Search

Patients who survive initial esophagogastric variceal bleeding (EVB) are at an increased risk of recurrent bleeding and death; however, a reliable predictive model is lacking. We aimed to develop a model for rebleeding prediction in patients with EVB after modified percutaneous transhepatic variceal embolization (PTVE) with cyanoacrylate.A total of 122 patients with EVB who underwent PTVE from January 2015 to November 2020 were enrolled. Multivariate logistic analyses were conducted to determine independent risk factors for nomogram construction. The discrimination, calibration, and clinical utility of the nomogram were compared with the Model for End-stage Liver Disease score (MELD) and the Child-Pugh model. Risk stratification was performed according to the nomogram.Rebleeding within 3 months of PTVE occurred in 32 patients (26.2%). Independent rebleeding indicators included prior history of endoscopic therapy, Child-Pugh score, partial splenic embolization, and creatinine level. The nomogram incorporating these four predictors achieved excellent calibration and discriminatory abilities, with a concordance index of 0.85, which was confirmed to be 0.83 through bootstrapping validation. The nomogram demonstrated superior discrimination and clinical applicability than the MELD and Child-Pugh models. As shown in the Kaplan-Meier curves, high-risk patients had a high probability of rebleeding (P ​ ​0.001).The creatinine-based nomogram had a superior ability to predict rebleeding after PTVE in patients with EVB. Risk stratification may help identify high-risk patients and lead to the earlier implementation of aggressive treatments and formulation of intensive follow-up plans.

Deep Learning (DL) has important applications to both commercial and military communications, such as software-defined radio, cognitive radio and spectrum surveillance. While DL has been intensively studied for modulation recognition, there are very few investigations for blind identification of Space-Time Block Codes (STBCs). This paper proposes a Residual Network (RN)-based model for identifying 6 kinds of STBC signals with a single receiving antenna, including the same length of coding matrix. In our work, we use the frequency-domain correlation function of a single time delay as the training data of DL model. Then, we explore the suitable RN structure for blind identification of STBCs. Finally, we compare the RN model with convolutional neural network and traditional method, and test the performance of RN model. Simulation results show that our RN-based model provides good performance with low sensitivity to decay of the dataset, such as sample length and data size. At the same time, better identification accuracy can be achieved under the condition of different modulation types and channel fading parameters at low Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR).

Pharmacogenomics is crucial for individualized drug therapy and plays an increasingly vital role in precision medicine decision-making. However, pharmacogenomics-based molecular subtypes and their potential clinical significance remain primarily unexplored in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD).A total of 2065 samples were recruited from eight independent cohorts. Pharmacogenomics data were generated from the profiling of relative inhibition simultaneously in mixtures (PRISM) and the genomics of drug sensitivity in cancer (GDSC) databases. Multiple bioinformatics approaches were performed to identify pharmacogenomics-based subtypes and find subtype-specific properties.Three reproducible molecular subtypes were found, which were independent prognostic factors and highly associated with stage, survival status, and accepted molecular subtypes. Pharmacogenomics-based subtypes had distinct molecular characteristics: S-Ⅰ was inflammatory, proliferative, and immune-evasion; S-Ⅱ was proliferative and genetics-driven; S-III was metabolic and methylation-driven. Finally, our study provided subtype-guided personalized treatment strategies: Immune checkpoint blockers (ICBs), doxorubicin, tipifarnib, AZ628, and AZD6244 were for S-Ⅰ; Cisplatin, camptothecin, roscovitine, and A.443654 were for S-Ⅱ; Docetaxel, paclitaxel, vinorelbine, and BIBW2992 were for S-III.We provided a novel molecular classification strategy and revealed three pharmacogenomics-based subtypes for LUAD patients, which uncovered potential subtype-related and patient-specific therapeutic strategies.

We use a proprietary automatic Al–Mg alloy–water reaction test apparatus to compare the hydrogen evolution profiles of Al-xMg (x = 10%,20%) with different particle sizes, characterize the waste Al-xMg alloy dust particles before and after reaction through SEM, EDS, and XRD, and present a three-stage four-step hydrogen evolution model of Al-xMg (x ≤ 35%) alloy dust particles. It is discovered that the reaction of the Al–Mg alloy in water is a hydrogen evolution–adsorption–slow diffusion process. The particular β-Al3Mg2 in Al-xMg (x ≤ 35%) will adsorb the resulting hydrogen to form MgH+ and adhere to the surface of the particles. As the Mg content in the alloy increases, the hydrogen evolution reduces. The entire process lasts around 5–6 h, with maximum hydrogen conversion rate of 54% (Al–10%Mg, d (50) = 12 μm, α = 0.544). Our hydrogen evolution model provides very useful theoretical references for avoiding hydrogen explosion in Al–Mg alloy manufacturing facilities.

In this study, a combined process of bio-inspired modification and magnetic treatment is presented for the preparation of a polydopamine (Pdop)-modified graphene (Pdop-G)-based adsorbent which incorporates ultra-small, active Fe3O4 nanoparticles (with an average size of 6.5 nm). Not only can the nanoparticles impart superparamagnetism to the modified graphene adsorbent but also enhance the adsorption performance. The ultra-small size of Fe3O4 nanoparticles allows the exposure of a high proportion of low-coordinated sites such as corners and edges. Additional active sites can thus be provided to bind methylene blue molecules, in addition to the active Pdop-G surface with catechol and amine groups which induce hydrogen bonding, electrostatic attraction, and π-π stacking interactions. The Pdop interface wraps graphene and immobilizes Fe3O4, endowing the magnetic Pdop-G (MPG) with high adsorption capacity, easy recyclability, and excellent reusability for the organic pollutant removal. In stark contrast, the counterpart without the interfacial Pdop layer suffers from severe Fe3O4 aggregation, causing its adsorption performance inferior to that of MPG. The MPG-based adsorption obeys the pseudo-second-order kinetics, and the intraparticle diffusion model also indicates the complex adsorption pathway, including the external and intraparticle mass transfer. The Langmuir isotherm can better fit the experimental data than the Freundlich isotherm, with the theoretical maximum adsorption capacities estimated to be 131.6, 140.3, and 152.0 mg/g at 30, 40, and 50 °C, respectively. The adsorption is endothermic and spontaneous, along with an increase in the randomness at the solid-solution interface. The separation factor (RL) reveals the favorable adsorption process with MPG. The superparamagnetism imparted via the Fe3O4 composition makes MPG easily recyclable. Furthermore, the removal rate can be maintained at about 90% after 5 runs of repeated usage of MPG. This study opens up a new avenue to the magnetization of adsorbents for enhancing adsorption performance in addition to imparting magnetism.

This study is devoted to the scalable fabrication of a high-performance composite photocatalyst by incorporation of the visible-light-active CdS flowers (with sharp edges exposed) onto a TiO2 nanotube array (TNA) film on the Ti foil substrate. To evaluate the visible-light-harvesting performance of the prepared hierarchical architecture consisting of the CdS flowers, TNAs, and Ti foil, we subsequently assembled a photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell with membrane electrode assemblies fabricated innovatively by thermocompression. The CdS flowers can efficiently harvest the visible light energy, while TiO2 collects photoelectrons, effectively separating of the photoexcited electron-hole pairs and hence enhancing the photocatalysis efficiency in the photoelectrochemical conversion and yield of hydrogen production from water splitting. An impressive hydrogen production rate of 22.44 μmol▪h−1▪cm−2 was obtained in the PEC cell with the CdS flowers-sensitized TNA film under simulated solar light with an active irradiation area of around 42 cm2, thus showing great potential for practical applications.

According to the chemical analysis, we found the inert substances of fossils in Longkou oil shale in China are mainly calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and quartz (SiO2). Their influence on the explosive characteristics of oil shale dust, through the macroscopic explosion experiments and microscopic analysis, was investigated. We found that CaCO3 has better explosion suppression effect than SiO2. There are two suppression effects during the oil shale dust explosion: adhesion and isolation of inert substances; inerting effect of carbon dioxide (CO2) generated from the complex reaction of CaCO3 and SiO2. Due to the existence of two suppression effects, the combustion of oil shale particles stops when the heat generated by the two combustion paths is less than the heat dissipated, i.e., the explosion either comes to an end or fails to occur.

Entropy-driven circuits (EDC) provides one isothermal and non-enzymatic signal amplification strategy. But the efficiency of EDC signal amplification is not enough high because only one single strand can be produced in each cycle of the typical EDC system. In this work, we proposed one strategy to improve the amplification efficiency of EDC-based biosensing. In this strategy, two signal strands were produced in one cycle. The G-triplex (G3)-forming sequence was used as signal strand, and the G3/thioflavin T (G3/ThT) was used as label-free fluorescence reporter in this EDC-based biosensing. The detection limit of this method was estimated to be 3.4 pM for target DNA, which was about 10 times lower than that of the conventional EDC method. Furthermore, the response time was shortened from more than 1 h-0.5 h. In a word, one enzyme-free and label-free EDC strategy was proposed to construct an efficient nucleic acid biosensing platform.

The electrochemical conversion of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), to energy fuels and value-added chemicals presents one of the most valuable approaches to harvest pollutants and produce renewable energy. However, the stable molecular structure of CO2 and the sluggish reaction kinetics make CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) formidably challenging to achieve reaction rate and selectivity practical in industry. Graphene and its derivatives have been considered a group of intriguing materials to develop advanced CO2RR electrocatalysts due to their large specific surface area, remarkable electron transfer ability, superior stability, and easy tunability of the structure and surface properties. Herein, we comprehensively discuss the state-of-the-art electrocatalysts constructed with graphene and derivatives for active and selective CO2RR within the recent five years, mainly including the electrocatalysts with both metal-based (e.g., noble, non-noble, or combined thereof) and non-metal (e.g., doped, modified, defected, or composited) catalytic sites. To present the versatile, high-performance metal-based CO2RR electrocatalysts constructed with graphene, we further subdivide them according to the sizes, oxidation states, metal species synergies, dimensionalities, and versatility. Finally, we provide the challenges and perspectives in this emerging area of utilising CO2 to produce various carbon-based fuels and chemicals via graphene chemistry.

We investigate the PAN dust explosion inhibition behaviors of NaHCO3 and Al(OH)3 in a 20 L spherical explosion system and a transparent pipe explosion propagation test system. The results show that, in the standard 20 L spherical explosion system, the highest PAN dust explosion concentration is 500 g/m3, the maximum explosion pressure is 0.661 MPa, and the maximum explosion pressure increase rate is 31.64 MPa/s; adding 50% NaHCO3 and 60% Al(OH)3 can totally inhibit PAN dust explosion. In the DN0.15 m transparent pipe explosion propagation test system, for 500 g/m3 PAN dust, the initial explosion flame velocity is 102 m/s, the initial pressure is 0.46 MPa, and the initial temperature is 967 °C; adding 60% NaHCO3 and 70% Al(OH)3 can totally inhibit PAN dust explosion flames. Through FTIR and TG analyses, we obtain the explosion products and pyrolysis patterns of the explosion products of PAN dust, NaHCO3, and Al(OH)3. On this basis, we also summarize the PAN dust explosion inhibition mechanisms of NaHCO3 and Al(OH)3.

Alloy dust generated from automobile wheel hub grinding, after entering the wet dust collector, will react with water to produce hydrogen, thus exposing the entire ventilation and dust removal system to potential hydrogen explosion. In this paper, the inhibition mechanism and kinetic characteristics of different concentrations of L-Aspartic acid (L-Asp) on the reaction of Al0.9Mg0.1 alloy with water were studied with respect to adsorption morphology, chemical kinetic modeling and molecular dynamics (MD), using L-Asp as the environmentally-safe hydrogen inhibitor. The results show that within a given temperature interval, the hydrogen production rate of Al0.9Mg0.1 alloy dust decreases with increasing L-Asp concentration. When the L-Asp concentration exceeds 1.0g/L, the hydrogen evolution rate is almost zero. The calculated results of chemical kinetics agree with the Langmuir adsorption model, confirming that L-Asp is an ideal monolayer physical adsorption system on the surface of alloy particles. The FTIR and MD simulation results show that –NH2 and –COOH groups in L-Asp molecules contribute greatly to the adsorption. The research results of this paper can help fundamentally avoid hydrogen generation in wet dust collectors and guarantee intrinsic safety.

Carbonyl polymers, such as poly(anthraquinonyl sulfide) (PAQS) and poly(benzoquinonyl sulfide) (PBQS), are typically selected as cathode materials for lithium-organic batteries (LOBs) because of their inherent high theoretical capacity and low solubility in the electrolyte. However, their commercialization is hindered by their relatively complex synthesis routes, low yields, and high cost. Herein, a carbonyl polymer poly(piperazine-alt-benzoquinone) (NP2), obtained from the polymerization of vanillin and piperazine with oxidative amination at the theoretical production cost of US $0.48 per gram, exhibits a high reversible capacity of 257 mAh g−1, leading to a cost performance of US $0.19 per 100 mAh, which is superior to the reported carbonyl polymers. Furthermore, ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and ex situ and in situ Fourier-transform infrared measurements release the reversible electrochemical reaction mechanism of NP2 based on carbonyl redox chemistry. This study demonstrates a simple and effective strategy to synthesize low-cost carbonyl polymers, which will pave the way for their future application in high-performance LOBs.

Three novel polydiacetylenes (PDAs) are synthesized through the self-assembly followed by the topochemical polymerization via controllable electrophoretic deposition. All the samples could undergo a multi-step thermochromic process, turning purple and red successively over a wide range from room temperature to above 250 °C. Resulting PDAs are studied by UV–vis, IR, Raman spectroscopies, and chromoisomerism by naked eye visualization; their stabilities by thermogravimetric method, and emission behavior by fluorescence spectroscopy. To study the mechanism of the thermochromic response, temperature-dependent UV–vis spectra, the results of which successfully highlighted the close relationship between chromatic transitions and the conformational changes.

The development of highly efficient and inexpensive carbon-based catalysts for the production of hydrogen from water electrolysis is a considerable challenge in the field of sustainable energy transformation. Herein, an in situ N-, P- and Ca-codoped biochar was successfully fabricated from animal bone by thermal treatment at 800 °C. This in situ N-, P- and Ca-codoped catalyst exhibits high atomic contents with synergistic effects of N, P and Ca, a large electrochemically active surface area, a low charge-transfer resistance, high conductivity, and a large specific area. These characteristics lead to an outstanding hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity and good stability in a H2SO4 acidic solution, with an onset potential of 80±3 mV, an overpotential of 162±3 mV at a current density of 10 mA/cm2, a Tafel slope of 80 mV/dec, and an exchange current density of 52.5 µA/cm2, which are comparable to or even better than those of synthetic heteroatom-doped or transition metal-doped carbon-based catalysts. These findings demonstrate that animal bone is a useful material for the preparation of N-, P- and Ca-codoped carbon materials as effective electrocatalysts for the HER.

Uniform doping is usually recognized as an efficient method for enhancing photocatalysis of TiO 2 , while non-uniform doping is generally supposed to be inefficient because of the inhomogeneous dispersion of dopants. However, in this study, we present the first example of non-uniform doping (with Au)-better enhanced photocatalysis of TiO 2 nanotubes, as compared to uniform doping, in terms of the photocatalytic organic dye degradation. The extent to which the non-uniform doping (achieved by liquid phase deposition (LPD)) can enhance photocatalysis is evaluated, along with a comparison with uniform doping. There exists an additional positive effect in the non-uniform doping system, that is, as generated interfaces between pure phase TiO 2 and Au-doped TiO 2 , in contrast to the uniform doping system leading to a positive “platinum island” effect. Such double beneficial effects contribute to the highest performance in the photocatalytic organic dye degradation for the Au-non-uniformly doped TiO 2 nanotubes as compared to other samples involved in this study. Both the “platinum island” and interfacial separation effects are helpful to isolate the photo-generated electrons and holes, resulting in enhanced photocatalytic activities.

With three distinct layers, multicolor, hierarchical nanocomposite films based on anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) were fabricated on the 6063 aluminum alloy surface by anodizing and alternating current electrodeposition. The impact of the electrolysis time on the nanostructures and optical properties of the as-grown film was investigated. It was found that with the extension of electrolysis time, the sample color could be varied from gray, yellow, red, blue, to green, realizing almost full-spectrum colors of the AAO-based films in the visible light range. The nanostructure characterizations and the UV–Vis reflectance spectroscopy of the AAO-based films showed that the thickness of the bottom one (i.e., layer 3) of the three layers was dictated by the electrolysis time over the range of 55–145 s, corresponding to the thickness from 135 to 264 nm. Additionally, the optical pathway of the AAO-based film with hierarchical composite nanostructures was analyzed. An increase in the layer 3 thickness would cause a shift in the peak wavelength in the corresponding reflectance spectra, conforming to the Bragg-Snell formula. The colors of AAO films were speculated to originate from constructive interference between the light reflected from the layer 1-layer 2 interface and the light reflected from the layer 3-aluminum alloy substrate interface.

With quite limited use, biomass tar has been a long-standing issue that strongly impaired the cost-efficiency of biomass gasification. Here, a facile activation-annealing route for upcycling biomass tar into graphene nanohybrids with developed porosity and enriched pyridinic nitrogen was reported, whilst the metal-free product revealed with superior catalytic activities to the benchmark Pt/C and RuO2 catalysts toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and evolution reaction (OER). By associating the dual functionalities with products’ physiochemical properties, it was unveiled that those pyridinic-N and defects were accounted for the promoted oxygen reduction and evolution, respectively. Together with reinforced electric conductivity and hierarchical porosity and enlarged interface via ammonia annealing, the heterogeneously structured carbon catalyst finally endowed an assembled primary Zn-air battery with maximum energy density of 121 mW/cm−2, in addition to robust stability against long-term running. This work highlights the great potential of biomass tar for advanced carbon materials, and therefore a novel strategy to address the tar-related challenges faced by gasification technologies.

One set of biochar-coupled Ag and TiO2 composites were successfully fabricated by mixing, calcination, and photodeposition method to remove methyl orange (MO). It was found that all catalysts modified with Ag showed better photocatalytic degradation performance (the highest decolorization efficiency and mineralization efficiency were 97.48% and 85.38%, respectively) than single TiO2 because of the synergy of Ag, TiO2 and biochar. Characterization results indicated that Ag as well as TiO2 acted as electron donor and biochar acted as electron acceptor, which could effectively promote the separation of photogenerated electron hole pairs. In addition, the catalyst exhibited high stability up to 5 cycles and the loss of activity was negligible. And the catalytic degradation process was consistent with the pseudo-first-order kinetic (PFOK) model with the degradation rate constant of 6.29 × 10−2 min−1.

The pyrolysis char from waste peat with impregnated metal (Fe/Ni/Ca) were investigated for catalytic reforming of toluene in a laboratory dual-stage reactor. The prepared catalysts were examined in microstructure and textural characterization to analyze catalytic performance and stability. The results indicated that under the optimized conditions, the toluene conversions are greater than 92.7% for three types of peat char-supported catalysts, and the maximum molar ratio of syngas (CO + H2) can reach up to 94.7% using Ni/peat char catalyst. The promising results demonstrated that the H2 and CO are favored for Fe/peat char and Ni/peat char catalysts while the H2 and CH4 are favored for Ca/peat char catalyst. After 320 min of experiment, the mol% of syngas decreased by less than 30% for three types of peat char catalysts. Significantly, peat char (C-SiO2) as a carrier can enhance the performance of catalyst through interaction with the metal, and it can be used as an adsorption carrier to absorb unreacted toluene. Such peat char-supported catalysts are thus promising for tar conversion and useful syngas production.

The thermal weight-loss characteristics and product distribution of the co-pyrolysis between xylan from corn cob (XC) and high-density polyethylene (HP) were investigated by thermogravimetry coupled with fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (TG-FTIR-MS) and pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (Py-GC/MS). Moreover, the synergistic effects in the co-pyrolysis process were explored. The co-pyrolysis of XC and HP occurs in two stages. The first stage (220–350 °C) was the decomposition of XC, and the second stage (440–525 °C) was mainly attributed to the decomposition of HP. Co-pyrolysis caused the blends to decompose more easily. The synergistic effect was confirmed during the co-pyrolysis process. The co-pyrolysis process promoted the release of hydrocarbons (CH4, C2H2, C2H6, C3H6, and C3H8) and aldehyde derivatives (CH3CHO and CHO+) and decreased the production of H2 and H2O. Moreover, co-pyrolysis suppressed the generation of CO2 only when the content of HP was 75%. The Py-GC/MS results showed that the yield of oxygen-containing compounds decreased, and the yield of alkenes and alkanes increased. The increase in alkenes was greatest when the ratio of XC to HP was 1:3. This phenomenon could be attributed to the release of hydrogen radicals from mono-molecular and bi-molecular dehydrogenation reactions during the decomposition of HP. Thus, HP could be a hydrogen donor, providing hydrogen for xylan-derived oxygenates, which served as acceptors. A reaction mechanism for the co-pyrolysis of XC and HP was also proposed.

The increasing environmental pollution calls for the development of stable functional materials for efficiently binding contaminants, while they can be synthesized and recycled easily. Herein, a three-dimensional (3D) aerogel is constructed by bio-inspired adhesion of graphene and MoS2 sheets with polydopamine (PDA) through a one-step hydrothermal route for the adsorption of the water-soluble organic contaminants. The impact of the bio-inspired interfacial adhesion on the resulting composite aerogel is thoroughly investigated, e.g., the interfacial PDA layer renders the composite aerogel considerably more porous, together with the much higher specific surface area and pore volume, as well as strikingly smaller average pore size and superior stability upon exposure to air, relative to the counterpart without the bio-inspired adhesion. The 3.2 wt% PDA composition is adequate to yield a composite structure with small MoS2 nanocrystallites uniformly dispersed over the modified graphene surface without aggregation. The adsorption of methylene green onto such a 3D composite architecture is spontaneous and endothermic and obeys the Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo-second-order kinetics, with the maximum adsorption capacities over 200 mg/g at all the operating temperatures and the satisfactory recycling properties without significant degradation after 5 cycles.

A series of cost-effective, high-efficiency and sustainable adsorbent for Cr(VI) were prepared from waste glue residue. Considering that chemical modification has great influence on the properties of biochar, several modifiers (HCl, KOH, and ZnCl2) were used to improve the adsorption capacity of biochar. Besides that, the effect of prepare conditions (i.e., pyrolysis temperature and impregnation ratio of modifier and glue residue) were also investigated. Emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Autosorb1-MP Quantachrome were used to characterize the physicochemical properties of waste glue residue biochar. Reaction time, solution pH, adsorbent dosage, and initial adsorbate concentration on contaminant removal were also examined. The maximum sorption capacity of ZnCl2 modified glue residue biochar reached 325.54 mg/g, which is higher than previous reported adsorbents. The recycling experiment demonstrated that the removal efficiency of the optimal biochar was 90% after six cycles. Hence, waste glue residue exhibits a great potential in Cr(VI) contaminated water’s management.

The pyrolysis char derived from solid waste peat was used in the removal of biomass tar. A laboratory dual-stage reactor was designed to obtain a cost-effective and eco-friendly tar removal approach using peat pyrolysis char-based catalyst. Rich pore structure of pyrolysis char can enhance the adsorption and removal performance of tar, the KOH and CO2 activation method were used to increase the pore structure of pyrolysis char. Toluene was chosen as the model compound of biomass tar for basic research. The effects of pyrolysis char and transition metal Fe on toluene removal were studied. The investigated reforming parameters were reaction temperature (700–900 °C), residence time (0.3–0.8 s) and steam-to-carbon ratio (1.5:1–4:1). The results indicated that the peat pyrolysis char-based Fe catalysts showed excellent catalytic performance (toluene conversion >89%) and gas selectivity, especially the catalyst that activated by CO2 had the best selectivity for syngas (88.1 mol%), and the waste peat catalyst was compared with other waste pyrolysis char-based catalysts. Textural characterization showed that the excellent catalytic activity and stability of the catalysts are due to the presence of FeC and FeSiO3 structures. Such the peat pyrolysis char can as a carrier be used to remove tar and produce high content syngas in pyrolysis process.

A new and novel signal probe based on silver nanoclusters (Ag NCs)/horseradish peroxidase (HRP) nanocomposite (Ag NCs-HRP) was developed. The probe was utilized for electrochemical immunoassay for the detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). The Ag NCs was synthesized via chemical reduction in the presence of DNA strand containing CEA aptamer (ATACCAGCTTATTCAATT) and the Ag NCs synthesis template (C 12 ). After the adsorption of HRP onto Ag NCs surface, the resulted Ag NCs-HRP could bind with CEA and acted as signaling probe. The assay involves the following steps: (1) construction of an immunosensor by immobilizing the antibody against CEA on a glassy carbon electrode; (2) incubate the immunosensor with sample containing CEA; (3) incubate the immunosensor with Ag NCs-HRP; (4) signal amplification via HRP catalyzed deposition of an insulating polymer film, poly(3,3′-dimethoxybenzidine) (PDB) onto electrode surface; (5) measurement via square wave voltammetry in Fe(CN) 6 3−/4− solution. The current decreased due to the formation of insulating PDB film is logarithmically related to the concentration of CEA in the 1 pg to 10 ng mL −1 range, with a detection limit of 0.5 pg mL −1 . The developed nanocluster/enzyme signal probe can certainly be modified for the detection of different other trace targets in bioanalytical fields.

When treated with sewage, polysulfone (PSF) membranes have a tendency to be contaminated due to their hydrophobicity, which limits large scale applications. To enhance the hydrophilic and anti-fouling property of PSF membrane, a novel organic–inorganic composite membrane was prepared by adding sulfated Y-doped nonstoichiometric zirconia (zirconia with defects, ZD) to PSF through a sol–gel process. The composite membranes were exposed to sewage containing oil, and the effects of the added amount of ZD, oil concentration, operating pressure, temperature and time on properties of composite membrane were researched. The optimum parameters are: 15 wt.% added ZD; 80 mg/L oil concentration; 0.15 MPa operating pressure; operating temperature between 22 and 30 °C and up to 5 h of operating time. At 80 mg/L sewage containing oil, the oil retention is 99.16% and the oil concentration in the permeate is 0.67 mg/L, which meets the requirement for discharge (less than 10 mg/L). After backflushing and chemical cleaning, the composite membranes could still keep a high permeation flux. It can be concluded that the hydrophilic and anti-fouling property of composite membrane can be significantly enhanced and hence the novel composite membrane is desirable in the treatment of sewage containing oil.