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Highlights: [•] NiO hollow spheres have been prepared by a one-pot hydrothermal synthesis route. [•] A non-enzymatic glucose sensor based on NiO hollow spheres has been constructed. [•] The glucose sensor exhibits high sensitivity and selectivity for glucose detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective approach to greatly enhancing the selective secretion and expression of recombinant cytoplasmic enzymes in Escherichia coli was successfully developed through the synergistic effect of ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) and lysozyme. The method was applied to two endoglucanases (EGs) and an amylase. The optimal culture conditions of temperature and concentration of isopropyl-β- d-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) were 23-30 °C and 0.2 mM, respectively, under which the three enzymes could be expressed in active form. Among all the chemicals tested, EDTA was found to be most suitable for enhancing the secretion of EG-I-1A into the medium. Addition of lysozyme alone had little influence on the secretion and expression. In contrast, on the basis of the addition of 5 g EDTA/L at the induction time of 12 h, the simultaneous addition of 0.15 g lysozyme/L further significantly increased the secretion and expression of the three enzymes, demonstrating the synergistic effect of EDTA and lysozyme. The production of EG-I-1A in the culture medium by adding 5 g EDTA/L and 0.15 g lysozyme/L under the optimal culture conditions of 23 °C and 0.2 mM IPTG was over 260-fold higher than that without EDTA and lysozyme under the standard conditions of 37 °C and 1 mM IPTG. In summary, the advantage of this novel cultivation approach for secretion was that not only did it selectively enhance the secretion of the proteins of interest, but also greatly increased the expression of the three enzymes by over 80 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epigenetic modifications are considered to have an important role in evolution. DNA methylation is one of the best studied epigenetic mechanisms and methylation variability is crucial for promoting phenotypic diversification of organisms in response to environmental variation. A critical first step in the assessment of the potential role of epigenetic variation in evolution is the identification of DNA methylation polymorphisms and their relationship with genetic variations in natural populations. However, empirical data is scant in animals, and particularly so in wild mammals. Bats are considered as bioindicators because of their sensitivity to environmental perturbations and they may present an opportunity to explore epigenetic variance in wild mammalian populations. Our study is the first to explore these questions in the female great roundleaf bat ( Hipposideros armiger) populations using the methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP) technique. We obtained 868 MSAP sites using 18 primer combinations and found (1) a low genomic methylation level (21.3 % on average), but extensive DNA methylation polymorphism (90.2 %) at 5′-CCGG-3′ sites; (2) epigenetic variation that is structured into distinct between- (29.8 %) and within- (71.2 %) population components, as does genetic variation; and (3) a significant correlation between epigenetic and genetic variations ( P < 0.05). These results may also apply to other wild mammalian populations. The possible causes for the correlation between epigenetic and genetic variations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on construction of graphene-based ternary organic-inorganic nanocomposites of Porphyrin which is aid by graphene oxide reduction (GO) as it is cheap and produces large-scale reduced graphene oxide (RGO). Porphyrin (P) with Tin (Sn) works as an effective photocatalyst for the reduction of graphene oxide (GO) under visible-light irradiation. It states the photoreduction of gold (Au) catalyzed by Sn-porphyrin (SnP) leads to ternary angular gold (Au) nanoparticles (AuNPs).

Abstract: In this paper, we report on a simple, green strategy for the production of fluorescent 2,3-diaminophenazine (DAP) nanoparticles (NPs) by UV light irradiation of o-phenylenediamine (oPD) aqueous solution at room temperature for the first time. We further demonstrate the proof of concept that the DAP NPs can be used as a very effective fluorescent sensing platform for sensitive and selective detection of Hg(II) ions with a detection limit as low as 1nM. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article focuses on fast and sensitive colorimetric detection of H[2]O[2] and glucose on the based on polyoxometalate clusters. It states that the application of colorimetric assay to glucose detection both in buffer solution and diluted serum showed that silicotungstic acid (HSiW) catalyzes the oxidation of tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) by H2O2. It also states that this detection system is simple, fast, sensitive, and selective.

Abstract: The pull-out force of some outer walls against other inner walls in multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was systematically studied by molecular mechanics simulations. The obtained results reveal that the pull-out force is proportional to the square of the diameter of the immediate outer wall on the sliding interface, which highlights the primary contribution of the capped section of MWCNT to the pull-out force. A simple empirical formula was proposed based on the numerical results to predict the pull-out force for an arbitrary pull-out in a given MWCNT directly from the diameter of the immediate outer wall on the sliding interface. Moreover, tensile tests for MWCNTs with and without acid-treatment were performed with a nanomanipulator inside a vacuum chamber of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to validate the present empirical formula. It was found that the theoretical pull-out forces agree with the present and some previous experimental results very well. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: An endoglucanase from Bacillus akibai I-1 was successfully overexpressed in Bacillus subtilis 168 and the expression level of the recombinant enzyme was greatly enhanced by using the sucrose-inducible sacB promoter. The endoglucanase activity in the culture supernatant of recombinant B. subtilis by using itself promoter (HpaII) in plasmid pMA5 was 3U/ml. Interestingly, with the addition of sacB promoter at downstream from the HpaII promoter or the replacement of HpaII promoter by the sacB promoter, the endoglucanase activities reached 62 and 60U/ml, respectively, under the optimal culture conditions. These results demonstrated that the sacB promoter might be more efficient for the expression of the endoglucanase than the HpaII promoter. More interestingly, the purified native enzyme had broad pH stability, good thermostability and resistibility to various metal ions and chelating agents examined, while the recombinant enzyme had improved resistibility to SDS, which was stable in 0.2% (w/v) laundry detergent and thus showed great potential in detergents industry. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Bupivacaine and supraphysiologic temperature can independently reduce cell viability of articular chondrocytes. In combination, these 2 deleterious factors could further impair cell viability.Hypothesis: Hyaluronan may protect chondrocytes from death induced by bupivacaine at supraphysiologic temperatures.Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.Methods: Bovine articular chondrocytes were treated with hyaluronan at physiologic (37°C) and supraphysiologic temperatures (45°C and 50°C) for 1 hour and then exposed to bupivacaine for 1 hour at room temperature. Cell viability was assessed at 3 time points: immediately after treatment, 6 hours later, and 24 hours later using flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy. The effects of hyaluronan on the levels of sulfated glycosaminoglycan in the chondrocytes were determined using Alcian blue staining.Results: (1) Bupivacaine alone did not induce noticeable chondrocyte death at 37°C; (2) bupivacaine and temperature synergistically increased chondrocyte death, that is, when the chondrocytes were conditioned to 45°C and 50°C, 0.25% and 0.5% bupivacaine increased the cell death rate by 131% to 383% in comparison with the phosphate-buffered saline control group; and (3) addition of hyaluronan reduced chondrocyte death rates to approximately 14% and 25% at 45°C and 50°C, respectively. Hyaluronan’s protective effects were still observed at 6 and 24 hours after bupivacaine treatment at 45°C. However, at 50°C, hyaluronan delayed but did not prevent the cell death caused by bupivacaine. One-hour treatment with hyaluronan significantly increased sulfated glycosaminoglycan levels in the chondrocytes.Conclusion: Bupivacaine and supraphysiologic temperature synergistically increase chondrocyte death, and hyaluronan may protect articular chondrocytes from death caused by bupivacaine.Clinical Relevance: This study provides a rationale to perform preclinical and clinical studies to evaluate whether intra-articular injection of a mixture of bupivacaine and hyaluronan after arthroscopic surgery may protect against bupivacaine’s chondrotoxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we develop an environmentally friendly, one-pot strategy toward rapid preparation of Ag nanoparticle-decorated reducd graphene oxide (AgNPs/rGO) composites by heating the mixture of GO and AgNO3 aqueous solution in the presence of sodium hydroxide at 80 °C under stirring. The reaction was accomplished within a short period of 10 min without extra reducing agent. As-synthesized AgNPs/rGO composites have been successfully applied in photocurrent generation in the visible spectral region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Signaling pathways depend on regulatory protein-protein interactions; controlling these interactions in cells has important applications for reengineering biological functions. As many regulatory proteins are modular, considerable progress in engineering signaling circuits has been made by recombining commonly occurring domains. Our ability to predictably engineer cellular functions, however, is constrained by complex crosstalk observed in naturally occurring domains. Here we demonstrate a strategy for improving and simplifying protein network engineering: using computational design to create orthogonal (non-crossreacting) protein-protein interfaces. We validated the design of the interface between a key signaling protein, the GTPase Cdc42, and its activator, Intersectin, biochemically and by solving the crystal structure of the engineered complex. The designed GTPase (orthoCdc42) is activated exclusively by its engineered cognate partner (orthoIntersectin), but maintains the ability to interface with other GTPase signaling circuit components in vitro. In mammalian cells, orthoCdc42 activity can be regulated by orthoIntersectin, but not wild-type Intersectin, showing that the designed interaction can trigger complex processes. Computational design of protein interfaces thus promises to provide specific components that facilitate the predictable engineering of cellular functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we report on our recent finding that Ag+ can oxidize 3,3′,5,5′,-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to develop a blue color in aqueous solution, leading to a simple approach to colorimetric detection of Ag+ with a detection limit of 50nM. Most importantly, we demonstrate its practical application to detect Ag+ in real sample. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We constructed an effective one-electron Hamiltonian by using the 4f/5d energies and eigenvectors obtained from the first-principles calculation with the relativistic self-consistent discrete variational Slater software package (DV-Xα). From the effective Hamiltonian, we obtained the crystal-field and spin-orbit interaction parameters for the 4f and 5d electrons of lanthanide ions (Ce3+, Pr3+, Nd3+ and Eu3+) doped in YPO4, and these parameters were used to calculate the 4fN-4fN-15d transition. Comparison with experiments shows that the obtained parameters are reasonable and the excitation spectra can be well predicted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An aqueous dispersion of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) has been successfully prepared via chemical reduction of graphene oxide (GO) by hydrazine hydrate in the presence of aniline for the first time. The noncovalent functionalization of rGO by aniline leads to a rGO dispersion that can be very stable for several months without the observation of any floating or precipitated particles. Several analytical techniques including Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) have been used to characterize the resulting rGO. Taking advantages of the fact reducing ability of aniline toward AgNO3, we further demonstrated the subsequent decoration of rGO with Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) by in situ chemical reduction of silver salts. It was found that such AgNP/rGO nanocomposites exhibit good catalytic activity toward the reduction of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), leading to an enzymeless sensor with a fast amperometric response time of less than 2s. The linear detection range is estimated to be from 100μM to 80mM (r =0.9991), and the detection limit is estimated to be 7.1μM at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ag nanoparticles/graphene nanosheet (AgNPs/GN) composites have been rapidly prepared by a one-pot microwave-assisted reduction method, carried out by microwave irradiation of a N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) solution of graphene oxide (GO) and AgNO. Several analytical techniques including UV-vis spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) have been used to characterize the resulting AgNPs/GN composites. It suggests that such composites exhibit good catalytic activity toward reduction of hydrogen peroxide (HO), leading to a HO sensor with a fast amperometric response time of less than 2 s. The linear detection range is estimated to be from 0.1 to 100 mM ( r = 0 .999), and the detection limit is estimated to be 0.5 μM at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer-free Pt/graphene nanosheet (GN) composites have been rapidly prepared by a one-step microwave-assisted reduction method, carried out by ethylene glycol reduction of HPtCl in a graphene oxide suspension. Several analytic techniques including UV-vis spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy have been used to characterize the resulting Pt/GN composites. It suggests that such composites exhibit good catalytic activity toward methanol oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The pull-out of a carbon nanotube (CNT) from an alumina (α-Al2O3) matrix was investigated using molecular mechanics simulations to study the interfacial properties due to van der Waals and electrostatic Coulombic interactions. The pull-out force of the CNT was found to be proportional to its diameter, but independent of its length and alumina grain boundary type. A theory was proposed to predict the force for an arbitrary pull-out of a CNT from the alumina matrix using the outermost wall diameter of CNT. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A stable aqueous dispersion of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) has been prepared by the chemical reduction of graphene oxide with the use of benzylamine as a reducing and stabilizing agent. Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterize the resulting rGO. The rGO could be decorated with Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) by direct adsorption of preformed, negatively-charged AgNPs. It was found that the resulting hybrid exhibits good catalytic activity toward the reduction of hydrogen peroxide, leading to an enzymeless sensor with a fast amperometric response time of less than 2s. The linear detection range is estimated to be from 100μM to 100mM (r= 0.999), and the detection limit is estimated to be 31.3μM at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Reported here is the synthesis of pyridine-functionalized porous polymers, which are designed as homogeneous-like base catalysts. These highly porous catalysts have adjustable pyridine contents, high BET surface area (312–649m2/g), large pore volume (0.5–2.0cm3/g) and rapid swelling property, thus they efficiently combined the advantage of both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. The exposure degree of active sites in our homogeneous-like catalysts has been evaluated by Cu2+ adsorption, giving similar capacity with homogeneously dissolved poly-4-vinylpyridine. In the Knoevenagel condensation, these materials exhibit excellent activity and stability compared with Mg–Al hydrotalcite and magnesia as well as homogeneous base catalyst of poly-4-vinylpyridine. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Graphene platelet–glucose oxidase (GP–GOD) nanostructures have been prepared through self-assembly of GOD and chitosan (CS) functionalized GPs by electrostatic attraction in aqueous solution. The stable aqueous dispersion of GPs was prepared by chemical reduction of graphene oxide with the use of CS as a reducing and stabilizing agent. UV–vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterize the resulting GPs and GP–GOD nanostructures. Furthermore, a glucose biosensor was constructed by deposition of the resultant GP–GOD on the surface of glassy carbon electrode. It was found that the resulting biosensor exhibits good response to glucose. The linear detection range is estimated to be from 2 to 22mM (r =0.9987), and the detection limit is estimated to be 20μM at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

n alkaline endoglucanase from Bacillus akibai III-3A was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli in active form, and secretion was greatly enhanced by addition of 5 g/l ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) to the culture medium at the induction time of 12 h. Under the optimal culture conditions, extracellular and total endoglucanase activities were 18.5 and 31.2 U/ml, respectively. Both the recombinant and native enzymes exhibited similar properties with respect to broad pH stability, good thermostability, and resistibility to various metal ions and reagents examined. However, unlike the native endoglucanase that was partly inhibited by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), the recombinant enzyme had good resistibility to SDS, being very stable in the commercial detergents, and no decrease in residual activity was observed in 0.2% (w/v) laundry detergent, indicating that it was suitable for application in detergents industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The present paper presents the novel use of MC microparticles (MCMPs) as a novel fluorescent sensing platform for thrombin detection. The MCMPs were prepared by a nanocasting method using mesoporous silica (MS) NPs as a hard template. The general concept used in this approach lies in the facts that the non-covalent adsorption of the dye-labeled TA on MCMP driven by π–π stacking of DNA bases on MCMP leads to substantial quenching of dye fluorescence due to their very close proximity. However, the presence of target TB results in the change of TA conformation to quadruplex due to the quadruplex–TB complex formation. Because the binding between the complex and MCMP is not strong enough to guarantee the close proximity of dyes to MCMP surface, fluorescence quenching is suppressed. This sensing system has a low detection limit down to 0.25nM and exhibits excellent selectivity. We also demonstrate its application in human blood serum system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Ordered hexagonal mesoporous silica materials with additional disordered large-mesopore networks (DL-SBA-15s) have been prepared by one-pot process using urea as a producer of gas. Combined characterizations of XRD, SEM, and TEM techniques show that DL-SBA-15s not only have ordered 2D hexagonal mesopores (about 10nm) similar to SBA-15, but also have another disordered large-mesopore network (about 20nm) interconnected with hexagonal mesoporous channels, which are confirmed by nitrogen isotherms. The ordered hexagonal mesopores are templated by polymer surfactant micelle, and disordered large-mesopores are formed by gaseous expansion due to the decomposition of urea added in the silica gel. 29Si MAS NMR and FT-IR spectra show DL-SBA-15s have high degree of silica condensation and low silanols on the surface, compared with SBA-15. Furthermore, we have compared the adsorption capacity of myoglobin over conventional SBA-15 and DL-SBA-15 samples, and the results show that DL-SBA-15s exhibit much higher adsorption rate than conventional SBA-15 due to the presence of additional disordered large-mesopore networks and larger pore volume, which is potentially important for immobilization of enzymes on ordered mesoporous materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We report the design and synthesis of folate–poly(ethylene glycol)–polyamidoamine (FPP)-functionalized CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs), in which the QD plays a key role in imaging, whereas the folate–poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) conjugates of the polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer serve as a system targeted to folate receptors in tumor cells. Dendrimer ligands such as folate–PEG grafted PAMAM of generation 3.5 are found to encapsulate and solubilize luminescent QDs through direct ligand-exchange reactions. Because of membrane expression of FA receptors in tumor cells, this class of ligand-exchanged QDs is able to target tumor cells. We have evaluated FPP-coated QDs and QDs without folate in HeLa cells and shown that cellular uptake of FPP-coated QDs is more significant than that non folate QDs in vivo imaging experiment. In particular, QDs coated with FPP are initially bound to tumor cell surfaces, followed by slow endosomal escape and release into the tumor cells. These insights are important for the design and development of nanoparticle agents for optical detection of tumor cells and bio-imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Mesoporous silica and carbon materials have been successfully synthesized via a novel calcination induced phase separation of organic/inorganic hybrids prepared from solvothermal polymerization of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Combined characterizations of XRD, nitrogen isotherms, and TEM techniques show that the samples have worm-like mesostructures with uniform pore size distributions and large BET surface areas. 1H NMR spectra reveal that ethanol was generated after the solvothermal treatments, indicating the polymerization of PVA and TEOS. Open mesopores of the desired silicas or carbons could be fabricated by calcining the hybrids in air and nitrogen, respectively. This route might open a new methodology to synthesize mesoporous materials. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The ORF3 protein of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) causes apoptosis in virus-infected cells and is not essential for virus replication. The ORF3 protein plays an important role in the pathogenesis of the PCV2 infection in mouse models and SPF piglets. The ORF3 protein interacts with the porcine homologue of Pirh2 (pPirh2), a p53-induced ubiquitin–protein E3 ligase, which regulates p53 ubiquitination. Here, we present our study analyzing the details of the molecular interaction between these three factors. Our experiments, in vitro and in vivo, show that ORF3 protein competes with p53 in binding to pPirh2. The amino acid residues 20 to 65 of the ORF3 protein are essential in this competitive interaction of ORF3 protein with pPirh2 over p53. The interaction of ORF3 protein with pPirh2 also leads to an alteration in the physiological cellular localization of pPirh2 and a significant reduction in the stability of pPirh2. These events contribute to the deregulation of p53 by pPirh2, leading to increased p53 levels and apoptosis of the infected cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The disturbance of balance function is one of main etiology resulting in falling down in stroke patients. A number of studies report that acupuncture may improve the motor function of stroke patients. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of acupuncture on balance function. We designed a single-blinded, controlled, randomized study. A total of 30 stroke patients were randomized into experimental and control groups. Experimental groups received acupuncture treatment accompanied by the manual twisting of needles and obtaining of qi (the subjects experienced sensations of soreness, numbness, swelling and heaviness, while the acupuncturist experienced a sensation of needle resistance), whereas the control group did not receive manual twisting of needles and without obtaining of qi. All of the subjects were first-time stroke patients; infarction location was limited to either the left or right hemisphere, and all subjects were able to walk for at least 6 meters. Acupuncture stimulation (AS) was applied to Baihui (GV 20) acupoint as well as to 4 spirit acupoints (1.5 cun anterior, posterior, left and right laterals from Baihui acupoint, respectively) for 20 min. Balance function outcome measures were: (1) the displacement area of the patient's center of gravity; (2) the time taken for a patient to stand vertically from a seated position; (3) the time taken for a patient to walk a distance of 6 meters; (4) muscle strength of both lower extremities. Results indicated that the displacement area from the center of gravity decreased in the experimental group, but not in the control group. There was greater reduction in the displacement area in the experimental group than in the control group. Following AS, the time taken to reach a standing position from a seated position, as well as the time taken to walk 6 meters was decreased equally in both the experimental and control groups. The muscle strength of the hip flexor and knee extensor were increased in the paralyzed and non-paralyzed sides of patients in the experimental group, but not in the control group. The results of the present study suggest that acupuncture stimulation may induce an immediate effect that improves balance function in stroke patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ordered hexagonal mesoporous Zr-SBA-15(x)s (where x stands for Si/Zr) with a large amount of zirconium heteroatoms (Si/Zr at 5.0–9.0) have been successfully synthesized under the assistance of urea by using tri-block copolymer as a template. The results obtained from XRD and N2 isotherm techniques indicate that these Zr-SBA-15s have more excellent hydrothermal stabilities in both boiling water and 100% steaming than SBA-15 does. UV–vis spectroscopy suggests that zirconium species are mainly amorphous zirconia in Zr-SBA-15(4) and Zr-SBA-15(5), while they are highly isolated Zr4+ ion in Zr-SBA-15(7) and Zr-SBA-15(9). After sulfation, Zr-SBA-15(7) and Zr-SBA-15(9) basically maintain their ordered hexagonal mesostructure and isolated Zr4+ ion. Catalytic tests in esterification and transesterification show that sulfated Zr-SBA-15(7) and Zr-SBA-15(9) with isolated Zr4+ exhibit much higher catalytic activities than sulfated Zr-SBA-15(4) and Zr-SBA-15(5) with amorphous zirconia, indicating that the isolated Zr4+ species are more favorable for the formation of acidic sites than amorphous zirconia. The sulfation of isolated Zr4+ species in porous silica materials with large surface area may offer a novel route for preparation of good acidic catalysts in the future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: It is known, for example, that the eigenvalues of the matrix , arising in the discretization of the wave equation, whose only nonzero entries are , and , are with corresponding eigenvectors given by . We show by considering a simple finite difference approximation to the second derivative and using the summation formulae for sines and cosines that these and other similar formulae arise in a simple and unified way. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A series of highly ordered mesoporous materials (CF-SBA-15) with heat-resistant magnetism have been successfully prepared from impregnation of cobalt salt, iron salt, and citric acid with as-synthesized SBA-15. XRD and N2 isotherms indicate that these materials have highly ordered hexagonal mesoporous symmetry and open pore systems. The measurement of magnetic property shows that these materials are ferromagnetic even if calcined at 550°C for 10h in air, indicating their good heat-resistant magnetism. These results would be very important for recycle and regeneration of adsorbents and catalysts in practical applications. Moreover, this method may be useful for other mesoporous materials with thermally stable magnetism from a combination of other mesoporous materials such as MCM-41 with magnetic nanoparticles of MnFe2O4 and NiFe2O4. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Fe-containing mesoporous materials (Fe-JLU-15) with various Si/Fe ratios (47–112) have been successfully synthesized by using semi-fluorinated surfactant of FSO-100 as a template. XRD, N2 isotherm, and TEM techniques indicate that these samples have worm-like mesostructure with uniform pore size. UV–vis and ESR spectra suggest that Fe species in Fe-JLU-15 are mainly tetrahedrally coordinated. Interestingly, compared with Fe-SBA-15, the efficiency of incorporation of Fe species into Fe-JLU-15 is relatively high. Very importantly, catalytic data in benzylation of aromatic compounds such as benzene, toluene, and ethylbenzene with benzyl chloride shows that Fe-JLU-15 samples are very active and recycle catalysts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In an attempt to investigate the molecular mechanism that leads to apoptotic death in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells in batch and fed-batch cultures, we cloned caspase-2, -8 and -9 from a CHO cDNA library. Recombinant Chinese hamster caspase-2 and -9 expressed in Escherichia coli show highest activities towards commercial peptide substrates Ac-VDVAD-pNA and Ac-LEHD-pNA, the designated commercial substrates for human caspase-2 and -9, respectively. However, Chinese hamster caspase-8 shows a broad specificity profile and it cleaves the caspase-9 substrate more efficiently than it cleaves the caspase-8 substrate. The commercially available fluoromethyl ketone type of caspase inhibitors, such as Z-LEHD-fmk, Z-IETD-fmk, Z-VDVAD-fmk and Z-DEVD-fmk, were shown to completely lack specificity in inhibiting these caspases. The reversible aldehyde form of inhibitors for human caspase-8 and -9, Ac-LEHD-CHO and Ac-IETD-CHO, are equally efficient in inhibiting Chinese hamster caspase-8. Therefore, the wildly used method of utilizing the “caspase-specific” inhibitors to track the role of individual caspases in dying cells can be inaccurate and thus misleading. As an alternative, we stably expressed dominant negative (DN) mutants of Chinese hamster caspase-2, -8 and -9 to specifically inhibit these enzymes in CHO cells. Our results showed that inhibition of either endogenous caspase-8 or caspase-9 enhanced the viability of the CHO cells in both batch and fed-batch suspension cultures, but the inhibition of caspase-2 had minimal effects. These results suggest that caspase-8 and -9 are possibly involved in the apoptotic cell death in batch and fed-batch cultures of CHO cells, whereas caspase-2 is not. These findings can be valuable in the development of strategies for genetically engineering CHO cells to counter apoptotic death in batch and fed-batch cultures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This work conducts ablation experiments and multi-scale numerical simulations of C/SiC composite materials under CW laser action. The highest surface temperature, macroscopic and microscopic ablation morphology, and approximate ablation threshold for C/SiC composites at different power densities were obtained. A multi-scale ablation calculation method for C/SiC composite materials under CW laser action was established using the level-set method. At the meso-scale, a macro-mesoscopic cross-scale surface ablation model was established, taking into account factors such as solid heat transfer, heat exchange of chemical reactions, differential temperature rise process between internal fibers and matrix, and differences in ablation behavior of two-dimensional plain weave fabrics. The experimental and microscale simulation results indicate that different ablation behaviors (oxidation and sublimation) occur in different regions, resulting in "shoot tip" fibers and residual matrix pore morphology. This work can provide theoretical and experimental basis for the design and precision machining of C/SiC materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fabrication of versatile hydrogels in a facile and effective manner represents a pivotal challenge in the field of biomaterials. Herein, a novel strategy is presented for preparing on‐demand degradable hydrogels with multilevel responsiveness. By employing selenol‐dichlorotetrazine nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) to synthesize hydrogels under mild conditions in a buffer solution, the necessity of additives or posttreatments can be obviated. The nucleophilic and redox reactions between selenol and tetrazine culminate in the formation of three degradable chemical bonds—diselenide, aryl selenide, and dearomatized selenide—in a single, expeditious step. The resultant hydrogel manifests exceptional adaptability to intricate environments in conjunction with self‐healing and on‐demand degradation properties. Furthermore, the resulting material demonstrated light‐triggered antibacterial activity. Animal studies further underscore the potential of integrating metformin into Se‐Tz hydrogels under green light irradiation, as it effectively stimulates angiogenesis and collagen deposition, thereby fostering efficient wound healing. In comparison to previously documented hydrogels, Se‐Tz hydrogels exhibit controlled degradation and drug release, outstanding antibacterial activity, mechanical robustness, and bioactivity, all without the need for costly and intricate preparation procedures. These findings underscore Se‐Tz hydrogels as a safe and effective therapeutic option for diabetic wound dressings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimally increasing the catalytic activity of Co3O4‐based materials is crucial for promoting their practical applications for acetone detection; however, this still remains challenging. Herein, a strategy is proposed in this work to increase the catalytic activity of Co3O4 toward the oxidation of acetone through the synergistic effect of boron doping and chemical reduction, which can substantially improve the sensing performance for acetone detection. The characterization results confirm that the present strategy facilitates the formation of more oxygen vacancies and increases the content of Co2+ ions serving as active sites. As expected, the optimal sensor yields a higher response. To extend the practical application to the auxiliary diagnosis of diabetes through exhaled breath, the optimal sensors distinguished between acetone concentrations in the breath of healthy individuals and in the simulated breath of patients with diabetes. Detailed gas‐sensing measurements reveal that the enhanced acetone sensing performance is attributed to the increased catalytic activity of materials for oxidation of acetone by the Mars–van Krevelen, Langmuir–Hinshelwood, and Eley–Rideal mechanisms. This study provides new insights into the fabrication of high‐performance metal oxide‐based gas sensors by improving the catalytic activity of sensing materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A mesostructured sulfated tin oxide with large surface area (172 m2/g) has been successfully prepared using a block copolymer as structure-directing agent, which is extensively characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorption, and Thermogravimetric analysis (TG) techniques. The results indicate that the mesostructured sulfated tin oxide was tetragonal crystalline, and catalytic tests show that the mesostructured sulfated tin oxide is much more active than conventional one for esterification and Friedel–Crafts acylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthesis of ( R )-2-trimethylsilyl-2-hydroxyl-propionitrile via asymmetric transcyanation of acetyltrimethylsilane with acetone cyanohydrin in an aqueous/organic biphasic system catalyzed by ( R )-hydroxynitrile lyase from Prunus japonica seed meal was successfully carried out for the first time. The optimal volume ratio of aqueous to organic phase, buffer pH value and reaction temperature were 15% (v/v), 5.0 and 30°C, respectively, under which both substrate conversion and product enantiomeric excess ( ee ) were 99%. Silicon atom in the substrate showed great effect on the reaction. Acetyltrimethylsilane was a much better substrate for ( R )-hydroxynitrile lyase from Prunus japonica than its carbon analogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Target detection is the basis for automatic target recognition system of infrared imaging guidance to complete subsequent tasks such as recognition and tracking. Existing systems have not the autonomous learning ability of target feature, and it will be powerless once the task environment exceeds the pre-planned condition. The single-stage target detection based on deep learning has the ability of autonomous learning and high computational efficiency, which is an effective way to solve the problem of infrared imaging guidance target detection in complex environment. SSD (Single Shot MultiBox Detector) is a classical single-stage detection model, however, the convolution layer with strong semantic information in SSD has low resolution, which is not conducive to small target detection. In addition, the location loss of SSD does not consider the impact of target scale change. Therefore, this paper puts forward two improvement ideas in view of SSD: (1) Starting from FPN (Feature Pyramid Network), feature channel's importance is distinguished through efficient channel attention mechanism, the contribution of each feature layer to the fusion output is described based on the learnable weight, and the feature weighted fusion of bidirectional multi-scale is realized between the feature layer which has low resolution and strong semantics and the feature layer which has high resolution and weak semantics. (2) Starting from IoU (Intersection over Union) and considering non overlapping parts and geometric relationship between the predicted box and the ground-truth box, the location loss of SSD that remains invariable to the target scale change is constructed to improve the sensitivity of the detection model to the locating error of small target. The experimental results show that, for 300 × 300 input, the presented method achieves 84.7% mAP (mean Average Precision) on VOC2007 test and for 512 × 512 input, it reaches 86.6%. On the self-built infrared aircraft data set, the proposed method achieves 81.1% mAP and can detect more small targets. Without affecting detection speed, the presented method on experimental results outperforms some comparable state-of-the-art models such as YOLOv3 (You Only Look Once), DSSD (Deconvolutional Single Shot Multibox Detector), RSSD (Rainbow Single Shot Multibox Detector) and FSSD (Fusion Single Shot Multibox Detector). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Schiff base compound 6-amino-5-(((2-hydroxynaphthalen-1-yl)methylene)amino)-2-mercaptopyrimidin-4-ol (AHM) in acetonitrile solvent is found to show "OFF–ON type" mode upon addition of Al3+ ion and successfully applied for selective recognition of Al3+ ion. In this work, the reconsideration of excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) and twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) has been explored in detail based on density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) methods. In the absence of Al3+, the lone pair electrons are transferred from –C = N to –OH forming a hydrogen-bonding configuration, and AHM shows weak fluorescence. When AHM is coordinated with metal ion, the TICT state is eliminated, and emission is significantly enhanced. Thus, in this paper, the origination of the non-emissive behavior of AHM has been explained in detail. The frontier molecular orbitals (MOs) and hole-electrons are used to analyze the charge distribution, providing strong evidence for the possibility of ESIPT and TICT processes occurring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• CPF-1 is based on (Mo 6 O 20) n isopolyoxomolybdate chains bonded together with CuO 4 tetrahedra into a 3D inorganic polymer. • CPF-1 has high stability and excellent heterogeneous catalytic activity, the synthesis of alkynes into bromotriazole with ∼99 % yield. • The possible cascade catalytic mechanisms of the click and bromination reactions catalyzed by CPF-1 were also proposed. The selective conversion of alkynes into bromotriazoles over a single-component catalyst is highly desirable but presents significant challenges. In this study, we developed a robust copper-bonded polyoxomolybdates-based framework [Cu 2 (Mo 6 O 20)]·2H 2 O (CPF-1), and it integrates the catalytic ability of Cu(I) site with the multielectron-transfer ability of polyoxometalates. As a result, CPF-1 exhibits favorable bifunctional catalytic activity for click chemistry and achieves 99% yield in the conversion of corresponding products to bromotriazoles. To our knowledge, CPF-1 represents the first heterogeneous catalyst that significantly enhances cascade reaction with excellent efficiency and sustainable recyclability. Additionally, the possible cascade catalytic mechanisms of these two reactions are also proposed. The copper-bonded polyoxomolybdates-based framework (CPF-1) exhibits highly efficient heterogeneous catalytic activities in tandem click and bromination reactions (yields of up to 99 %). Furthermore, CPF-1 can be easily recovered and reused without significant loss of activity after seven reaction cycles. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polar sea ice affects atmospheric and ocean circulation and plays an important role in global climate change. Long time series sea ice concentrations (SIC) are an important parameter for climate research. This study presents an SIC retrieval algorithm based on brightness temperature (Tb) data from the FY3C Microwave Radiation Imager (MWRI) over the polar region. With the Tb data of Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) as a reference, monthly calibration models were established based on time–space matching and linear regression. After calibration, the correlation between the Tb of F17/SSMIS and FY3C/MWRI at different channels was improved. Then, SIC products over the Arctic and Antarctic in 2016–2019 were retrieved with the NASA team (NT) method. Atmospheric effects were reduced using two weather filters and a sea ice mask. A minimum ice concentration array used in the procedure reduced the land-to-ocean spillover effect. Compared with the SIC product of National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), the average relative difference of sea ice extent of the Arctic and Antarctic was found to be acceptable, with values of −0.27 ± 1.85 and 0.53 ± 1.50, respectively. To decrease the SIC error with fixed tie points (FTPs), the SIC was retrieved by the NT method with dynamic tie points (DTPs) based on the original Tb of FY3C/MWRI. The different SIC products were evaluated with ship observation data, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sea ice cover products, and the Round Robin Data Package (RRDP). In comparison with the ship observation data, the SIC bias of FY3C with DTP is 4% and is much better than that of FY3C with FTP (9%). Evaluation results with SAR SIC data and closed ice data from RRDP show a similar trend between FY3C SIC with FTPs and FY3C SIC with DTPs. Using DTPs to present the Tb seasonal change of different types of sea ice improved the SIC accuracy, especially for the sea ice melting season. This study lays a foundation for the release of long time series operational SIC products with Chinese FY3 series satellites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the 4 typical natural plant communities at the coastal waterfront of Jiaozhou Bay. Based on field survey and sampling, laboratory analysis, application of classical statistical methods and the requirements for urban ecological preservation and data restoration in IoT engineering technology, this study investigates the diversity pattern of the 4 natural plant communities, i.e. Phragmitesaustralis , Suaeda salsa , Setariaviridis and Conyzacanadensis , analyzes the characteristics of the petroleum pollution suffered by these 4 natural plant communities and the soil at the coastal waterfront of Jiaozhou Bay. By investigating the impact on the natural regulation ability of the natural ecosystem, species and habitat, this study provides the basis for protection of the natural plant communities in the petroleum polluted area and for the design of plants arrangement in ecological restoration in the site and provides the support for application of IoT technology in urban ecosystem establishment and urban ecological restoration. Findings: (1) During investigation of 30 quadrats of the plant communities in the petroleum polluted area at coastal waterfront of Qingdao, 74 plant species have been discovered.They belong to 12 families, where Chenopodiaceae, Poaceae and Compositae are dominant families and account for 9.09%, 20.45% and 38.63% respectively; Phragmitesaustralis , Suaeda salsa , Conyza canadensis and Setariaviridis communities are all herbosa, their species composition is quite simplex and most of them are in monodominant community patch; (2) The Conyzacanadensis community has the largest Shannon-Wiener diversity index, Patrick richness index and Simpson dominance index, which are 2.115, 1.930 and 1.228 respectively; in terms Pielou evenness index, the rank is Phragmitesaustralis > Conyzacanadensis > Setariaviridis > Suaeda salsa , which are 1.056, 0.907, 0.877 and 0.661; (3) According to the result of data analysis, the petroleum polluted area at coastal waterfront of Jiaozhou Bay has average total salt content 0.626%, average PH 8.067 and average petroleum hydrocarbons content 69.306 mg/kg.According to the result of difference examination of different plant communities, the total salt, PH and petroleum hydrocarbons content in the soil at the coastal waterfront Jiaozhou Bay are the main factors that affect the distribution of plant communities in that area (P < 0.05), and the petroleum hydrocarbons content in the soil has significant impact on the distribution of the communities (P < 0.01).(4) In this study, the petroleum hydrocarbon tolerance degrees of the 4 typical tolerant plant communities are ranked as Conyzacanadensis > Suaeda salsa > Setariaviridis > Phragmitesaustralis.In the soil environment with light (Level Ⅰ) and severe (Level Ⅳ) petroleum hydrocarbon pollution, the indexes of Suaeda salsa and Conyzacanadensis are optimal among the communities; the indexes of Phragmitesaustralis and Setariaviridis are optimal in the soil environment with Level Ⅱ and Level Ⅲ petroleum hydrocarbon pollution and can grow better in that environment. • Oil pollution concentration on the influence of the natural plant community off the coast of the jiaozhou bay has been studied. • This study investigates natural plant communities along the coastal line of Jiaozhou Bay and simulate oil pollution in soil. • Results deal with oil pollution ecological landscape plant configuration mode with popularity and significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel sugar-blowing approach was developed to synthesize nitrogen-doped carbon nanodots (N-CDs) for the first time. • The tremendous fluorescence quenching of N-CDs dispersion was observed by addition of Hg(II), compared to other metal ions. • A high-performance fluorescent sensing platform based on N-CDs for Hg(II) detection was constructed. Fluorescent carbon nanodots (CDs) have been considered as promising materials for fluorescent sensing applications. However, preparation of CDs-based materials by a universal approach with high product yield is highly required. Herein, a novel sugar-blowing approach was reported to facilely synthesize nitrogen-doped CDs (N-CDs) by directly heating the mixture of glucose and dicyandiamide (DCDA) in the absence of any solvents. As a typical blowing agent to trigger sugar-blowing process, DCDA also serves as an ideal nitrogen dopant for N-CDs. For fluorescent sensing applications, a remarkable fluorescence quenching at 441 nm of N-CDs dispersion was observed after introduction of Hg(II). Consequently, as-synthesized N-CDs behaves as a highly sensitive fluorescent probe for Hg(II) detection with low detection limit of 50 nM and good selectivity. More importantly, our proposed approach is universal for synthesize fluorescent N-CDs from a wide of sugar precursors (glucose, fructose, maltose and lactose) and blowing agents (DCDA, melamine, urea, hexamethylenetetramine). The strategy demonstrated here provides insights into the rational design and synthesis of CDs-based functional materials for large-scale applications in various fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Hydrophobic functionalized nanosilicas with different alkyl chains were synthesized. • Synergy between HAHPAM and CMNP on thickening was found at high salinity. • The CMNPs markedly facilitate the cross-links among HAHPAM molecules. • The oil displacement mechanisms of the HAHPAM/CMNP hybrid were proposed. • The hydrophobic effect effectively improves the salt tolerance of HAHPAM/CMNP hybrids. The study aims to improve the rheological behaviors and oil recovery of hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) at high salinity by introducing nanosilicas. It was found that the combination of hydrophobically associating polyacrylamide (HAHPAM) and cetyl-modified nanoparticles (CMNPs) has a more substantial synergy for improving rheological behaviors of hybrid dispersions at high salinity, comparing with other HPAM/NP hybrids. The CMNPs markedly facilitate the cross-links among clumpy molecular aggregates of HAHPAM and made the hybrids more elastic. At a given HAHPAM concentration, there exists an optimal CMNP concentration at which the adsorption of nanosilicas on the polymer molecular chains is maximized. Under reservoir conditions, the HAHPAM/CMNP hybrid is more efficient than the HAHPAM/NP hybrid for enhanced oil recovery. The oil displacement mechanism of the HAHPAM/CMNP hybrid is attributed to the synergistic thickening and wettability change. The hydrophobic effect between HAHPAM and the CMNPs effectively improves the salt tolerance of the hybrids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In wireless sensor networks, the reliability of communication can be greatly improved by applying low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. Algorithms based on progressive-edge-growth (PEG) pattern and quasi-cyclic (QC) pattern are the mainstream approaches to constructing LDPC codes with good performance. However, these algorithms are not guaranteed to remove all short cycles to achieve the desired girth, and their excellent inputs are difficult to obtain. Herein, we propose an algorithm, which must be able to construct LDPC codes with the girth desired. In addition, the optimal input to the proposed algorithm is easy to find. Theoretical and experimental evidence of this study shows that the LDPC codes we construct have better decoding performance and less power consumption than the PEG-based and QC-based codes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influenced by paleoclimate, paleogeography and hydrogeology, groundwater with different total dissolved solids (TDS) levels, such as freshwater, brackish water, saline water and brine, widely occurs across southern Laizhou Bay (SLB). Due to groundwater overexploitation, several groundwater depression cones have gradually formed since the 1970s, resulting in saline water intrusion. In this study, the multivariate statistical analysis (MSA) approach was adopted to identify the hydrochemical characteristics of shallow groundwater (SG) and deep groundwater (DG) in the SLB. Moreover, we applied Gibbs diagrams, hydrochemical facies evolution diagrams (HFE-Diagram) and ion proportion relations to analyze the factors influencing the hydrochemical characteristics. The results showed that hydrochemical zonation of the various water types (ranging from Ca-HCO 3 to Na-Cl) from south to north was mainly controlled by migration and mixing of saline water with regional groundwater. Based on the MSA results and hydrochemical characteristics, SG functional areas were divided into the groundwater flow zone, intense groundwater mixing zone and groundwater-seawater interaction zone, and DG functional areas were divided into the groundwater flow zone, groundwater mixing zone and underground brine storage zone. Finally, SG and DG groundwater flow evolution models were developed. The comprehensive method proposed in this study combines the MSA approach with regional geological characteristics and provides a reference for the evaluation of complex multiaquifer systems and analysis of the groundwater evolution characteristics in other regions. Image 1 • Using MSA to identify the hydrochemistry characteristics and evolution processes of SG and DG in SLB. • SG function areas are divided into groundwater flow zone, intense groundwater mixing zone and groundwater-seawater interaction zone, and DG function areas are divided into groundwater flow zone, groundwater mixing zone and underground brine storage zone, respectively. • Groundwater flow evolution model of SG and DG is summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To control part quality, it is critical to analyze pore generation mechanisms, laying theoretical foundation for future porosity control. Current porosity analysis models use machine setting parameters, such as laser angle and part pose. However, these setting-based models are machine dependent; hence, they often do not transfer to analysis of porosity for a different machine. To address the first problem, a physics-informed, data-driven model (PIM) is used, which instead of directly using machine setting parameters to predict porosity levels of printed parts, first interprets machine settings into physical effects, such as laser energy density and laser radiation pressure. Then, these physical, machine-independent effects are used to predict porosity levels according to “pass,” “flag,” and “fail” categories instead of focusing on quantitative pore size prediction. With six learning methods’ evaluation, PIM proved to achieve good performances with prediction error of 10∼\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$\sim $\end{document}26%. Finally, pore-encouraging influence and pore-suppressing influence were analyzed for quality analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• SnO 2 /Co 3 O 4 n-p heterojunctions was prepared by an organometallic chemistry-assisted approach. • Surface oxygen-containing species could be regulated by changing (CH 3) 2 SnCl 2. • This work provides an effective approach for construction of heterojunctions. SnO 2 /Co 3 O 4 n-p heterojunctions have been prepared by organometallic chemistry-assisted approach, where holy Co 3 O 4 nanosheets and (CH 3) 2 SnCl 2 were used as precursors. It is found that the surface oxygen-containing species could be regulated by changing the ratio of Co 3 O 4 precursors and Sn-containing organic compound. Our present work is of importance because it provides a new and effective approach for construction of heterojunctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plant community is the basic landscape unit of the coastal green space. The study of the oil-contaminated coastal green space plant community has an important role in improving the landscape quality and aesthetics of the coastal green space. This article takes the oil pollution shoreline of Jiaozhou Bay as an entry point to build a plant community landscape evaluation model, analyzes and evaluates the most scenic plant community types in the coastal area of Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay in order to provide scientific basis for the plant community landscape configuration along the oil polluted coastline of Jiaozhou Bay, and provide reference for the evaluation and construction of plant community landscape in other cities. • The plant community is the basic landscape unit of the coastal green space. • Oil-contaminated coastal green space plant community has an important role in improving the landscape quality. • The configuration has significance for landscape evaluation and construction of plant communities in coastal green spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing efficient approachs to synthesize nitrogen-doped graphene materials is significantly important. Herein, it is reported that nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide (N-rGO) had been successfully prepared by pyrolysis of poly(p -phenylenediamine)-rGO (P p PD-rGO) hybrids. The combined characterizations of Infrared (IR) spectra, Raman spectra, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the structure of N-rGO. Most importantly, such N-rGO shows good sensing performances for simultaneous detection of ascorbic acid (AA), dopamine (DA), and uric acid (UA). The linear ranges of the sensors for AA, DA, and UA are 0.1 mM–4 mM, 1 μM–60 μM and 1 μM–30 μM. The detection limit for detection of AA, DA and UA are 9.6 μM, 0.1 μM and 0.2 μM, respectively. This work provides a highly effective approach for preparation of graphene-based materials for electrochemical sensing applications. • Nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide (N-rGO) had been prepared by pyrolysis of poly(p -phenylenediamine)-rGO (P p PD-rGO) hybrids. • The N-rGO shows good sensing performances for simultaneous detection of ascorbic acid, dopamine and uric acid. • This work provides a highly effective approach for preparation of graphene-based materials for electrochemical sensing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]