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Graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) has been demonstrated to be a potential visible-light-driven photocatalyst for eliminating organic pollutants. However, its practical application is limited by low photocatalytic efficiency originating from high recombination of photogenerated charges. In this work, the electronic structure of GCN was regulated by doping aminobenzaldehyde (ABA) into the skeleton through a solid-state Schiff base reaction. Photoelectrochemical characterizations illustrated that the obtained catalyst (CNABA) exhibited narrower band gap, lower recombination rate of photoinduced electron-hole pair and higher charge transfer ability than the pristine GCN, further indicating its excellent photocatalytic activity. Using moxifloxacin (MOX) as a model pollutant, the ABA doping content was firstly optimized and the optimal activity of the CNABA photocatalyst was 3.1 times higher than that of the GCN. Subsequently, the effects of pH value, photocatalyst dosage and MOX concentration on the photocatalytic behavior were also studied. Superior stability and photocatalytic reusability were confirmed by five repeated tests. By substituting tap water/natural lake water for deionized water and sunlight for xenon light, the CNABA also exhibited high elimination efficiency, implying its good practicability. Superoxide radical, hydroxyl radical and photogenerated hole were identified as the main active species to degrade MOX. Finally, possible degradation pathways for MOX to mineralize small molecules were proposed by determining intermediate products during photocatalysis. This work provides a solid-state method to rationally design aromatic system-modified GCN photocatalysts, and the obtained CNABA is a promising visible-light-driven photocatalyst for eliminating antibiotics.

Bimetallic oxides have unique advantages in driving both oxygen and hydrogen evolution reactions (OER/HER). Surface engineering of bimetallic oxides is a promising way to boost the catalytic activity by the regulation of electronic structure and surface property. Herein, a dual P, S-anions modification strategy is developed to optimize the catalytic performance of CoMoO

Recently, tribocatalysis driven by mechanical energy has been developed by rubbing two kinds of different materials. In this work, we firstly demonstrated that the friction of the single material also could initiate the tribocatalysis for degrading organic dyes. Under magnetic stirring, the multi-size granular polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) particles were triboelectrically charged, among which the collision between large and small particles would cause high energy electrons on large particles to transfer to small ones. These triboelectric charges on PTFE particles could react with adsorbed oxygen molecules or water to generate reactive oxygen species, and then promoted the degradation process of organic dyes together with oxidant holes. We further investigated the experimental parameters, such as stirring speed, size and quantity of stirring bar, to optimize the tribocatalytic performance. What's more, the PTFE tribocatalysis possessed high durability for multiple recycling runs with 90% degradation efficiency of Rhodamine B, as well as well universality for eliminating other pollutants. Finally, we proposed a plausible tribocatalytic mechanism of multi-size granular PTFE according to the detected reactive oxygen species and the determined intermediates. This study provides new insights into tribocatalysis, and demonstrates that the single material with different particle sizes can also be used as catalyst to drive tribocatalytic process.

Volatile organic compound (VOC) pollution has a serious impact on human and urgently needs to be controlled through the development of new methods and catalytic materials. Compared with traditional thermal catalytic oxidation, the synergistic photothermocatalysis is regarded as a green and environmentally friendly strategy for organic compound pollutant removal, which can promote spontaneous heating of the surface of catalysts to achieve thermal catalytic reaction conditions via harvesting light irradiation. In this paper, a monolithic photothermocatalyst was synthesized through coating graphene oxide (GO) and MnOx in turn on a commercially available melamine sponge, where the GO mainly acted as a photothermal conversion layer to heat the catalytically active MnOx. This monolithic catalyst presented excellent photo-induced activity for formaldehyde elimination under ambient conditions (∼ 90% degradation ratio in 20 min for ∼160 ppm initial concentration formaldehyde), and meanwhile possessed a high catalytic durability for multiple cycles. The kinetic study demonstrated that this photothermocatalytic process followed a pseudo-second-order kinetics. Finally, we proposed a possible formaldehyde degradation pathway based on in situ DRIFTS examination.

While the research field and industrial market of

Nitrophenols (NPs) are widely used in industries and highly toxic to ecological environment and human health. Because aminophenols (APs) are important chemicals, catalytic reduction of NPs via efficient and environment-friendly strategies is of great importance. Herein, we developed a green photocatalysis route to efficiently convert NPs to APs using a Fe (II) modified graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) photocatalyst, where phenanthroline units were employed to bridge Fe (II) and carbon nitride framework. The optimized sample P-CN-8-Fe presented significantly improved absorption of visible light, separation of photogenerated charges and carrier transportation in comparison with the pristine g-C3N4 and the modified samples of CN-Fe and P-CN-8. Accordingly, the P-CN-8-Fe showed a high conversion (97%) of p-nitrophenol (p-NP) to p-aminophenol (p-AP) under 2 h visible light irradiation, and meanwhile possessed high photocatalytic durability. Its high activity was also demonstrated through photocatalytic reduction of other NPs and nitrobenzene compounds. Finally, a possible mechanism was proposed for the photocatalytic reduction of p-NP by P-CN-8-Fe. This work provides an effective approach to prepare Fe (II) modified g-C3N4 through the bridging effect of phenanthroline group, which is a potential visible light driven photocatalyst for reduction of nitrobenzene derivatives.

Triploid crucian carp (TCC) is a kind of artificially bred fish with huge economic value to China. It has several excellent characteristics, such as fast growth, strong disease resistance and delicious taste. However, as a regionally specific fish, the underlying molecular mechanisms of these characteristics are largely unknown. In this study, we performed quantitative proteomics on the muscle tissues of TCC and its parents, allotetraploid (♂), red crucian carp (♀) and common carp. Combined with multiple bioinformatic analysis, we found that the taste of TCC can be mainly attributed to umami amino acid-enriched proteins such as

Development of efficiently catalytic strategy for oxidative purification of organic pollutants is of great significance. Photocatalysis has become one of the most important technologies in the past half a century, but the inefficiency of photocatalysts drastically suppresses its practical application. This work proposes a synergistic photopiezocatalysis of BiOIO3 under simultaneous photo-irradiation and ultrasound-vibration treatment to degrade various organic pollutants. Different from the high recombination of photo-excited charges in photocatalysis, the ultrasound-induced stress deforms the pyroelectric BiOIO3 to form a piezoelectric potential that drives photo-/thermo-generated free electrons and holes in catalyst to diffuse along opposite directions. In comparison with the single photocatalysis and piezocatalysis, the photopiezocatalysis possesses a synergistic effect, presenting evidently enhanced catalytic performance for decomposing a variety of organic dyes and a persistent organic pollutant 2,4-DCP. No apparent decrease in activity during successive five runs demonstrates that the photopiezocatalysis of BiOIO3 has a high stability and reusability. Finally, a plausible photopiezocatalysis mechanism is proposed based on the determination of active species produced on catalyst and intermediates during pollutant degradation. Our findings provide a new insight to promote charge separation and meanwhile develop an efficient synergistic photopiezocatalysis for environment remediation.

Approved COVID-19 vaccines to date have limited effectiveness in protecting infection and blocking transmission. A nasal spray of broad-spectrum antibody against COVID-19 (SA58 Nasal Spray) has recently been developed by Sinovac Life Sciences Co., Ltd.. From October 31 to November 30, 2022, an open-label, blank controlled study on the SA58 Nasal Spray against COVID-19 infection was conducted with the medical personnel working in the designated COVID-19 hospitals and Fangcang shelter hospitals (alternate care sites) of COVID-19 cases in Hohhot city, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. A total of 6662 medical personnel were involved in this study: 3368 used SA58 Nasal Spray from the drug group, and 3294 not used from blank control group. The medication was self-administered intranasally 1∼2 times per day with an interval of 6 hours for 30 days.. The safety results indicated that the SA58 Nasal Spray was well tolerant. The incidence of adverse events (AEs) was 28.6% (497/1736), and the majority of the AEs were mild and from administrative site. 135 COVID-19 cases were identified for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR during the 30-day observation. The cumulative incidence of COVID-19 in the drug group and the control group were 0.026% and 0.116%, respectively. The effectiveness of the SA58 Nasal Spray for preventing COVID-19 infection among medical personnel was evaluated as 77.7% (95% CI: 52.2% - 89.6%). In conclusion, the SA58 Nasal Spray is well-tolerant and highly effective against COVID-19 infection.

Tribocatalysis, as a new approach in environmental purification, has drawn increasing attention in the past few years. In this work, we successfully convert mechanical energy to chemical energy by Bi

Many patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) are inoperable due to old age or advanced stage; thus, radio- and chemotherapy are considered the standard treatments for these patients. However, due to the radiation resistance of tumor cells that may arise during radiotherapy, results are still not satisfactory. The authors’ previous studies found that microRNA can affect radiosensitivity, and further microRNA research was conducted to improve the radiosensitivity of ESCC. Cells were treated with silent miR-29b (si-miR-29b). Thereafter,proliferation, colony formation, cell cycle, and apoptosis were determined. The luciferase reporting assay was used to confirm the direct interaction between miR-29b and BTG2. Serum samples and clinical follow-up data of 75 elderly or advanced ESCC patients who could not tolerate surgery were collected. The expression level of miR-29 in ESCC serum was closely correlated to radiosensitivity (χ2 =8.36, p

Zr-Mn mixed oxides with various Zr/Mn molar ratios were synthesized by redox-precipitation method and applied to benzene catalytic combustion. The results showed that the addition of Zr to MnO2 could improve the benzene combustion activity, among which Zr/MnO2-0.2 catalyst performed the best catalytic activity with T50 and T90 of 171 °C and 195 °C (1000 ppm benzene, GHSV = 60,000 ml · g−1 · h−1, 0% RH (relative humidity), 20 vol% O2/N2), respectively. A series of characterizations were used to investigate the structure–activity relationship of Zr–Mn mixed oxides, which demonstrated that the larger specific surface area, more surface reactive oxygen species, higher low-temperature reduction and acidity contributed to the enhanced catalytic activity of Zr–Mn mixed oxides. Finally, the possible pathways of benzene combustion over Zr–Mn mixed oxides were explored by in-situ DRIFTS spectra and the possible intermediates generated under different conditions were also revealed.

We have analyzed crystallization process of the MgxNi10 (x = 20.5 – 26.5) alloys using phase diagram of Mg-Ni system. Their structure, atomic arrangement and crystal defects were tested by XRD, SEM and HRTEM, respectively. Hydrogenation and dehydrogenation behaviors were measured by pressure-composition-isotherm measurement. The results show that the crystallization processes of the MgxNi10 (x = 20.5 and 22.5) alloys are unlike those of the MgxNi10 (x = 24.5 and 26.5) alloys, but their room temperature microstructure all contain Mg2Ni and eutectic structure of Mg2Ni + α-Mg. The alloys are composed of Mg2Ni phase and α-Mg phase. The addition of Mg is beneficial to the formation of eutectic structure. The alloys have all good activation property. At a lower temperature, such as 200 and 250 °C, the hydrogen absorption rate and hydrogen saturation ratio are significantly lower than those of the alloy at the higher temperatures, such as 300 and 350 °C. At 350 °C, the hydrogen absorption capacity of the alloy increase and the hydrogen release efficiency of the alloy decreases with the increase of Mg content. The time of 90% of the amount of saturated hydrogen absorption and desorption of the alloys is not more than 10 and 2 minutes, respectively. The hydrogen desorption rate of the Mg22.5Ni10 alloy in the four investigated alloys is relatively large and up to 7.170 wt.%.min-1.

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a pivotal process for renewable energy storage devices. Improving the intrinsically catalytic activity of earth-abundant metals based electrocatalysts for HER is still a huge challenge. Herein, we put forward a dual phosphorus/sulfur (P/S) doped nickel-cobalt bimetallic material that was grown on nickel foam (Sn-NiCoPx-NF, n = 1–4, NF stands for nickel foam) through a facile one-step phosphorization/sulfuration reaction. Those catalysts represent a novel kind of electrocatalysts with vastly optimized catalytic activity for HER. The S2-NiCoPx/NF with optimal P/S ratio achieves unexpectedly highly efficient catalytic activity for HER in alkaline medium. The overpotential at the current density of 50 mA cm−2 is only 144 mV, which is almost 190 mV less than that of pristine nickel-cobalt bimetallic phosphide catalyst (NiCoPx-NF). In addition, the S2-NiCoPx/NF also has fast reaction kinetics with the smallest Tafel slope of 66 mV/dec and exhibits high stability for HER. This work experimentally demonstrates the advantages of a dual anion modification strategy on improving catalytic activity. Our method offers a new approach to design highly efficient and low-cost electrocatalysts for energy storage and conversion devices.

Objective: To reveal the possible effects of decursin on viability, oxidative stress, and inflammatory response in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated human bronchial epithelial cells-2B (BEAS-2B) and human pulmonary artery endothelial cells (HPAEC) cells, and revealed the potential mechanisms. Methods: LPS was used to induce acute lung injury (ALI) in normal human lung epithelial cells, including BEAS-2B and HPAEC cells. Cell viability and apoptosis in response to LPS and decursin in BEAS-2B and HPAEC cells were, respectively, evaluated by MTT colorimetric and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assays. The oxidative stress and inflammatory response in LPS-treated BEAS-2B and HPAEC cells were detected by enzyme-linked-immunosorbent serologic assay. In addition, the role of decursin in nuclear -factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activation was analyzed by immunoblot and immunofluorescence assays. Results: Our data revealed that decursin could alleviate the viability of LPS-induced BEAS-2B and HPAEC cells. Decursin could also reduce LPS-induced oxidative stress in BEAS-2B and HPAEC cells. In addition, it could reduce LPS-induced inflammation in BEAS-2B and HPAEC cells. Mechanically, decursin suppressed the activation of NF-κB pathway. Conclusion: Decursin suppressed NF-κB pathway, and therefore alleviated ALI.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a vast burden on public health and socioeconomics in West Africa, but the epidemic situation is unclear. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective analysis of the positive rate, death rate, and diversity of SARS-CoV-2. As of March 31, 2022, a total of 894,813 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded, with 12,028 deaths, both of which were distributed in all 16 countries. There were four waves of COVID-19 during this period. Most cases were recorded in the second wave, accounting for 34.50% of total cases. These data suggest that although West Africa seems to have experienced a low and relatively slow spread of COVID-19, the epidemic was ongoing, evolving with each COVID-19 global pandemic wave. Most cases and most deaths were both recorded in Nigeria. In contrast, the fewest cases and fewest deaths were reported, respectively, in Liberia and Sierra Leone. However, high death rates were found in countries with low incidence rates. These data suggest that the pandemic in West Africa has so far been heterogeneous, which is closely related to the infrastructure of public health and socioeconomic development (e.g., extreme poverty, GDP per capita, and human development index). At least eight SARS-CoV-2 variants were found, namely, Delta, Omicron, Eta, Alpha, Beta, Kappa, Iota, and Gamma, which showed high diversity, implicating that multiple-lineages from different origins were introduced. Moreover, the Eta variant was initially identified in Nigeria and distributed widely. These data reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic in the continent was co-driven by both multiple introduced lineages and a single native lineage. We suggest enhancing the quarantine measures upon entry at the borders and implementing a genome surveillance strategy to better understand the transmission dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic in West Africa.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused unimaginable damage to public health and socio-economic structures worldwide; thus, an epidemiological depiction of the global evolving trends of this disease is necessary. As of March 31, 2022, the number of cases increased gradually over the four waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating the need for continuous countermeasures. The highest total cases per million and total deaths per million were observed in Europe (240,656.542) and South America (2,912.229), despite these developed countries having higher vaccination rates than other continents, such as Africa. In contrast, the lowest of the above two indices were found in undeveloped African countries, which had the lowest number of vaccinations. These data indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic is positively related to the socio-economic development level; meanwhile, the data suggest that the vaccine currently used in these continents cannot completely prevent the spread of COVID-19. Thus, rethinking the feasibility of a single vaccine to control the disease is needed. Although the number of cases in the fourth wave increased exponentially compared to those of the first wave, ~43.1% of deaths were observed during the first wave. This was not only closely linked to multiple factors, including the inadequate preparation for the initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the gradual reduction in the severity of additional variants, and the protection conferred by prior infection and/or vaccination, but this also indicated the change in the main driving dynamic in the fourth wave. Moreover, at least 12 variants were observed globally, showing a clear spatiotemporal profile, which provides the best explanation for the presence of the four waves of the pandemic. Furthermore, there was a clear shift in the trend from multiple variants driving the spread of disease in the early stage of the pandemic to a single Omicron lineage predominating in the fourth wave. These data suggest that the Omicron variant has an advantage in transmissibility over other contemporary co-circulating variants, demonstrating that monitoring new variants is key to reducing further spread. We recommend that public health measures, along with vaccination and testing, are continually implemented to stop the COVID-19 pandemic.

The studies of prions and prion disease usually need many special platforms and techniques that differ from those for classical microbes. Search of new biomarkers and establishment of new methods for the diagnosis of human prion diseases are priorities in the field of prion study.

This report briefly described the establishment and implementation of national surveillance for human prion disease (PrD) in China. Reported cases came from Chinese surveillance network for PrD. Immunohistochemistry, Western blot, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), and real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) tests were used for the samples of brain, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and blood. Diagnosis standard for the PrDs is based on the National Commission of Health (WS/T 562-2017). The study summarized major epidemiological, clinical and laboratory features of more than 2,100 diagnosed different types of Chinese PrD cases. Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (sCJD) is the predominant type of PrD (88.7%). 19 different genotypes of genetic PrDs (gPrDs) were identified, accounting for about 11.3% of all PrDs, revealing ethno-relationships. No iatrogenic CJD (iCJD) and variant CJD (vCJD) was identified. The characteristics of different types of sCJD in China showed similar features as those reported globally, but gPrDs showed an obvious ethno-relationship.

Unlike infectious diseases caused by conventional microbes, there are no detectable specific humoral or cellular immunoresponses to prion infection. However, extensive and active gliosis is observable in affected brain regions along with significant deposits of scrapie-like prion protein (PrP

Mechanical energy derived from friction is a kind of clean energy which is ubiquitous in nature. In this research, two-dimensional graphite carbon nitride (g-C

An outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) of Omicron BA.2 emerged in Jilin City since March 3, 2022, which involved in 27,036 cases by April 12. The vaccination program with inactivated COVID-19 vaccines has been implemented since the beginning of 2021.The incidences of moderate, severe, and critical cases in the whole population of the group of 0+1 dose were 1.82-, 9.49-, and 3.85-fold higher than those in the group of 2 doses, and 5.03-, 44.47-, and ∞-fold higher than those received 3 doses vaccination. For the population ≥60 years, the incidences of moderate, severe, and critical cases in the group of 0+1 dose were 29.92, 9.62, and 4.27 per 100,000, showing 4.13-, 43.72-, and 4.85-fold higher than 2 doses, as well as 13.28-, 22.37-, and ∞-fold higher than 3 doses.The incidences of each type of COVID-19 in the population who were fully vaccinated or booster vaccinated in Jilin City were significantly lower than those who were unvaccinated and/or partially vaccinated. Booster vaccination with homologous inactivated vaccines induces stronger protectiveness for COVID-19 caused by variant of concern (VOC) Omicron.

Mechanical energy harvesting by piezoelectric materials to drive catalysis reactions has recently received extensive attention for fuel production and environmental remediation. It has been well known that some two-dimensional (2D) ultrathin structures which are not piezoelectric in bulk become intrinsically piezoelectric because of the loss of centrosymmetry. In this work, we synthesized a nanosheet-like 2D g-C3N4 catalyst with a thickness of 3–5 nm that showed a significant piezoelectric response. The ultrasound-vibration-induced interior piezoelectric field drove electrons and holes to migrate in opposite directions towards the surface of nanosheets, leading to the formation of active species. This 2D g-C3N4 presented excellent piezocatalytic performance for the degradation of dichlorophenols, and the decomposition efficiency for 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP), 2,5-dichlorophenol (2,5-DCP) and 2,6-dichlorophenol (2,6-DCP) reached 98.5%, 85.5%, and 72.1%, respectively, after a 150 min ultrasonic treatment. Furthermore, the good stability and reusability of the 2D g-C3N4 were demonstrated, and a possible degradation pathway was proposed based on the determined intermediates. The findings in this work clearly reveal that the metal-free 2D g-C3N4 should be a promising catalyst to efficiently remove organic pollutants from the environment.

Mpox is a great public health concern worldwide currently; thus, a global primary epidemiological analysis of mpox and a phylogenetic analysis of currently circulating MPXV strains based on open-source data is necessary. A total of 83,419 confirmed cases with 72 deaths were reported from 7 May to 23 December 2022, representing an ongoing increasing trend. Mpox was largely restricted to being endemic in children in West Africa (WA) before 2022, and it mainly spread from animals to humans. Our analysis highlights that mpox has not only spread across regions within Africa but has also led to most infection events outside Africa. Currently, mpox has been dominated by human-to-human spread in 110 countries, with the majority of cases distributed in the non-endemic regions of Europe and North America. These data indicate that the geographic range, transmission route, vulnerable populations, and clinical manifestations of mpox have changed, which suggests that the niche of mpox has the potential to change. Remarkably, approximately 38,025 suspected mpox cases were recorded in West and Central Africa during 1970–2022, which implied that the epidemiology of mpox in the two regions remained cryptic, suggesting that strengthening the accuracy of molecular diagnosis on this continent is a priority. Moreover, 617 mpox genomes have been obtained from 12 different hosts; these data imply that the high host diversity may contribute to its ongoing circulation and global outbreak. Furthermore, a phylogenetic analysis of 175 MPXV genome sequences from 38 countries (regions) showed that the current global mpox outbreak was caused by multiple sub-clades in the clade IIb lineage. These data suggest that MPXV strains from the clade IIb lineage may play a predominated role in the spread of mpox worldwide, implying that the current mpox outbreak has a single infection source. However, further investigations into the origin of the new global mpox outbreak are necessary. Therefore, our analysis highlights that adjusted timely interventive measures and surveillance programs, especially using cheap and quick strategies such as wastewater monitoring the DNA of MPXV in Africa (WA), are important for uncovering this disease’s transmission source and chain, which will help curb its further spread.

Background The increasing of exchange activities among public health institutes and experts globally calls for a standardized operation to construct public health field investigation and short-term study hub (Field Study Hub). This can funcion as a platform to share experience in public health development in an accurate and comprehensive manner that would benefit global practices. This research aims to establish a supportive indicator system to guide the construction work. Methods Delphi method including two rounds of surveys were conducted among 82 senior public health experts. A structured questionnaire was designed to collect the opinions of the experts on the necessity of setting and feasibility of measurement for proposed 5 dimensions of 49 indicators and 7 additionally proposed ones. Percentage and score were used to describe the assessments, χ2 and t tests to compare differences, Kappa and Cronbach’s alpha values to assess intra-rater and inter-rater reliabilities. Significance level α was 0.05. Bonferroni adjustment was used in the comparison of experts’ judgment basis. Results The percentages of experts choosing “Very good” or “Good” for necessity and feasibility in rounds 1 and 2 were 73.1–97.6% (85.8% ± 7.5%), 64.6–93.9% (82.8% ± 6.7%), 73.8–100% (91.0% ± 6.2%) and 72.5–100% (89.2% ± 7.3%) respectively. The scores of necessity were higher than those of feasibility, and the differences in the dimensions of “Key experience”, “Capacity for logistic support” and the total were statistically significant (t11 = 2.920, t12 = 3.035, t31 = 4.448, t32 = 2.664, tt1 = 3.794, tt2 = 3.007, P TK2 = 39.020, χEK2 = 67.692, χTI2 = 45.823, χEI2 = 76.515, P Conclusions A set of 5 dimensions of 56 indicators with good necessity and feasibility were developed to technically support and well evaluate the construction of field study hub in public health institutions. This was of high significance because it tended to provide a preliminary baseline for the standardized practice in global health. Also, the present research might serve as a methodological reference for the development of other indicator sets.

Background The understanding of fatal familial insomnia (FFI), a rare neurodegenerative autosomal dominant prion disease, has improved in recent years as more cases were reported. This work aimed to propose new diagnostic criteria for FFI with optimal sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratio. Methods An international group of experts was established and 128 genetically confirmed FFI cases and 281 non-FFI prion disease controls are enrolled in the validation process. The new criteria were proposed based on the following steps with two-round expert consultation: (1) Validation of the 2018 FFI criteria. (2) Diagnostic item selection according to statistical analysis and expert consensus. (3) Validation of the new criteria. Results The 2018 criteria for possible FFI had a sensitivity of 90.6%, a specificity of 83.3%, with a positive likelihood ratio (PLR) of 5.43, and a negative likelihood ratio (NLR) of 0.11; and the probable FFI criteria had a sensitivity of 83.6%, specificity of 92.9%, with a PLR of 11.77, and a NLR of 0.18. The new criteria included more specific and/or common clinical features, two exclusion items, and summarized a precise and flexible diagnostic hierarchy. The new criteria for possible FFI had therefore reached a better sensitivity and specificity (92.2% and 96.1%, respectively), a PLR of 23.64 and a NLR of 0.08, whereas the probable FFI criteria showed a sensitivity of 90.6%, a specificity of 98.2%, with a PLR of 50.33 and a NLR of 0.095. Conclusions We propose new clinical diagnostic criteria for FFI, for a better refining of the clinical hallmarks of the disease that ultimately would help an early recognition of FFI and a better differentiation from other prion diseases.

With the rapid development of portable electronics and wearable devices, flexible solid-state supercapacitor (SC) has recently stimulated wide research interest. Herein, we one-step prepared a nitrogen-doped porous carbon cloth material by directly carbonizing a biomass wool textile without any chemical or physical activation. The obtained wool-derived nitrogen-doped porous carbon cloth (WNPCC) has a microporous structure with a high specific surface area of ~ 500 m2 g−1, as well as superior mechanical property that can be arbitrarily folded. As an electrode material without adding conductive agent and binder, greatly improved electrochemical performance is achieved by the WNPCC in comparison with the commercial carbon cloth and reported flexible SC electrodes. The area specific capacitance of the optimized WNPCC in three-electrode tests is 1012 mF cm−2 (1 mA cm−2), and meanwhile, an excellent durability at 90° bent state is proved. The PVA/H2SO4-based SC shows energy density of 76.6 µWh cm−2 at a power density of 0.60 mW cm−2 and retains 55 µWh cm−2 even at a high power density of 6.73 mW cm−2 with a wide voltage window of 1.4 V. More importantly, the specific capacitance value does not evidently decline when bending the SC device to various degrees in 2000 runs. This work provides a facile route to prepare flexible electrode material using sustainable biomass precursor, which not only is directly used as electrode for all-solid-state SCs, but also can act as the flexible conductive supporter for battery or electrocatalysis applications.

The piezo-electro-chemical effect, a phenomenon of vibration exciting chemical reaction, is hopeful for application in vibration-catalysis but rarely reported. In this work, BaTiO3/g-C3N4 composites are fabricated through a simple mixing-calcining method. The effect is evaluated through the decomposition of Rhodamine B dye under vibration, revealing that the composites exhibit the enhanced vibration-catalytic activity which is 82% compared to pure BaTiO3 which is 57%. The enhancement is attributed to the electric field in the heterojunction effectively separates the vibration-induced carriers and further accelerates carrier migration. Active species are further confirmed on basis of adding the corresponding quencher, in which holes and superoxide radicals are suggested to be the main active species responsible for the dye decomposition, while hydroxyl radicals play a relatively small role. With these advantages, high decomposition ratio, simple preparation method, this heterojunction nano-composite is potential for the decomposition of pollutants.

As an environmentally friendly strategy, photocatalytic synthesis of imines via selective oxidation of amines has inspired numerous interests. In comparison to conventional type-II heterojunction, the photogenerated electrons and holes on a Z-scheme photocatalyst has strong redox ability. Herein, we prepared a two-dimensional/two-dimensional (2D/2D) Z-scheme photocatalyst of graphitic carbon nitride nanosheet/bismuth vanadate (CNNS/BVO) with a large two-phase interface, which is favorable for the transfer and separation of photoexcited charge carriers. For selective oxidation of benzylamine to N-benzylidenebenzylamine under oxygen atmosphere and visible light irradiation, the CNNS/BVO showed much higher activity than the single CNNS and BVO. The optimized nanocomposite photocatalyst with a 50% CNNS/BVO mass ratio presented a high conversion (~96%) and selectivity (~99%) in 6 h oxidative coupling reaction of benzylamine. More importantly, this 2D/2D CNNS/BVO photocatalyst has good cycling stability, as well as universality for different benzylamine derivatives. Based on the experimental results, a Z-scheme mechanism was determined, where photoinduced electrons were accumulated on the conduction band (CB) of CNNS that is higher than that of BVO and holes were collected on the valence band (VB) of BVO that is lower than that of CNNS. Further, superoxide radicals and photogenerated holes are examined to the mainly active species for selective oxidation of benzylamine, and a possible reaction pathway was therefore proposed. This study demonstrates that the Z-scheme 2D/2D CNNS/BVO with high redox ability is an efficient photocatalyst for the imine synthesis.

Allotetraploid hybrids of Red Crucian Carp (Carassius auratus red var, abbreviated as RCC) (♀) and common Carp (Cyprinus carpio L, abbreviated as CC) (♂) is a species produced by distant hybridization. In this study, SWATH mass spectrometry (SWATH-MS) was applied for quantitative proteomics profiling of gonad tissues of allotetraploids and their parents RCC (♀) and CC (♂). A total of 2338 unique proteins were identified in our proteomic profiling by SWATH-MS. Gene enrichment and network analysis based on differentially expressed proteins revealed some metabolic enzymes involved in gonad growth and development of allotetraploids. Especially, the upregulated gene TDRD1 (ratio = 2.59, p = 0.02) in allotetraploids plays a significant role in spermatogenesis, which could speed up the sexual maturation during the process of gonad growth and development. Protein-protein interaction and pathway analysis further suggested that TDRD1 served as a hub protein in metabolic-related pathways and networks. It could regulate gonad development via regulating metabolic pathways in a synergistic way with surrounding regulatory factors including CS, GPIA, PGK1, and IDH2. In addition, TDRD1 could directly regulate spermatogenesis in conjunction with PIWIL1, PIWIL2, and VASA. Quantitative proteomics integrated with network analysis explored the molecular mechanism in that TDRD1 regulated sexual maturation, development, and growth of allotetraploids in a synergetic way with metabolic genes and pathways.

Manganese oxides (MnOx) are one kind of the most used thermo-catalysts for catalytic oxidation of gaseous organic pollutants, but this process will cause excessive energy consumption. Herein, the photothermal effect of graphene oxide (GO) was utilized to convert the inexpensive solar energy to thermal energy, which subsequently drives the thermo-catalysis of MnOx for degrading gaseous formaldehyde at ambient condition. For achieving high thermal conducting ability, an intimately hybridized 2D/2D composite of GO/MnOx was hydrothermally prepared. Comparing with the GO, the MnOx and the mechanically mixed GO/MnOx, the hydrothermally synthesized composite exhibited significantly improved performance for HCHO removal under the xenon lamp illumination, and the HCHO concentration was rapidly decreased from ∼160 ppm to ∼10 ppm in 20 min. Experimental results using different illumination conditions indicated that the photothermal conversion was mainly from near infrared radiation (NIR). The Mars-van Krevelen mechanism was employed to explain the catalytic process of HCHO removal, where the adsorbed oxygen molecule and lattice oxygen atom were simultaneously activated under irradiation. This work develops an excellent catalyst for effective removal of HCHO, and meanwhile demonstrates that combination of carbonaceous materials with high photothermal conversion capability is a promising strategy to promote the low-temperature catalytic performance of thermo-catalysts.

Nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH)2) has been regarded as a potential candidate for battery-type supercapacitor (BTSC) electrodes, but there is still a challenging task to improve its poor cycling life and low conductivity. In this work, a BTSC positive electrode material of Ni(OH)2/carbon nanosheets (CNS) was prepared during carbonization of the mixture of hydrothermal peach gum and magnesium acetate, followed by the ion-exchange between Ni2+ and Mg2+ in the resultant. The ion-exchange method avoids the high-temperature treatment, and the obtained Ni(OH)2 on CNS has nanosheet-like morphology that possesses abundant active surface, facilitating rapid electrochemical charge/discharge process. More importantly, the coupling of CNS material can improve the electric conductivity and provide developed porosities for electrolyte diffusion. A BTSC device was fabricated using the optimized Ni(OH)2/CNS-4 composite as the positive electrode and the SNACNS reported in our previous work as the negative electrode, which shows satisfactory capacitive behavior (166 C g−1) and capacitance retention of 83.9% over continuous 5000 cycles. In addition, high energy density of 36.9 Wh kg−1 and power density of 400 W kg−1 have been implemented, which is superior to some BTSCs reported previously. Such an attractive performance indicates that Ni(OH)2/CNS-4 composite can be a potential candidate for electrochemical BTSCs.