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Soil organic carbon (SOC) and iron/aluminum (Fe/Al) oxides are key cementing agents in driving soil aggregate formation, yet their direct effects and interactions on aggregate under long-term rice straw cyclic utilization (LSCU) in cold regions are still unclear. We compared chemical fertilizer (CF) with LSCU strategy: rice-straw (RS), biochar (RB), and biochar-based fertilizer (BF). We showed that the increase of macroaggregate (2-0.25 mm) is associated with SOC, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), humin carbon (HUC), amorphous and organic complexed Fe/Al oxides (Fe o , Fe p , Al o , Al p ), and in each size of the aggregate, there exists an interaction between SOC (fractions) and Fe/Al oxides. Furthermore, aggregate stability was determined by Fe o , Fe p , and Al o . LSCU enhances macroaggregate and aggregate stability by increasing SOC and Fe/Al oxides in the bulk soil and aggregates, but there are differences among LSCU. In all treatments, RS had more DOC, fulvic acid carbon (FAC), humic acid carbon (HAC) and Fe p ; while RB had more SOC, HUC, free Fe/Al oxides (Fe d , Al d ), Fe o , Al p ; and BF had more Al o in bulk soil. Over the years, RS increased the DOC, FAC and HAC, whereas RB enhanced the stable SOC fractions (HUC) and promoted high reactive Fe/Al oxides formation (Fe o , Fe p , Al o ), and BF increased DOC, Fe o , Fe p and Al o . Moreover, RB increases the direct pathway of SOC and Fe/Al oxides to aggregate, promoting aggregate formation. Our study provides new perspective on the mechanisms and promising practice for improving rice straw utilization efficiently, paddy soil fertility and productivity sustainably in cold regions., 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.)

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the trends of healthy aging and investigate its determinants in the middle-aged population., Study Design: This was a longitudinal study., Methods: The sample comprised 3043 participants aged 45-59 years from the China Longitudinal Study of Health and Retirement 2011-2018. We plotted the prevalence across four waves and used ordered logistic models to investigate the determinants of cumulative times of healthy aging., Results: We enrolled 3043 middle-aged people in our study. The prevalence of healthy aging is 28.2% at baseline but subsequently decreased to 19.72% at wave 4. Active socializing consistently ranked the lowest among the five dimensions. Participants with older age (odds ratio [OR] = 0.95, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.94-0.97), low monthly income (OR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.69-0.97) or lived in urban (OR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.70-0.94) were less likely to have per time increase in healthy aging. Participants with more than primary school degree (OR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.31-2.46), high life satisfaction (OR = 2.38, 95% CI: 1.86-3.06), and good self-report health (OR = 1.97, 95% CI: 1.66-2.34) were more likely to have healthy aging., Conclusion: The number of middle-aged individuals in China who achieved healthy aging is declining and eventually less than one in five, which was far from ideal. Particular attention should be paid to older, women, urban dwellers, individuals with low income, low life satisfaction or poor self-report health. It is urgent to develop public health policies to improve the health and well-being of the middle-aged population., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study aimed to determine the efficacy and safety of hyaluronic acid gel for the prevention of intrauterine adhesions and improved fertility after intrauterine surgery., Data Sources: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of science, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched up to November 1, 2023., Study Eligibility Criteria: Randomized controlled trials that reported intrauterine adhesion and fertility outcomes among women who used hyaluronic acid after intrauterine surgery., Methods: The risk of bias was assessed using criteria of the Cochrane Handbook, and the quality of the evidence was evaluated using the Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were followed. A trial sequential analysis was conducted to assess the outcomes, and Stata 14 was used for sensitivity analyses and publication bias analyses., Results: Data from 16 randomized controlled trials involving 2359 patients were extracted and analyzed. The analysis revealed that hyaluronic acid reduced the incidence of intrauterine adhesion (risk ratio, 0.53; 95% confidence interval, 0.42-0.67; I 2 =48%) and improve pregnancy rates (risk ratio, 1.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.02-1.50; I 2 =0%). A subgroup analysis was conducted to evaluate factors that influence the effect of hyaluronic acid on the incidence of intrauterine adhesion. It was found that a small volume of hyaluronic acid reduced the incidence of intrauterine adhesions. Hyaluronic acid exhibited a protective effect among patients who underwent various intrauterine surgeries and who had different gynecologic medical histories. The protective effect was statistically significant after a follow-up of 6 to 12 weeks. The results of the trial sequential analysis indicated that the effect of hyaluronic acid on the incidence of mild intrauterine adhesions, pregnancy rates, live birth rates, and miscarriage rates after intrauterine surgery may be inconclusive and thus further evaluation is required in the form of additional clinical trials. However, the remaining effects were found to be verifiable and did not require more clinical trials for confirmation., Conclusion: Hyaluronic acid can safely and effectively reduce the incidence of intrauterine adhesions and may improve fertility outcomes., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

CRISPR/Cas12a system has attracted extensive concern in biosensing due to its high specificity and programmability. Nevertheless, existing Cas12a-based assays mainly focus on nucleic acid detection and have limitations in non-nucleic acid biomarker analysis. To broaden the application prospect of the CRISPR/Cas technology, a cascade Cas12a biosensing platform is reported by combining dual-functionalized gold nanoparticles (FGNPs)-assisted rolling circle amplification (RCA) and Cas12a trans-cleavage activity (GAR-Cas) for ultrasensitive protein and exosome analysis. FGNPs serve as a critical component in the transduction of protein or exosome recognition information into nucleic acid amplification events to produce Cas12a activators. In the GAR-Cas assay, by integrating the triple cascade amplification of FGNPs-assisted transduction, RCA, and Cas12a signal amplification, ultralow abundance of target molecules can arouse numerous concatemers to activate Cas12a trans-cleavage activity to release intense fluorescence, allowing the ultrasensitive detection of as low as 1 fg/mL (∼41 aM) cTnI and 5 exosomes per μL. Furthermore, the presented strategy can be applied to detect exosome levels from clinical samples, showing excellent performance in distinguishing cancer patients from healthy individuals. The GAR-Cas sensing platform exhibits great potential in clinical diagnosis and enlarges biosensing toolboxes based on CRISPR/Cas technology for non-nucleic acid target analysis., 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.)

Background & Aims: Sepsis, a globally prevalent and highly lethal condition, remains a critical medical challenge. This investigation aims to assess the relevance of FGF1 as a potential therapeutic target for sepsis., Methods: Sepsis was induced in C57BL/6 mice through LPS administration to establish an in vivo animal model. Various in vitro assays were conducted using human umbilical vein endothelial cells to elucidate the role of FGF1 in the disruption of the coagulation system and liver injury associated with sepsis, as well as to explore its underlying molecular mechanisms., Results: In in vivo experiments, FGF1 ameliorated coagulation system disruption in septic mice by reducing the levels of pro-inflammatory and coagulation-related factors in the bloodstream. FGF1 also enhanced liver function in septic mice, mitigating liver inflammation and cell apoptosis, fostering liver vascular regeneration, increasing liver blood perfusion, and improving mouse survival. In vitro experiments demonstrated that FGF1 could inhibit LPS-induced inflammatory responses and apoptosis in endothelial cells, fortify endothelial cell barrier function, decrease endothelial cell permeability, promote endothelial cell proliferation, and restore endothelial cell tube-forming ability. Both in vivo and in vitro experiments substantiated that FGF1 improved sepsis by inhibiting the IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathway., Conclusion: In summary, our study indicates that FGF1 mitigates excessive inflammatory responses in sepsis by suppressing the IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathway, thereby improving systemic blood circulation and ameliorating liver damage in septic organisms. Consequently, this research identifies FGF1 as a potential clinical target for the treatment of human sepsis., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest associated with this research. No financial or non-financial interests have influenced the design, conduct, or reporting of this study. The authors affirm their commitment to maintaining objectivity and transparency in presenting the findings., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Contamination of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) poses a significant threat to soil ecosystem health, yet there remains a lack of understanding regarding the responses of soil microbial communities to prolonged PFAS exposure in field conditions. This study involved a three-year field investigation to track changes in microbial communities and functions in soil subjected to the contamination of a primary PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Results showed that PFOA exposure altered soil bacterial and fungal communities in terms of diversity, composition, and structure. Notably, certain bacterial communities with a delayed reaction to PFOA contamination showed the most significant response after one year of exposure. Fungal communities were sensitive to PFOA in soil, exhibiting significant responses within just four months of exposure. After two years, the impact of PFOA on both bacterial and fungal communities was lessened, likely due to the long-term adaptation of microbial communities to PFOA. Moreover, PFOA exposure notably inhibited alkaline phosphatase activity and reduced certain phosphorus cycling-related functional genes after three years of exposure, suggesting potential disruptions in soil fertility. These new insights advance our understanding of the long-term effects of PFOA on soil microbial communities and functions at a field scale., 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.)

Photoelectrochemistry represents a promising technique for bioanalysis, though its application for the detection of Flap endonuclease 1 (FEN1) has not been tapped. Herein, this work reports the exploration of creating oxygen vacancies (Ov) in situ onto the surface of Bi 2 O 2 S nanosheets via the attachment of dopamine (DA), which underlies a new anodic PEC sensing strategy for FEN1 detection in label-free, immobilization-free and high-throughput modes. In connection to the target-mediated rolling circle amplification (RCA) reaction for modulating the release of the DA aptamer to capture DA, the detection system showed good performance toward FEN1 analysis with a linear detection range of 0.001-10 U/mL and a detection limit of 1.4 × 10 -4 U/mL (S/N = 3). This work features the bioreaction engineered surface vacancy effect of Bi 2 O 2 S nanosheets as a PEC sensing strategy, which allows a simple, easy to perform, sensitive and selective method for the detection of FEN1. This sensing strategy might have wide applications in versatile bioasssays, considering the diversity of a variety of biological reactions may produce the DA aptamer., 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 persistent and increasing levels of sulfate due to a variety of human activities over the last decades present a widely concerning environmental issue. Understanding the controlling factors of groundwater sulfate and predicting sulfate concentration is critical for governments or managers to provide information on groundwater protection. In this study, the integration of self-organizing map (SOM) approach and machine learning (ML) modeling offers the potential to determine the factors and predict sulfate concentrations in the Huaibei Plain, where groundwater is enriched with sulfate and the areas have complex hydrogeological conditions. The SOM calculation was used to illustrate groundwater hydrochemistry and analyze the correlations among the hydrochemical parameters. Three ML algorithms including random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and back propagation neural network (BPNN) were adopted to predict sulfate levels in groundwater by using 501 groundwater samples and 8 predictor variables. The prediction performance was evaluated through statistical metrics (R 2 , MSE and MAE). Mine drainage mainly facilitated increase in groundwater SO 4 2- while gypsum dissolution and pyrite oxidation were found another two potential sources. The major water chemistry type was Ca-HCO 3 . The dominant cation was Na + while the dominant anion was HCO 3 - . There was an intuitive correlation between groundwater sulfate and total dissolved solids (TDS), Cl - , and Na + . By using input variables identified by the SOM method, the evaluation results of ML algorithms showed that the R 2 , MSE and MAE of RF, SVM, BPNN were 0.43-0.70, 0.16-0.49 and 0.25-0.44. Overall, BPNN showed the best prediction performance and had higher R 2 values and lower error indices. TDS and Na + had a high contribution to the prediction accuracy. These findings are crucial for developing groundwater protection and remediation policies, enabling more sustainable management., 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.)

We used chemical extraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) to study the potassium (K) in biochar prepared from corn straw at different temperatures (300 °C, 500 °C, 700 °C and 900 °C). The characteristics of biochar were analyzed through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and specific surface area analysis. We found that the potassium in biochar can be divided into water soluble potassium, exchangeable potassium, non-exchangeable potassium, and insoluble potassium according to the availability of agricultural potassium. The fate of potassium in straw changed as follows: with increasing pyrolysis temperature, the proportion of the sum of exchangeable and non-exchangeable potassium decreased, and the proportions of insoluble and lost potassium increased. The total, water soluble and exchangeable potassium contents in biochar were highest at 700 °C. The non-exchangeable and insoluble potassium contents were highest at 300 °C and 900 °C, respectively. Kinetics experiments were conducted to determine the different fates of potassium released from biochar at different temperatures; pot experiments were also undertaken. The release of different forms of potassium in biochar at different temperatures is mainly dominated by heterogeneous diffusion. Biochar increased not only the content of different forms of potassium in soil but also the potassium content of soybean stems and leaves. We calculated the potassium supply capacity of biochar by two strategies, measurements of the potassium content in biochar and the conversion rate of potassium in straw during pyrolysis. The most active and efficient potassium supply capacities were 33.60 g·kg -1 and 9.53 g·kg -1 at 700 °C and 300 °C, respectively. Biochar provides readily available (water soluble and exchangeable) potassium and a long-term (non-exchangeable) potassium supply to soil., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in or the review of, the manuscript entitled., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Lumnitzera littorea (Jack) Voigt is one of the most endangered mangrove species in China. Previous studies have showed the impact of chilling stress on L. littorea and the repsonses at physiological and biochemical levels, but few attentions have been paid at molecular level. In this study, we conducted genome-wide investigation of transcriptional and post-transcriptional dynamics in L. littorea in response to chilling stress (8 °C day/5 °C night). In the seedlings of L. littorea, chilling sensing and signal transducing, photosystem II regeneration and peroxidase-mediated reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging were substantially enhanced to combat the adverse impact induced by chilling exposure. We further revealed that alternative polyadenylation (APA) events participated in chilling stress-responsive processes, including energy metabolism and steroid biosynthesis. Furthermore, APA-mediated miRNA regulations downregulated the expression of the genes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis and elongation, and protein phosphorylation, reflecting the important role of post-transcriptional regulation in modulating chilling tolerance in L. littorea. Our findings present a molecular view to the adaptive characteristics of L. littorea and shed light on the conservation genomic approaches of endangered mangrove species., 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 Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The identification of reactive species in peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation triggered by carbon-based single atom catalysts is the key to reveal the pollutant degradation mechanism. Herein, carbon-based single atom catalyst with low-coordinated Co-N 3 sites (Co SA -N 3 -C) was synthesized to active PMS for norfloxacin (NOR) degradation. The Co SA -N 3 -C/PMS system exhibited consistent high performance for oxidizing NOR over a wide pH range (3.0-11.0). The system also achieved complete NOR degradation in different water matrixes, high cycle stability and excellent degradation performance for other pollutants. Theoretical calculations confirmed that the catalytic activity was derived from the favorable electron density of low-coordinated Co-N 3 configuration, which was more conductive to PMS activation than other configurations. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectra, in-situ Raman analysis, solvent exchange (H 2 O to D 2 O), salt bridge and quenching experiments concluded that high-valent cobalt(IV)-oxo species (56.75%) and electron transfer (41.22%) contributed dominantly to NOR degradation. Moreover, 1 O 2 was generated in the activation process while not involved in pollutant degradation. This research demonstrates the specific contributions of nonradicals in PMS activation over Co-N 3 sites for pollutant degradation. It also offers updated perceptions for rational design of carbon-based single atom catalysts with appropriate coordination structure., 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. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Tuning the electronic structure of single atom catalysts (SACs) is an effective strategy to promote the catalytic activity in peroxymonosulfate (PMS)-based advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). Herein, a series of Fe-based SACs with S 1/2/3/4 -coordination numbers on graphene were designed to regulate the electronic structural of SACs at molecular level, and their effects on PMS activation were investigated via density function theory (DFT). The calculation results demonstrate that the electron structure of the active center can be adjusted by coordination environment, which further affects the activation of PMS. Among the studied Fe-S X -C 4-X catalysts, with the increase of the S coordination number, the electron density of the Fe-S X -C 4-X active center was optimized. The active center of the Fe-S 4 -C 0 catalyst has a largest positive charge density, exhibiting the highest number of electron transfer. It also has a lower kinetic energy barrier (0.28 eV) for PMS dissociation. Organic pollutant such as bisphenol A (BPA) can achieve stable adsorption on Fe-S X -C 4-X catalysts, which is conducive to subsequent oxidation by radicals. The dual index ∆f(r) indicates that the para-carbon atom of the hydroxyl group on the benzene ring of BPA is vulnerable to radical attack. This study highlights a theoretical support and a certain guide for designing efficient SACs to activate PMS., 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. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

As a newly superior konjac variety, the Amorphophallus bulbifer (A. bulbifer) was easily browning during the alkali-induced process. In this study, five different inhibitory methods, such as citric-acid heat pretreatment (CAT), mixed with citric acid (CA), mixed with ascorbic acid (AA), mixed with L-cysteine (CYS), and mixed with potato starch (PS, containing TiO 2 ), were separately used to inhibit the browning of alkali-induced heat-set A. bulbifer gel (ABG). The color and gelation properties were then investigated and compared. Results showed that the inhibitory methods had significant influences on the appearance, color, physicochemical properties, rheological properties, and microstructures of ABG. Among them, the CAT method not only significantly inhibited the browning of ABG (ΔE value dropped from 25.74 to 14.68) but also improved the water-holding capacity, moisture distribution, and thermal stability without damaging the textural properties of ABG. Moreover, SEM revealed that both CAT and adding PS methods could exhibit the more dense gel network structures of ABG than other methods. It was reasonable to conclude that ABG-CAT offered a superior method to prevent browning compared to the other methods based on the texture, microstructure, color, appearance, and thermal stability of the product., 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.)

The reversibility of freeze-thaw/re-emulsification of Pickering emulsion stabilized by gliadin/sodium caseinate nanoparticles (Gli/CAS NPs) was improved by adding konjac glucomannan (KGM). With the increase in the KGM concentration, the delamination of emulsions after freeze-thaw treatment was significantly improved. The microstructure showed that the presence of KGM helped to maintain the network structure of continuous phases. In particular, the particle size of the emulsion did not increase significantly after three freeze-thaw cycles when the KGM concentration was 0.6 % and the oil phase fraction was 60 %. The results of flocculation degree and coalescence degree also indicated that KGM promoted the cross-linking between particles on the surface of the droplet and increased the thickness of the interfacial film of the droplet. Rheological analysis also proved the same result: the elastic modulus of the emulsion was still larger than the viscous modulus, which showed the ideal freeze thaw reversibility. After adding KGM, the emulsion formed a strong network structure with good stability for long-term storage and reversibility for freeze-thaw cycling/re-emulsification. Thus, the emulsion has broad application prospects in food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical fields., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The outcome of cardiac arrest is worse when there is fever after spontaneous circulation is restored (ROSC). The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism of post-ROSC cardiac dysfunction after hyperthermia treatment and the effects of temperature control. Twenty-four male Bama minipigs were randomized into 3 groups (8 per group): CPR + controlled normothermia (CN), CPR + hyperthermia (HT), and CPR + therapeutic mild hypothermia (TMH). Defibrillation was given to pigs with ventricular fibrillation after 8 min of untreated fibrillation. Subsequently, these animals received the post-ROSC treatments of hyperthermia (38 °C), controlled normothermia (37 °C) or hypothermia (33 °C) according to the groups. Hemodynamic parameters, left ventricular ejection fraction, blood samples and myocardial tissues were assessed. At 24 h after the post-ROSC treatments, the pigs treated with hyperthermia showed increments in heart rate and plasma cardiac troponin I, and decreases in mean arterial pressure, cardiac index, and left ventricular ejection fraction, compared to those with the controlled normothermia pigs. However, the deterioration of the above parameters can be attenuated by TMH. The pigs in the TMH group also had a reduced percentage of apoptotic cardiomyocytes, an increased anti-apoptotic Bcl-2/Bax ratio and a decreased caspase-3 activity in myocardium, as compared with both controlled normothermia and hyperthermia pigs. In conclusion, hyperthermia is associated with a worse myocardial dysfunction. TMH improves hyperthermia-induced myocardial dysfunction by attenuating apoptosis in a porcine model of cardiac arrest., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

As a newly superior konjac variety, the Amorphophallus bulbifer (A. bulbifer) has several unique advantages of high reproductive coefficient, short growth cycle, high disease resistance, high konjac glucomannan (KGM) content and climate adaption to hot or humid conditions. However, the gel formed by KGM from the A. bulbifer flour is easily browning during the alkali-induced process and the mechanism underlying them is still unclear. In order to explore the browning mechanisms, the changes of composition and color parameters of KGM were investigated during deacetylation in this research. The L*, h*, total phenols, total flavonoids, reducing sugars, and amino acids decreased along with the increase of deacetylation degree of KGM while a*, ΔЕ, and browning index increased. The results indicated that the oxidation or polymerization of polyphenols and flavones in alkaline circumstances, and the carbonyl ammonia reaction between reducing sugars and amino acids may be the main reasons for color changes of KGM flour during deacetylation. Hence, this study was expected to provide the theoretical basis for the inhibition of KGM gel browning and further broaden the application range of KGM in food and other industries., 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.)

Understanding the fate and transport of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in soil and groundwater is essential to reliable assessments of its risks. This study investigated the impacts of Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis (BS), Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) and wild microbiota (WM) biofilm on the transport of PFOA in saturated sand columns at two ionic strengths (i.e., 1.0 and 20.0 mM NaCl). The retention of PFOA in biofilm-coated sand columns was higher than that in uncoated sand columns, due to biofilm-induced reinforced hydrophobic interactions and surface roughness, and decreased zeta potential. However, the retention effects varied among biofilm bacterial species with PFOA retardation factors in PA, WM and BS columns of 1.29-1.38, 1.21-1.29 and 1.11-1.15, respectively. Notably, PA biofilm had the most pronounced effect on PFOA retention. While increasing ionic strength promoted the retention of PFOA in BS biofilm-coated sand, it had no significant impact on PFOA transport in PA and WM biofilm-coated sand. This could be attributed to the differences in biofilm composition, deviating the ionic strengths effects on electrostatic double layer compression. The advection dispersion equation coupled with two-site kinetic retention model well described the transport of PFOA in all saturated columns. Our findings reveal that biofilm plays important roles in PFOA transport in porous media, instructive for risk assessment and remediation of PFOA contamination., 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.)

Elevated CO 2 affects the plant rhizosphere and can therefore affect the fate and toxicity of soil contaminants. However, little is known about how the effects of nanoparticles on plants and soil bacteria will change under future CO 2 levels. A free-air CO 2 enrichment system with two CO 2 levels (ambient, 390 μmol mol -1 ; elevated, 590 μmol mol -1 ) was used to investigate the responses of rice (Oryza sativa L.) and soil bacteria to titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO 2 , 0 and 200 mg kg -1 ). Results showed that nano-TiO 2 alone did not significantly affect rice growth but affected soil bacteria involved in the carbon and sulfur cycles. Elevated CO 2 alone increased rice plant biomass and up-regulated genes related to ribosomes, but its combination with nano-TiO 2 down-regulated genes related to photosynthesis and photosynthetic antennae. Elevated CO 2 also exacerbated the disturbance by nano-TiO 2 to soil bacteria involved in carbon and nitrogen cycles, and consequently inhibited the rice growth. These findings provide a reference for the comprehensive evaluation for the risk of soil pollution., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing financial interest., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This review focuses on the removal of heavy metals from water by three-dimensional gels with carbon nanomaterials as the main building units. It highlights the fundamental knowledge, most recent advances, and future prospects of carbon nanomaterial-assembled gels (CNAGs) as effective adsorbents for heavy metals in water. Various synthesis methods of CNAGs including template-assisted, self-assembly and other methods are systematically summarized and evaluated. Adsorption performances of CNAGs to typical cationic and anionic heavy metals, especially lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, and arsenic, are thoroughly examined and discussed in detail. These analyses bring out that composite CNAGs constructed from carbon nanomaterials with polymers or other engineered nanoparticles are the most promising adsorbents for heavy metal removal from water. Current challenges and future research directions that are critical to the applications of CNAGs in the removal of heavy metals from contaminated water are outlined at the end of the review., 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.)

In this study, several kinds of amino acids were successfully encapsulated in a W 1 /O/W 2 emulsion produced using a two-step emulsification process. Polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) was used as a hydrophobic emulsifier in the oil phase, while gum arabic (GA) and xanthan gum (XA) were used as an emulsifier and stabilizer in the outer water (W 2 ) phase, respectively. The stability and encapsulation efficiency of the W 1 /O/W 2 emulsions depended on the ratio of W 1 /O emulsion to W 2 phase, as well as the concentration of GA and XA within the outer W 2 phase. A W 1 /O/W 2 emulsion prepared using 2 % (w/w) GA and 0.3 % (w/w) XA in the W 2 phase exhibited good stability and a high encapsulation efficiency (>80 %) for several amino acids. As the hydrophobicity of amino acids and storage temperature increased, the leakage from the W 1 to W 2 phases increased, which can be attributed to increasing solubility in the oil phase. The encapsulation efficiency of lysine encapsulated in GA-XA-stabilized W 1 /O/W 2 double emulsion was over 84 % after 28 days storage at 4 °C. These results indicate that double emulsions may be useful for the encapsulation of amino acids, which may be useful to protect them from their environment and mask bitter flavors., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest No conflict of interest exits in the submission of this manuscript., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The Amorphophallus bulbifer (A. bulbifer) as a newly developed superior konjac variety has the advantages of short growth cycle, high reproductive coefficient, disease resistance and adaptation to humid or hot environments. Because of its good growth characteristics and high konjac glucomannan (KGM) content, A. bulbifer has great potential to be used as KGM resources in food industry. However, KGM from the A. bulbifer flour has very high viscosity even in low concentration, and the gels formed by KGM are easily browning during the alkali-induced process. These shortcomings are key factors that limit its application in the food industry. In order to solve this problem, KGM was modified by citric-acid treatment (CAT), and the effect of CAT on the physicochemical and gel properties of KGM was investigated in this study. The results indicated that the apparent viscosity and ΔE value of the KGM treated with 1.2 M CAT for 2 h were 948.66 Pa·s and 14.55, respectively, which were significantly lower than native KGM in the same variety. Moreover, the CAT did not significantly affect the texture properties of KGM gels. Hence, it will be extremely valuable for developing innovative low-calorie foods favored by consumers and industrial production based on KGM., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Heparin is a linear sulfated polysaccharide with a complex structure. It is important to figure out the sequences at the terminals of the sugar chains, as it will help us understand the heparin structure deeper and control its quality properly. The tetrasaccharide linkage region (LR) could be a tag to help us find out heparin terminals after digestion by different combinations of heparinases. In this work, orthogonal chromatographic approaches including SAX, SEC-MS and 2D-LC-MS were applied to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the heparinase released LR-terminals. The disaccharides next to LR are those ones with low or non-sulfation, UA-GlcNAc and UA-GlcNAc6S, and then they are extended with the highly sulfated disaccharides, IdoA2S-GlcNS and IdoA2S-GlcNS6S. It is suggested that the sulfo transferases did not work at the sugar residues next to LR terminal, especially the 2-O-sulfo and N-sulfo transferases, which could be affected by steric hindrance from LR, when heparin is biosynthesized. This conclusion will be theoretical fundamental to help us understand heparin's structure deeper. The methods provided in this work could be potential ways to control heparin's quality and monitor the production processes of heparin properly., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Phosphate is ubiquitous in the environment and can affect the transport of heavy metals in the subsurface systems. In this study, column experiments were conducted to systematically evaluate the effects of phosphate on the transport of Cd in natural soils (RS, BS) under different ionic strength (IS) conditions. The presence of phosphate significantly retarded the transport of Cd in the soils. The extent of retardation was closely associated with phosphate concentrations, IS and soil properties. Increasing phosphate adsorption induced more negative surface charges on soils, thereby contributing to greater retention of Cd through electrostatic attraction. In contrast, higher IS not only promoted mobility of Cd, but also reduced the retardation effect of phosphate on Cd transport in soils. Moreover, higher Fe/Al oxides contents in RS exhibited a more pronounced effect of phosphate on Cd retardation. Our results indicated that electrostatic interaction was the predominant mechanism controlling co-transport of Cd with phosphate, but no ternary surface complexes was observed in the Cd L III -edge XANES spectra. Our findings highlight the critical role of phosphate in retarding Cd transport in natural soils, which should be considered in assessing environmental risks of heavy metals in the subsurface., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

With large specific surface area, abundant adsorption sites, flexible pore structure, and good water stability, Materials of Institute Lavoisier frameworks (MILs) have attracted increasing attention as effective environmental adsorbents. This review systematically analyzes and recapitulates recent progress in the synthesis and application of MIL-based adsorbents for the removal of aqueous heavy metal ions. Commonly used solvothermal, microwave, electrochemical, ultrasonic, and mechanochemical syntheses of MILs are first summarized and compared. Instead of focusing on adsorption process parameters, adsorption performances and governing mechanisms of virgin MILs, functional MILs, MIL-based composites, and carbonized MILs to representative metal(loid) ions (chromium, arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury) in water under various conditions are then systematically reviewed and discussed. In the end, this work also outlines prospects and future directions to promote the applications of MILs in treating heavy metal contaminated water., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Selective immobilization of SeO 3 2- is highly desired for the remediation of Se-contaminated water. Thus, the irreversible sorption of SeO 3 2- ions by adsorbents through unique coordination bonds with high affinity is needed. Herein, we demonstrated that Fe-based metal-organic framework (MOF) (Fe-MIL-101) with free coordination sites (FCSs) enabled selective and irreversible capture of SeO 3 2- ions from aqueous solution with fast kinetics and a high uptake capacity of 183.7 mg∙g -1 , owing to large MOF apertures and substantial numbers of FCSs as capture sites through forming Fe-O-Se bonds. Meanwhile, Fe-MIL-101 maintained excellent performance in a broad pH range (4-11) and high selectivity for SeO 3 2- ions in the presence of excessive competitive anions (e.g., CO 3 2- , PO 4 3- ). Density functional theory (DFT) calculation, extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), and Mössbauer fittings confirmed that the capture on Fe-MIL-101 was through the Fe-O-Se coordination bonds between FCSs and SeO 3 2- . Moreover, Fe-MIL-101 could effectively remove SeO 3 2- in simulated natural water and sewage by overcoming the influence of co-existing ions and organic matters. This study highlights new opportunities for the design of MOF-based materials for removing toxic and radioactive anions with irreversibility and high selectivity from natural and waste water., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Rising CO 2 levels will change the behavior and toxicity of soil contaminants. However, it remains unclear whether elevated CO 2 levels will change the nanoparticle dissolution or their biological effects in soil. In this study, we used a free-air CO 2 enrichment system to examine the effects of elevated CO 2 on phytotoxicity and bacterial toxicity of zinc oxide nanoparticles (nZnO) in a paddy soil system. The elevated CO 2 changed the nZnO diffraction in soil, slightly increasing its dissolution but remarkably improving its bioavailability. Elevated CO 2 did not change Zn accumulation in rice, but still alleviated the adverse effects of nZnO on rice growth, although grain protein, K and P decreased. Moreover, nZnO alone significantly decreased the number of observed soil bacterial species and altered the community organization, while elevated CO 2 moderated such changes. Overall, these results increase our understanding of plant response and microbial variation in nanoparticle-contaminated soil under elevated-CO 2 conditions. It is necessary to pay attention to soil pollution while facing climate change., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Root exudates are a major source of dissolved organic matters that strongly affect the stability and transport behaviors of nanomaterials in porous media. This study investigated the effect of citric acid (CA) and oxalic acid (OA), two common low molecular weight root exudates, on the stability and transport of graphene oxide (GO) in saturated sand columns under different combinations of pH (4.5, 7.0), ionic strength (IS: 10, 50 mM), and organic acid concentrations (10, 25 mM). Both OA and CA accelerated GO aggregation, especially under high IS and acid concentration conditions. With the presence of OA/CA (≥ 10 mM), the transport of GO was higher at pH of 7.0 than 4.5, and the GO mobility decreased with increasing IS and OA/CA concentrations, whereas, enhanced GO transport was observed at a low concentration of OA/CA (0.1 mM), indicating that the influence of organic acid was concentration-dependent. All the results suggest that perturbations of surface potential of GO and sand, as well as the chemical structure of organic acids under different solution chemistry conditions are crucial in controlling GO stability and transport behaviors. Mathematical models based on the advection-dispersion equation with one-site kinetics simulated the experimental breakthrough curves of GO very well., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Albic soil is a low-yielding soil that is widely distributed in Northeast China. The high viscosity and acidity and the lack of nutrients in the Albic layer limit the growth of crop. In our previous studies, we found that applying biochar as a soil amendment could improve the properties of Albic soil and promote soybean growth. Increases in the nitrogen contents of the soil and the soybeans were key aspects of these improvements. Soybean is a nitrogen-fixing crop, the increase in nitrogen in the Albic soil may have been due to an improvement in biological nitrogen fixation by the soybean with biochar amendment, but the function mechanism was still uncertain. We hypothesized that biochar could improve biological nitrogen fixation of soybean by affecting soybean root growth in the Albic soil. Therefore, we conducted pot experiments with five treatment levels (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 g·kg -1 biochar) for two years to study how biochar affects the root growth strategy and biological nitrogen fixation of soybean based on its root structure and root nutrient acquisition ability at different stages. The soybean root structure and activity indexes, nodulation ability and nitrogen uptake were measured at different growth stages; in the second year, at the late seed-filling stage, the stable 15 N isotope method was used to elucidate the biological nitrogen fixation process. Regarding root structure at the pod-setting stage, biochar resulted in increases in root length density, specific root length, root diameter and specific tip density but a decrease in root tissue mass density at the pod-setting stage. Biochar improved root nutrient acquisition by increasing root activity, root tip number and root-bleeding sap amount. The change in root growth strategy contributed to the promotion of biological nitrogen fixation by the rhizobia that live symbiotically with soybean, thereby increasing crop yield., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in or the review of, the manuscript entitled., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Ageratina adenophora has invaded many subtropical and tropical countries and caused tremendous ecological and economic losses. This necessitates a new way to use the debris left after clearing this plant. Therefore, the allelochemicals in fresh and aerobically composted A. adenophora plants (FA and CA, respectively) were compared, and their allelopathy against maize was evaluated. The results showed that CA decreased the allelochemicals (6-hydroxy-5-isopropyl-3,8-dimethyl-4a,5,6,7,8,8a-hexahydronaphthalen-2(1H)-one and 4,7-dimethyl-1-(propan-2-ylidene)-1,4,4a,8a-tetrahydronaphthalene-2,6(1H, 7H)-dione) by over 95% compared to FA. In a seed germination test, CA aqueous solutions improved the seed germination and seedling growth, whereas FA solutions led to opposite results. Chemical fertilizers (CF) plus FA resulted in much lower plant biomass and nutrient uptake than CF in a greenhouse experiment. Compared with CF, CF+CA showed positive effects on maize, soil microbial biomass and diversity and enzyme activities in the field. However, the compositions of the predominant microbes were almost unaffected by the application of CA and CF+CA. These significant findings extended our knowledge regarding the elimination of A. adenophora toxicity against other plants and soil microbes through allelochemical degradation in the composting process. In situ aerobic composting provides a new, simple and economical method to convert A. adenophora into a plant- and soil-friendly organic fertilizer., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Heparin is a linear sulfated polysaccharide. It is composed of a repeating disaccharide unit with different sulfo patterns. The compositional analysis after heparin was decomposed to disaccharides and enzyme resistant domains is an important way to delve into its structure. Strong anion exchange (SAX) chromatography is commonly used for the compositional analysis due to its high resolution, stability and capability of quantitation. However, nonvolatile salt in mobile phase is not compatible with MS, then the structural domains cannot be identified without standards. Here, a new two-dimensional liquid chromatography system, multiple heart cut (MHC), was developed and linked to mass spectrometry (MS) directly to provide a comprehensive analysis of enzyme digested heparin. SAX was applied as the first dimensional chromatography, in which 17 peaks were observed and integrated in the digested heparin. Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) was used as the second dimensional chromatography to desalt efficiently. Structural information of each component was then obtained with MS, including eight common disaccharides, eight enzyme resistant tetrasaccharides and a heparin-core protein linkage domain. The comparison of enzyme digested heparins obtained from different vendors using this system suggested their similar major structure and activity, but slightly different production processes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest There are no conflict of interest for authors., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Current understanding of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) transport in unsaturated porous media is still limited with significant variability in solution chemistry. Column experiments were conducted to systematically evaluate the impacts of ionic strength (1.5-30 mM) and cation type (Na + and Ca 2+ ) on PFOA transport in unsaturated quartz sand. The results showed that an increase in ionic strength (1.5-30 mM) led to greater PFOA retardation in unsaturated columns. Meanwhile, Ca 2+ caused more PFOA retardation than Na + at the same unsaturated conditions. These findings were supported by bubble column experiments, which indicated greater PFOA adsorption at the air-water interface with increasing ionic strength or in the presence of Ca 2+ in comparison to Na + . Furthermore, the air-water interfacial (AWI) adsorption coefficients calculated from surface tension isotherms also increased with increasing ionic strength or in the presence of Ca 2+ in comparison to Na + . These results clearly confirm that higher ionic strength or cation valence significantly promoted PFOA adsorption at the air-water interface, and thus caused greater PFOA retardation during transport in unsaturated porous media. This work points out the importance of considering solution ionic strength and cation type in assessing the transport behavior of PFOA in unsaturated porous media., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Photocatalytic CO 2 reduction into fuels has been an attractive research topic. Herein, Ag and TiO 2 nanoparticles co-loaded zeolite TS-1 (Ag-TiO 2 /TS-1) were synthesized by the ion-exchange and subsequently in-situ photodeposition method. The obtained Ag-TiO 2 /TS-1 sample has a high surface area and rich Ti 3+ -V o defects and as well as highly dispersed Ag nanoparticles. As expected, the sample Ag-TiO 2 /TS-1 not only shows high CO 2 adsorption capacity, but also improves the separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. As a result, only CO and CH 4 can be detected on the sample Ag-TiO 2 /TS-1 in the photocatalytic CO 2 conversion, and the competing H 2 evolution can be completely suppressed, suggestive of its high selectivity. The super photocatalytic activity toward CO 2 reduction can be ascribed to the synergistic effect among highly dispersed Ag nanoparticle, the support zeolite TS-1 and TiO 2 with highly exposed {101} planes., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

HPMA copolymer-based dexamethasone prodrug (P-Dex) and PEG-based dexamethasone prodrug (PEG-Dex, ZSJ-0228) were previously found to passively target the inflamed kidney and provide potent and sustained resolution of nephritis in NZB/WF1 lupus-prone mice. While both prodrug nanomedicines effectively ameliorate lupus nephritis, they have demonstrated distinctively different safety profiles. To explore the underlining mechanisms of these differences, we conducted a head-to-head comparative PK/BD study of P-Dex and PEG-Dex on NZB/WF1 mice. Overall, the systemic organ/tissue exposures to P-Dex and Dex released from P-Dex were found to be significantly higher than those of PEG-Dex. The high prodrug concentrations were sustained in kidney for only 24 h, which cannot explain their lasting therapeutic efficacy (>1 month). P-Dex showed sustained presence in liver, spleen and adrenal gland, while the presence of PEG-Dex in these organs was transient. This difference in PK/BD profiles may explain PEG-Dex' superior safety than P-Dex., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Influenza is a major public health problem worldwide. Mutations and resistance development make the use of antiviral therapy challenging. Chinese patent medicines are often used to treat influenza in China and well tolerable. However, the misuse of Chinese patent medicines is common. We therefore aimed to develop an evidence-based guideline on treating influenza with Chinese patent medicines in adults to guide clinical practice. We formed a steering committee, a consensus panel, a consultants' group and an evidence synthesis team to guide the development of the guideline. We formulated the clinical questions through two rounds of survey, and finally selected five questions. We then systematically searched the related evidence and conducted meta-analyses, evidence summaries and GRADE decision tables to draft the recommendations, which the consensus panel then voted on using the Delphi method. Finally, we formulated six recommendations based on the evidence synthesis and experts' consensus. For treating mild influenza, we suggest either Lianhua Qingwen capsule, Jinhua Qinggan granule, Banlangen granule, Shufeng Jiedu capsule, or Jinfang Baidu pill, depending on the manifestations. For severe influenza, or mild influenza in patients at high risk of developing severe influenza, we suggest Lianhua Qingwen capsule in combination with antiviral medications and supportive therapy. The strength of all recommendations was weak. Traditional Chinese medicine has great potential to help in the fight against influenza worldwide, but more high-quality studies are still needed to strengthen the evidence., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

A mechanistic understanding of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) toxicity to plants is essential for future risk assessment of PFOA in agricultural soil. In this study, soil-grown cucumber (Cucumis sativus) was exposed to 0, 0.2, and 5 mg/kg of PFOA for 60 days. At harvest, contaminant accumulation, cucumber biomass, photosynthesis profiles and metabolites were measured. Results showed that PFOA depressed cucumber biomass and accumulated highest in leaves. Photosynthesis analysis revealed that PFOA at both doses reduced the chlorophyll contents and net photosynthesis rate of cucumber leaves. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-based non-targeted metabolomics revealed that PFOA induced metabolic reprogramming in cucumber leaves, including up-regulation of phenols (at 0.2 and 5 mg/kg) and down-regulation of amino acids (at 5 mg/kg), indicating disrupted nitrogen and carbon metabolism. Results revealed how PFOA represses plant growth by down-regulating photosynthetic pigments and disturbing the metabolism of carbohydroxides, phenols and amino acids. These findings provide valuable information for understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in plant responses to PFOA-induced stress., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Obese subjects with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and considered metabolically healthy have not been well differentiated. In this study, obese subjects were divided into metabolic healthy obesity (MHO) and NAFLD groups. Liver tissues were sampled from these two types of subjects undergoing bariatric surgery, and proteins in the liver tissues that expressed differently between the two groups of subjects were identified by Tandem Mass Tags (TMT) assay. Compared with the MHO group, 132 proteins were found to be upregulated and 84 proteins were found to be downregulated (mainly localized in mitochondria) in NAFLD group. The KEGG pathway analysis showed that significantly upregulated metabolic pathways include PPAR signaling, ECM-receptor interaction and oxidative phosphorylation was significantly downregulated. The GO analysis revealed that upregulated proteins were involved in extracellular structure organization, extracellular matrix organization and downregulated proteins took part in the oxidation-reduction process and so on. FBLN5 and DHRS2 were further validated by Western blot, immunohistochemistry and ELISA. All results demonstrate that FBLN5 expression was significantly upregulated but DHRS2 was significantly downregulated. SIGNIFICANCE: The variation between MHO and NAFLD was studied by mass spectroscopy to evaluate the mechanism with which MHO subjects resist the harmful effects induced by obesity., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest All the authors declare that there is no any conflict of interests., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Oxidized starch (oxStarch) is a major derivative of starch. In present study, 4-acetamide-TEMPO system was firstly applied to prepare specifically oxidized starch, homogeneous 1,4-linked α-D-glucuronan. The impact of oxidant amount, 4-acetamide-TEMPO amount and reaction temperature on the properties of products were investigated. The product structures were characterized with 1 H NMR for degree of oxidation (DO), SEC-MALS for MW, MS for analysis of oxidized oligosaccharides, and in-source fragmented MS for analysis of oxidized polysaccharides. The results showed that the DO of oxStarches increased, but their MWs decreased with the raise of oxidant amount; higher 4-acetamide-TEMPO amount provided higher efficiency of specific oxidation of starch, in which the product has higher DO and MW; no significant difference have been observed between the oxStarches oxidized at 4 and 25 °C, but significant degradation was observed at 50 °C. In each product, having a MW distribution, the portion with smaller size has higher DO. While some unspecific oxidation was still observed observed on the second hydroxyl groups of sugar ring in the following order of priority, position 3 > 2 > 1 > 0., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Robust, reliable, and sensitively quantitative detection of genetic biomarkers at single-base resolution has the potential to revolutionize medical diagnostics, especially for precision medicine. Here, taking the advantages of the high specificity of ligase reaction and the powerful amplification features of the isothermally exponential amplification, we have demonstrated a novel methodology to sensitively quantify genetic biomarkers at one-base resolution. The methodology is based on the ligase reaction of two stem-loop DNA probes templated by the nucleic acid targets to form a double stem-loop DNA, which subsequently initiates the isothermally exponential amplification reaction with high amplification efficiency. With the proposed method, high sensitivity to determine as low as 0.01 fM DNA or 0.1 fM RNA targets and high specificity to detect single-base changes can be achieved. The new methodology is robust to be performed by using a pair of universal primers under isothermal conditions, which should be employed to quantitatively detect any genetic biomarkers because all DNA/RNA targets can be directly used as the templates to ligate the stem-loop DNA probes with single-base resolution., 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.)

Nanoplastics as emerging pollutants have caused growing concerns and posed potential threats to the environment. Nonetheless, only few studies investigated transport behaviors of nanoplastics in natural soils. In this study, column experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of soil properties, ionic strength and cation type on the transport of polystyrene nanoplastics (PSNPs) in a desert soil (DS), a black soil (BS) and a red soil (RS). The effluent recovery of PSNPs in three soils followed the order of DS (0%-96.8%) > BS (0%-87.5%) > RS (0%). The retention of PSNPs was positively correlated with Fe/Al oxides contents (DS: Fe-2.69%, Al-12.6%; BS: Fe-4.04%, Al-15.9%; RS: Fe-6.57%, Al-26.9%), whereas negatively correlated with soil pH (DS: 9.75; BS: 6.57; RS: 4.97). Soil minerals and pH were thus identified as the crucial soil properties determining transport of PSNPs, due to their coupled effects on surface charges to affect electrostatic interactions between soils and PSNPs. In addition, increasing solution ionic strength strongly inhibited the transport of PSNPs in the DS (0%-96.8%) and BS (0%-87.5%). Ca 2+ (IS: 1-5 mM) was more pronounced in enhancing PSNP retention than Na + (IS: 1-20 mM). Our findings highlight that the transport and fate of PSNPs in natural soils are highly sensitive to soil physicochemical properties, ionic strength and cation type, and reveal that nanoplastics have strong mobility ability in soils with high pH and low Fe/Al oxides contents, which may pose potential risks to the soil and groundwater environment., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The widespread presence of entrapped dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) in the subsurface poses a continuing challenge to groundwater remediation. Cost-effective and high-resolution subsurface characterization is a critical issue for further DNAPL recovery due to the complexity of DNAPL source zone architecture (SZA). Geophysical techniques provide a noninvasive, spatially continuous and cost-effective way for monitoring the DNAPL remediation process. In particular, the spectral induced polarization (SIP) method has shown great potential in environmental problems. In this study, we performed real-time SIP measurements on DNAPL contaminated soil in columns to quantitatively assess the ability of SIP method for monitoring surfactant-enhanced DNAPL remediation process. Chemical data was simultaneously collected during the remediation process to verify the results obtained by SIP method. Taking account into the variations of subsurface environment, we conducted a series of column flushing experiments under different flow rate, surfactant concentrations and fluid salinities. The results highlight that SIP method is able to effectively monitor the DNAPL remediation process, as well as to evaluate the remediation efficiency under different conditions. The variations in the flow rate, the concentration of surfactant and the salinity of pore water not only affect remediation effectiveness, but also have an impact on the SIP signatures. This study shows that SIP performs better for monitoring DNAPL remediation at a relatively low flow rate of ~ 0.4 m/d, low surfactant concentration of 5000 mg/L and high salinity of 1.0 S/m, with an error of saturation estimation (RMSE S ) <0.1., 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 objective of this study was to assess the role of NETs in BPD of hyperoxia-induced rat model and the effect of heparin on alveolarization and vascular development in BPD. The neonatal rats exposed to 90% oxygen continuously for 7 days to mimic BPD, meanwhile, the rats were injected by different doses of histones to evaluate the impact on lung injury. The newborn rats exposed to hyperoxia were injected by different doses of heparin (250 U/kg, 500 U/kg) or anti-H4 antibody to evaluate the effect of heparin. Histones and hyperoxia impaired alveolarization with the increase of mean linear intercept (MLI) and the decrease of radial alveolar count (RAC), decreased lung angiogenesis with the decrease expression of VEGF, and increased the expression of NETs, histones and pro-inflammatory factor. However, low dose heparin (250U/kg) administration enhanced survival, improved alveolarization and vascular development in hyperoxia-induced BPD, as well as reduced expression of NETs, histones and pro-inflammatory factor. We concluded that heparin improves alveolarization and vascularization in BPD by inhibiting NETs., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect in newborns. There is increasing evidence that apoptosis and remodeling of the cardiomyoblasts are the major pathology of CHD. Previous research found that T-box transcription factor 3 (TBX3) was compulsory for the regulation of proliferation, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in various cells. Hence, TBX3 might be involved in the treatment of CHD. The primary aim of this study was to study the effects of TBX3 on apoptosis in aged cardiomyoblasts and investigate the latent mechanism. In the present study, we found TBX3 knockdown induced proliferation inhibition, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis accompanied by mitochondrial dysfunction in cardiomyoblasts at passage 10 to 15. Apoptosis-inducing effects of TBX3 silence could be neutralized by silencing P21 using specific siRNA. In addition, the mRNA and protein expression levels of TBX3 in the heart tissues of sporadic type CHD donors were obviously down-regulated. In conclusion, we demonstrated that TBX3 deficiency accelerated apoptosis via directly regulating P21 expression in senescent cardiomyoblasts., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Laboratory saturated columns packed with granular limestone grains were used to explore the retention and remobilization of functional bacteria FA1 under various physicochemical conditions. The unique surface properties of limestone and FA1 caused some unexpected phenomena. Solution IS, cation type, temperature and surface biological property all affected FA1 retention in the columns. The IS effect was temperature dependent and initial solution pH showed little influence due to the strong buffering ability of limestone. Perturbations of solution IS caused slight release of previously retained bacteria in some columns with NaCl as the background electrolyte, while increase in flow rate caused no release at all. When CaCl 2 was the background, bacterial remobilization only occurred following both cation exchange and IS reduction. DLVO forces incorporating with surface roughness calculation were determined to assist with interpretation of interaction mechanisms. All the experimental evidences suggest the importance of cation bridging, cation exchange, surface roughness, and hydrophobic interaction in controlling bacterium transport in saturated limestone porous media., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The explosive growth of biomedical literature has created a rich source of knowledge, such as that on protein-protein interactions (PPIs) and drug-drug interactions (DDIs), locked in unstructured free text. Biomedical relation classification aims to automatically detect and classify biomedical relations, which has great benefits for various biomedical research and applications. In the past decade, significant progress has been made in biomedical relation classification. With the advance of neural network methodology, neural network-based approaches have been applied in biomedical relation classification and achieved state-of-the-art performance for some public datasets and shared tasks. In this review, we describe the recent advancement of neural network-based approaches for classifying biomedical relations. We summarize the available corpora and introduce evaluation metrics. We present the general framework for neural network-based approaches in biomedical relation extraction and pretrained word embedding resources. We discuss neural network-based approaches, including convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and recurrent neural networks (RNNs). We conclude by describing the remaining challenges and outlining future directions., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)