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The degradation of phenol from wastewater is crucial for environmental protection. Biological enzymes, such as horseradish peroxidase (HRP), have shown great potential in the degradation of phenol. In this research, we prepared a hollow CuO/Cu 2 O octahedron adsorbent with a carambola matrix shape through the hydrothermal method. The surface of the adsorbent was modified by silane emulsion self-assembly, where 3-aminophenyl boric acid (APBA) and polyoxometalate (PW 9) were combined with silanization reagents and grafted onto the surface. The adsorbent was then molecularly imprinted with dopamine to obtain boric acid modified polyoxometalate molecularly imprinted polymer (Cu@B@PW 9 @MIPs). This adsorbent was used to immobilize HRP, which served as a biological enzyme catalyst from horseradish. The adsorbent was characterized, and its synthetic conditions, experimental conditions, selectivity, reproducibility, and reusability were evaluated. The maximum adsorption amount of HRP under optimized conditions was 159.1 mg g−1, as determined using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). At pH 7.0, the immobilized enzyme showed a high efficiency of up to 90.0% in removing phenol, after 20 min of reaction with 25 mmol L−1 H 2 O 2 and 0.20 mg mL−1 Cu@B@PW 9 @HRP. Growth tests of aquatic plants confirmed that the adsorbent reduced harm. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) tests revealed that the degraded phenol solution contained about fifteen phenol derivatives intermediates. This adsorbent has the potential to become a promising biological enzyme catalyst for dephenolization. The horseradish peroxidase was immobilized on the boric acid modified polyoxometalate molecularly imprinted polymer to establish a biocatalytic enzyme system. A catalytic oxidation system was constructed using hydrogen peroxide, providing a new method for removing phenol from wastewater (Cu@B: Boric acid modified CuO/Cu 2 O; PW 9 : polyoxometalate; HRP: Horseradish peroxidase; Cu@B@PW 9 : Boric acid and polyoxometalate modified CuO/Cu 2 O; Cu@B@PW 9 @MIPs: boric acid modified polyoxometalate molecularly imprinted polymer). [Display omitted] • A novel boric acid modified polyoxometalate molecularly imprinted polymer have been successfully prepared. • Adsorbent can immobilize horseradish peroxidase (HRP) from plant horseradish. • Measured using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the adsorbent have excellent kinetic properties. • The method has a good removal effect on phenol, which can effectively reduce toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microplastics (MPs, less than 5 mm in size) are widely distributed in surroundings in various forms and ways, and threaten ecosystems security and human health. Its environmental behavior as pollutants carrier and the after-effects exposed to MPs has been extensively exploited; whereas, current knowledge on technologies for the separation and degradation of MPs is relatively limited. It is essential to isolate MPs from surroundings and/or degrade to safe levels. This in-depth review details the origin and distribution of MPs. Provides a comprehensive summary of currently available MPs separation and degradation technologies, and discusses the mechanisms, challenges, and application prospects of these technologies. Comparison of the contribution of various separation methods to the separation of NPs and MPs. Furthermore, the latest research trends and direction in bio-degradation technology are outlooked. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insufficient awareness of water issues is a crucial bottleneck restricting the sustainable utilization of water resources. To accurately measure citizens' water knowledge stock and overcome the differences between scales and respondents' characteristic levels on test results, the research focuses on developing and evaluating water knowledge stock test scales. The mechanism for identifying indicators is designed based on the grounded theory, and as a result, the water knowledge stock test indicator system is derived. The data was collected by the form of survey questionnaire developed with the test indicator system. A two-parameter multidimensional item response theoretical model is constructed based on item parameter estimation, data model fitting, and item information function. The survey data and optimization model are used to optimize the water knowledge stock test scale and verify the fitting degree with the characteristics of the respondents. The test information function and standard error function indicate that the scale is most informative for individuals with characteristic levels ranging from −2 to 3, resulting in a highly reliable test effect. The research has established a measurement indicator system, methodology, and presented results that serve as a foundation for measuring the stock of water knowledge. • Grounded theory was used to identify the measurement indicators system. • A scale evaluation model based on two-parameter-multidimensional IRT is proposed. • Four items with low information or high psychological impact were removed. • The optimized scale has a reliable test effect on ordinary respondents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been reported to be a risk factor for premature death, while a high diet quality is thought to lower mortality risk. We aimed to examine whether PCBs were associated with higher all-cause and cause-specific mortality risk and whether such associations could be modified by the diet quality among US middle-aged and older adults. Included were 1259 participants aged 40 years or older from the 1999–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination surveys. Exposure to PCBs was assessed in non-fasting serum samples, and mortality status was ascertained through December 31, 2019 using the public-use, linked mortality files. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index-2015 based on 24-h dietary recalls. Cox proportional hazard regression was applied to assess the associations of different PCB congener groups with mortality and the modifying effect by the diet quality. During a median follow-up of 17.75 years, 419 deaths occurred, including 131 from cardiovascular disease (CVD) and 102 from cancer. Serum concentrations of dioxin-like PCBs and non-dioxin-like PCBs were significantly associated with all-cause mortality, with hazard ratios (HRs) of 1.84 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10, 2.99) and 1.82 (1.09, 3.03) for extreme-tertile comparisons. A significant interaction was noted between dioxin-like PCBs and diet quality (P for interaction: 0.012), with a substantially more pronounced association among participants with a low diet quality (HR, 3.47; 95% CI: 1.29, 9.32), compared to those with a high diet quality (HR, 0.98; 95% CI: 0.40, 2.43). A similar weaker association was observed for total PCBs in participants with a high diet quality (P for interaction: 0.032). However, effect modifications by diet quality were not noted for the associations between different PCB groups and CVD mortality. While our findings need to be validated in other populations and mechanistic studies, they may suggest that a high quality diet could potentially attenuate the harmful effects of chronic PCB exposure. • Serum concentrations of most polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congener groups were associated with higher mortality risk. • The positive association was noted predominantly among participants with low diet quality, but not among those with a high diet quality.. • Our findings may suggest that adhering to a healthy diet could potentially attenuate the harmful effects of PCB exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]