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Background: Antibiotics are widely used to prevent and control diseases and infection for reducing the morbidity and mortality of animals, because of the high-density stocking in modern food-source animal production. However, the overuse of antibiotics in animal farms results in antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and causes public health issues through the food chain. Therefore, the AMR analysis of the farms and their surrounding environments is great significance to public health. Methods: To investigate the distribution of AMR genes and analyze the antimicrobial drug resistance of Escherichia coli in feces and surrounding soil of animal farm in Zhanjiang, China. E. coli was isolated and identified through PCR, and the distribution of 21 common antimicrobial drug resistance genes were also detected by using PCR. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the isolated E. coli strains against 22 drugs was detected using the broth double dilution method. Results: The results showed that the different AMR genes were detected in both feces and soil, and the detection rate of each AMR gene was higher than 50%. The detection rate of most AMR genes in feces was higher than those in soil. Besides, the isolated 88 strains of E. coli were resistant to 22 kinds of antimicrobial drugs. The highest drug resistance rate (100%) was observed for amoxicillin, colistin, doxycycline and oxytetracycline, and the drug resistance rate of cephalosporins was less than 10%. The drug resistance rate of the isolated strains of E. coli from feces was higher than those from soil, however, in both of feces and soil, most of the isolated strains of E. coli from (77.55% of isolates from feces, 79.49% of isolates from soil and total 78.41%) showed multi-drug resistance (resistant to 15−22 drugs). Conclusion: Overall, the detection rate of AMR genes in feces and soil from hog farms was high, and the isolated strains of E. coli from both feces and soil showed multi-drug resistance. Also, the results showed that the AMR genes and drug resistance in the feces and soil from the hog farms are similar. These findings suggested that the AMR genes could be transmitted horizontally from the animal feces to surrounding environments of farms. Therefore, it is urgent need to strengthen the monitoring and guide the rational use of antimicrobial drugs in the hog industry of Zhanjiang, China.

Fatty liver diseases, common metabolic diseases in chickens, can lead to a decrease in egg production and sudden death of chickens. To solve problems caused by the diseases, reliable chicken models of fatty liver disease are required. To generate chicken models of fatty liver, 7-week-old ISA female chickens were fed with a control diet (17% protein, 5.3% fat, and 1,300 mg/kg choline), a low protein and high fat diet (LPHF, 13% protein, 9.1% fat, and 1,300 mg/kg choline), a high cholesterol with low choline diet (CLC, 17% protein, 7.6% fat with additional 2% cholesterol, and 800 mg/kg choline), a low protein, high fat, high cholesterol, and low choline diet (LPHFCLC, 13% protein, 12.6% fat with additional 2% cholesterol, and 800 mg/kg choline) for 4 wk. Our data showed that the CLC and LPHFCLC diets induced hyperlipidemia. Histological examination and the content of hepatic lipids indicated that the CLC and LPHFCLC diets induced hepatic steatosis. Plasma dipeptidyl peptidase 4, a biomarker of fatty liver diseases in laying hens, increased in chickens fed with the CLC or LPHFCLC diets. Hepatic ballooning and immune infiltration were observed in these livers accompanied by elevated interleukin 1 beta and lipopolysaccharide induced tumor necrosis factor mRNAs suggesting that the CLC and LPHFCLC diets also caused steatohepatitis in these livers. These diets also induced hepatic steatosis in Plymouth Rock chickens. Thus, the CLC and LPHFCLC diets can be used to generate models for fatty liver diseases in different strains of chickens. In ISA chickens fed with the CLC diet, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ, sterol regulatory element binding transcription factor 1, and fatty acid synthase mRNAs increased in the livers, suggesting that lipogenesis was enhanced by the CLC treatment. Our data show that treatment with CLC or LPHFCLC for 4 wk induces fatty liver disease in chickens. These diets can be utilized to rapidly generate chicken models for fatty liver research.

Eutrophication has become one of the greatest threats to aquatic ecosystems. The release of phosphorus (P) from sediments exerts a critical role on eutrophication level. Both manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe), sensitive to redox conditions, own strong affinity for P. Numerous works have demonstrated that Fe was a key factor to drive P cycle in sediments. However, the role of Mn on P mobilization remains largely unexplored. Herein, the mechanism of P mobilization driven by Mn were investigated in a seasonal anoxic reservoir. Diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) results, from both field investigations and laboratory incubations, showed P was synchronously distributed and significantly positive correlated (r 2  ≥ 0.40, p < 0.01) with Mn, suggested that P cycle was associated with Mn. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results showed that in the outer layers at the top 1 cm sediment pellet the contents of Mn and P occurred significantly synchronize changed, while that of Fe remains virtually unchanged when oxygen conditions changed. This demonstrated that Mn is likely to be the key factor affect P cycle. Most importantly, the relative content of Mn(III) changed the most (≈20 %) interpreted that Mn(III) is the key Mn species dominants the P mobilization. Furthermore, Dual-Beam scanning electron microscope (DB-SEM) maps clearly showed the co-enrichment of P and Mn in oxic sediments, confirmed P was mainly hosted by Mn minerals. In contrast, the random distributions and weak or negative correlations between P and Fe implied that P cycle was decouple with Fe, this resulted from that Fe was almost deposited as inert Fe fractions (>99.2 %) in reducing sediments. This study significantly expanded our knowledge on the geochemical behavior of P influenced by Mn in aquatic sediments., 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.)

The pollution of deep-sea microplastics has received increasing attention. As a special ecosystem in the deep sea, the cold seep area is of great significance for studying the distribution of microplastics in the deep sea. In this work, the distribution and characteristics of microplastics in seawater, sediments, and shellfish in the Haima cold seep area and the correlation between the characteristics of microplastics in different media and the type of media were studied. Microplastics were found in all three media. The abundance of microplastics in different samples from the Haima cold seep area ranged 1.8-3.8 items/L for the seawater, 11.47-96.8 items/kg (d.w.) for the surface sediments, and 0-5 items/individual (0-0.714 items/g) for the shellfish. The amount of microplastics ingested by shellfish varied among different species. The microplastics in these three media were mainly fibrous, dark-colored, small-sized rayon, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyethylene (PE). In the correlation analysis of microplastic characteristics among the three media, it was found that the characteristics of microplastics in different media in the same area were closely related, and each pair of variables showed a significant positive correlation (P ≤ 0.05). The distinctive geographical conditions would accelerate the interchange of microplastics among various media. Principal component analysis showed that habitat contribute to microplastic feature differences in shellfish. Differences in correlation were observed between the characteristics of shellfish microplastics in different regions and the characteristics of microplastics in surrounding seawater and sediments., 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.)

Quorum sensing signal molecule is an important biomarker released by some microorganisms, which can regulate the adhesion and aggregation of marine microorganisms on the surface of engineering facilities. Thus, it is significant to exploit a convenient method that can effectively monitor the formation and development of marine biofouling. In this work, an advanced photoelectrochemical (PEC) aptamer biosensing platform was established and firstly applied for the rapid and ultrasensitive determination of N-(3-Oxodecanoyl)-l-homoserine lactone (3-O-C10-HL) released from marine fouling microorganism Ponticoccus sp. PD-2. The visible-light-driven Bi 2 WO 6 /Bi 2 S 3 heterojunction derived from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) CAU-17 and self-screened aptamer were employed as the photoactive materials and bioidentification elements, respectively. Appropriate amount of MoS 2 quantum dots (QDs) conjugated with single-stranded DNA were introduced by hybridization to enhance the photocurrent response of the PEC biosensor. The self-screening aptamer can specifically recognize 3-O-C10-HL, accompanied by increasing the steric hindrance and forcing MoS 2 QDs to leave the electrode surface, resulting in an obvious reduction of photocurrent and achieving a dual-inhibition signal amplification effect. Under the optimized conditions, the photocurrent response of PEC aptasensor was linear with 3-O-C10-HL concentration from 1 nM to 10 μM, and the detection limit was as low as 0.26 nM. The detection strategy also showed a high reproducibility, superior specificity and good stability. This work not only provides a simple, rapid and ultrasensitive PEC aptamer biosensing strategy for monitoring quorum sensing signal molecules in marine biofouling, but also broadens the application of MOFs-based heterojunctions in PEC sensors., 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.)

The sensitive and rapid detection of dopamine (DA) is of great significance for early diagnosis of related diseases. Current detection strategies of DA are time-consuming, expensive and inaccurate, while biosynthetic nanomaterials were considered highly stable and environment friendly, which were promising on colorimetric sensing. Thus, in this study, novel zinc phosphate hydrate nanosheets (SA@ZnPNS) biosynthesized by Shewanella algae were designed for the detection of DA. SA@ZnPNS showed high peroxidase-like activity which catalyzed the oxidation reaction of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine in the presence of H 2 O 2 . Results showed that the catalytic reaction of SA@ZnPNS followed Michaelis-Menton kinetics, and catalytic process conformed to ping-pong mechanism with chief active species of hydroxyl radicals. The colorimetric detection of DA in human serum samples was performed based on SA@ZnPNS peroxidase-like activity. The linear range of DA detection was 0.1-40 μM, and the detection limit was 0.083 μM. This study provided a simple and practical method for the detection of DA and expanded the application of biosynthesized nanoparticles to biosensing fields., 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 © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

As an important epigenetic modification, 5-carboxycytosine (5caC) played an important role in gene regulation, cell differentiation and growth. 5caC existed in many cells and tissues, but it was highly similar to the structure of other cytosine derivatives and had less content in the genome. Therefore, it was urgent to develop a sensitive and highly selective trace biosensor to detect 5caC. A novel photoelectrochemical biosensor was fabricated for 5-carboxy-2'-deoxycytidine-5'-triphosphate (5cadCTP) detection, where SnS 2 @Ti 3 C 2 nanocomposite was employed as photoactive material, polyethyleneimine was used as 5cadCTP recognition and capture reagent, and Ru(NH 3 ) 6 3+ was used as photosensitizer for signal amplification. Due the good conductivity of Ti 3 C 2 MXene and the matched energy band between Ti 3 C 2 MXene and SnS 2 , SnS 2 @Ti 3 C 2 nanocomposite presented strong photoactivity, which was beneficial to the high detection sensitivity. For specific recognition of 5cadCTP, the covalent interaction of -NH 2 in 5cadCTP with -COOH on the substrate electrode was used, which was beneficial to the high detection selectivity. A broad linear relationship between photocurrent and 5cadCTP concentration was observed ranging from 1 pM to 0.2 μM. The low detection limit of 260 fM was achieved. The developed method has high detection specificity and can even distinguish 5caC with its derivatives. In addition, the applicability was evaluated by detecting the content change of 5caC in the genomic DNA of rice seedlings after cultured with environmental pollutants. This work provides a novel platform for 5cadCTP detection, and it can also be applied to detect other cytosine derivatives with suitable recognition strategies., 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 © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Advanced optoelectronic devices have attracted extensive interdisciplinary interest but lags far behind in biomolecular detection. The nascent organic photoelectrochemical transistor (OPECT) is expected to become a versatile platform to this end. Herein, using biological derivation of type-I Ag 2 S/ZnIn 2 S 4 heterojunction, a light-fueled high-efficacy OPECT system with zero-gate-biased operation is successfully developed for biomolecular detection. Exemplified by a sandwich immunocomplexing towards mouse IgG (MIgG) with Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) as the label, steering the acidolysis-release of Ag +  toward ZnIn 2 S 4 could induce the in-situ formation of type-I Ag 2 S/ZnIn 2 S 4 heterojunction, increasing the recombination of light-activated excitons and thus inhibiting the photo-responsibility of ZnIn 2 S 4 , as sensitively monitored by the amplified OPECT response. The proposed device could achieve good analytical performance in terms of high specificity and sensitivity, with a detection limit as low as 33.7 fg mL -1 . This OPECT device based on bio-induced formation of type-I heterojunction can provide a novel route to biomolecular detection, and offered a new perspective for the optoelectronic sensors to be used in futuristic physiological and pathological detection., 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 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The development of effective nanomaterials for killing anaerobic bacteria is essential for human health and economic development. Here, we propose a new bactericidal mechanism where theoretical calculations are in good agreement with experimental results. The "poison arrow-head" of MoS 2 nanosheets enables the vigorous extraction of lipids from the cell membrane. Based on density functional calculations, oxidation active species (OAS) are generated due to the strong adsorption energy between S vacancies in MoS 2 and chemical substrates (permonosulfate (PMS) and H 2 O). These OAS can be visualized as numerous moving "nano killers", constantly oxidizing the lipids around MoS 2 ; thereby, re-releasing the surface of the sharp knife. The process of physical extraction collaborated with chemical oxidation not only precisely positions the cell membrane but also allows for continuous sterilization. This work digs into the mechanism of anaerobic bacterial sterilization, which sheds significant light on biological analysis, antibacterial, cancer therapy, and anti microbiologically influenced corrosion., 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 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A growing body of evidence shows that microplastic pollution is ubiquitous in bivalve mollusks globally and is of particular concern due to its potential impact on human health. However, non-standardized sampling, processing, and analytical techniques increased the difficulty of direct comparisons among existing studies. Based on 61 peer-reviewed papers, we summarized the current knowledge of microplastics in bivalve mollusks globally and provided an in-depth analysis of factors affecting the outcome of microplastic data, with the main focus on the effects of different species and methodologies. We found no significant differences in microplastic abundance among genera from the same family but significant differences among bivalve families, indicating habitats play an important role in microplastic ingestion by bivalve mollusks. This also provided foundational knowledge for using epifaunal and infaunal bivalves to monitor microplastic pollution in water and sediment, respectively. Recommendations for microplastic monitoring protocol in bivalve mollusks were proposed according to the results of this review, covering (i) a sample size of at least 50 bivalves in the study area, (ii) the use of 10 % KOH as the digestion solution, and (iii) the pore size of a filter membrane of < 5 µm. Acknowledging the need for a standard procedure, more efforts towards protocol standardization used in long-term and large-scale microplastic monitoring programs in bivalve mollusks are needed., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Microplastics pollution in nearshore marine environment has become increasingly prominent and has received widespread attention. As a major leisure and entertainment place in coastal cities, bathing beaches not only provide an environment for microplastics to enter the ocean, but also provide a place for the retention of microplastics. In this paper, the distribution, composition and seasonal variation of microplastics in seawater and sediments of six bathing beaches along the coast of Qingdao were studied. The results showed that the average abundance of microplastics in the sediments of the Qingdao bathing beach was 91.11 ± 26.76 items/m 2 (13.77 ± 4.39 items/kg) in the winter and 147.78 ± 34.80 items/m 2 (21.98 ± 5.97 items/kg) in the summer. The microplastic abundance in the seawater in the summer (average: 567.50 ± 101.06 items/m 3 ) was significantly higher than that in the winter (average: 326.11 ± 49.03 items/m 3 , p < 0.05). The abundance of microplastics at the six bathing beaches increased from east to west, consistent with the transport direction of coastal currents. The microplastic abundance in the sediment of non-swimming zone of the bathing beach was significantly higher than that in swimming zone (p < 0.05), and the microplastic abundance in the seawater of the swimming zone was slightly higher than that of the non-swimming zone but with no significant difference (p > 0.05). To an extent, it can reflect the correlation between the abundance of microplastics and human recreational activities. The microplastics detected at the bathing beaches were mainly lines (80.5%) and fragments (7.9%) with a size range of 100 to 1000 μm. Rayon (41.8%) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET, 16.9%) were the main polymer types. The microplastic characteristics showed significant seasonal differences, more diversity in summer than in winter. These results emphasized that the distribution and movement of microplastics in bathing beaches were affected by seasons, human activities and coastal currents., 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 © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Microplastics in bivalves have caused widespread concern due to their potential health risk to humans. In this study, microplastics in the digestive systems of four locally cultured bivalve species (scallop Chlamys farreri, mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis, oyster Crassostrea gigas, and clam Ruditapes philippinarum) in Qingdao, China, were analyzed and detected in 233 out of 290 bivalve samples (80%) over four seasons. The microplastic abundance in four species of bivalves ranged between 0.5 and 3.3 items/individual or 0.3 and 20.1 items/g wet weight digestive system, with significant species-specific and region-specific differences but no season-specific differences. Microfiber was the most predominant shape of all microplastics found. Eighteen types of polymer with diameters between 7 and 5000 μm were identified by μ-FT-IR (505 of 587 suspected items identified as microplastics) with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and rayon being the most abundant ones. Bivalves collected in summer contained more larger-sized microplastics. R. philippinarum accumulated more smaller-sized microplastics and showed different microplastic features compared with the other three species of bivalves. By comparing and analyzing the microplastic polymer types between each bivalve species and the ambient environment, microplastic in clam can best reflect the variability of microplastic polymer types in sediment among different areas. Mussels can reflect the variability of microplastic polymer types in water to an extent. Therefore, clam and mussel are recommended to serve as bioindicators for microplastic pollution in the sediment and water, respectively. The occurrence of microplastics pollution in bivalves worldwide is wide, and bivalves can act as the transporter of microplastics to humans. Our results suggest that bivalves have an important role as environmental bioindicators and the pollution of microplastics in bivalves needs attention., 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 © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Microplastics, as an emerging pollutant, are widely spread in the oceans. The sampling method is the most basic and important factor affecting the reported microplastic abundance data. Three sampling methods, most commonly used for microplastic collection, including direct filtration with 0.45 μm pore size membrane, 20 μm sieve pre-concentration followed by 0.45 μm filtration and Manta trawling with a 150 μm mesh size net were studied. The results showed that there were orders of magnitude difference in abundance of microplastic across the three methods with 0.45 μm direct filtration yielding 1600.0-4000.0 items/m 3 , 20 μm sieve pre-concentration yielding 10.0-50.0 items/m 3 , and 150 μm trawl net yielding 0.13-0.24 items/m 3 . The polymer types of microplastic collected by the three methods were similar, but polymer proportions were different. PES and rayon dominated in the samples collected by direct filtration and sieve pre-concentration. PES and PP accounted for a higher proportion in the trawling samples. The abundance and polymer types of microplastics had a clear correlation between direct filtration and sieve pre-concentration (p < 0.05). More microplastic shapes were found in trawling samples. The average and median sizes of microplastics increased with increasing pore or mesh size. According to the size fraction and standard deviation of microplastic size in different samples of each method, the stability of method decreased with increasing pore or mesh size. The trawling method had a higher sampling efficiency, but its stability was weaker than the other two methods. Our results suggested that an appropriate method should be selected upon actual sampling condition and available tools during the research process to improve the credibility of the results., 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 © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The death of microalgae plays an important role in ocean energy flow and material circulation. The existing methods for the identification of dead and living microalgae cells all have defects such as the need for staining and pre-treatment. In this work, a label-free method to identify living and dead algae cells based on digital holography microscopy and machine learning was designed. At the stage of model training, ten feature vectors were extracted from the holograms, and twelve classification models of machine learning algorithm were trained. Compared with the staining method results, the accuracy of this method can reach 94.8%. At the stage of field verification, the death rate calculated by this method was also consistent with staining method. The method proposed in this paper provides a new method for the study of marine microalgae death which has the advantages of label-free, non-invasive, high accuracy and potential for in-situ application., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Microplastics are identified as a great threat to marine environments. However, knowledge of their impacts on phytoplankton, especially for the diatoms is scarce. Herein, the effects of different polyvinyl chloride (PVC) microplastic concentrations and contact times (24, 48, 72 and 96 h) on the F v /F m and cell density of Phaeodactylum tricornutum (B255), Chaetoceros gracilis (B13) and Thalassiosira sp. (B280) were investigated to evaluate the toxic effects of microplastics on marine diatoms. The effects of PVC microplastics on the morphology of the diatoms was observed by SEM. The order of sensitivity to 1 μm PVC microplastics among three marine diatoms was B13 > B280 > B255, showing that the toxic effects varied with different microalgae species. Furthermore, the presence of a siliceous cell wall played a minimal role in protecting cells from the physical attack of PVC microplastics, with no significant difference from the common cell wall. PVC microplastics caused dose-dependent adverse effects on three marine diatoms. High PVC concentrations (200 mg/L) reduced the chlorophyll content, inhibited F v /F m , and affected the photosynthesis of three marine diatoms. The PVC microplastics adsorbed and caused physical damage on the structure of algal cells. Interactions between PVC microplastics and diatoms may be the probable reason for the negative effects of PVC on diatoms., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The ingestion of microplastics by shellfish pose a potential health risk for human via seafood consumption. This study investigated and compared the contamination levels and potential human health risks of microplastics in the digestive system of commercial shellfish from North (Qingdao) and South (Xiamen) China. Microplastics were detected in 70%-100% of shellfish samples from Qingdao and 70%-90% of shellfish samples from Xiamen, with abundances ranging from 1.2 to 4.1 items/individual (or 0.8-4.4 items/g, wet weight of digestive system) in shellfish from Qingdao and 1.3-6.0 items/individual (or 2.1-4.0 items/g) in shellfish from Xiamen. The microplastic composition was dominated by rayon and tended to be fibrous in shape, and white, black, and transparent in color. Microplastics <500 μm were the dominant size range, in which the size range of 100-200 μm was the most abundant size. Features of microplastics in the water-dwelling shellfish were different from those of the sediment-dwelling shellfish, and the microplastic features in the shellfish correlated with the sampling region, shellfish length, total wet body weight, and wet weight of the digestive system. Risk assessment results revealed that the potential human health risk posed by microplastics from the digestive system of commercial shellfish was higher in Qingdao than Xiamen., 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 © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this paper, nanoparticles decorated Ce 2 (WO 4 ) 3 nanosheets (CWNSs) with negative potential and large specific surface area were synthesized and developed as highly efficient peroxidase mimics for colorimetric detection of H 2 O 2 . CWNSs can efficiently catalyze the oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) in the presence of H 2 O 2 to induce an obvious color variation. Kinetic analysis indicated that the catalytic behaviors of CWNSs obey the typical Michaelis-Menten mechanism. The peroxidase-like catalytic mechanism of CWNSs was proposed according to the active species trapping experiments, verifying that ·O 2 - radicals played primary roles in the catalytic reaction. Based on the strong and stable peroxidase-like catalytic activity of CWNSs, a simple, rapid, selective, and ultrasensitive method was successfully established for colorimetric detection of H 2 O 2 . The method has a good linear response ranging from 0.5 μM to 100 μM for H 2 O 2 concentration with a lower detection limit of 0.15 μM. Benefitting from the sensitive response and good stability, the method is applied in real sample detection and shows a favorable reproducibility and feasibility. This work not only provides a novel enzymatic mimics with remarkable catalytic activities for biomedical and environmental analysis, but also extends the application area of Ce 2 (WO 4 ) 3 materials., 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 © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this study, the interaction of emerging pollutant polyvinyl chloride microplastics (PVC MPs) and human serum albumin (HSA) was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy, UV-visible (UV-vis) absorption spectroscopy, circular dichroism (CD), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy under simulated physiological conditions. Fluorescence results showed that PVC MPs (about 5000 nm in size) can effectively quench the intrinsic fluorescence of HSA through static quenching owing to the formation of HSA-PVC complex. The binding constants (K a ) between PVC and HSA at different temperatures were calculated as 4.97 × 10 3  M -1 , 3.46 × 10 3  M -1 and 2.51 × 10 3  M -1 , respectively. The number of binding sites was 1.26. The enthalpy change (ΔH), entropy change (ΔS) and free energy change (ΔG) were calculated to be -59.27 kJ·mol -1 , 70.76 J·mol -1  K -1 and - 80.35 kJ·mol -1 , respectively, indicating that the interaction of PVC with HSA was mainly driven by electrostatic forces. Moreover, results of UV-vis, FT-IR and CD further demonstrated that the microenvironment and secondary structure of HSA were changed a lot induced by PVC, leading to a decrease in α-helix. This work not only provides an insight into the intermolecular interaction between PVC and HSA, but also elucidates the potential biological toxicity of MPs at a molecular level., 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 © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Quantitative characterization of intracellular H 2 O 2 content, which is still difficult by the conventional biochemical methods due to the lack of real-time and non-invasive technique of single cell measurement, is a useful solution for cell state assessment. Based on the surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), we construct a novel boric acid (BA) nanoprobe to perform quantitative characterization of H 2 O 2 content, in which the p-thiol benzene boric acid (4-MPBA) reporter molecule modified with gold nanorods (AuNRs) is employed for Raman signal enhancement. The achieved result demonstrates obvious advantages of the synthesized AuNRs/4-MPBA/BA nanoprobe in measurement sensitivity of H 2 O 2 content. Importantly, this AuNRs/4-MPBA/BA nanoprobe will provide a powerful tool for dynamic monitoring and quantitative characterization of intracellular H 2 O 2 content during cell apoptosis or other cell growth processes, and then achieve important reference data for studying the corresponding molecular mechanism., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest related to this article., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) is a kind of gaseous signal molecule in many physiological processes. In order to detect H 2 S, a novel "turn on" fluorescent probe 6,12-dihydroxyperylene-1,7-dione (DPD) was designed and synthesized. The probe DPD is fluorescence silence, while the addition of H 2 S induces an obvious green fluorescence with an obvious color change from dark blue to yellow-green. The probe shows excellent selectivity, fast response (2.5min) and linear curve (0-90μM) in wide effective pH range (4-10). Competition experiments are also revealed in corresponding studies and the detection limit is 3.6μM. The response mechanism is proved to be the reduction of the probe by H 2 S, which is confirmed by 1 H NMR. Furthermore, through the fluorescence turn-on signal toward H 2 S in Hela cells, probe DPD was successfully applied to monitor H 2 S in living Hela cells., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Purpose: Firewalking is a common Taoist cleansing ceremony in Taiwan, but burns associated with the practice have rarely been reported. We analyzed the patients with plantar burns from one firewalking ceremony., Materials and Methods: In one firewalking ceremony, 12 Taoist disciples suffered from contact burns to the soles of their feet while walking over burning coals. Eight of them had at least second-degree burns over areas larger than 1% of their total body surface areas (TBSAs). The age, sex, medical history, date of injury, time taken to traverse the fire pit, depth and TBSA of the burns, treatment, length of stay, and outcome were recorded and analyzed., Results: Deep, disseminated second- to third-degree burns were noted and healing took as long as three weeks in some patients. Because disseminated hypertrophic scars form after burns, the soles involved regain much of their tensile strength while walking. The patients experienced only a few difficulties in their daily lives three months after injury., Conclusion: From our experience treating patients with deep disseminated second- to third-degree plantar burns caused by firewalking, we conclude that they should be treated conservatively, with secondary healing rather than a skin graft., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.)

Background: To provide an alternative choice for covering trochanteric pressure sores, we report on a modified pedicle anterolateral thigh (ALT) myocutaneous flap based on the descending branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery., Methods: From August 2007 to January 2010, 20 consecutive patients (10 men and 10 women) underwent 21 pedicled ALT myocutaneous flaps for reconstruction of trochanteric pressure sores. The flap was designed and elevated, resembling the ALT perforator flap including part of the vastus lateralis muscle but without skeletonisation of the perforators., Results: The mean age of patients was 79.4 years (range: 46-103). The mean follow-up period was 13.9 months (range: 3-32). The flaps were 8-21 cm long and 5-11 cm wide. All flaps healed without major complications. All donor sites were closed primarily without skin grafting and showed good aesthetic results. No recurrence was observed., Conclusions: This modified design of pedicled ALT myocutaneous flap without skeletonisation of perforators is a reliable and easily harvested flap for reconstruction of trochanteric pressure sores with limited morbidity., (Crown Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Fournier's gangrene is an acute and potentially lethal necrotising fasciitis that involves the scrotum and perineum. This disease can result in the loss of skin and soft tissue. To repair the scrotal and perineal defects remains a surgical challenge., Methods: Between January 2000 and December 2008, 50 patients were admitted to our hospital with a diagnosis of Fournier's gangrene. We retrospectively reviewed 31 of the 44 surviving patients, who needed reconstructive procedures for coverage of scrotal and perineal soft-tissue defects. The choice of reconstructive procedure was based on the size, location, severity of the defects and the availability of local tissue. The patients' age, predisposing factors, defect size and location, reconstructive procedures and outcomes were reviewed., Results: The mean age of the patients was 53.6 years (range, 20-84 years). The average size of the skin defect was 86 cm(2). A total of 12 patients were treated by scrotal advancement flap coverage, nine by split-thickness skin graft, five by pudendal thigh flap, two by gracilis myocutaneous flap, one by gracilis muscle flap plus split-thickness skin graft and three by pedicle anterolateral thigh flap. The overall surgical complication rate was 16%., Conclusions: Early debridement and wound coverage in Fournier's gangrene are mandatory to allow patients to return to normal life. We set up a valuable reconstructive algorithm based on the characteristics of the defects and our 9 years of experience, which adds to the versatility of the armamentarium of the reconstructive surgeon., (Copyright © 2010 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A simple, sensitive and rapid flow-injection chemiluminescence method has been developed for the determination of ferulic acid based on the chemiluminescence reaction of ferulic acid with rhodamine 6G and ceric sulfate in sulphuric acid medium. Strong chemiluminescence signal was observed when ferulic acid was injected into the acidic ceric sulfate solution in a flow-cell. The present method allowed the determination of ferulic acid in the concentration range of 8.0 x 10(-6) to 1.0 x 10(-4) mol l(-1) and the detection limit for ferulic acid was 8.7 x 10(-9) mol l(-1). The relative standard deviation was 2.4% for 10 replicate analyses of 1.0 x 10(-5) mol l(-1) ferulic acid. The proposed method was applied to the determination of ferulic acid in Taita Beauty Essence samples with satisfactory results.