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Microplastics (MPs) are emerging contaminants with significant ecological and human health implications. This study examines the abundance, characteristics, and distribution of MPs in the Yangtze River estuary, focusing on seasonal variations, tidal cycles, and anthropogenic influences. Surface samples were collected using the Manta trawl method to ensure consistency with previous marine MP research. The study found an average MP concentration of 1.01 (± 0.65) n m -3 , predominantly comprising low-density polymers such as polystyrene (38 %), polypropylene (33 %), and polyethylene (29 %). MPs were mainly fragments (34.9 %) and foam (30.7 %), with a prevalence of white particles. Seasonal analysis indicated significantly higher MP concentrations during flood seasons (1.32 ± 1.09 n m -3 ), nearly 1.9 times higher than during non-flood seasons (0.70 ± 0.28 n m -3 ). Tidal cycles also impacted MP distribution, with ebb tides showing increased concentrations (2.44 ± 1.30 n m -3 ) compared to flood tides (1.48 ± 2.07 n m -3 ). Furthermore, MP abundance showed a decreasing trend with increasing distance from urban centers, with significant correlations (0.52 < R 2 < 0.65, P < 0.001). These findings underscore the necessity for seasonally adjusted monitoring and robust management strategies to combat MP pollution. The study advocates for the integration of diverse sampling methods and the consideration of environmental factors in future MP assessments, laying the groundwork for understanding the MP transport mechanism in the Yangtze River estuary and similar estuarine systems worldwide., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Immunotherapy has revolutionized the landscape of cancer treatment. However, single immunotherapy only works well in a small subset of patients. Combined immunotherapy with antitumor synergism holds considerable potential to boost the therapeutic outcome. Nevertheless, the synergistic, additive or antagonistic antitumor effects of combined immunotherapies have been rarely explored. Herein, we established a novel combined cancer treatment modality by synergizing p21-activated kinase 4 (PAK4) silencing with immunogenic phototherapy in engineered extracellular vesicles (EVs) that were fabricated by coating M1 macrophage-derived EVs on the surface of the nano-complex cores assembled with siRNA against PAK4 and a photoactivatable polyethyleneimine. The engineered EVs induced potent PAK4 silencing and robust immunogenic phototherapy, thus contributing to effective antitumor effects in vitro and in vivo . Moreover, the antitumor synergism of the combined treatment was quantitatively determined by the CompuSyn method. The combination index (CI) and isobologram results confirmed that there was an antitumor synergism for the combined treatment. Furthermore, the dose reduction index (DRI) showed favorable dose reduction, revealing lower toxicity and higher biocompatibility of the engineered EVs. Collectively, the study presents a synergistically potentiated cancer treatment modality by combining PAK4 silencing with immunogenic phototherapy in engineered EVs, which is promising for boosting the therapeutic outcome of cancer immunotherapy., (© 2023 Chinese Pharmaceutical Association and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.)

Woodchip bioreactor (WBR) is one of the green infrastructures in the agriculture system to reduce nitrate from agricultural drainage and stormwater. A lot of abiotic factors have been reported that affect nitrate removal lacking a comprehensive understanding. In this study, we studied eight important abiotic factors, including media age, hydraulic retention time (HRT), influent nitrate concentration (C in ), temperature, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, and effective porosity (ρ e ) of WBR-filling materials. Based on a database that included 10,179 sets of data from 63 peer-reviewed articles, the nitrate removal rate (NRR) and nitrate removal efficiency (NRE) corresponding to the eight abiotic factors by different categories were comprehensively reported. According to this database, this study found the optimal range of abiotic factors for NRR and NRE in WBR were different. Regarding NRR, the optimal range of media age, HRT, C in , temperature, effluent DOC, DO, pH, and ρ e were in the first year, 0-5 h, 10-20 mg L -1 , 20-25 °C, 0-5 mg L -1 , 0-0.5 mg L -1 , 7-8, and 0.6-0.7, respectively. For NRE, the optimal range of media age, HRT, C in , temperature, effluent DOC, DO, pH, and ρ e were in the first year, 500-3000 h, 0-10 mg L -1 , 10-15 °C, >50 mg L -1 , 0-0.5 mg L -1 , 4-5, and 0.4-0.5, respectively. Moreover, the principal component analysis (PCA) indicated the field studies' principal components were different from laboratory studies. Furthermore, the structural equation modeling (SEM) also revealed the causal relationship of the eight abiotic factors on NRR and NRE is totally different. Lessons from this study can be incorporated into DNBR designs, especially improving nitrate removal rates by optimizing different abiotic factors. It also provides insights regarding the contributions of different abiotic factors for NRR and NRE independently and comprehensively., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)