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Aerogels with low thermal conductivity and high adsorption capacity present a promising solution to curb water pollution caused by organic reagents as well as mitigate heat loss. Although aerogels exhibiting good adsorption capacity and thermal insulation have been reported, materials with mechanical integrity, high flexibility and shear resistance still pose a formidable task. Here, we produced bacterial cellulose-based ultralight multifunctional hybrid aerogels by using freeze-drying followed by chemical vapor deposition silylation method. The hybrid aerogels displayed a low density of 10-15 mg/cm 3 , high porosity exceeding 99.1 %, low thermal conductivity (27.3-29.2 mW/m . K) and superior hydrophobicity (water contact angle>120 o ). They also exhibited excellent mechanical properties including superelasticity, high flexibility and shear resistance. The hybrid aerogels demonstrated high heat shielding efficiency when used as an insulating material. As a selective oil absorbent, the hybrid aerogels exhibit a maximum adsorption capacity of up to approximately 156 times its own weight and excellent recoverability. Especially, the aerogel's highly accessible porous microstructure results in an impressive flux rate of up to 162 L/h . g when used as a filter in a continuous oil-water separator to isolate n-hexane-water mixtures. This work presents a novel endeavor to create high-performance, sustainable, reusable, and adaptable multifunctional aerogels., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The foliage vegetables cultivated in greenhouse of Hg-contaminated regions suffer from severe Hg contamination issues because of soil elemental Hg (Hg(0)) release. Application of organic fertilizer (OF) is the indispensable part of farming, but its influences on soil Hg(0) release are unclear. A new method of thermal desorption coupled with cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry was developed to measure transformations of Hg oxidation states to elucidate the impact mechanism of OF on Hg(0) release process. Our results showed that the soil Hg(0) concentrations can directly determine its release fluxes. The application of OF causes that oxidizing reactions of Hg(0)/Hg(I) and Hg(I)/Hg(II) are excited; then soil Hg(0) concentrations decreases. Besides, the elevated soil organic matter by amending OF can complex with Hg(II), resulting in that the reductions of Hg(II) to Hg(I) and Hg(0) are inhibited. Additionally, the OF can directly adsorb soil Hg(0), decreasing the removability of Hg(0). Subsequently, the application of OF can significantly inhibit soil Hg(0) release, resulting in a pronounced decrease in interior atmospheric Hg(0) concentrations. Our results provide a novel perspective for enriching the fate of soil Hg that transformation of soil Hg oxidation states plays a crucial role in affecting soil Hg(0) release process., 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.)

Crosslinked corn bran arabinoxylan (CLAX) is a food hydrocolloid that can be applied to improve the physicochemical and digestion properties of starch. However, the impact of CLAX with different gelling characteristics on starch properties remains elusive. Here, high cross-linked arabinoxylan (H-CLAX), moderate crosslinked arabinoxylan (M-CLAX), and low crosslinked arabinoxylan (L-CLAX) were fabricated to investigate their effects on the pasting, rheological, structural, and in vitro digestion property of corn starch (CS). The results showed that H-CLAX, M-CLAX, and L-CLAX differently increased the pasting viscosity and gel elasticity of CS, with H-CLAX exhibiting the greatest effect. The structural characterization of CS-CLAX mixtures showed that H-CLAX, M-CLAX, and L-CLAX differently enhanced the swelling power of CS and increased the hydrogen bonds between CS and CLAX. Furthermore, the addition of CLAX (especially H-CLAX) significantly reduced both the digestion rate and extent of CS, probably due to the increased viscosity and the formation of the amylose-polyphenol complex. This study provided new insights into the interaction between CS and CLAX, and could help to develop healthier foods with slow starch digestibility., 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.)

To explore the thermal behavior and hazard during the spontaneous combustion fires (SCFs) of coal and coal gangue (CG), the characteristics of heat release and thermal transfer during the SCFs of coal and CG were tested. The results indicate that coal contains more combustibles and aromatic hydrocarbons, while CG possesses higher contents of ash and inorganic silicate. Coal has a stronger heat release capacity, while CG owns a smaller specific heat capacity, a larger thermal diffusivity and a greater thermal conductivity. Thus, CG performs better with respect to heat transfer. The apparent activation energy of coal is larger in the endothermic stage, whereas that of CG is more notable in the exothermic stage. Based on heat release and heat transfer performance, hazardous zones during the SCFs of coal and CG were identified, and the combustion growth index was established to quantify the hazard of SCF disasters. The results show that the hazard is determined by both heat release and thermal transfer capacities. Coal or CG with a combustible component of 31.3 %, which not only releases massive heat but also transfers heat quickly, corresponds to the most considerable hazard of SCF disasters., 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.)

Montmorillonite was modified with iron (Fe-MMT) for controlling mercury release across mercury-contaminated soil-air interface in greenhouse. With addition of Fe-MMT, although the root Hg contents in Brassica Pekinensis increased, the edible part (leaf) Hg concentrations decreased significantly, even achieved the Tolerance Limit of Mercury in Foods. The decrease of leaf Hg concentrations was attributed to the lower atmospheric Hg concentrations, which is caused by the lower soil Hg 0 release fluxes. Besides the Fe-MMT can direct adsorb soil Hg 0 , it can also immobilize ionic Hg and decrease soil Hg reactivity via surface adsorption, chemical complexation, and situ co-precipitation. Then the contents of leachable Hg and the percentages of bioavailable speciation in soil were reduced, resulting in the soil Hg 0 generation was inhibited and soil Hg 0 release fluxes declined. Applying Fe-MMT to soil enhanced the diversity indexes of Streptomyces, which could promote the oxidation of soil Hg 0 to Hg 2+ ; subsequently, the soil Hg 0 release fluxes decreased. After amending with Fe-MMT, the root Hg contents in Brassica Pekinensis increased because both the soil Hg and microorganisms loaded Hg could be adsorbed by iron oxides and retained on the root surface. This work can provide research basis for Fe-MMT application in Hg-contaminated soil in greenhouse., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest There are no conflicts of interest exits in the submission of this manuscript, which is approved by all authors for publication. I would like to declare on behalf of my co-authors that the work described is original research that have not been published previously, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. All the authors listed (see below) have approved the manuscript that is enclosed. All the authors are aware of, and accept responsibility for the manuscript. All the authors have read and have abided by the statement of ethical standards for manuscripts submitted to Science of the Total Environment., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Caohai, a plateau wetland in Southwest China, is a national nature reserve providing protection for a variety of threatened and endangered species of migrant birds (e.g., the black-necked crane Grus nigricollis). It has been experiencing the increasing environmental problems with heavy metals due to anthropogenic activities. However, the contamination of heavy metals in different habitats is unclear. Surface sediment samples from these habitats were thus collected to analyze the distribution characteristics, potential risk and possible sources for heavy metals (Cd, Hg, Pb, Zn, Ni, Cr, Cu, Be, and V). The results showed that all of Cd, Hg, Pb, Zn, Cr, and Ni concentrations exceeded the background values, and these elements (except Cr and Ni) presented comparatively high levels in habitat adjacent to urban in comparison with the other habitats. Based on the regression analysis, we found that metals with higher EFs (Cd, Hg, Pb, and Zn) were mainly controlled by anthropogenic loadings, while metals with lower EFs (Cr, Ni, Be, and V) were mainly associated with sediment properties (pH or NOM). In addition, the results from geo-accumulation index, Hakanson potential ecological risk assessment, and risk assessment code showed that Cd and Hg posed a medium to high environmental risk to the ecosystem, and the other heavy metals posed no or low risk. Therefore, to protect this wetland ecosystem and to supply a well habitat for migratory birds, greater efforts aimed at reducing anthropogenic discharges and remediating sediment contaminated with heavy metals should be pursued., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest There are no conflicts of interest exits in the submission of this manuscript, which is approved by all authors for publication., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Electrolytic manganese residue (EMR) contains a large amount of NH 4 + -N and Mn 2+ and can negatively impact the environment. A stabilization treatment of soluble contaminants in the EMR is necessary for its reuse and safe stacking. This study presents experimental results for the stabilization of NH 4 + -N and Mn 2+ in the EMR using phosphogypsum leachate as a low-cost phosphate source and MgO/CaO (PLMC) process. The results demonstrated that the stabilization efficiency of NH 4 + -N and Mn 2+ was 93.65% and 99.99%, respectively, under the following conditions: a phosphogypsum leachate dose of 1.5 mL g -1 , an added MgO dose of 0.036 g g -1 , an added CaO dose of 0.1 g g -1 and a reaction time of 2 h. The stabilization effect of the PLMC process was higher and more cost effective than that of using Na 3 PO 4 ·12H 2 O and MgO/CaO. The concentration of NH 4 + -N and Mn 2+ in the leaching liquor decreased to 80 mg L -1 and 0.5 mg L -1 , respectively, after the stabilization under the optimum conditions. The stabilization characteristics indicated that NH 4 + -N was stabilized to form NH 4 MgPO 4 ·6H 2 O (struvite) and that Mn 2+ was stabilized to form Mn 5 (PO 4 ) 2 (OH) 4 , Mn 3 (PO 4 ) 2 ·3H 2 O and Mn(OH) 2 . PO 4 3- -P, F - , and heavy metal ions of the phosphogypsum leachate were removed from the leaching liquor and stabilized in the treated EMR., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Mercury (Hg) re-emission from sediment is an important process in the biogeochemistry cycles of Hg in the aquatic ecosystem. The contribution of Hg released from sediment to water remains unclear for some shallow lakes. Lake Nansi is a typical shallow lake in northern China that is divided into upper and lower lakes by a dam. The Hg species in the water profile and sediment were measured from two sampling sites in the lake. Nansi Lake was not markedly contaminated by Hg. The Hg profile in the sediment indicated that the demand for energy and the policy management in the catchment influenced the Hg accumulation in its sediment. On the basis of Fick's first law and the sedimentation rate, the diffusion flux of dissolved Hg from sediment to overlying water and the accumulation flux were estimated. According to one-year scale estimation, approximately 10%-13% the Hg in the sediments can be re-released into the overlying water. The Hg diffused from the sediment accounted for 7.9%-16% of the Hg in the overlying water. These results of this study improve the understanding of the sources of pollution in water and enable researchers to focus on the contribution of sediment to the pollution of water in shallow lakes., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Biorenewable polymers from natural resources have attracted a greater attention of the research for different applications. In this work, renewable lignin nanoparticles (LNP) were employed as cross-linking junctions to prepare high mechanical properties hydrogel, polyacrylamide/lignin nanoparticle (PAM/LNP) nanocomposite hydrogel. The hydrogel exhibits high compressive and tensile strengths as well as excellent recoverability. The fracture strength of the PAM/LNP hydrogel under compressive stress is on the order of megapascals, which is several orders of magnitude higher than those of pure PAM hydrogel. The synergic improving effect of nanocomposite network structure and the strong H-bonding between polymer chains endow the hydrogel with an excellent mechanism of distributing the applied load. Considering good mechanical properties, simple synthesis methods and noncytotoxicity, this high performance hydrogel material has potential applications in biomedical fields, such as tissue engineering or regeneration, artificial muscles, strong underwater antifouling materials, and so on., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: NPPA mutations/polymorphisms were associated with atrial fibrillation (AF), and plasma proatrial natriuretic peptide (proANP) concentrations were increased in AF patients. Corin, as a transmembrane protease that processes proANP in the heart, may play a potential role in AF., Methods: To test whether corin concentrations are altered in AF patients, we used ELISA to measure corin and N-terminal proANP (NT-proANP) concentrations in plasma samples from control (n=127) and AF patients (n=141), including paroxysmal AF (PAF, n=83) and persistent AF (PeAF, n=58)., Results: In patients with AF, plasma corin concentrations were 1209±510pg/ml, which were significantly higher than in the controls (973±528pg/ml, P<0.001). The increased plasma corin concentrations were found in both male and female patients. Plasma NT-proANP concentrations in AF patients were 3.1±2.42nmol/l, which were higher than in the controls (1.77±1.04nmol/l, P<0.001). Gender (P=0.003), weight (P=0.016) and PR interval (P=0.028) were independent predictors of plasma corin concentrations in AF patients. A positive correlation was found between corin concentrations and left atrial diameter/PR interval in AF patients., Conclusion: High plasma corin concentrations in AF patients suggest that corin may play an important role in the pathology of AF., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)