2O4/ZIF-8 was applied to heterogeneous activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for degrading methylene blue (MB). The result showed that the 0.075-CoFe2O4/ZIF-8 sample had the excellent catalytic activity. After catalytic reaction for 60 min, the degradation efficiency of MB (20 mg/L) reached about 97.9% at room temperature of 20 °C. The quenching experiment and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis indicated that SO4- and OH radicals were the main active species in MB degradation. Meanwhile, the possible MB degradation mechanism was proposed. After four catalytic cycles, the degradation efficiency of MB has not been greatly reduced, indicating the practical application potential of CoFe2O4/ZIF-8 in water pollution cleanup.

Effect of Soothing Gan (Liver) and Invigorating Pi (Spleen) Recipes on TLR4-p38 MAPK Pathway in Kupffer Cells of Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis Rats.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanism of inflflammatory-mediated toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) pathway in Kupffer cells (KCs) of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) rats and the intervention effect of soothing Gan (Liver) and invigorating Pi (Spleen) recipes on this pathway. METHODS: After 1 week of acclimatization, 120 Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly divided into 8 groups using a random number table (n=15 per group): normal group, model group, low-dose Chaihu Shugan Powder (, CHSG) group (3.2 g/kg), high-dose CHSG group (9.6 g/kg), low-dose Shenling Baizhu Powder (, SLBZ) group (10 g/kg), high-dose SLBZ (30 g/kg) group, and low- and highdose integrated recipe (L-IR, H-IR) groups. All rats in the model and treatment groups were fed with a high-fat diet (HFD). The treatments were administrated by gastrogavage once daily and lasted for 26 weeks. The liver tissues were detected with hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and oil red O staining. Levels of liver lipids, serum lipids and transaminases were measured. KCs were isolated from the livers of rats to evaluate the mRNA expressions of TLR4 and p38 MAPK by real-time flfluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and proteins expressions of TLR4, p-p38 MAPK and p38 MAPK by Western blot. Levels of inflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1 and IL-6 in KCs were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: After 26 weeks of HFD feeding, HE and oil red O staining showed that the NASH model rats successfully reproduced typical pathogenesis and histopathological features. Compared with the normal group, the model group exhibited significant increases in body weight, liver weight, liver index, serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and aspartate aminotransferase as well as TC and TG levels in liver tissues, and significant decrease in serum level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (Plt;0.05 or Plt;0.01), while those indices were significantly ameliorated in the H-IR group (Plt;0.05 or Plt;0.01). Higher levels of TNF-α, IL-1 and IL-6 in KCs were observed in the model group compared with the normal group (Plt;0.01). Significant decreases in TNF-α, IL-1 and IL-6 were observed in the H-SLBZ, H-IR and L-IR groups compared with the model group (Plt;0.05 or Plt;0.01). The mRNA expressions of TLR4 and p38 MAPK and protein expressions of TLR4, p38 MAPK and p-p38 MAPK in KCs in the model group were significantly higher than the normal group (Plt;0.01), while those expression levels in the L-IR and H-IR groups were significantly lower than the model group (Plt;0.05 or Plt;0.01). CONCLUSION: Inflflammation in KCs might play an important role in the pathogenesis of NASH in rats. The data demonstrated the importance of TLR4-p38MAPK signaling pathway in KCs for the anti-inflflammatory effect of soothing Gan and invigorating Pi recipes.

Heterogeneous activation of peroxymonosulfate by LaCo1-xCuxO3 perovskites for degradation of organic pollutants.

Recently cobalt-based heterogeneous catalysts have been widely investigated for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation in sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation processes. However, the improvement of the catalytic performance for PMS activation remains to be a challenge. As the limiting step, the rapid transformation of CoII/CoIII redox pairs is crucial for PMS activation. Perovskites attract increasing attention due to their controllable oxidation state of B-site metal and formation of oxygen vacancies, which accelerates the cycle of redox pairs. LaCo1-xMxO3 (M = Cu, Fe and Mn) perovskites as heterogeneous catalysts of PMS were synthesized for the degradation of phenol. The results showed that LaCo0.4Cu0.6O3 exhibited the highest catalytic activity. The pseudo first-order kinetic constant of phenol degradation on LaCo0.4Cu0.6O3 is 0.302 min-1, being about 5 times as high as Co2+ with same molar concentration of cobalt in LaCo0.4Cu0.6O3. XPS analysis confirmed that substitution of copper could promote the cycle of CoII/CoIII, thus enhance the catalytic efficiency for PMS activation. The facilitated cycle of CoII/CoIII played a crucial role in the generation of sulfate radicals, hydroxyl radicals and singlet oxygen. And sulfate radical was the primary radical responsible for pollutants degradation. The results provide insights into constructing novel perovskite catalysts for the removal of organic pollutants in water.

Construction of g-C3N4 and FeWO4 Z-scheme photocatalyst: effect of contact ways on the photocatalytic performance.

Photocatalysis has been regarded as an attractive strategy for the elimination of contaminants, but its performance is usually limited by the fast recombination of photogenerated electron-holes. A heterojunction photocatalyst could achieve the effective separation of electron-holes. However, the electrons migrate to the less negative band while holes move to the less positive band, leading to a weakened redox ability. Z-scheme photocatalysis is a feasible way to realize the efficient separation of photogenerated electron-holes without sacrificing the reductive ability of electrons and oxidative ability of holes. In this work, a new Z-scheme photocatalyst, composed of g-C3N4 (photocatalyst I), FeWO4 (photocatalyst II) and RGO (electron mediator), was fabricated through a facile hydrothermal and mixing method. The effect of contact ways (the electron mediator firstly combined with photocatalyst I or with photocatalyst II) on the Z-scheme photocatalytic performance was investigated. The photocatalytic removal rate of rhodamine B (RhB) was largely enhanced by the construction of a Z-scheme photocatalyst, compared with the g-C3N4/FeWO4 composite without RGO. The contact ways could affect the photocatalytic ability of a Z-scheme photocatalyst. The enhanced photocatalytic performance was attributed to the Z-scheme induced efficient separation of photogenerated charge carriers. Furthermore, remaining holes (on the VB of FeWO4) or remaining electrons (on the CB of g-C3N4) with powerful oxidation or reduction ability would promote the photocatalytic degradation of RhB.

Effects of extracts from soothing-liver and invigorating-spleen formulas on the injury induced by oxidative stress in the hepatocytes of rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease induced by high-fat diet.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate effects of the extracts from soothing-liver and invigorating-spleen formulas on the injury due to oxidative stress, mediated by the Nuclear factor-like 2 (Nrf2)-Antioxidant response element (ARE) pathway, in the hepatocytes of rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) induced by high-fat diet. METHODS: Soothing-liver and invigorating-spleen formula mixtures were prepared for five groups: normal, model, soothing-liver formula group (SLG), invigorating-spleen formula group (ISG), integrated formula group (IG). The rat model of NAFLD was induced by feeding rats a high-fat diet (HFD). After 16 weeks, the hepatic tissue was examined following Haematoxylin-Eosin (H&E) staining and with Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Levels of hepatic lipids, serum lipids and hepatic functions were measured using a biochemical analyser. Hepatocytes were isolated from the livers of rats and were identified by cellar immunohistochemistry, cellular immunofluorescence and flow cytometry. The expression levels of Nrf2, Kelch-like epichlorohydrin-associated protein 1 (Keap-1), haeme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) mRNAs were assessed by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. Nrf2, Keap-1, HO-1 and NQO1 proteins were measured by Western blotting. Finally, the levels of oxidative stress factors Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), malonaldehyde (MDA) and Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in hepatocytes were measured by WST-1, TBA and colorimetry. RESULTS: The H & E and TEM results showed that the NAFLD model rats successfully reproduced typical pathogenetic and histopathological features. The liver function and levels of hepatic lipids and serum lipids from the model rats were dramatically increased. Compared with the model group, the levels of hepatic lipids, serum lipids and hepatic function in the treatment groups were ameliorated to different degrees. The yields of purified hepatocytes in each rat were 4-5 ¡Á 108. The viability of the isolated hepatocytes was higher than 95%, with a purity over 93.2%. Cellular immunohistochemistry analysis showed that the hepatocytes were brown, while in the cellular immunofluorescence analysis, the hepatocytes showed green fluorescence. The expression levels of Nrf2, Keap-1, HO-1 and NQO1 mRNA and protein in the hepatocytes were significantly higher in the model group than in the normal group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Compared with the model group, the expression of Nrf2, Keap-1, HO-1 and NQO-1 mRNAs and proteins in all treatment groups increased, especially in the IG (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The extracts from soothing-liver and invigorating-spleen formulas may protect the liver against the injury induced by oxidative stress in hepatocytes by influencing the Nrf2-ARE pathway, which may be the mechanism having the potential for prevention and treatment of NAFLD.